Blog Archives

An analysis of the Mac Pro “sneak peek,” with thoughts on what it means for video editors.

A detailed tutorial on HTTP Live Streaming and how to compress video files for it.

This video tutorial shows how to create shape masks and use them to adjust exposure levels within a video clip using Final Cut Pro X.

This short video tutorial shows how to use DeHummer in Adobe Audition CC to remove audio hum.

MotionVFX mFlare creates a dazzling array of lens flare effects, which can be used as is, or modified extensively.

  Editing Master Class — May 14, 2013. Need an objective critique of your project? Looking to improve your editing skills? Stuck for ideas on where to take your project from here? Looking for better ways to tell stories with …

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

This video tutorial shows you everything you need to know to create a great-looking key with Final Cut Pro X.

A series of techniques to replace, remove, or hide a clip in the Primary Storyline.

Final Cut Pro X now supports importing layered Photoshop graphics. This technique explains how this works – and recommended image sizes to use for images.

A step-by-step technique to motion track two clips using either Motion 5 or Motion 4.

This is a collection of keyboard shortcuts to speed trimming clips in Final Cut Pro X.

Surround mixing adds a new level of creativity to your mixes. This article explains the basics.

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

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to compress video for YouTube using Adobe Media Encoder CS6.

Here’s a quick tip to move clips in Final Cut Pro X.

Here are two audio repair techniques to remove power line hum and remove audio glitches.

Four light effects in Final Cut Pro X to add visual interest: vignette, spot, shadows, artifacts.

A hardware review of the RAIDAGE GAGE104U40 series 4-bay RAID, manufactured by iStarUSA.

In this article, I want to illustrate some of the new features in this version of FCP.

General Errors in Final Cut Pro 7 (and earlier) are often caused by either bad clips or bad render files. This article explains how to fix them.

Auditions are new in Final Cut Pro X for comparing two or more shots in the Timeline. This technique shows how this works.

Stories are a very powerful technical feature in DVD Studio Pro that allows you to alter the normal flow of your movies. This article shows you how.

Editing a montage of still or moving images to music is a typical editing activity. In this tutorial, I want to show you a technique you can use for your own projects.

Sometimes, you need to edit a clip into the FCP X Timeline based upon the Out, not the In — think sports highlight. This type of edit is called a “back-time edit;” because it edits from the “back” of a clip. This technique shows you how.

With the release of FCP X: 10.0.3, Apple made a subtle change to both transitions and preferences. In this tutorial, I show you what the changes are, and how they affect the way we apply transitions.

Although Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro are designed to work smoothly together, that doesn’t mean you are limited to only using Premiere Pro with Audition. In fact, there is a very nice, very fast way to move projects between Final Cut Pro 7 and Audition, which I want to show you here.

In this tutorial, we look at multitrack editing in Adobe Audition. Starting with how to create new projects and import files, to how to edit them in the Timeline, this step-by-step training explains what you need to know.

iMovie user can easily move both iMovie Projects and Events into Final Cut Pro X. This tutorial explains how to do it.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to display, or hide, closed captions in QuickTime X or QuickTime 7.

Chapter markers were traditionally the domain of DVDs. However, both QuickTime movies and MPEG-4 movies for the web can also contain chapter markers, which makes navigating through a long movie a lot faster when you are trying to find a specific section to review. Here’s how to display them in QuickTime 7 and QuickTime X.

Open in Timeline is a hidden menu item in Final Cut Pro X that allows you to modify a clip in the Event Browser without removing it from the Event Browser. This technique allows you to solve problems that are not easy to solve any other way.

Optical flow, and it’s less sophisticated cousin, Frame Blending, are techniques that Final Cut Pro X uses to smooth playback of extremely slow-motion clips. This tutorial shows you how to apply and use them in FCP X.

The purpose of the Limiter filter in FCP X is to make soft audio louder while preventing the louder passages from distorting (which happens when audio levels exceed 0 dB). In fact, when used properly, the Limiter filter virtually guarantees that your audio won’t distort; as this article explains.

The best way to improve the quality of your picture is to improve the quality of your sound. However, what that means in real-life is moving files from your video editing software into audio editing software.

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.

The Activity Monitor in OS X is one of those unsung utilities that I find indispensable. It allows you to look inside five key areas of your computer to tell you what’s going on. Best of all, you can’t hurt anything using it – because its simply a monitor.

Recently, I wrote about how to add video to a shape in Final Cut Pro 7 While adding video to shapes is reasonably easy in Final Cut Pro 7, it is almost impossible in FCP X. So, this week I decided to create a video tutorial on adding video to a shape in Final Cut Pro X.

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

Is it possible to permanently link video and audio clips together? Larry teaches you how to create a Merged clip.

Are you getting the “render error: insufficient disk space” message? You just need to create more free space on your hard disk by deleting files you don’t need.

The easiest way to control editing audio or video to the Timeline is with the patch panel. However you can also use the Button List to search for shortcuts.

Stuttering, frozen display is one of the hallmarks of non-native video. FCP can edit it, but can’t play it smoothly.

Soundtrack Pro suffers from the same problem as Final Cut Pro – both applications can only access 4 GB of RAM.

Is it possible to carry custom Final Cut Pro keyboard shortcuts in a pen drive and install it on another machine? Here’s a technique to help you.

What is the best version of ProRes to use for HDV?

Which version of ProRes should you select in Log and Transfer for a Canon 7D? Which is better for the Canon 7D format?

A reader wanted to know how to display video on the monitor using an AJA card. So he contacted AJA, who responded with this.

Dual Layer break points are determined by where the VTS segments are located, not just which is the longest, or most logical, clip within which to place a break point.

Larry walks you through looping a DVD, along with reader feedback on how to make those loops seamless.