Moving Picture News

Nine Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems, two Avid Unity MediaNetwork shared-storage solutions with 9.6 TB each, and an Avid Xpress Pro system were used by production company Big Primate Pictures for picture editing, while Weta Digital, the film’s visual effects house, used two Media Composer Adrenaline systems linked through the Avid Unity LANshare shared-storage solution with 4 TB for visual effects editing. Check out the rest of this story at Avid's site.

Posted by MovingPicture at 01:43 PM

Performing a Slip Edit on Multiple Clips in Final Cut Pro 5

We have talked before about how trimming is the essence of editing and how having a firm handle on the various trimming techniques in Final Cut Pro can broaden your creative horizons, well here is another technique that you can add to your arsenal.

Read on to see how to slip edit multiple clips at once...

Slipping Multiple Clips Simultaneously

A slip edit only effects the in and out points of one clip, but in this example, we have multiple selections and will be changing the in and out points of multiple clips. Think of it as reframing the action that occurs in each clip, while maintaining their individual durations.

1. Press A to ensure that the selection tool is active.

2. Select more than one clip in the timeline on which to perform the slip edit. Keep in mind that these clips do not have to be adjacent to one another. You can hold the Command key and select any clips you like.

3. Press S to activate the Slip tool.

4. Type in a positive or negative time code number then press enter. It may feel weird to start typing in thin air, but just enter a value and the clips will be slipped by that amount. If for some reason one clip in your selection can not be slipped, none of them will be slipped. In this example, I have slipped the selected clips 5 frames forward.

Posted by MovingPicture at 01:40 PM

February 10, 2006

Using Split Edits For Dialog in Final Cut Pro 5

Whether you're cutting a piece for a magazine news show or meticulously laying down dramatic dialog, the Split Edit feature in Final Cut Pro gives you the power to set the pace and tone of a scene. The ability to overlap the audio and video of characters having a conversation is a great way to visually soften a straight cut.

Perhaps you've never paid close attention to it before, but you have see this technique used all over television and film: such as the intense reaction shot of Jodie Foster's character in 'The Silence of the Lambs' as she's being sized up by a caged Hannibal Lecter or the look of defeat in a criminal's eyes as he hears the evidence in 'CSI'. Much like many other functions in Final Cut Pro, there is more than one way to execute a split edit.

You can simply edit the clip to the time line, unlock the audio and video, then use the ripple tool to trim the audio and video, or you can designate separate in and out points for audio and video in the Viewer before laying the clip to the time line. This example will explain the latter of the two, since it may include procedures that you are unfamiliar with.

Performing a Split Edit in the Viewer Window

1. Double-Click on a clip in the Browser to load it into the Viewer. This particular exercise will work best if you use footage of a conversation between two people, but it can be performed on any clip allowing for audio lead ins to a new scene or cutaways.

2. Place the Playhead at the point where you want to make a video only in or out, then press CONTROL-I for a video in point or CONTROL-O for a video out. In this example, we have placed an in point for the audio at the beginning of the actor's conversation and placed a video out point where we want to cut to the reaction shot of the person he is talking to.

   
   
   

3. Place the playhead at the point where you want the audio in or out to be, then press OPTION-COMMAND-I or OPTION-COMMAND-O. In this example, we set the audio in a few frames before the video in and set an audio out after he had finished articulating his thought. If we were to have set the video and audio in at the same point, FCP would have then just created a typical edit point. For the sake of this example, we wanted you to see the visual difference between split edit points and the typical edit point.

   

4. The actor's audio is now longer than his video, when edited into the time line,

   

   allowing us, through the same procedure, to place the pleasant smile of the actress Amanda over the dialog of an old and dear friend as a reaction shot.

   

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:36 PM

Reveal File in Avid Express Pro

You capture all of your media into your bins and spend hours renaming files in your bins so they have meaning to you and those that will also be working on the project. This is a very important part of editing. The one major problem with this is that Avid does not rename these files on the actual hard drive. This can become very problematic if you are looking for that clip on your hard drive and it’s name is something totally different.

Well, Avid has a great solution and it is called Reveal File. In your bin highlight the clip you would like to find on one of your hard drives. Right click on it and select Reveal File. The only limitations to this are that is cannot be a sub-clip or a sequence. This will open Windows Explorer and highlight that clip. It may select just one of the audio clips or the video. You will notice a new window pops up and asks if you would like to reveal the next file. This will take you to the next corresponding file in that clip. If you have a V1, A1 and A2 then it will reveal all three clips after you tell it to reveal next file. Now you have found what you have been looking for.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:10 PM

February 09, 2006

Creating a Motion Path in Final Cut Pro 5

You can easily manipulate a clip's motion path in the Viewer Window to achieve some impressive animated effects such as the Animated Filmstrip. This tutorial will only focus on creating a motion path for a single clip.

Read more for the steps...

1. Open up the clip that you wish to use in the Viewer Window by double clicking it in the Timeline.
   
   
2. Go to the View menu in the Canvas Window and choose Image and Wireframe.
   
   
   
   
3. You will be able to see the effect more clearly if you deacrease the scale of the clip, so go to the Motion tab in the Viewer Window and set the scale to 50.
   
   
   
   
4. Place the playhead in the Timeline at the first frame of the clip that you are animating, so that you can see it in the Canvas Window. Make sure Snapping is turned on in the Timeline
   
   
5. Make sure your selection arrow tool is active by clicking on it in the tool palette or by pressing A on your keyboard.
   
   
6. While holding down the shift key, click and drag the clip from its center towards the left side of the Canvas Window so that it is halfway off screen. Holding down the shift key constrains the movement of the clip, keeping it in a straight line as you drag.
   
   
   
   
7. While in the Motion tab, you will need to expand the window pane by dragging its bottom right corner to the right. Position the Window so that it is not covering up the Canvas Window.
   
   
   
   
8. The timeline idicator within the Motion Window will be parked over the first frame of the clip that is in the Timeline area. You should see a slightly highlighted range in the keyframe area representing the clip on which you are performing the animation.
   
   
   
   
9. Locate the center parameter within the Motion tab and click on the Keyframe Button to insert a keyframe for your current clip position. You will see that two keyframes are placed at the location of indicator bar in the Motion tab.
   
   
   
   
10. This step is a little confusing and I will explain why in just a moment. Move the timline indicator in the Motion tab and snap it to the end of the highlighted range representing the clip and press the back arrow key on your keyboard once to move the indicator backward one frame.
    
