NOW AVAILABLE AS AN IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD THROUGH DVcreatorsUniversity!

Includes $180 of objects and textures from LiveType Central. (See examples below.)

LiveType PowerStart excerpt 1	LiveType PowerStart excerpt 4
LiveType PowerStart excerpt 2	LiveType PowerStart excerpt 5
LiveType PowerStart excerpt 3	LiveType PowerStart excerpt 6

LiveType is a sophisticated and powerful motion graphics and titling application. Unfortunately, most users are only scratching the surface of this software—and not realizing the real potential of LiveType. The included documentation and other educational products show the obvious features but don’t begin to explore the true power waiting deep within LiveType.

LiveType PowerStart is for anyone wanting to unlock the hidden potential of LiveType, to truly comprehend how the software works, discover secret shortcuts and timesavers, and absorb a stream of awesome looking techniques, tips and tricks for creating mind-blowing eye candy.

But LiveType PowerStart goes beyond helping you master the software—it is also a learning experience about creating motion graphics: designing titles to support your message, making choices and customizing elements to fit your project, learning how to make titles and graphics interact with each other, as well as integrating your LiveType projects into your Final Cut Pro (and Final Cut Express!) workflow for titles as well as a textures and object library.

Download today and make the software you already own much more valuable!

NOTE: The version of LiveType included with Final Cut Express has fewer textures and objects than the version included with Final Cut Pro. Although all the techniques shown in the LiveType PowerStart course apply equally to both versions, there are some elements shown in the tutorials, like a matte shape and a LiveFont, that are not included with the Final Cut Express version of LiveType. We don’t consider this a major issue, since you can just substitute a different matte and LiveFont and get the same effect.

For new users to professional editors

Requirements: Mac OS X, QT 7+, 1024 X 768 or bigger monitor

Availability: Download Now!!

outline:

Some of the content you’ll find on LiveType PowerStart:

interface project & title properties slanted and bezier curved baselines centering text in frame shortcut circular text stylizing livetype titles comically warped text trick spooky text cool text-in-text trick title legibility avoiding jitter on TV sets applying attributes and styles to individual letters “hand-drawn” text trick naming effect tracks accessing a wide variety of graphic symbols for graphic design determining active parameters keyboard shortcuts changing speed of animating properties ease in/ease out multiple keyframes multiple livetype effects The most important LiveType Power Tip ever understanding track lengths enabling/disabling individual effects adjusting multiple keyframes cool tutorial on the most popular text effect ever for movie trailers or TV commercials

livetype letter sequencing adjusting keyframes on sequenced effect tracks applying effects to textures a cool tutorial on matting video content multiple texture tricks filling titles with textures looping textures livefonts customizing livefonts applying effects to livefonts creating and saving your own templates changing properties in the main title track vs. effect tracks matte timing/looping you can’t fill a title with an object, right? Wrong! filling an object with a texture creating a custom effects category saving custom effects PowerStart intro animation tutorial a really cool workflow shortcut the best way to modify titles once they’re placed in FCP (and FCE) livetype workflow: superimposed titles importing background footage using LiveType markers measuring duration in Final Cut Pro (and Final Cut Express) and much more!

After years of releasing training products and having people ask “Why don’t you teach us how you made that awesome opening animation?” we made sure LiveType PowerStart includes a monster tutorial on exactly how we made the open animation, step-by-step!

Finished Tutorial Examples.

Livetype PowerStart Mattes	Livetype PowerStart Templates
Livetype PowerStart Animation	Livetype PowerStart Textures

Perfect Quality.

We use proprietary production methods to deliver crisp, sharp, high quality visuals to your computer screen, unlike fuzzy, headache-causing VHS tapes and DVD video discs. The movies on LiveType PowerStart are a huge 1024 X 740 (compared to 800 X 600 for most training products) so you get the whole picture.

“In-context” learning.

Unlike other products that cover tools and concepts in a jumbled, unrelated order, each and every concept and action presented on this course is in the context of completing a real world task. So, when working on your own projects, you’ll immediately be able to put what you’ve learned to work.

