Blog Archives

Motion has a virtually limitless package of lights that can be positioned for both 2D and 3D elements. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create a cast shadow from a chroma-key using lights in Apple Motion.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial creating an animated reflection in Apple Motion, then publishing it to Final Cut with additional effect controls, to use as a template.

In this illustrated, step-by-step tutorial, discover how to use Apple Motion to motion-track, blur or emphasize elements within a video frame.

[This is an excerpt from a recent on-line video webinar: “Advanced Techniques in Apple Motion 5.5” which is available as a download in our store, or as part of our Video Training Library.] EXCERPT DESCRIPTION Explore the capability of Apple …

Explore the capability of Apple Motion for your projects in more depth. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates how to use and modify particle emitters, then showcases two simulations: Repel and Vortex using Apple Motion.

Explore the capability of Apple Motion for your projects in more depth. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create a curved path for text, then animate text along that curve using Apple Motion.

You don’t need to be an incredible artist – or a programmer – to create interesting and useful effects using Apple Motion. In this short video training, Larry Jordan shows how to create a custom transition in Motion for use in Apple Final Cut Pro.

You don’t need to be an incredible artist – or a programmer – to create interesting and useful effects using Apple Motion. In this short video training, Larry Jordan shows how to create a custom effect in Motion for use in Apple Final Cut Pro.

In this illustrated tutorial, I show how to use chroma-key to create an irregular object in Apple Motion, then create a cast shadow that changes as the foreground image changes.

I use blurs all the time, to keep a background from becoming too distracting, or improve a green-screen shot, or provide the illusion of depth. Here’s an in-depth tutorial on how to create them, what they look like, how to animate them and examples of their use.

At first blush, many of the backgrounds included with Apple Final Cut Pro are mostly unusable for text. However, when you adjust their settings – and combine them with a few well chosen effects – you’ll discover a wealth of creative options to make your projects more visually interesting. Here are six examples.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to animate clips using keyframes in Premiere Pro. He’ll also show how to add speed changes to keyframes using Ease In and Ease Out.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates different ways to create green-screen keys (also called “chroma-keys”) using both good and, um, awful footage in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create an adjustment layer , then explain how it works, how to add effects to it, and what happens when you move clips around it.

The Comparison Viewer is tricky to find, but very useful once you open it; especially when you are trying to compare the look between multiple shots. Here’s how to use it.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use the new, hidden, Transform Overscan feature in Apple Final Cut Pro to preserve important details when creating a picture-in-picture effect.

Two “Top Ten” lists of tips and techniques from “The Inside Tips” for 2020. The first is by number of views, the second is by reader ratings. These cover Adobe and Apple software, along with codecs, media, visual effects and production.

Here are some text tricks that can help position and display text in eye-catching ways using Apple Final Cut Pro.

Emojis are little icons that have taken over the world. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to add and modify emojis in a video project using Apple Final Cut Pro.

After updating to Final Cut Pro X 10.5, many of Luke’s titles and effects became unavailable. Here’s how he fixed the problem.

Just as we use multiple cameras to provide different angles on the same scene in live production, we can use multiple cameras in Motion to simulate the same thing. Here’s an example, along with a finished movie.

Motion has a full range of lights and, more importantly, lighting presets that can add drama and visual interest to any scene – especially one that involves 3D objects. Here’s an illustrated tutorial on how to use them to increase the drama in your projects.

There’s a small icon in the Motion interface that enables multiple views of a project. This is really helpful when working with cameras and lights. Plus, it is cool to look at.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows why the order in which you place effects on a clip makes a difference in the results in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to add and modify keyframes to animate an element in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to create a clean chroma-key using both good and bad footage… and a carefully placed mask in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Effects are the fun part of video editing because there are so many different options. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates the differences between a hold frame and a freeze frame – and how to create both in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Here’s how to create a cast shadow of a Apple Motion element from scratch, which be animated and colorized separately from the object creating the shadow.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use Apple Compressor to crop or reframe a video clip prior to media compression.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to apply both still and moving watermarks to compressed video using Apple Compressor.

accusonus believes that audio effects can be both powerful and easy to use. Supporting all major editing software, the ERA 5 bundle includes 13 plug-ins to fix common audio problems. Here’s a first look at what’s inside.

In this Apple Motion tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to create a burning effect using particles, blend modes and the world’s most amazing light saber.

When you need to KNOW that your audio meets the technical spec, neither Premiere nor Final Cut can help. But Adobe Audition can. Watch as Larry Jordan shows how to use amplitude statistics to make sure your audio has the right levels and is distortion-free.

In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to add effects to a multicam sequence for both single clips and an entire track in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Audio Design Desk is an amazing program. It creates sound environments quickly and easily. Its ability to replace sounds with similar sounds, without messing up timing or sync is unique. It’s a sound designers dream – once you figure out how it works.

Whether you use Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro X for your edit, you can clean, edit and mix your audio faster and better in Adobe Audition. In this excerpt, Larry Jordan shows how to use auto-ducking or, even better, a channel EQ to improve the balance between dialog and music in Audition.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates why correctly setting the HDR Graphics White Point for HDR HLG media is important when adding graphics or SDR media to an HDR sequence. This is a new feature in Adobe Premiere Pro v.14.4.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan showcases two new features in Motion 5: 3D Objects and the Stroke filter. He also illustrates how to apply color and texture to the 3D object.

New with the 5.4.6 update to Apple Motion is support for 3D Objects. This illustrated tutorial shows where they are, how to use them and what you need to know to import your own USDZ objects into Motion.

Apple released a flood of small changes with the 10.4.9 update to Final Cut Pro X that didn’t get a whole lot of press. Let me take you behind-the-scenes in this illustrated tutorial to explore these smaller gems.

Apple Motion is a very fun way to explore and experiment with motion graphics. Here’s how to create a motion graphic generator (background video) you can use inside Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Audio plug-ins do not automatically appear in Adobe Premiere Pro or Audition after you install them. Here’s what you need to do to finish the installation process.

A product review of five powerful Mac-based audio plugins to repair common audio problems that are easy-to-use and deliver great results. They support Final Cut Pro X, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and are worth adding to your toolkit.

Examples of how blend modes can add texture to colors and scenes, along with how to use them to fix problems with exposure or color. This is created in Adobe Premiere Pro, but applies to all NLEs.

A LUT (LookUp Table) is a conversion table that instantly changes pixel values from one setting to the next. Final Cut provides two different ways to apply LUTs to your footage: the Inspector and the Custom LUT effect. This article describes how to use the Custom LUT effect.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan answers a question on how to get rid of “fuzzy edges” in a chroma-key using Apple Final Cut Pro X.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan answers a question showing how to use Apple Final Cut Pro X to match the color between video clips shot using different cameras, one of which was an iPhone.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan answers a question on how to use LUTs to color grade HDR or Log video in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

Presented by Larry Jordan, this four-part webinar series covers the basics of editing with Apple Final Cut Pro X. In this short video tutorial, Larry shows how to create and modify keyframes to create animation in Final Cut Pro X.

Presented by Larry Jordan, this four-part webinar series covers the basics of editing with Apple Final Cut Pro X. In this short video tutorial, Larry shows how to use Generators with Infographics in Final Cut Pro X.