May 17, 2007 in dvcTV, editing by grace
If you’ve ever realized that you logged your footage with the wrong log clip settings, here’s a great tip that’ll solve it for you.
Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Pro workflows.
For more info, check out:
May 4, 2007 in digital video news, dvcTV, editing, post visuals by Josh
Have you ever found yourself changing the file names of a whole folder of clips, graphic or other files on your hard drive one by one? Here is a Warp Speed Workflow showing how to change hundred of files names in one click.
Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Pro workflows.
For more info, check out:
April 25, 2007 in DVD, broadcast, cinematography, editing, film, lighting by Josh
If your projects are going to be delivered on DVD or broadcast, it’s important to have an accurate studio monitor on your desk so you can see your project as your viewers will see it while you’re editing.
Why?
First, many editing programs show you a low quality “proxy” of your timeline, so you can’t judge color correction, brightness, saturation, contrast, how titles or graphics will look, or any other aspect of the picture accurately.
Can I just enable a second computer monitor to show video and that will work?
With some editing programs, you can enable a second monitor to show a pixel-accurate view of the video, which will give you a lot better picture of what your viewers will see in terms of graphics… but color won’t be as accurate. Computer video is based on RGB, not YUV color space. A computer LCD will display a different gamut of color than an LCD TV. For example, some colors are “impossible” in NTSC or PAL that show just fine on a computer screen.
In the past, for DV monitoring, I’ve always used a Sony PVM 14″ studio monitor, it seems the right size for desktop monitoring, plus it usually has a handle right on top, meaning as you go out the door to a shoot you can grab it and bring it on the set as a reference or “safety” monitor while shooting.
Here is a list of such monitors on eBay.
For DV, if your budget doesn’t cover a studio monitor, or if buying one would force you to sacrifice something more important, you might first check eBay for a used one, or, a television is still much better than nothing! A TV with an S-Video input will give you better results than a simple composite connection.
UPDATE FOR MONITORING 1080i HDV:
Professional HD monitors are still expensive.
So, here’s an idea:
You can buy an LCD TV/computer monitor (the lines are being blurred more every day) that can be used for three different purposes.
Read the whole article here.
April 21, 2007 in dvcTV, editing by Josh
Q: I’ve deleted the audio, or video portion of a clip in my Final Cut Pro timeline. But now I want it back. What is the DVcreators.net Warp Speed Workflow™ way?
It’s called “Match Frame and Replace.” Click to watch the movie.
Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Studio workflows.
April 15, 2007 in digital video news, editing, post audio, post visuals by Josh
Notable points:
Professional scopes provide precise monitoring of chrominance and luminance values via waveforms, histograms and new 3D scopes. Color offers a seamless roundtrip workflow where projects can be sent from Final Cut Pro 6 directly to Color for grading, finishing and final rendering with 32-bit float 4:4:4 image processing.
There’s also a royalty- free library of over 5,000 professionally produced foley and sound effects, including over 1,000 surround sound effects and evocative multi-channel music tracks. A powerful new Conform tool enables users to synchronize and track changes between
picture and sound editorial.
Final Cut Studio 2 – Upgrade from Final Cut Studio
Availability: Ships in May
Price: $499.00
Final Cut Studio 2 – Upgrade from Final Cut Pro 1,2,3,4 or FCP HD
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Price: $699.00
Final Cut Studio 2
Availability: Ships in May
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April 9, 2007 in dvcTV, editing by Josh
If you’ve ever chosen the wrong reel name, or entered the wrong reel name on accident here is a cool tip to show you how to fix that.
Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Studio workflows.
April 4, 2007 in dvcTV, editing, post visuals by Josh
A frequently asked question by new Final Cut users is about creating titles and not being able to see changes as they make them. This movie shows how to see changes while editing your title, all in real-time! Wa-Hoo!
Click here to ask a question about Final Cut Pro.