    
    
    The white barrier in the keyframe area representing the end of the clip that we are working on is actually the first frame of the proceeding clip, this is why we had to move the indicator back one frame.
    
    
11. Go to the Canvas Window and Shift-drag the clip to the right of the screen. You will then see a motion path, representing the path that the clip will move along.
    
    
    
    
12. Play the clip from the beginning in either the timeline or the Canvas to review the effect.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:53 PM

Adding Shortcut Button to the Button Bar in FCP 5

If you have ever had the chance to do some editing on another editor's workstation, you will have noticed how different editors have created their own personal interface set up specific to their own particular ease of use. If you look at the Final Cut Pro interface, you will notice that there are button wells located over all the work area windows, allowing you to place shortcut functions in each of them. This ability will aid you in customizing your own personal workspace.

This enables you to be able to place the Import Files Button in the button well over the Browser or add the Add Audio Transition Button to the Timeline Button Bar.

Creating a Shortcut Button in a Button Bar

1 Go to tools > Button List

2 Drag an icon for the function that you desire from the list to the button well and release the mouse button.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:41 PM

Convert Flash to Windows Media on a Mac using Snapz Pro X

If you're looking to convert a Flash embedded .SWF file to Windows Media you won't find many compression tools to help you do it. The best solution I have for this is to use a product called Snapz Pro X which allows you to do screen capture via a movie capture mode. The makers of the product, Ambrosia Software, has a free downloadable trial version on their website that you can take for a test drive.

If you capture your video via Snapz Pro X using movie capture mode you can save to, for example, the MJPEG-A codec and then convert that video to the Windows Media format using QuickTime Pro and Flip4Mac both which are not included in the Snapz Pro X product.

Here are the steps to convert and capture your video:

1. Download and install the trial version of Snapz Pro X.
2. Open your Flash video in its player.
   
3. Start the capture using Movie Capture.
   
4. Start playing your video in your Flash player.
   
5. Stop the capture and save to MJPEG-A codec at the High Quality setting.
   
6. Open your QuickTime video (with MJPEG-A codec) in QuickTime Pro and convert to Flip4Mac.

Links
> Snapz Pro X
> Flip4Mac WMV Studio
> Get QuickTime Pro

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:32 PM

February 07, 2006

The Revert Project Command in Final Cut Pro 5

It is not uncommon among editors to have the urge to try something new or to shift gears and go in a completely new direction while in the midst of a creative project. The curiosity of a new pathway, the willingness to come out of your safety zone is a great trait for an editor, but may we suggest that you make a copy of your present sequence before venturing off into the unknown and be aware of the Revert Project Command feature?

The Revert Project Command in Final Cut Pro Pro is a handy tool that will allow you to return the project to the state that it was in the last time you saved it. This is good for testing new waters, but not for diving in. Keep in mind that the Auto Save feature in Final Cut Prois not saving the actual project, but storing a copy of it for later restoration. So, you should not solely rely on a last ditch effort to recover your work, such as the Auto Save feature provides, for saving your work. Instead, get into the habit of frequently manually saving your work. This practice would render the Revert Project Command less practical for making drastic changes and reverting back to its previous saved state. With all this being said, it is still an excellent tool for giving you the freedom to play with a few new ideas!

1. Click on the project's tab that you are working in that is located in the Timeline.

2. Go to File > Revert Project.

3. Click OK.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:36 PM

RealMedia Video Compression using RealProducer Basic

You can experiment with with using RealProducer Basic for video compression by downloading the free version of the product from RealNetworks. The RealProducer Basic software allows users to encode videos in RealVideo and RealAudio codecs and is geared for basic level users. There are some limitations using RealProducer Basic but you can encode video for up to three target audiences for Multiple Bit Rate streaming and get your videos on-line nicely. RealProducer Basic is great for those who don't need advanced compression features.

For individuals who need professional level features such as unlimited target audiences for Multiple Bit Rate streaming, Video Cropping, adjustments for Frame Size, Frames Per Second and Frame Rate there's another product called RealProducer Plus which would be perfect for you. It 's a great compression tool with some really nice features and it's reasonably priced.

RealProducer Basic and RealProducer Plus products are available for Linux and Windows platforms.

Here's a list of supported formats:

Uncompressed AVI, uncompressed MOV, uncompressed WAV; any compressed or uncompressed file types supported by DirectShow (e.g. compressed AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2*, MPEG4, AU and AIFF); any compressed or uncompressed file types supported by QuickTime (e.g. compressed QT, MPEG1, MPEG2*, MPEG4, AU and AIFF)

Information Links:
> Download RealProducer Basic for Windows and Linux
> Learn more about Real Producer Plus features and how it can be used for On-Demand Compression and Live Webcasting

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:33 PM

Exporting an Image Sequence in Final Cut Pro

Exporting a series of images from your sequence is performed a little differently than exporting a single frame image in Final Cut Pro. You can export a sequence of images in the format of your choice via exporting Using Quicktime Conversion. Set a range in your sequence for export using in and out points.

Read on for details...

1. After you have opened a sequence into the Timeline, you can set your in and out points for export as a Numbered Image Sequence.

2. Go to File > Export > Using QuickTime Conversion.

3. Designate a place where you want the files to be saved. I recommend creating a new folder for this export.

4. Click on the FORMAT pull-down menu and choose Image Sequence from the list.

   

5. Click on the USE pull-down menu and choose a setting.

   

6. Click on the Options button in the Export Window to set other options for bit depth and compression under the Options button of the Export Image and Sequence Settings box.

   

7. Click OK after you have made changes in the Options menu, in this example JPEG Options, and in the Export Image and Sequence Settings box and Click Save in the Export Window to export your image sequence.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:30 PM

Exporting to QuickTime DV-NTSC, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, or PhotoJPEG Prior to Encoding

If you have videos on your Non-linear editor that are destined for the web, exporting your videos as a QuickTime DV-NTSC, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, or PhotoJPEG prior to encoding will help you get great quality. DV-NTSC, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, and PhotoJPEG are all codecs found inside QuickTime on Non-linear editors such as Avid, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Using this process allows you to then take your videos into encoding tools such as: Compression Master, Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite, ProCoder, Flix Pro, Cleaner and many others. These encoding applications will produce files small enough for the web delivery.

When exporting content with these codecs in QuickTime it's mostly about the quality settings. The higher the quality setting the longer your export will take and the better your quality. For example, the PhotoJPEG codec at the highest quality setting of 100% is actually a 4:4:4 codec but if you bring down the quality setting to 75% Quality it becomes a 4:2:2 codec which is even better sampling than DV at 4:1:1. MJPEG-A and MJPEG-B are also capabable of producing 4:2:2 quality.

