New ! Thoughts on "The Cloud" - An Interview
There's a lot of talk these days about previewing, accessing, storing, even archiving media in "the cloud;" a vast amorphous pool of storage on the Internet. But is this a good idea? And what are some ways we can take advantage of this? In this interview with Peter Chang, president of Oxygen Cloud, we discuss what the cloud is, how we can take advantage of it, and what some of the limitations are. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Studio Suite v. 3)
New ! Creating Motion Menus for DVD Studio Pro
Last month, I wrote about how to create DVD menus in Photoshop. This month, I show you how to create motion menus for DVD Studio Pro using Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. This detailed, step-by-step procedure shows you everything you need to know to make your menus look great. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; DVD Studio Pro)
New ! Explaining AVCHD Discs
AVCHD Discs are a nice compromise between full-HD Blu-ray Discs, and the standard def DVDs we've all been using for the last 20 years. While, currently, Final Cut Studio can not create Blu-ray Discs, it can create a version of Blu-ray called "AVCHD." This article explains what AVCHD Discs are, why you would use them, and how you create them. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 7.x)
New ! Interlacing vs. Deinterlacing
Interlacing, deinterlacing, progressive -- three very confusing terms to many people. This article explains what they are, when you use them, what to do when you see them, and why you should care -- not, in many case, not care at all. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.0x, 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Getting Audio Sample Rates to Match
I got burned by this when I was prepping my most recent webinar for posting. My audio slowly slipped out of sync. I hate when that happens. What I discovered is that the Soundtrack Pro sample rate preference setting overrides the sample rate of the Final Cut Pro project, resulting in a slow sync drift that will drive you nuts. This article explains what you need to know to fix it. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! It Ain't the Endian of the World
In the category of "you don't know what you don't know," here's an interesting piece of trivia. Ever wonder what that checkbox called "Little Endian" means when you are saving audio? This article tell you so you can now impress your friends. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.0x, 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Audio Mixing to Improve the Clarity of Speech
One of the signs of getting older is that our hearing is not as sharp as it once was. So one of the things I do in my mixes is to be sure that I make things as clear and easy to understand as possible. This article walks you thru the specific steps you can take in Soundtrack Pro to make your audio as clear and distinct as possible. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Soundtrack Pro v. 1.x, 2.x, 3.x)
New ! Audio Mixing to Improve the Clarity of Speech
One of the signs of getting older is that our hearing is not as sharp as it once was. So one of the things I do in my mixes is to be sure that I make things as clear and easy to understand as possible. This article walks you thru the specific steps you can take in Soundtrack Pro to make your audio as clear and distinct as possible. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Soundtrack Pro v. 1.x, 2.x, 3.x)
New ! Ingesting Footage Via AJA Cards
Here's a conversation between Peter Tours, of TNT Video Services, and Tony Lauria, of AJA Technical Support, on the best way to ingest footage using AJA video cards. (Reprinted with permission.) (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 6, 7.x)
New ! Removing Audio Tracks From a Video Clip
Sometimes, especially when merging clips, you get more audio tracks in a Final Cut Pro timeline than you want. This article describes a couple of different ways you can get rid of them. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Positioning Text in Final Cut Pro
What's the best way to position text in Final Cut Pro, and why does the position shift as you change justification? This short article explains the why and how. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 4, HD, 5.0x, 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Color Shifts with Still Images
Have you ever created a still image, only to see the color or gray scale shift when you imported it into Final Cut Pro? This article explains what's going on and how you fix it. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 4, HD, 5.0x, 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! The Benefits of Creating a New User Account
An important trouble-shooting technique is to create a new user account to eliminate corrupted preference files. This short article explains why you should consider doing this, and what the potential problems are. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Studio Suite v. 1, 2, 3)
New ! Export Keynote Slides for Video
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. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Creating Motion Menus for DVD Studio Pro
Last month, I wrote about how to create DVD menus in Photoshop. This month, I show you how to create motion menus for DVD Studio Pro using Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. This detailed, step-by-step procedure shows you everything you need to know to make your menus look great. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; DVD Studio Pro)
New ! Interlacing vs. Deinterlacing
Interlacing, deinterlacing, progressive -- three very confusing terms to many people. This article explains what they are, when you use them, what to do when you see them, and why you should care -- not, in many case, not care at all. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 5.0x, 5.1x, 6, 7.x)
New ! Audio Mixing to Improve the Clarity of Speech
One of the signs of getting older is that our hearing is not as sharp as it once was. So one of the things I do in my mixes is to be sure that I make things as clear and easy to understand as possible. This article walks you thru the specific steps you can take in Soundtrack Pro to make your audio as clear and distinct as possible. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Soundtrack Pro v. 1.x, 2.x, 3.x)
New ! Audio Mixing to Improve the Clarity of Speech
One of the signs of getting older is that our hearing is not as sharp as it once was. So one of the things I do in my mixes is to be sure that I make things as clear and easy to understand as possible. This article walks you thru the specific steps you can take in Soundtrack Pro to make your audio as clear and distinct as possible. (Published: Aug. 2010 ; Soundtrack Pro v. 1.x, 2.x, 3.x)
Creating a DVD Studio Pro Menu Using Button Highlights
Want to give your DVDs a more professional look? In this detailed, step-by-step article, you'll learn how to create menus and button highlights in Photoshop, import them into DVD Studio Pro, build a menu and add buttons, all to create a professional-grade menu. (Part 1 of 2 - the second part discusses how to create a motion menu in Final Cut Pro for a DVD.) (Published: Jul. 2010 ; DVD Studio Pro)
Picking the Right Version of ProRes
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. (Published: Jul. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 6, 7.x)
AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs - A Testimony
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. (Published: Jul. 2010 ; Not Applicable)
An Analogy for Video Bit-Depth
Video, generally, has two bit-depths: 8 and 10. In this short article, I provide an analogy that helps to understand what bit-depth is, why its important, and when you should consider working in 10-bit depth. (Published: Jul. 2010 ; Final Cut Pro v. 6, 7.x)
Gear Report: Covering the NAB 2010 Show for The Buzz
In this post-NAB 2010 report, I show how we covered this huge trade show for the Digital Production Buzz. 16 reporters, crew of 22, live hourly audio brodcasts, and daily one-hour show specials. This goes into the gear, the process, the file naming conventions ... everything. (Published: Jun. 2010 ; Soundtrack Pro v. 2.x, 3.x)
Crisis du Jour: What's Happening to Final Cut?
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. (Published: May 2010 ; Studio Suite v. 3)