March 1, 2007 in digital video news by Josh
Nattress Big Box of Tricks includes the existing filters from the discontinued Nattress Set 1 and Set 2, as well as several new filters.
The package consists of eight groups of filters, one group of generators and one group of transitions:
Blurs: These filters give you several different ways to blur your image, or parts of your image. Includes: G Cool Blur, G Directional Blur, G Horizontal and Vertical Blur, G H and V Blur Glow, and G Radial Blur.
Extra Touches: In this group you find filters that add a little something to your video. Includes: G Beauty, G Bug Eye, G Earthquaker, G FBM Noise, G Lens Flare, G Reverberator, G Split Screen, G Star, G Theartrical and G Tone Enhancer.
FixIT: Each of these filters addresses a specific problem, and fixes it. Includes G Alpha Expander, G Chroma Smoother, G Copy Channel, G Deflash, G Deflicker, G Field, and G Reinterlacer.
Image F/X: This group of filters modifies the look of your video and includes G Diffuse, G False Colour, G Monochrome, G Posterise, G Saturator, G Saturator Balanced, G Sharpen, G Surreal, G Threshold, and G Tint.
Levels And Curves: These filters are designed to give you precise control over the tones in your video, operating in either RGB or Y’CbCr space for creative control. Although Final Cut Pro has some in-built plugins for Levels and Contrast, they can be tricky to use and do not provide the creative control that these plugins offer. Includes G Contrast, G Detail Contrast, G Detail Levels, G Hyper Contrast, G Levels, G Simple Contrast, G Simple Curves, G Simple Levels, and G Super Levels.
Noise Reduction: Some useful filters to reduce/eliminate static and buzz. Includes: G Chroma Noise Reduction, G Spatial Noise Reduction, and G Temporal Noise Reduction.
Time Tools: These filters play with time and/or fields and frames. Includes G 50 Percent, and G Timelapse.
TV Effects: When you need to create the look of television, with all its quirks and faults, these filters give you the tools you need. Includes G Analogue, G Chroma Shift, G Digital, G Head Clog, G Resolution, G RGB TV, G Roll, G Scratch, G Shift, and G TV Lines.
Transitions: Here you will find several innovative ways to get from shot A to shot B! Includes G Burn, G Directional Blur Dissolve, G Dissolve, G Glow Dissolve, G Horizontal and Vertical Blur Dissolve, G Lens Flare Transition, G Long Dissolve, G Sharp Dissolve, and G Spring.
Generators: Look here for plug-ins to create animated lines for your next Indianna Jones style epic, animated video strips, countdowns, bar graphs or random symbols for alien manuscripts. Includes G Bars, G Countdown, G FBM Noise Generator, G Fields and Frames, G Laser, G Lines, G Long Lines, G Random, and G Video Strip.
Nattress Big Box of Tricks visit http://nattress.com/
January 19, 2007 in editing by guy
The First Card for OS X & Final Cut Pro to Offer HD, SD Analog & Digital I/O
Not an entry-level card, KONA LHe offers a full ride to HD with no-compromise, 10-bit uncompressed video, 2-channel AES and 8-channel embedded audio, analog composite/component video I/O, 2-channel analog audio I/O, broadcast-quality hardware downconversion and TBC on analog inputs. KONA LHe bridges the analog and digital worlds by offering I/O for both. A lot of card for a low price, KONA LHe also features dual-monitor desktop viewing for editing ease. The KONA LHe comes standard with a breakout cable and also works with the optional KL-Box-LH for rackmounted I/O convenience.
Supporting native 10-bit resolution, KONA LHe provides optimum quality for SD and HD – the maximum allowed in SMPTE SDI standards. Using QuickTime format, KONA LHe captures directly to 10-bit files on disk, and also supports many legacy 8-bit formats for backward compatibility. KONA LHe also supports DVCPROHD and HDV, DV25, DV50, JPEG and more.