Do you want to know more?
> Learn more information about the DV-NTSC, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, and PhotoJPEG QuickTime CODECS
> Learn how to export QuickTime using DV-NTSC, MJPEG-A, MJPEG-B, and PhotoJPEG CODECS

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:20 PM

Uploading Streaming Video or Audio Files Using Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver works great for authoring web content but it also works well for uploading your streaming video and audio files.

Here's what you need to do to FTP (upload) your streaming files using Dreamweaver:

1. First create a folder for your streaming videos.

2. Open Dreamweaver and Choose New Site from the Site pull-down menu.

   

3. Once the Site dialog is open select the Local Info category and click on the Advanced Tab and give your Site a name (This can be any name you choose to use for identifying your FTP site).

4. Next, click on the folder icon under Local Root Folder and navigate to the folder you specified as the folder for your streaming videos.

5. Now click on the Remote Info category under the Advanced Tab and select FTP for Access. Type in your FTP Host information i.e 120.21.120.76 is an example of what you might type in for an IP address.

6. Type in your User and Password to the FTP location on your Streaming Server and Select test to check your connection to the Streaming Server.

7. If you have problems connecting select the check box for Passive FTP.

   If your test goes well click the OK button and then choose Done on the Edit Sites dialog window.

8. Choose Site files under the Site Pull-down Window and click on the Connect button which looks like two cables connecting. Your computer should connect to the Streaming Server. Lastly, drag your video or audio files from your local folder (on your desktop) to your remote folder (on your Streaming Server) and your done.

Note: The above tutorial is using Dreamweaver MX. Some functions in Dreamweaver 8 are different but many are the same.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:16 PM

Switching between Source/Record in Avid Express Pro

Being able to load a sequence into the source monitor is one of the great features of Avid. Taking certain elements from your sequence and applying them into your timeline is something you will find yourself doing if you work projects that require the use of the same media. The one problem you might find is how do you look at your sequence and it’s edits without loading them into your record monitor.

Avid has a great solution for this and it is called Toggle Source/Record in Timeline. The Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button allows you to view multitrack source material quickly in the Timeline for selecting and marking specific tracks. Use this all of the time to select specific portion of your sequence for editing into a new timeline. This is a great feature that you should learn to use to get the exact results you are looking for.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:07 PM

A Fix For Choppiness in DVD Video

Just recently, a question was raised to instructor John Lynn at GeniusDV concerning a DVD made from video captured from a VHS tape by way of a Canopus device. The problem was that when the producer burned the captured material to DVD, their was considerable chopiness and pixel distortion in areas where their were fast movement. Here is the response to the question, which we think you'll find very useful if you have been experiencing the same issue.

'I've recently discovered that when you burn your DVD, make sure you encode your mpg2 file using a progressive frame output. This might fix your problem '

Read more for the steps to follow...

Follow these steps:

Open your Quicktime movie into Apple Compressor.

Export it out of Apple Compressor as an mpg2 file but make sure choose (progressive frame) output.

Then import the mpg2 file into iDVD or DVD Studio Pro.

-- John Lynn

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:04 PM

Using Markers in Adobe After Effects

One of the best and easiest ways to navigate through a project’s timeline in Adobe After Effects is with markers. With markers you can jump to an exact point within your project by pushing a specific number key when using a Comp Marker or mark a certain point on a layer by using a Layer Marker.

Comp Markers
In After Effects you are only allowed to create ten (0-9) comp markers per comp; so use them wisely. To create a comp marker press the shift key plus a number from your keyboard. (Do make a note that pushing the shift key plus a number from the keypad doesn’t work, believe me I tried.)

Layer Markers
Layer markers are a little different. You can have as many of these as you want. To create a layer marker simply select the layer you want to make a marker on and press the asterisk key on the keypad. (Not the keyboard, yeah I tried that one too!) Also you can double click a layer marker and write a comment. This is great when there are multiple users on a project.

To snap to markers hold the shift key while moving the Time Marker to a desired markers.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:58 PM

Nesting Sequences in Final Cut Pro 5

You may find it convenient in the process of planning the workflow for your film to create a new sequence in FCP for each scene and later edit them together in a finished master sequence. This particular workflow could really help you in the render department by allowing you the fexibility of being able to render all of your effects intensive scenes in separate sequences.

1. Drag the icon for your current sequence from the Browser into the Viwer Window.

   

2. Go to File > New > Sequence.

3. Double-click on the new sequence icon that appears in the Browser to open up the new Timeline Window.

4. You can now set in and out points in your sequence that was previously loaded into the Viewer.

   

5. Edit the source sequence into the master sequence just as you would a clip with an overwrite or insert edit.

   

Keep in mind that you could have also dragged the sequence icon from the Browser into the timeline or have dragged the video from the source sequence into the Timeline.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:52 PM

Performing a Fit to Fill Edit in Final Cut Pro

You can perform a fit to fill edit with multiple selected clips in the Browser by marking in an out points for multiple clips, selecting those clips in the Browser and dragging the top selection to the Fit To Fill overlay button located in the Canvas Window. You can either set in and out points in the Timeline or you can simply place the playhead over the clip where you want to start the edit and FCP will replace each consecutive clip in the timeline with each clip you had selected in the Browser Window. If you have chose more clips in the Browser than you have in your timeline, then you will recieve an 'insufficient content for edit' error.

With this being said, you will likely find it much more practical to perform this procedure with a single clip at a time due to the nature of Fit to Fill procedure, which we will discuss later.

Read on for directions.

Performing a Fit To Fill Edit with a Single Clip

1. Make sure you have the destination track selected for the edit.

   

2. You can either set in and out points for the edit in the Timline or in the Canvas Window or park the playhead over the clip you wish to replace. In this example, I have chose simply to park over the targeted clip. Keep in mind that you can also park the playhead over a gap you wish to fill in the timeline as well.

   

3. Double click on a clip in the Browser to load it into the Viewer.

4. Set your in and out points for the clip.

   

5. Drag the clip from the Viewer over to the Canvas Window overlay marked Fit To Fill, then release. You will see that the clip in the Viewer has replaced the designated clip in the Timeline.

