Blog Archives

An explanation of how to configure the new MacPro to get the best performance for the least amount of money. (This was written before the MacPro was released.)

A detailed product review of the Areca 8050 Thunderbolt RAID.

Always check to see if Final Cut supports your camera before you buy it.

A few weeks ago, AJA sent me a new KiPro Mini to take a look at.

For people pushing pixels (or waveforms) Thunderbolt is a high-speed, data storage birthday present.

If Blu-ray Discs are in your future as a Mac Pro user, you need to read this report from Michael Powles on installing a Blu-ray burner in a Mac.

I am advocating LTO-5 tape drives for archive and backup of our Final Cut Pro media. However, I still have not gotten this unit to work on my MacPro.

Ben Balser writes on editing H.264 video natively in Final Cut Pro.

I’m not a fan of QuickClusters because, personally, I’ve found them problematic and unreliable. However, if you can get them to work, then by all means use them.

When placing still images in DVD Studio Pro, a PNG will be autosized to fit, while a TIFF won’t. This article explains more.

Here is an easy trick from Loren Miller to accelerate the manual advance of slideshows in DVD Studio Pro by resetting the duration of all slides.

In this article, Larry Jordan answers a question about when to convert HD files to SD for editing in Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier.

DVDs are always standard-def, not high-def. So your AVCHD material will always look worse on a DVD than your source footage.

The best practice – and the most reliable – is to transfer the ENTIRE contents of the SXS card to its own individual folder on your hard disk.

One of our subscribers discovered one of the big differences between capturing in tape-mode, where you can combine multiple shots into one long clip, and tapeless, where each shot is stand-alone. In this article we examine how to avoid that problem.

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

A subscriber noticed that if there is a clip generator or any clip in a top track in the Timeline, the clip under the top track becomes invisible, making it impossible to edit using Playhead > Open Sync. He supplies three very helpful workarounds.

In this article we examine my personal favorite method to burn DVDs (Roxio Toast) as well as the most reliable way to burn a VIDEO_TS folder.

Inevitably, adding too many FireWire devices will cause problems. In this article we discuss some things to think about to keep your system running smoothly and avoid, at all costs, the dreaded “beach ball” .

Here’s a product review of the iStoragePro; a RAID with a rocket attached to it.

In this note we look at a hard-learned lesson regarding the perils of adding extension cables to Mini-DisplayPort cables.

In response to a subscriber’s question regarding the “blurry and aliased” look of his clips, Larry suggests that the problem may lie in the monitor settings.

In successfully working with tapeless media, I’ve developed an easy-to-implement workflow that will help prevent problems in your own projects.

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.

Dean Schweinler writes in to ask if he needs an AJA or a BlackMagic capture card to edit HDV. This article explains three options for capture.

Recent versions of Western Digital Hard Drives have had interface issues with Mac systems. This reader-submitted article describes the problem and a solution.

This article grew out of newsletter discussions over the last few months and features thoughts from experienced tape editors.

What’s the best video format for archiving materials? This is an easy question to ask, but a hard question to answer. Also, what’s the best way to preserve 1″ and 2″ master video tapes — especially since those machines are increasingly hard to find? This article gets you started in the right direction.

Larry explains the somewhat intensive process of shooting digital video for use with FCP.

Final Cut supports over 52 different video codecs, and this gets close to a hundred when you add a third-party capture card. How to do you choose which to use? This article explains what you need to know to select the best codec for your video.

Canon’s new HV20 camera shoots a modified version of 24 frame video. Up until recently, Final Cut did not easily support this format. In this discussion learn how to capture video from this camera, as well as a short discussion of when shooting 24 fps is appropriate.

As we move from the world of standard-definition to high-def video, understanding hard disk speeds and the data requirements of video formats can prevent a lot of problems. During my recent seminars, I spent a lot of time explaining hard drive speeds and video format requirements. This is a summary of what techniques I talked about.

It’s frustrating! You buy a hard disk only to discover you can’t move your data from one drive to the next. Here’s a personal case story, along with options on how to fix this problem.

Telestream Pipeline is a capture and output device that is unique in the features it provides Final Cut editors — specifically, its ability to share decks over a network and allowing an editor to start editing a clip before the capture is complete. In this detailed review, we show you how it works, and examine its strengths and weaknesses.

Scratch Disks are critical to Final Cut. If they are set improperly, Final Cut won’t edit. This article describes what they are, how to set them and how to trouble-shoot problems.

The Samson Zoom H2 recorder has a lot of good things going for it – price, size, and portability. However, when I was using it at NAB, the one thing that disappointed me was the audio quality. Read the review here.

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.

One of the terrifying facts of hard disk life is that a hard disk, unplugged and sitting on a shelf, will slowly have its magnetic data “evaporate.” While the time period varies, industry experts tell us its between one to three years! This article explains what you MUST do to safeguard your data. Best of all, its FREE!

Drobo has been making a lot of noise in the market with its new storage hybrid – part RAID, part expandable hard drive. I’ve been using one for a couple of months now and in this review, I put it to work and discover that it can serve a very useful role in editing, but not in the place you would expect.

Data Robotics released a new storage unit: the Drobo Elite. In this detailed product review, we examine how it works, how well it works, how fast it works, and what its limitations are.

The Drobo line of storage products offers a lot for video and audio editors. Their newest product – the Drobo FS – doesn’t help editors, but it CAN help around the office, as this detailed review explains.

Data Robotics makes a family of RAID products that can be very useful in a video capture and editing environment. This is a review of their latest unit – the Drobo S – which directly attaches to the computer via FireWire. I find these units to be especially useful on set when shooting tapeless media.

Editing is all about storage. Successful editing requires storage that is big enough and fast enough to keep up with your work. One company that specializes in meeting the needs of video editors is Dulce Systems. Here’s a look at the new RAID, the Pro Q.

Making sure you have the right equipment – and figuring out what equipment to buy – is probably the question I get asked the most. So, I put this article together to help you build the studio of your dreams.

Trying to figure out the best way to setup scratch disks is very confusing. In this dialog with Lachlan Coles, I explain ways to minimize problems. This isn’t the same thing as having Final Cut do what you want; but it does mean that your system will be both reliable and smooth.

The quality of slo-mo footage processing can vary by the level of equipment you possess. However, does this mean that you should upgrade? There are three possible answers here: Yes, No, and Maybe.

Larry explains in this article why a subscriber is having difficulty with a video transfer from his Sony hard disk recording unit (HVR DR60).

SSD (solid-state drives) are the latest fashion in hard drives. Impervious to vibration, with no mechanical movement, they are ideal for computers in rugged situations. But are they good for editing? This article provides answers to that question.

When you are ready to lay your final projects back to tape, the best way to do so is to use Print to Video. However, Edit to Tape is required if you need to record at a specific timecode on your tape. But this requires laying Timecode on your tape first. This article explains how.

Stuttery audio generally is a problem with bad preference files. But, on a MacPro, it can be caused by putting your capture card in the wrong slot. This article describes the problem and what you need to do to fix it.