In addition to perfection in video, KONA LHe offers all the audio support you’d ever want: native OS X multi-channel audio and 24-bit AES/EBU digital audio at 48kHz for digital production. For ease of use, KONA LHe also includes hardware sample-rate conversion on AES inputs – eliminating source synchronizing requirements.
Because of it’s unique HD/SD analog I/O, KONA LHe is perfect for not only uncompressed and Apple ProRes 422, but also HDV and other diverse workflows.
AJA Kona LHe
Availability: Usually ships same/next day
Price: $1599.95
January 19, 2007 in editing, editing products by guy
HD … anywhere you want it.
AJA’s Io HD is the latest in the award-winning Io family of products—an effortless to use, transportable plug-in solution for working with HD and SD in Final Cut Studio 2. With a single FireWire 800 connection, Io HD uniquely supports the amazing new Apple ProRes 422 Codec natively, in hardware, to bring production-quality HD editing to the Mac Pro desktop and even the MacBook Pro laptop!
Io HD is the only device in the world that supports Apple’s ProRes 422 codec in hardware, enabling true 10-bit video editing on a MacPro desktop or a MacBook Pro laptop. With this high performance hardware and innovative codec from Apple, you can work anywhere in SD or HD—all in full-raster 10-bit 4:2:2 quality.
Like other members of the Io family, Io HD offers unparalleled video and audio connectivity. Within its portable and ruggedly cool form factor, Io HD offers SD/HD analog I/O, SD/HD digital I/O including HD-SDI and HDMI, Balanced analog and digital AES audio, as well as RS-422, Genlock, and even LTC timecode connections. Io HD also includes AJA’s realtime hardware 10-bit up/down/cross conversion.
Io Flexibility with KONA-level Power Io HD is a versatile powerhouse, bringing features pioneered on AJA’s industry-leading KONA lineup such as 10-bit hardware-based up-conversion, cross-conversion, and down-conversion—all performed in realtime. Just tap into its flexibility, and you can configure a Mac as a professional HD or SD editing suite, or high-powered field-editing system and just about anything in-between. Both analog and digital ports are offered, allowing connection to virtually every kind of video/audio peripheral — from the most current HD digital decks to analog legacy devices.Io HD SOFTWARE
Io HD runs on a new AJA-built driver, similar to the KONA driver, which brings features such as Core Audio and very low latency capture and playback. The Io HD driver also provides RGB support, allowing for the direct video output of applications such as Adobe After Effects,™ Autodesk Combustion™ and Apple Motion.™ Co-developed with Apple for use with Final Cut Studio 2, Io HD delivers powerful audio/video capture, editing and post-production capabilities— all in a single, integrated system.
AJA IO HD
Availability: Usually ships same/next day
Price: $3295
January 13, 2007 in editing by guy
Logickeyboard’s custom keyboard for Apple Final Cut Pro / Express, is based on the original Apple Pro keyboard. It offers plug-and-play setup with any current or recent USB-equipped Apple computer, with good feel and stylish appearance.
The custom keyboard for Final Cut Pro / Express makes Final Cut editing with the keyboard a lot simpler and faster. It is ideal for post-production facilities, professional video editing houses, and anyone else who requires all the custom key commands to readily accessible from a dedicated, clearly labeled, color-coded keyboard. Using this keyboard is also a great way to learn the Final Cut key commands.
Since the LogicKeyboard™ also features all the regular letter, number, and symbol labelling that you will find on a conventional keyboard, it can simply be used as a substitute for your standard keyboard.
Logic Keyboard for Final Cut
Availability: Usually ships same/next day
Price: $99.00
January 5, 2007 in editing by guy
FxFactory Pro is first choice for any FxFactory user looking for the richest combination of plug-ins and features.
150 Plug-ins Included
Start with the Motion Pack (40 plug-ins) and Editing Pack (40 plug-ins), both included with your purchase of FxFactory Pro.
Enjoy exclusive access to the 70 plug-ins in the FxFactory Pro Pack.
Unique Features
Modify and create your own plug-ins for Final Cut Pro and Motion without writing a single line of code.