   

There is a very significant consequence to utilizing the Fit To Fill feature that is woven into the very nature of its functionality and that is: the >speed of the clip that you are editing into the sequence will be adjusted so that the clip can fill that space without changing the length of the overall sequence. For instance, if you placed a clip with a three second duration into a gap that has a duration of seven seconds, the clip will have to be played back at a slower speed in order to fill that gap. The same logic applies if the duration of the clip is longer than the duration of the gap that it is filling. The clip would have to play back faster in order to maintain the finite duration of the sequence.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:48 PM

A Quick Way to Solo a Clip in Final Cut Pro 5

While in the process of editing, you can sometimes have second thoughts about a given clip's purpose or the action that it displays. A quick way to review the clip is to solo it. We have discussed soloing a track before, but this is a single clip and this can come in handy if you have video in tracks that overlap the clip.

1. Place the position indicator over the clip in the timeline.

2. Click on the clip in the Timeline to select it.

   

3. Press Control S or go to Sequence > Solo Selected Item(s).

   

4. Play the clip by either pressing the space bar or clicking the play button in the Canvas Window. You will now see the selected clip playback and that all overlapping video tracks have been disabled.

Press Control S or go to Sequence > Solo Selected Item(s) to reactivate the other clips in your sequence.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:41 PM

Creating Streaming Videos for Flash using On2's Flix products

On2 Technologies has some excellent tools for compressing your Flash content for real-time or on-demand streaming. Here's an overview of their products:

On2's Flix Pro offers professional-quality output and an amazing array of time-saving features including the ability to automatically output cool Flash players for your video. Create video for the web, video blogs, CD-ROMs, presentations, and limitless other uses! Flix Pro is priced higher than Flix Standard and is targeted towards those that want more professional level features for encoding and authoring.

Here are some of the Features of Flix Pro:
- Supports high-quality 2-pass Flash 8 video encoding
- Flix video works without a streaming server
- Output your video in a custom player automatically.
- Batch encode your videos.
- Convenient presets to prepare your video for streaming over the Internet
- Customizable and savable settings and options.
- Apply advanced Flash features without having to know any Flash.

The Flix Exporter offers professional quality FLV and SWF video output from multiple video applications that support the use of Quicktime plugins, including AutoDesk Cleaner 6, Canopus Pro Coder (Flash 8 video only), Quicktime Pro, Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut, and Apple Compressor.

Here are some of the Features of Flix Exporter:
- Export Flash 8 video from any QuickTime-enabled application
- Supports high-quality two-pass Flash 8 video encoding
- Simple user interface requires no Flash authoring experience
- Output both Flash 8 and Flash MX FLV video.
- Easiest way to create video for the Web, presentations, and CDs.
- Outputs a SWF file or a projector file (.exe)

Flix Standard encodes virtually every type of video, audio and image file into Flash, the most popular media format on the Internet. An amazing value, Flix Standard is the perfect entry-level video encoding solution. Flix Standard is priced a lot lower than Flix Pro and is great for those that don't want to spend a lot of money. Flix Standard does not have 2-pass encoding or alpha channel support.

Here are some of the Features of Flix Standard:
- Outputs excellent quality Flash 8 SWF and FLV video using the On2 VP6 codec
- Convenient presets to prepare your video for streaming over the Internet at any bandwidth
- Link your video file to any web site
- Output an HTML page to play your video with a click of the mouse.

Flix supports the following input formats:

Video : .avi, .dv, .mov/.qt, .mpeg, .mp4, .3gp, and for PC only: .asf/.wmv
Audio : .mp3, .wav, and for PC only: wma. For Mac only: .aiff
Still Image : .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .psd, .tif, .pic, .tga

Information link:

> Product comparison of On2's Flix encoding products.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:36 PM

MPEG 2 Import into Final Cut Pro

Here is a little piece of software that is truly amazing! STREAMCLIP, from the comapany Squared 5, is a high quality file converter for MPEG (1,2,3,4), transport streams and QuickTime files providing movie conversions that are compatible with Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro and Roxio Toast 6 and7. Perhaps what is even more amazing is the fact that it is ABSOLUTELY FREE and is available for Windows XP as well as Mac OSX!

For all of you Final Cut Pro Artists who have tried to place MPEG 2 Files into your timeline, only to get a video track with no audio, you can be happy to hear that this ware will allow you to export the MPEG 2 file to Quicktime, AVI, DV and MPEG 4 so it can be properly imported.

Simply open an MPEG 2 file into the application,

choose the method of export, which was Quicktime in this instance,

choose the frame size and Presto! You recieve a high quality Quicktime file that you could import into Final Cut Pro with audio intact. You also have more control of the final outputted file such as compression codec, quality, field dominace, audio sample rate and cropping capabilities. You have to check this out!

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:32 PM

February 06, 2006

Using The Range Selection Tool in Final Cut Pro

We have discussed in great length the application of filters to clips to achieve a unique look, well, the Range Selection Tool opens a door to even more possibilities and flexibility. The Range Selection Tool gives you the opportunity to select only a section of a single clip without the use of through edits, enabling you to appy an effect to a selected portion of a clip and not the entire clip.

1. You can either select the Range Selection Tool from the Tool Pallete or hit the G key three times in succession to activate it.

   

2. Simply click inside of the clip and drag your selection once the tool is activated. Now you can drag an effect to this selected area and add transitions to soften it.

   

You can also adjust the selected area that contains the filter: Double-click on the clip and load it into the Browser Window > go to the Filters Tab and drag the filter in the keyframe area to a new location.

Posted by MovingPicture at 07:01 PM

February 03, 2006

Copying Keyframes Between Projects in LiveType 2

LiveType makes it quite simple to copy and paste effects, keyframes and tracks between projects. This is excellent for saving you the time of having to recreate effects you have made from scratch.

Copying and Pasting Keyframes Between Projects

1. After you have opened the project that you want to copy a keyframe from, choose the keyframe by clicking it once, then Press command C to copy it. Keep in mind that if you were copying an entire track or effect you could have simply Control Clicked or Right Clicked with a two button mouse on a track, to copy a track or to the side of a keyframe, to copy an entire effect.

   

2. Open the project that you will be copying to and position the timeline indicator over the area where you wish to paste, in the effect track that you have laid down in the new project, and press either Command V or Control Click the track and select Paste from the menu.

   

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:51 PM

Flip4Mac WMV 2.0 - Windows Media Import and Export for Mac

The latest version of Flip4Mac WMV 2.0 - Windows Media Import and Export tools for Mac users are available for customers. These tools are designed to give users of QuickTime based applications additional options for import and exporting for Windows Media content.

Here's an overview of the Flip4Mac tools:

Flip4Mac WMV Import

Flip4Mac WMV Import allows you to import Windows Media video and audio for editing or conversion to other QuickTime formats. You can import directly into applications like Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express HD, QuickTime Pro and iMovie. You can also convert files from Windows Media to other QuickTime formats using applications like QuickTime Pro, Cleaner 6 and Sorenson Media Squeeze 4.3. With WMV Import, if you can play a Windows Media file, you can import it.

