Blog Archives

Final Cut makes it challenging to line things up properly in the Canvas or Viewer, because there are no grids or guides. Here’s a quick technique you can use to create your own grids.

Apple, on April 18, 2004, announced the latest version of Final Cut. Larry attended the event and files this report, then updated it in June with more information direct from Apple.

QuickTime does not always properly display 16:9 video. This means that iDVD may not accurately compress your video in the correct image aspect ratio. This article explains what you need to do to fix this problem.

There are two categories of edits inside Final Cut Pro — Insert and Overwrite. This article describes what they are, when to use them and faster ways to get them done.

Here’s a short article that describes what to do if you are experiencing jittery video playback. We look at what could cause it and how to fix it.

PPMs are something we never hear about in North America. All our audio is measured in dB. However, in Europe, PPM is THE standard of audio measurement — and Final Cut does not support it natively. This article explains what you need to know, and how to measure audio in PPMs.

Here’s a seven-step process to export your Final Cut video sequences to Flash.

Keynote is a very fast way to create bullet slide and animated text for video. However, when it comes time to export your images, this article explains how to do it fast and with the best quality.

MXF is the native format for a variety of HD video formats. However, it is not one that Final Cut Pro currently supports. This short article details what you need to know to get your QuickTime video into MXF format.

One of the current limitations of Final Cut Studio is that it does not natively support creating Flash video output from a Final Cut Pro sequence. However, all is not lost. This article describes three different ways you can get what you want.

The Grad filter has been used by professional photographers for decades. Now, this same power is available to you inside Final Cut Pro.

Dramatically slow motion is easy to create in Motion – if you know where to look. This article details all the steps you need to take to make your fastest shots move in balletic slow-motion.

Creating a slow-motion clip is easy: Modify > Speed. But what if you want to create a fast-motion clip and your hard disk isn’t fast enough to keep up? This short article explains what you need to know.

Creating favorite filters is just a quick drag away, using this technique.

Tired of recreating the same effects over and over again? Final Cut has a better way – create a Favorite Effect. This article shows you how fast and easy this is.

Have you been mystified by all the different files FCP creates? This article explains what you need to know – and where they are hidden.

You know the drill. Someone at Apple coughs and suddenly the rumor mill is filled with frenzied statements that the doom of Final Cut Studio is at hand. “The Death of Final Cut” rumors have gotten to be as regular as spring floods or a plague of locusts.

The default video transition in Final Cut Pro is a 30 frame cross-dissolve. This article shows you how to change it.

Final Cut is not, generally, used for live recording. However, in this article, discover how one reader uses it for live recording and simultaneous playback.

As Eric Mittan writes: “My favorite keyboard shortcuts are those that are contextual. The function of the keys in question change in the context of what task is being performed, or what item is selected, or what tool is chosen in order to get a different, if slightly related result.

I am getting periodic reports of missing render files inside Final Cut Pro. This short article may give you a hand in tracking down the problem.

The best way to archive your project is to organize it before you even start. This article provides a host of tips on getting organized, what to save and how to go about it.

As we move away from tape and into tapeless video, questions about how to best archive our projects take on a new importance. For many, the issue revolves around the hardware we use to archive. But there is a second question: what video format do we want to use to store our files for the long-term. In this dialog with Philip Hodgetts, we examine this very complex issue and provide some guidance.

Asymmetric trimming allows you to trim the audio and video in opposite directions at the same time. I’m still not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Here’s how it works.

Final Cut expects all cameras to shoot audio at 48 kHz. But, what happens when they don’t? Well, you get audio drifting out of sync, or no audio at all. Many low-end cameras record audio at 32 kHz. This technique shows you what you need to know to capture your audio accurately.

There are very few things that cause as much confusion to video editors as working with audio. In this technique, I show you a very efficient technique for structuring where to place audio in your timeline and suggest audio levels that can make your project sound GREAT! If you read only one audio article this month, this is the article to read!

When capturing from tape, Capture Now should always be your last choice, not your first. Sometimes, when using Capture Now, your audio may drift. If that happens, read this article.

This article shows the best way to get audio out of FCP so you can finish your mix in your favorite audio program.

Here’s a neat trick to make a constant speed change to a video clip without changing the sound of the audio.

This is a quick simple technique to automatically create keyframes for an audio filter. Basically, audio key-framing in real-time.

Audio in FCP is clip-based, rather than track-based. This article describes a variety of ways to change the levels of more than one clip at once.

Ever wonder what levels to set your reference tones to? Should you output tone at 0 dB, -12 dB,-18 dB, or -20 dB. In this discussion, Larry is joined by Woody Woodhall, president of Allied Post, to get a better understanding of the issue. And, yup, it’s just as confused as we thought!

Final Cut Pro hates compressed audio. This article explains the problems you will having working with it, as well as providing a simple conversion process that solves the problem.

Using Pro Tools to mix your Final Cut Pro project is a great way to achieve excellent audio. However, there are some tricks you need to understand in this process, as explained here.

Setting the correct audio recording levels on a video camera is crucial to obtaining the best sound during production. This short article explains some of the choices and what you need to know.

Here is a great trick to solve one of the features of FCP that drives me nuts — we can’t slip keyframes. But, here, in this article, I’ll show you an undocumented way to slip audio keyframes. Very cool and very quick.

It’s easy to create burned-in timecode for video clips. But what about visible timecode for audio clips? The answer is “maybe,” but probably not.

Understanding how auto-render works can save you hours on each project. Here’s a step-by-step that explains it.

With FCP version 4.1, Apple changed the rules on how copy and paste work. You now need to know about “auto-select.” This article explains it.

Every clip in Final Cut supports up to three timecode tracks — a primary and two auxilliary tracks. This article describes how to access them, change the timecode they contain, and idea on what to use them for.

Here’s something to try when Final Cut won’t open after an upgrade. Most likely, it’s due to bad plug-ins. This article describes what to do to fix it.

Faster is always better, when you can maintain control and quality. Here’s a VERY fast way to reset clip durations in the Browser that can save you tons of time, when compared to doing it one clip at a time.

I have a client who’s beginning to edit to documentary that has over 100 hours of material to be edited into a 30-minute documentary. What he wants to do is log each clip, then copy that logging information out of Final Cut so he can load it into Excel. The advantage of exporting all this data is that he can think about his clips, and share this information between producers, without running Final Cut.

There are two questions I get asked a lot: what’s the best camera, and what’s the best hardware. This article explains why answering the hardware question is so difficult. It isn’t that there’s no answer, its that the answer is TOTALLY dependent on what YOU need. Take a look here at why.

Keyframes and motion paths are used in Final Cut to move images around the screen. However, every keyframe contains additional Bezier controls if you know where to look. This article shows you where they are and how they work.

In spite of the hype, optical media is not dead. The two variations for HD media – AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs – are still valuable tools in an editor’s toolkit. In this article, David Scott writes about his success in using Blu-ray Discs to meet the needs of his project.

A brief, but important, reminder on the subject of FireWire cable limits.

Unlike NTSC, which requires frequent monitor calibration, PAL color is pretty stable. However, for those situations where you need to make sure your PAL monitor is showing colors accurately, this article will tell you what you need to know.

Final Cut Pro is, most often, used for editing after the recording is complete. However, there are some situations where you need to record live and edit as soon as you can. This article talks about that and provides options to consider. There’s also some relevant reader feedback.

What do you do when you have hundreds of hours of material to capture? Well, first, you have a number of decisions to make. This short article outlines what you need to know before you start.