Blog Archives

Ever needed to find what video you haven’t used in your edit? Here is a very fast technique you can use in Final Cut Pro that shows all your unused clips.

What happens when you change Final Cut’s display background to any color except black? Much less than you think. Here’s why.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

The View menu has changed in FCP-HD, making it easier to select how you want to monitor your audio and video. This quick article explains what you need to know.

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.

While you can create watermarks in FCP, Compressor provides a much better alternative. This technique shows you what to do.

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

Sometime between February and June, 2009, all broadcast television stations in the US need to convert from analog to digital transmission. However, this is NOT the same as converting from SD to HD – they are not, necessarily, related. While the current changeover timing is being debated in Washington, here are some answers to your questions.

XDCAM is generating a lot of interest for its high-def quality and small size. This discussion began with a question about using it for archiving – which spawned a lot of additonal thoughts.

QuickTime can make viewing 16:9 anamorphic video a bit difficult because it always displays video using square pixels. In this article, discover the secret to getting QuickTime to show your video correctly.

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.

Adding DVD chapter markers to a QuickTime movie is reasonably easy. But how do you do this for H.264 compressed video. This article describes what you need to know.

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.

get is the new kid on the block — an almost magical piece of software that searches your audio files looking for words you type into a typical text entry window. If you know “you’ve got the file around here somewhere,” but haven’t a clue where it is, get is for you, as this product review explains.

NewBlue is new to the Mac, but not to creating effects. They’ve been producing video effect for Windows users for years. This product review takes a look at several of their new plug-ins for Final Cut Pro/Express/Motion. Featuring a very easy to use interface, there is a lot to like.

Adobe Premiere can create text transcripts of your media files. prEdit takes those transcripts and allows you to edit a rough cut for either Premiere or Final Cut just using those transcripts. For editors wading through a ton of material trying to find just the right quotes, this software can make your life VERY easy, as this product review explains.

Down-converting HD to SD using Compressor provides better image quality than using Final Cut Pro. This article shows you why.

Understanding how to read the Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope are essential to getting the best possible pictures out of Final Cut Pro. This article gives you an overview of how to read them and what they mean.

The video scopes in Final Cut, while accurate, don’t show the entire picture. If you use the scopes in your work, you need to read this warning.

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.

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.

Most of the time, we edit using the final image quality from our cameras. But, in the case of HD-CAM SR, that may not be possible, as those video files are HUGE! In this article, a reader asks how to use EDLs when trying to capture tapeless media. Depending upon how the off-line, low-resolution images were created, this story has either a happy, or very sad, ending. You can read the options here.

Here are a series of tips to create great looking text in Final Cut Pro.

Here’s another technique that grew out of a recent webinar — creating cast shadows using Boris Title 3D. Title 3D is bundled with your version of Final Cut, so you already have this installed on your system.

Here’s a simple technique that creates a very interesting effect using one of the ugliest generated texts in Final Cut.

Simply editing a text clip to the timeline isn’t enough. If you are planning on keying your text, use superimpose instead. This article shows you the three-step process and tells you why its important.

Through edits are marked by red “bow-ties” which indicate cuts in a track where there’s no change in video or audio. This brief technique provides three different ways to get rid of these edits.

With the release of Final Cut Pro v5.1.2, Apple added 53 new filters. Here’s an article that shows you how to create interesting “trail” effects.

Travel mattes are a fascinating multi-layer effect with countless uses. Here, we use a travel matte to blur portions of an image to prevent identification, or to draw attention to the portions that are in-focus.

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.

Nothing causes more confusion for video editors than trying to figure out how to size still images for video. I’ve written extensively about this in the past — which is referenced in this article — this is an additional follow-up.

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.

Way over on the left side of the Timeline are a set of gray buttons that very few people understand. However, when you know how to use the Patch Panel properly, you’ll be able to edit any clip to any track instantly. I use this ALL the time and can’t imagine editing without it. This tool is also essential when you want to make a video-only, or audio-only edit.

Transcoding is the process of converting video (and/or audio) from one format into another. Generally, compression is done for final delivery, while transcoding is done from one editing format to another editing format. In any case, when should you transcode? This article explains the three options and provides suggestions on which one you should pick.

Final Cut does not like editing compressed video. However, what’s the best way to convert MEPG-2 video, which is compressed, into something Final Cut likes? This article tells you what you need to know.

The lighting is perfect, the acting superb, the audio flawless — except the boom mike has crept into the top of the frame. Here are several quick techniques you can use to get rid of it — without reshooting.

One of the effects I wanted to create for my training was a reflection of a moving clip of video. This is what we are going to create in this technique.

Final Cut makes it easy to move files from one place to another — provided you have your files and system setup correctly. This article explains what you need to know.

In order to create a multiclip in Final Cut Pro, all the clips in it MUST match for codec, frame rate, and image size. They must also contain continuous, uninterrupted timecode.

One of the more useful new goodies in Final Cut 7 is all the new functions that markers now support. Since we are talking about multiclips, I wanted to mention a specific marker feature you may not know about.

The only problem with creating multiple versions of the same file is the time it takes. In this article, I explain how you can do this faster and easier by automating Compressor, than just doing one file at a time from Final Cut Pro.

Nesting is the process of placing one sequence inside another sequence. There are many reasons why this technique is useful. This article highlights several of them, including ways to fix problems when your nested audio does not appear.

The debatable “nightmare” of offline editing is discussed, with Larry strongly recommending the creation of DVCPROHD 23.98 fps masters to keep the frame rate and image size constant and greatly simplify the final on-line edit.

A reader asks how to create a PAL DVD. In this article, I provide a reference for file conversion, then talk about the Compressor setting you can use to compress your files. (I also include a link to lots more training on DVD creation.)

With the release of Final Cut Studio 2, Apple created a new high-end codec entitled ProRes. With the release of Final Cut Studio (3) they expanded it from two variations to five. What is ProRes and how do you decide which version to use for your projects? Answering that question is the purpose of this article.

Creating keys on the computer is easy – and they look great. Where problems occur is when those specials effects are shot with interlaced video and displayed on an interlaced TV set or monitor. This article describes how to avoid suddenly discovering that all your effects look out of focus.