Flip4Mac WMV Studio

Import and export Windows Media files using expanded preset encoding profiles. Export Windows Media files directly from your editing system or media encoding application, including Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express HD, QuickTime Pro, iMovie, Sorenson Media Squeeze 4.3, AutoDesk Cleaner 6, Compressor 2 and more.

Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro

Adds the ability to create your own standard definition, one-pass encoding profiles.

Flip4Mac WMV Studio Pro HD

Adds the ability to create high definition and two-pass encoding profiles.

Note: These tools are available as an upgrade to the free Windows Media Components Plugin for QuickTime.

Learn more about Telestream and their Flip4Mac products that allow you to import and export Windows Media files from QuickTime Pro, iMovie, Cleaner 6, Sorenson Squeeze 4.3, Compressor 2, Final Cut Express HD, Final Cut Pro.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:33 PM

Customize Players for your Flash Streaming Videos

If you need to customize players for your Flash streaming videos you can use Flix Power Players. This is a package of 135 players that work with the Flix Pro Software. The Flix Pro software is available for Mac and Windows operating systems and comes with a limited amount of players.

What is great about the Flix Power Players is that they are customizable and you can add your own logo or text on the player. Some players come with draggable progress bars in which you can drag the progress bar to move the video back and forth. The are many styles to choose from. There is a cost for the Flix Power Players.

What's nice about customizable players and pre-made players for Flash is that they can be easy to work with and add a significant improvement in the quality of your web page design. In addition to the Flix Power Players, Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite comes with several pre-made players. The latest version, Sorenson Squeeze 4.3, has some some newer player templates that can be used with Flash streaming videos.

Information links:
> Customize your players for Flash streaming content by using the On2 Flix Power Players. This works with Flix Pro's automatic player output function.
> Download Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.3 to learn how to choose various player templates for Flash streaming videos.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:19 PM

Designating a New Default Setting in LiveType 2

After you have completed a few projects utilizing LiveType, naturally you will have discovered your own personal workflow and interface configurations. It is very important to know how to save you own personal configurations in order to be able to increase your work efficiency for the next project. Nothing is more precious than time when you are a working editor, except for the paycheck of course!

After you have configured LiveType's settings and interface to your liking, simply go to LiveType> Settings > Remember Settings.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:15 PM

Upgrading from QuickTime 6 Pro to QuickTime 7 Pro

When planning to upgrade from QuickTime 6 Pro to QuickTime 7 Pro you need to know that you will need to purchase a new license key for QuickTime 7 Pro. However, the application will make authoring a lot easier and is worth the purchase. Unfortunately, The old license key that you purchased for QuickTime 6 Pro will not work with QuickTime 7 Pro.

Once you are up and running with QuickTime 7 Pro you should love it! The thing I like best is that increasing the frame size for movies becomes easier. Now for QuickTime movies, you can easily type in the width and height for the frame size you would like to adjust your movie to. You no longer have to try to adjust the frame size by adjusting the movie player window. This task many times took a long time to adjust in QuickTime 6 Pro and there is a significant time savings in QuickTime 7 Pro.

Overall, the Movie Properties window is nicely designed providing better viewing of adjustable parameters and easier accessibility through tab browsing to items such as Annotations, Statistics, Visual Settings and Other settings. Now there is a nice volume slider to adjust the volume levels. Deleting tracks and extracting tracks is also a snap with QuickTime 7 Pro. In addition, it's easier to see the total tracks, including hint tracks, without having to navigate to a drop down menu.

Additional QuickTime 7 Pro features:

• The application has capture features that QuickTime 6 Pro did not have.
• It has the ability to easily export videos for the Video iPod and iTunes, easily making your video content portable.
• The new user interface is brilliant and makes creating streaming content a more enjoyable experience.

Other related articles:

Deleting Hinted Tracks in Quicktime Pro

iPod Compression Tests with Quicktime Pro

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:07 PM

Editing To The Beat in Final Cut Pro

The slug generator and the Replace Edit function can assistant you in finding a visual rhythm for a piece of music you have laid down.

1. First, you must remap the Add Edit function to a key from the Keyboard Layout Menu. Go to Tools > Keyboard Layout > Customize.

2. Type in the words add edit into the search bar located in the upper right of the window in order to locate the function.

   

3. Unlock the Keyboard Layout by cliking on the lock icon at the bottom left corner of the window, then drag the Add Edit icon to a key to replace a function that you use the least. In this example, I have remapped my numeral 1 key. Close the Custom keybaord Layout menu.

   

4. Click on the generator menu, which is located in the lower right hand corner of the Viewer Window and choose the slug option. You will then see that slug has been loaded into the Viewer.

   

5. After you have laid down your music to an audio track, edit in the slug as you would any other clip, then use the A tool (the selection tool), to fully extend the slug. More than likely, the music that you have selected will be much longer than the slug. You can either extend the edit points for the slug clip in the viewer or keep editing in the slug clip to increase its length.

6. Lock your audio track(s).

7. Now you can press the space bar to play your audio track and hit the 1 key (or whatever key you mapped the add edit function to) to add an edit point on the fly as you find a rhythm to your music track. This will work best if have been previously familiar with the song that you are using and have become acquainted with its rhythmic variations.

8. When you press the space bar againg to stop playback, you will see that the Add Edit points have been placed into your slug track.

   

9. Place the timeline idicator bar in the middle of one of the slug clips, this will work best if you temporarily deactivate the Snapping capability in the timeline by pressing the N key, then load a video clip into the Viewer Window by double clicking on it in the Browser Window. Click the Replace Edit key and you will see that the slug where the position indicator was parked over has been replaced by the clip in the Viewer.

   

You can do this for all of the add edits you have created within the slug track, then use the Slip Tool along with various others to capture the action in the clips you have laid down and to fine-tune your sequence.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:59 PM

January 27, 2006

MPEG-4 Whitepaper describes AVC, MPEG-7, MPEG-21, & AAC

By downloading the latest Whitepaper on MPEG-4 you can learn more about AVC, MPEG-7, MPEG-21, HE-AAC and other parts of the MPEG-4 standard. There are 22 parts of the MPEG-4 standard and we have mainly seen the implementation of popular parts such as Part 2 (MPEG-4) Part 10 (AVC/H.264), Part 3 (AAC) but there are still many more to come in the future. MPEG-4 is a standard that continues to get better and the new Whitepaper on MPEG-4 gives more detail about that.

MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 also will work hand-in-hand with MPEG-4 for providing Metadata for content in the case of MPEG-7 and for providing Digital Rights Management in the case of MPEG-21. These two items still need to be developed more. What's good about the whitepaper is that it's current and up-to-date with references to items such QuickTime 7, Playstation Portables (PSP), iPods, and other mobile devices. You can use the MPEG-4 Whitepaper to get a better understanding of different technologies and how they relate to MPEG-4. You can also use it to get a glimpse into the future of where the industry is going in regards to streaming, mobile devices, and other technologies.

Information link > Download the New Whitepaper on MPEG-4 to learn about the many parts of MPEG-4 including AVC, AAC, HE-AAC and additional items such as MPEG-7, MPEG-21

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:22 PM

Performing an Audio Pan in the Viewer Window in FCP

You can make your audio more dynamic by panning sound effects from the left speaker to the right from within the Viewer Window. A sound effect, such as a passing car panning from the left speaker to the right, can add another dimension to your project and lessen the flatness of canned sound effects.

Before you try this, keep in mind that you only need a mono clip to perform this effect, so if you have a stereo pair, unlink the two and delete one of the tracks.

1. Double click on the audio clip to load it into the viwer.

2. Click on the channel tab in the Viewer Window.

3. Option click on the purple audio spread overlay in order to get the pen tool to create keyframes and drag the points of the line so that it looks like the diagram below. When you begin to move the purple overlay you will see a pink line underneath it. It helps if you think of it in this way: think of anything above the pink line as being the right channel and anything below as being the left channel.

   

Now the audio in this clip will pass from the left speaker through the right when played.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:14 PM

Utizing Chapter Markers in Final Cut Pro

You can add navigability to your DVD projects in DVD Studio Pro by setting chapter markers in your Final Cut Pro sequence. By adding chapter markes to your finished sequence, you will give those who have the pleasure of viewing your DVD the flexibility of selecting specific chapters of interest for playback instead of having to shuttle through a program in a linear fashion.

Note: Do not place chapter markers at the very beginning or at the end of your sequence. A marker will automatically be placed by DVD Studio Pro at the begnning of your program.

Concerning the business of placing markers, think of them as chapters in your favorite novel. Each marker should be strategically placed where you feel there is an ebb in the flow of the story.

1. Park the position indicator over the desired location for the marker and press the M key twice. This will place a green marker in the timecode area of the timeline and open up a dialog box.

   

2. Give the marker a descriptive name that is pertinent to the action in this particular chapter and click the Add Chapter Marker button. Now, whenever you park over that marker, you will see an overlay in the canvas window displaying the name of that chapter.

   

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:05 PM

January 23, 2006

Avid and More RAM

Some good sources for RAM are Kingston (www.kingston.com) and Crucial (www.crucial.com).
But before you go out and purchase RAM for you machine, make sure that it is compatible with your Avid system and then you can enjoy your new found speed!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:31 PM

Extending an Edit in Final Cut Pro

The ability to fine tune your FCP project after you have laid down audio and video into a sequence is one of the most important functions of the editing process. The Extend Edit feature is another way for you to extend or contract a clip without using the Roll or Arrow tools.

1. Click on an edit point in your sequence in order to select it.

2. Move the position indicator to the location in the sequence where you wish to extend the clip. Keep in mind that the original captured clip file that you are extending must have enough media to accommodate the extension.

3. Press the E key on the keyboard to extend the clip to where the position locator is parked.

Take a look at more Final Cut Pro Trimming Techniques!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:21 PM

Making Yokel and Barkitecture with Final Cut Pro

Armed with Apple laptops and desktops in his den, Knoxville filmmaker Dario Gildrie and his 3 man crew cranks out about 30 episodes a year for DIY and Turner South. The shows: 'Barkitecture' giving you a birds eye view of the construction of the most lavish doggie homes around and 'Yokel' a show that takes you on an advernture through the backroads of the American South, giving you a taste of small town southern hospitality.

'I do an up-convert from 720p to 1080i through a DecLink card to a Panasonic deck, then loop into the high-def cam for a copy and then down-convert it for standard definition. It takes me an hour a show to make three versions. It's amazing, really, and I'm doing it all with Final Cut.' -- Dario Gildrie

See how these guys crank these shows out from home!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:16 PM

January 19, 2006

Slamdance Video Podcast

The 2006 Slamdance Film Festival kicks off today in Park City, Utah featuring 20 competition feature films and 6 special screenings. Apple will be broadcasting the 'Slamdance Podcast' on iTunes and the video Podcast will provide screenings of many of the films being featured and festival highlights. Currently, there are 23 Podcast episodes.

For all of you Final Cut Pro and Avid users who are not familiar with the Slamdance Film Festival, its held every year at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival providing an alternative for filmmakers who operate with very limited budjets. Its been said by its patrons to offer a more accurate depiction of indie filmmaking. The festival is in its 12th year.

Here's a sample of some of the talent discovered at Slamdance: Directors Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Chrisotpher Nolan (Momento) and Mark Foster (Monster's Ball).

Have a taste of Slamdance!

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:29 PM

January 18, 2006

Adobe After Effects 7.0

It’s finally here! Adobe has just released After Effects 7.0 with some very worthwhile upgrades. After Effects is by far my favorite program. It has no limits and your imagination can run wild. Adobe® After Effects 7.0 software is loaded with improvements designed to help you create outstanding, original work.

A redesigned UI and a new Graph Editor help streamline your workflow, new presets and effects enhance your creativity, and 32-bit float High Dynamic Range (HDR) color support (Professional Edition only) helps you achieve greater precision. One of its greatest assets is the real-time open GL support. This allows you to experience real-time performance with advanced OpenGL 2.0 capabilities including support for blending modes as well as motion blur, anti-aliasing, track mattes, high-quality shadows and transparency, and accelerated rendering of common effects. Use OpenGL for accelerated final renders.

These are just a few of the new features you will find in the new After Effects 7.0. To find out more check out the Adobe website for a more in-depth look at After Effects 7.0.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:13 PM

Performing a Global Parameter Change in LiveType 2

Another way to alter premade effects is to manipulate just one keyframe parameter, then apply the change globally to the entire effect.

1. Apply an effect to the text you have created. In this example, I have chose the Dirst Stop effect under the Caricature menu.

   

2. Select the effect in the timeline.

   

3. Make a change to the effect by manipulating a property in either the Text , Style or Attributes tabs. In this example, I will be changing the XY scale larger under the Attributes tab.

   

   Note: You can either select an existing keyframe in the effect by clicking on it or parking the locator bar over an area that does not have a keyframe and one will be made for you as you adjust a parameter.

4. Option click the LED next to the parameter that you have just changed to apply it to the entire effect. You will see that the X and Y parameters will be altered for the entire effect.
   

   

See how to duplicate an effect in LiveType 2.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:08 PM

Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 released for Mac and Windows OS

Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 for Macintosh and Windows has now been released. Squeeze 4.3 is a free upgrade for all owners of Squeeze 4. Squeeze 4.3 is the only product now offering both 2-pass VBR compression combined with Flash Cue Points.

Here are some of the features found in Squeeze 4.3:

• Flash 8 Support
• Alpha channel support with On2 VP6 codec
• On2 VP6 Pro Plugin Support for Mac
• Embedded Cue Points for Flash
• Free Sorenson FLV Player
• Improved, easy to edit Flash Player Skins templates for SWF and FLV
• Linked or embedded FLV option for SWF

Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 provides a rich set of features and formats for your encoding projects. This compression product just keeps getting better. It reminds me of Adobe Photoshop in that it always has a feature rich set of capabilities and then before you know it Adobe will put out another version of the product that has even more features.

This latest release is exciting and brings the Mac version of Sorenson Squeeze up to the same level as the Windows version of the Product. It's nice when Mac users are valued just as much as Windows users.

Posted by MovingPicture at 01:21 PM

January 17, 2006

On2 Technologies and VitalStream Partner to Deliver High-Quality Flash 8 Video to the Sundance Online Film Festival

Leading video streaming solutions and compression technology providers partner to bring annual event to a global audience

IRVINE, Calif. and NEW YORK, Jan 17, 2006 -- VitalStream, the world leader in video streaming, and On2 Technologies, Inc., the premiere developer of Flash 8 video encoding tools, are bringing the 2006 Sundance Online Film Festival to the Internet in high-quality, Flash 8 video.

DEEPBLU Studios, the creative group behind the world-renowned showcase for independent filmmakers, is leveraging VitalStream's powerful content delivery network (CDN) optimized for Flash 8 video delivery and On2 Technologies' Flash 8 video encoding tools to enhance the official Web site for the event, http://festival.sundance.org. On2's product, On2 Flix Pro, enables creation and delivery of Flash 8 video content for a high-quality, seamless online experience for attendees.

"Movie-goers want to be immersed in the films they see in a theater without thinking about how the film will be projected or delivered," said Amye Osti, creative director of DEEPBLU Studios. "Flash 8 video enables us to create the same experience for visitors to the Sundance Online Film Festival, offering high quality, evocative videos for a true Sundance experience."

Earlier this year, VitalStream and On2 Technologies partnered to create a single-source solution to create and deliver pristine quality digital media content with Macromedia Flash 8 video, which is quickly emerging as the highest-quality format for streaming over IP. DEEPBLU will use On2 Flix Pro to create the video content, and VitalStream's CDN to deliver high-quality Flash 8 video to the hundreds of thousands of people who will visit the 2006 Sundance Online Film Festival.

"Research shows more people are going online to view events like the Sundance Film Festival, supporting a need for advanced content delivery services," said Jack Waterman, chief executive officer of VitalStream. "VitalStream's leading video streaming services, supported by Flash 8 and combined with On2's video encoding, improve entertainment to attract and engage online audiences."

"The Sundance Online Film Festival is the latest in the list of highly visible entities who are realizing the endless creative possibilities with Flash 8 video," said Eric Ameres, chief technical officer and executive vice president of software development for On2 Technologies. "On2 Flix Pro is rapidly becoming the tool-of-choice for Flash developers and digital media designers, and coupled with powerful content distribution networks from VitalStream, we're making Flash 8 video an increasingly viable, hotly desired medium for creating and delivering content."

About VitalStream, Inc.

VitalStream, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of VitalStream Holdings, Inc., is a global provider of integrated content delivery services that enable businesses to broadcast digital media and communications to worldwide audiences via the Internet. The company provides complete solutions, including video and audio streaming, live event broadcasting, media asset management, integrated Web hosting and consulting services, that seamlessly integrate with today's leading streaming media technologies. To ensure a worldwide reach, VitalStream engineered its award-winning content delivery network certified for quality delivery in the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.vitalstream.com.

About On2 Technologies, Inc., The Duck Corporation

On2 Technologies is a leading technology firm at the forefront of video compression. The company revolutionized digital media delivery with the creation of its advanced full-motion, full-screen, On2 Video compression and streaming technologies. On2 Video codecs are used extensively in the video-on-demand, videoconferencing, Internet media, surveillance, and store- and-play markets. They operate with On2's own TrueCast Server and Player software, as well as third-party player and server products. On2's software is used by such leading companies as Sony, XM Satellite Radio, NTT, AOL, BBC, ABC News, Nullsoft, SeaChange International, and Macromedia. The On2 Video decoder has an installation base of millions through its inclusion in AOL 9 Media Player, Winamp 5, Viewpoint Media Player, and others. On2 licenses its software for use in set-top boxes, consumer electronics devices and wireless applications and offers high-level video encoding, customized technical support, and consulting/integration services. Located in New York City, the company has an office in Clifton Park, NY, and operations in Cambridge, UK. To contact On2 write to sales@on2.com or visit http://www.on2.com.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:05 PM

Using The Distort Tool in Final Cut Pro

The Distort Tool will allow you to perform some interesting visual effects, such as fitting your footage into a picture frame that exists on another layer of video. Keep in mind that this will work best with a static shot.

1. First, you must park the locator bar over a clip in the timeline, then set the Canvas Window to Image and Wireframe Mode.

   

2. The Distort Tool is a subset of the Crop Tool, so locate the Crop Tool in the tool palette and hold down the mouse button until you see the other tools appear to the side. Choose the disotort tool from the list.

   Note: It is the tool in the foreground of the list in the image below.

   

3. Click on the image in the Canvas, then use the corner handles to warp the clip footage.

   

Remember, if you have not superimposed a clip over another clip before performing this, your background will be black, unless you have changed the backdrop from its default color.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:47 PM

Enlarging Selected Tracks in Avid Xpress Pro

At times, you may find it useful to enlarge the tracks that you are working in for a better view. Simply select the track or tracks that you wish to enlarge,

...and press Control L, for PC, or Command L, for a Mac, to enlarge the selected tracks. Press CTRL K or Command K to decrease the size of the tracks.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:40 PM

Creating Cut-Out Animations In Final Cut Pro

For all of you Final Cut Pro users out there looking for an excercise that may be a little less practicle than what we have done in the past, this tutorial will walk you through the process of creating cut-out animations that are similar to what is used to create the television show 'South Park.' If you are up to the challenge, this tutorial assumes that you have a firm grasp on Adobe Photoshop as well. You have been warned! Enjoy!

