All the hype surrounding AI presents software developers making tools for creatives with a dilemma. How do they find the right balance between creating features that improve their tools versus replacing the editor?
At the recent the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, I sat down with Blackmagic’s audio gurus to learn more about the Fairlight page. What I learned made a big difference in the sound of my projects. Here are three secrets that I’m now using in every project.
If you, like me, scoffed when Blackmagic Design introduced their URSA Cine 17K 65 digital film camera, well, Blackmagic just published two Behind-the-Scenes video showing the camera in use. (The filmmaker quotes below are from BMD’s press release.) Now, there …
YAM Display is a fast, simple, easy-to-use utility that allows you to extend or mirror any Mac desktop to a second Mac, iPad or iPhone. This is a great way to repurpose an older iMac, use an iPad as a teleprompter monitor, or display Mac images on your iPhone.
I needed prompter software to go with my Neewer teleprompter. But which to use? I discovered that what I wanted was not easy to obtain. Here’s what I picked, why I picked it and how to set it up for a Mac.
Richard needs to change the size of his images, but is worried about them getting blurry. In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to safely scale images in both Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, without losing image quality.
At first blush, Sidebar – the ability to mirror an iPhone or iPad on a Mac – doesn’t seem to offer much value. But, when you mirror the Mac on a mobile device, magic can happen.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan explains what video stabilization does, the options available, and how to apply stabilization to your own video.
As I was editing a recent webinar, I rediscovered three highly useful techniques that sped my work. Since these are not techniques I use everyday, I wanted to share them with you so you could save some time on your next edit as well.
The Ken Burns effect provides automated image animation and it works for both horizontal and vertical projects. But there are several cases where keyframes work better. Larry Jordan illustrates both in this short video.
This short video showcases the differences between using Lift – Gamma – Gain and Shadows – Mids – Highlights to change the gray-scale values of a clip. These differences are significant, powerful, and highly useful, as Larry Jordan illustrates.
This review looks at the performance differences in video editing running DaVinci Resolve 19.1 on a variety of Macs from the 2018 Mac mini to the new 2024 Apple M4 Pro Mac mini.
The new Transcribe to Captions automatically generates text captions from clips in the Final Cut timeline. It fast and dead easy to use… except, there’s one small problem: It creates captions in the wrong format. In this demo, Larry Jordan shows how it works and how to change caption formats.
The new Transcribe to Captions Feature in Final Cut Pro – the first, big step toward speech-to-text. Here’s an illustrated tutorial on how this works AND an essential workaround that you need to know.
Here’s a detailed look at how I recorded my interviews at the NAB Show New York. This goes into detail in terms of how I edited, how clips were named and the audio effects and settings I used.
In this interview, Larry Jordan and Victor Ha discuss when is the time to step up to a camera from a mobile device, FujiFilm’s emphasis on color and film emulation, and how the process of creating images has evolved over the last few years.
In this interview, Larry and Simon discuss making the transition from still photography to moving images, how he finds clients and the key points he made in his keynote speech at the conference.
There are several reasons why you might want to send a project from Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve: For example, to create more complex effects in Fusion or more detailed color correction on the Color page. If you do, you also need to know how to get those files there and back.
There are several reasons why you might want to send a project from Final Cut Pro to DaVinci Resolve: For example, to mix the audio in Fairlight or do more detailed color correction on the Color page. If you do, you also need to know how to get those files there and back.
Sometimes, creating a custom effect can save you a lot of time – especially if you need to use it over and over. So, here’s an example of how to create a template in Motion, using a variety of useful Motion effects, that you can use directly in Apple Final Cut Pro. (I included both the movie and the Motion project.)
Guest post: Dr. Imed Bouchrika, PhD and BSc, is a Computer Science professor from the University of Southampton, UK, who specializes in eLearning, image processing, and biometrics. (Here are Larry’s rules for guest posts.) Implementing efficient export workflows can save …
Droplets are great stand-alone mini-apps. Watch folders are fast Compressor automations. Both can speed your work by automating the process of doing the same thing over and over Here’s how they work and which to pick for your work.
Captions are not titles, though both display text to the screen. In this short video, Larry Jordan explains the principle reasons not to worry about formatting captions.
There you are, immersed in creating your next epic – Ghost King Arising – when you are struck by a thought. “What, exactly, does a ghost king sound like?” Here are two audio effects in Apple Final Cut Pro – Alien and Spectral Gate – that you can use to answer that question.
This is a video interview with Noah Chamon, Solutions Architect for Cinedeck. In this, he describes Cinedeck, their latest products for NAB, their unique ability to patch media files, and the role he thinks AI will play in the coming year.
One of the harder tasks in color grading is changing the look of a clip when the lighting color itself changes during the shot. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to use color keyframes to change the color grade during a shot using Premiere Pro.
LUTs are a color lookup table. In this short video, Larry Jordan explains what LUTs are, how to use them to change the color of your clips, and how to properly set the new Color Settings panel in Premiere Pro.
Just because your hardware is fast, does not mean that your software is optimized to take advantage of that speed. Premiere is fast. Your hardware is faster. Here’s a detailed look at real-world editing on Premiere Pro.
Here are the settings you need to use when sending a file from Adobe Premiere Pro to Avid Pro Tools for audio mixing.
When it comes to removing backgrounds using a green-screen key, not all video codecs create the same image quality. Here’s what you need to know to shoot and edit the cleanest keys.
ChronoX is a utility that measures the elapsed time of Final Cut Pro exports in a precise and fully automated way. There are two versions: Standard (free) and Professional. Here’s a detailed review of what this software does.
In this short video, Larry Jordan compares the differences between using DisplayPort and HDMI when connecting external computer monitors to your Mac. One is a much better choice.
So, I wondered whether Final Cut Pro exported faster if you rendered the timeline before exporting. The answer surprised me – most of the time, it doesn’t. Here’s what you need to know to speed your exports.
Here’s a quick trouble-shooting tip. After buying my M2 Max Mac Studio, my second monitor starting flashing to black every few minutes. Here’s what it took to fix it.
Video Walls 3.0, by Luca Visual FX, is an extremely well-thought-out, highly-flexible series of 3D video wall effects. The controls are detailed and the results are mind-boggling. Even better, though, the defaults work without any modifications, so if you are pressed for time, you don’t need to tweak anything to get an outstanding effect.
This article takes a closer look at improving video editing and computer performance using SSDs and provide specific suggestions on the gear to buy and how to configure your system.
Export segmentation is one of the new features in Final Cut 10.7 that becomes available when you upgrade to macOS Sonoma. This harnesses the power of multiple media engines in Apple silicon chips to accelerate H.264 and HEVC exports in FCP or Compressor. While this makes exports faster, it also has other benefits – and limitations.
Apple updated Final Cut Pro to version 10.7 and included a number of new features. Here are details on three that are especially useful: Timeline scrolling, collapsing clips and faster H.264 and HEVC exports.
Apple Compressor is a stand-alone, Mac-based program that compresses audio and video into a variety of formats for distribution. Long derided for its slow speed and poor image quality, since the release of Apple silicon Macs, upgrades have dramatically improved its speed and quality. Here’s how it works.
Chapter markers first appeared as navigation for DVDs. Today, they are used in a wide variety of ways from YouTube to downloads. Here’s how to create them in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Even if you don’t own – or like – Apple Final Cut Pro, you can use Apple Compressor to manipulate media in ways other software doesn’t. For example, use Compressor to change the timecode of a video clip. Here’s how.
Curiosity is a dangerous thing. While it seems to make sense that creating smaller files would be faster, I never really timed it. So, today, before I sat down to write my newsletter, I figured I should. The results surprised me.
For video editors, any M-series Mac computer is a vast improvement over any Intel system. In this detailed review, Larry Jordan looks at setup and performance tests of the M2 Mac Studio computer using Apple Final Cut Pro.
The new Color Conform in Apple Final Cut Pro takes a really complex subject – matching color spaces – and makes it accessible and easy to use. Here’s how it works.
Audio is a huge part of any project. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to create and modify audio transitions in Premiere.
Recently, while writing a review of the BenQ PD2725U monitor, I realized that I have described how to change color space settings on external monitors incorrectly for years. Here’s the key rule you need to know.
Displaying video full-screen in Adobe Premiere is as easy as pressing a single key. However, for best results, when you have two monitors, this quick tutorial shows how to change preference settings to create a separate view and grading monitor.
Audio is a huge part of any project. In this short video, Larry Jordan presents three techniques you can use to repair problems with your audio.
CZUR has thought carefully about the features a book scanner needs to offer. The CZUR ET24 Pro is fast, flexible and provides key output options. It has limitations, but, for the price, it will do what needs to be done for most of us.
In the old days, to monitor video to see exactly what it looks like for color grading required an external video monitor. Today, that’s no longer necessary. Here are three different techniques to view full-screen video from cheap to high-quality.
