Blog Archives

This short video tutorial illustrates which fonts are best for video and which ones should be avoided. These “rules” apply to all video projects in all NLEs, on both Mac and Windows systems.

A quick technique to create subclips in the Event Browser of Final Cut Pro X.

This short, step-by-step video tutorial illustrates the new hover-scrub feature in Adobe Prelude CC.

In this short video tutorial, learn how to size still images to look great in Final Cut Pro X.

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

Photoshop is legendary for fixing image problems. But the Extended version can also retouch video, as this video tutorial illustrates.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

When importing a video into DVD Studio Pro, if you encode at the end of the project, your assets are not converted to MPEG until you start to build the project.

DVD SP contains drop zones, which you can use to add video or images to a menu. Here’s how.

A few days ago I wrote about my frustrations in finding archiving solutions. The next day, I had a long phone conversation with the executive team at Cache-A plus a long email from HP.

I’ve become increasingly concerned as I talk with producers, editors, and vendors that we are rapidly moving into a tapeless environment without any realistically priced options for long-term media archiving.

Larry answers some questions regarding the different codecs that Final Cut Express captures vs. Final Cut Pro, as well as fielding a question on audio waveforms.

David Scott was having a problem creating a DVD using a Compressor Template. Until he solved it. Here’s what he did.

Here’s what you need to convert GoPro video files to before importing them to FCP.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Donald Smith sent in the following explanation of DPI and I thought it would be something you might want to read.

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.

Although there’s no universal answer for this question, in this article we look at what RAID system or otherwise, that I personally recommend using for various types of video editing.

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.

I am not a fan of Capture Now, however, for some formats Capture Now is the best option. I like the workflow one subscriber suggests in this article.

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.

An extensive email correspondence with editor/subscriber, Patrick Nugent, concerning some difficulties with video artifacting and the solutions he found, is summarized in this article.

Growing out of a topic originally posted on our Facebook page, this article serves as a summary of our subscribers’ biggest challenges with the industry’s reliance on tapeless video.

A subscriber, William Aleman, writes in with a valuable tip on the feature that successfully locks QuickTime movies from being downloaded or saved by the visitors on the Internet.

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.

Experiencing a problem exporting a sequence as a mov and finding that the quality of the QuickTime is soft, a subscriber is referred by Larry to a previous article and walked through an easy QuickTime7 solution.

Larry weighs in on the issue of selecting between the Animation codec and ProRes 4444, following a subscriber’s question regarding importing files into Final Cut.

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

In answering a subscriber’s questions regarding working with three different formats we examine issues like selecting the best codec to use, converting frame rates, and more.

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.

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.

PluralEyes was specifically designed to sync clips and create multiclips based upon their audio. However, it can also sync clips in a sequence – even if there are timecode breaks in the clips – by aligning the audio.

In responding to a subscriber’s request for AVCHD advice, I explain my recent change of opinion, and why I now favor using the Log and Transfer function.

When using Media Manager to archive media the key point to remember is that you need to select what you want to manage BEFORE selecting it from the menu. And, I always select what I want to Media Manage in the Browser, not the Timeline.

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

This technique explains creating, working with, and deleting subclips. It also illustrates the main reason we create subclips.