Self-paced.

Learn at your own pace. Quickly move through sections you understand, make your virtual instructor go over difficult concepts as many times as you need without worrying about other students or the time limits of a class. You have total control.

Community Support.

No one should have to learn alone. Our “Ask a Question” button will allow you to post your question on our LiveType forum for thousands of others, including our own industry-leading instructors. You can ask questions, offer advice, and share tips in a collaborative, organized online environment on the very topic that you are currently learning.

Created by the top experts.

The LiveType PowerStart course was created by DVcreators.net, the world leader in desktop movie training. We have more experience in Apple digital media software training than anyone else on Earth!

LiveType Central Free Objects and Textures.

Livetype Central Object 1	Livetype Central Object 2	Livetype Central Object 3
Livetype Central Texture 1	Livetype Central Texture 2	Livetype Central Texture 3

Frequently Asked Questions.

I already own the LiveType PowerStart disc. How can I get the course through the DVcreators University without having to purchase another copy?

Please email us at info@dvcreators.net with your contact information and order information, if available.

How do I download the free objects and textures from LiveType Central?

Click here for instructions on how to download and install the super cool objects and textures from LiveType Central.

This is a common question and there are several answers:

First, the Final Cut Pro Canvas usually shows titles and graphics more pixelated and lower quality than the actual quality. Render a title and play it on a real monitor – or render and export a 10 frame test to disk and view to see the true picture.

Read these articles on monitoring: http://www.dvcreators.net/tag/monitoring/ for more info.

If you are rendering to the DV codec, you will see an instant drop in quality. But don’t worry, as long as you export to a lossless codec your final project will look great.

This article shows how to export in high quality.

If you are delivering on SD DVD, you have a challenge. NTSC and PAL are not perfect formats- and SD is low resolution and fuzzy. If you’re a graphic artist used to creating crisp, clean pixel perfect graphics in Illustrator or Flash on your expensive LCD display, you’re in for a big surprise. Keep your fonts and graphics big and bold, and put a drop shadow or slight glow on your titles. Keep checking on an external NTSC or PAL monitor if your project is slated for SD delivery. Watch TV and see what graphic styles look good on your TV set- and model those.

Here’s a list of nevers:

1. Never trust the Canvas Window to show quality
2. When using Motion or Livetype, never render to a lossless codec like DV before importing into FCP – import the project or render to a lossless codec
3. Never export from FCP using H.264 or any other lossy codec – always use a lossless codec (PJPEG at 90% – 100% is an exception)

For more info, check out:

Final Cut Pro Foundations

Final Cut Express Foundations

Here are the steps:

1.	Launch LiveType PowerStart through DVcreators University.
2.	Click the “option” popup menu in the lower left part of the main menu screen, and choose “download free objects and textures from LiveType Central” in either NTSC or PALThis will start the files downloading in the background. While downloading, you can continue watching the course (or any other course).
3.	Once all the files have completed downloading, you will have 3 folders on your Desktop.
4.	In a Finder window, go to your hard drive’s Library/Application Support/LiveType folder.
5.	If you do not have a folder called “LiveType Data” in this folder, then drag the downloaded “LiveType Data” folder from your Desktop to your Library/Application Support/LiveType folder. OR If you already have a folder called “LiveType Data”, then drag the contents of the downloaded LiveType Data folder into your existing LiveType Data folder.
6.	Go back to your Desktop and open the Objects folder. Drag the “12_Inch_Design” folder from inside the downloaded Objects folder to the Objects folder in your LiveType folder.
7.	Go back to your Desktop and open the Textures folder. Drag the “12_Inch_Design” folder from inside the downloaded Textures folder to the Textures folder in your LiveType folder.

That’s it!

The next time you launch LiveType you will see your cool new objects and textures from LiveType Central! Check out their other collections, and enjoy!

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.

Bare Feats is at it again, with speed tests of the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros: