Blog Archives

Final Cut Pro X can’t open Motion projects directly. But, using Motion 5, you can convert any existing Motion project so it will open and play in Final Cut Pro X. This short video tutorial explains how.

Rigs and widgets extend the power and flexibility of Motion into Final Cut Pro X. In this short video tutorial, learn how they work.

It takes planing during the shoot, but conforming is a better way to create slow-motion effects. Here’s how it works.

This short video tutorial shows how to animate a mask in Motion 5 – a very cool effect that is very easy to do.

In this tutorial, learn all the different ways, and sources, to create a freeze frame in Final Cut Pro X.

This technique shows how to use the new copy/paste attributes feature in Final Cut Pro X.

Here’s a quick article that looks at the new multi-image transitions in Final Cut Pro X and how to adjust them.

A tutorial illustrating how to use the Effect Controls tab to position, scale, and add effects to a video clip in Premiere Pro CS6.

Create a favorite effect – a traveling matte – in Final Cut Pro X using this step-by-step technique.

Here are three different step-by-step techniques you can use to hide a face – or anything else – in Final Cut Pro X.

Step-by-step tutorial on how to add 3D movement, keyframes, lights and color changes to a picture-in-picture effect in Smoke.

You can add Ease-In and Ease-Out acceleration to keyframes in FCP X. This article explains how.

Final Cut Pro X provides a very easy way to match audio between clips. This is useful when you have recorded the same talent on different days using different mics.

Here are two techniques that make a big difference to me when I am working with effects: Remove Attributes and Paste Attributes.

In this technique, you’ll learn how to save custom audio filter settings in both Final Cut Pro X (FCP X) and Soundtrack Pro.

A picture-in-picture effect is a very popular effect in that it allows us to see two images at once. This tutorial shows you how to create this in FCP X (Final Cut Pro X).

A quick tip for FCP X: if you are adding Ken Burns moves to two clips and you need to add a transition between them, apply the transition first.

This technique shows you how to create hold frames, remove them, adjust their duration, and change the frame that freezes in Final Cut Pro X.

Here is a simple technique to match the sound of two different audio clips using Soundtrack Pro.

Roles are new with Final Cut Pro X (FCP X) and can help manage complex projects through keywording your audio and video clips.

Alex Gollner has posted a new, FREE, effect for Final Cut Pro X — it’s an eight-point mask.

The latest version of OS X — Lion — is now shipping. While many people are excited, I recommend taking a cautious approach to upgrading any systems that you depend upon for editing.

Here’s a quick effect to create a “pull quote” using the Motion tab in Final Cut Pro.

Apple rewrote both the Constant and Variable Speed change interface for FCP 7. In this technique learn how to create speed changes using FCP 7.

A clip collision generally occurs when you are trimming. Specifically, when you are ripple trimming.

This is a very cool technique that changes the color and display of your text as the background changes.

This is a very fast way to edit multiple camera angles into the Timeline in FCP 7 – without using multi-clips.

A subscriber recounts the difficulties, and the workaround that fixed them, he experienced with Buzz lines cropping up in a project.

For those of you interested in a more technical look at the Broadcast Safe filter, Dennis Couzin, technical assistant to a video documentarian based in Germany, sent me the following article that he wrote.

A subscriber, creating titles for a 16×9 movie that will go to SD DVD, writes in asking whether he keep his text in a 4×3 title safe grid. In response, we look at how Title Safe is defined.

In this article we examine Final Cut’s usage of multiple processors to enhance rendering speed, the possible alternatives, and more.

In this article we give a quick examination of how to upsize an original 4:3 sequence into a 16:9 timeline.

A clever trick for working around Final Cut’s resetting of transitions is supplied by subscriber, Richard Day, using a temporarily set up dummy edit.

In addressing a subscriber’s question we look at what makes 3D work, what’s required to best create the desired effect in Motion and what makes them difficult.

While at the Director’s Guild of America’s “Digital Day,” I was impressed by a fabulous presentation given by Scott Billups called, “Zero Post.” In this article we’ll take a look at this process and the great opportunity it offers us.

Here are a series of thoughts I jotted down during the presentations at DGA Digital Day, specifically during a long session devoted to 3D video.

In this article we examine how SmoothCam is processor-dependent, faster computers working this program more quickly, and recommend a couple of options to speed up the process without upgrading your system.

Ben Balser had a client whose audio filters were grayed out in the Effects > Video Filters list. The problem was Effects Availability. In this article we walk you through how you can control which effects are displayed from the Effects tab in the Browser.

A quick question about preserving LiveType settings when upgrading to Final Cut Pro 7 is asked and easily answered.

A variable-speed clip is one that changes speed during playback; as opposed to a “slow-motion” clip, which remains at the same speed for the duration of the clip. There are two ways these variable speed effects can be created and this article shows you the technique.

What’s the difference between 8-bit and 10-bit video and why should editors care? Well, if you are doing a lot of effects, you should care a lot and this article explains why.

New with FCP 5 are render settings and video processing controls that help keep your video “broadcast safe.” This article explains how they work while giving you techniques for using them.

Vignettes are a great technique for highlighting something or softening edges. This article explains how to create a vignette in Final Cut Pro, as well as some ideas on how to adjust it to create different effects.

Dealing with shifting color temperatures during shooting presents a raft of problems during editing. This article describes what you can do during shooting to compensate for color temperature changes, as well as how to “fix it in post.”

Here’s a technique that can totally change how you think about sequences, nests, and the special effects you can create with them.

Video images are not the same as computer images — and what you don’t know WILL get you in trouble. This article explains what you need to know to keep your tapes from being rejected for technical reasons.

New with Final Cut Pro 7 are two shortcuts: Zoom In/Out at Playhead on Timeline. However, they don’t do anything until you assign them to a keyboard shortcut. But, what if you want to assign them to your mouse? This article shows you what you need to know to do it.

Rendering is the bane of an editor’s life. Waiting for the computer to calculate an effect can seem interminable. What can be done to speed rendering and what causes it to slow down in the first place? This short article answers these questions.

You’ll find that you can retouch images directly in Photoshop. You will need Photoshop Extended CS3 or CS4. In fact, I created a video tutorial that shows you how.

The problem with reverb is that the effect needs to continue after the clip ends. While Soundtrack Pro has some great audio filters, often there just isn’t time to move your project from Final Cut to STP. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use nesting to create a reverb effect inside Final Cut that can last long after the clip itself is over. Best of all, this is both quick and easy.