Solve specific tasks with custom plug-in development.
Share your plug-ins easily with other FxFactory Pro users.
Sell your plug-ins by joining the growing number of companies that are using FxFactory to deliver plug-ins for Final Cut Studio.
Noise Industries FxFactory Pro
Availability: Usually ships same/next business day
Our Price: $399
January 3, 2007 in editing, editing products, film products, post audio, post visuals by guy
The Motu V4HD
Motu V4HD
Price: $2749
December 31, 2006 in editing by Josh
Watch the movie below for the probable solution.
When you trim a clip, there is (usually) “extra” media before and after the part of the clip you want in your timeline. (That’s what trimming does, allows you to select a portion of a clip that will show in your movie)
COOL TIP: If you select the Slip tool by pressing “S”, and click on a clip in the timeline, you’ll see a brown outline showing you the extra media on either side of your “trimmed” clip.
Another way to see what handles are on your clip is by double clicking it, then noticing how much footage lies on either side of your in and out marks.
When you add a transition between clip #1 and clip #2, FCP uses the media AFTER clip #1 to dissolve (or whatever) into the media BEFORE clip #2.
If there is no extra media after clip #1 or no extra media before clip #2, then your transition will be only 1 frame long! (Or give you the error message “Insufficient content for edit”)
Solution: always capture more of a clip than you’re going to use- “trim” the clip in the Viewer by setting in and out points.
Another cool tip: If you haven’t got it yet, our Final Cut Pro Foundations course has a lot of info on this topic- and all others!
WATCH MOVIE: Why are my transitions too short?December 27, 2006 in broadcast, cinematography, editing, location sound, post audio by Josh
I have shot multicam concerts locking up timecode by beaming wireless audio SMPTE timecode to all cameras and recording it on Ch 2, but I can tell you it was a big hassle and a waste of time.
My recommendation for multi-camera shoots is to either:
1. Use TOD (Free Run) Timecode
TOD (Time of Day) timecode is a switchable option on some recent camcorders. With this option, you can synchronize multiple cameras, then each camera can start or stop at will, and the timecode always reflects the current time, not the tape position, so the shot can always be matched to the other cameras.
The TOD timecode option on the Canon XL2 is shown near the end of the XL2 Feature Tour video on this page:
http://www.dvcreators.net/canon-xl2/
Here is a clever article by Chris Hurd on using Free Run Time Code for multicam shoots:
http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article11.php
2. Use Sync Point and Rewrite Timecode in post
If your camcorders do not have the TOD timecode option, the next best thing is to use a "sync frame".
Each time the cameras roll, shoot a sync frame, which could be a slate with clapper, someone clapping their hands once, or some other visual or sound cue that you can identify in all camera shots as the same frame. You’ll need to do this again each time you stop, then restart the cameras. It’s best if this sync point is visual and sound, since you can scrub picture to get close, then zero in on the spike in the audio waveform which is far more accurate (48,000 samples per second) than picture (24 – 29.97 frames per second).
Sometimes the sync frame is natural, like when shooting a live musical event, the beginning of each song could serve as a sync point.
In this case, it’s important to have wild sound (built-in camera mic) live for all cameras, since you’ll be able to easily fine-tune sync between the different cameras by emilinating the echo on the audio tracks.
Then, in your editing software, you can match the sync frames and all else should be hunky-dory. In some software, you can actually rewrite auxillary timecode for some clips so the timecode matches the A camera exactly. If you do this, don’t rewrite the primary timecode track, just the auxillary, or else you lose the ability to media manage, batch capture, etc.
November 27, 2006 in editing by Josh
There have been many people trying to import various types of video files into Final Cut Pro- H.264, MPEG1, Sorenson, AVI etc. Sometimes the clips might sputter through… but often, they’ll redline and not play at all- or even crash the program, and possibly corrupt your project file.
Download the free trial of DV Kitchen! to batch convert video files to DV or any other editing format.
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