How To Make Cut Out Animations in Final Cut Pro!

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:38 PM

January 11, 2006

Loop Selected Clips in Avid Express Pro

The great thing about being an editor is having the ability to learn something new everyday. I discovered a new feature in Avid today that I think you’ll find very useful. It’s called Loop Selected Clips. An important part of the editing process is the ability to review footage and, more importantly, to compare takes in order to use the best shot, angle, or performance for the edit. Loop Selected Clips allows you to do just that. Here is a quick overview of how it works.

Select the clips in the bin that you wish to review. Then go the bin menu at the bottom left corner of the bin and select Loop Selected Clips. This function can also be mapped to a button or keyboard if needed. Once selected, the clips play back in order, one right after the other, in the source monitor and on the client monitor. If in-out marks are present in the source clip, the play back will be restricted to just that range, this is great for selecting a preferred reading or action for a given span across multiple takes.

Each clip will play in turn when the end of the clip or the Mark Out point has been reached. The user can also use the TAB key to advance to the next clip before the end of play or use SHIFT TAB to go back to a previous clip. This enables easy navigation and clip selection for finding that perfect shot among multiple sources.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:54 PM

Avid Express Pro, FCP and Firewire 800

We all want to add speed to our editing workflow and the new Firewire 800 is huge step in that direction. Avid and FCP ask a lot of your hard-drives and push all of the information through those small black cables. If you run Firewire 400 the transfer rate is 400 mbs, USB 2.0 is approx 480 mbs and the new Firewire 800 steps up to a blazing 800 mbs. Upgrading to the 800 is very inexpensive and very easy. All you need is a Firewire 800 card for around fifty dollars and most of the new 800 drives are close to the same price as the other formats.

The beauty of the new 800 drives is that they have 400 interfaces built right in so, if you have a huge collection of 400 drives, no need to worry. Just install your new 800 card in your computer, plug the 800 drive in and plug your 400 drive into the back of the 800 drive. With so many brands of hard drives on the market you need to look for a few specifics before you buy. Make sure that it can stay cool with internal fans. The new Maxtor One Touch ll, Firewire 800 edition, is great drive to look at if you are in the market to upgrade to 800. In tests running this drive hard for the last week it always feels cool to the touch. Check out all of the specs for this drive and next time you need more hard-drive space, step up to 800, you will not regret it.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:47 PM

Locating and selecting an Obscure Keyframe in LiveType 2

When performing complex animations during keyframing, sometimes the keyframes you set can be obscured by others due to their proximity. If this should happen to you while in LiveType, simply:

1 Click on the keyframe that is obscuring the view of the other.

2 Go to Mark > Next or Previous Keyframe to get to the hidden keyframe for manipulation.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:39 PM

Microsoft offers Flip4Mac for free

According to TUAW.com, Microsoft is offering Flip4Mac for free.

Flip4Mac is a plugin for Quicktime that allows you to watch Windows Media files in Quicktime itself, and that's pretty cool. However, what is even cooler is that this great little plugin is now available for free thanks to Microsoft.

You read that correctly: Microsoft is freely distributing Flip4Mac, though they are only offering the viewer. If you want to create WMV files in Quicktime you'll still need to pony up the cash.

Read

(Via ::: bisonium.com :::.)

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:24 PM

January 09, 2006

Multi-Angle HD DVDs and DVD Studio Pro 4

If you are creating a multi-angle or mixed angle HDV DVD in DVD Studio Pro 4, keep in mind that the maximum bit rate for the video streams in the track, including subtitles and audio streams, is 24 mbps. The bit rate for 1080i HDV video is 25 mbps, which exceeds the maximum bit rate for the HD DVD specification.

If you wish to use HDV material in a multi-angle HD DVD project, use 720p video which has a bit rate of 19 mbps and be mindful of the number of audio and subtitle streams you utilize.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:26 PM

Capturing and Avid Express Pro

The capture tool in Avid Express Pro displays various information about what you are about to capture. When it comes to media management do not forget to check the Target Drive area of the capture tool. This is key for making sure that you select the preferred drive and make sure you have enough space on that drive to capture the amount that you need.

You select the target-drive from the pop-up menu and check your amount of free disk space from the Time-Remaining display. The Time-remaining display is an estimate based on your resolution settings, the number of tracks you have to be stored on the drive, and the free space available on the target drive. When you capture, paying close attention to detail will help you manage your projects in the long run.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:16 PM

Take Audio Media on the Go with Zling Tune

Z-Cyber's Zling Tune is a great HDD Digital Portable Audio Player available for the portable media consumer and allows users to take their audio content on the go. The Zling Tune has the ability to playback MP3, WMA, WAV and OGG audio files. The device has the ability to record voice audio with its built in line-in jack. The device comes complete with the ability to listen to your Zling Tune Portable Audio player on the go by connecting earphones.

Have fun compressing your audio files to MP3, WMA, WAV or OGG formats using your favorite audio compression application. Then take your content with you using the Zling Tune. The Zling Tune comes in 1GB and 2GB flavors and works with the Windows Operating System and can store up to 1,000 songs. A navigation interface makes its possible to choose your favorite songs or audio files.

> Learn more about other Zling Products by Z-Cyber.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:05 PM

Final Cut Pro and The Texas Longhorns

The 2006 Rose Bowl Champions University of Texas Longhorns hired Lava Studios to document their road to victory and to give their fans a more indepth, personal look at the star athletes. A season subscription to 'Vmag' gets you into places that only a true die-hard fan could dream and producer Scott Rehling says 'There's no way, without Final Cut's ability to capture and execute content as quickly as it does, we could broadcast fully-formed program segements over the web by Monday morning.'

Here's the schedule: they capture footage throughout the entire week, including Saturdays game, and deliver a show by Monday morning. Lava Studios is completely Mac driven, using Final Cut Pro to cut, creating graphics in Motion and using Soundtrack Pro to make original music.

Take a look at how the tutorials that you see here everyday are being used in the real world!

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:03 PM

The 2006 CES Tradeshow Means New Gadgets for Consumers

The 2006 International CES, the largest annual consumer technology show in the world, announced many exciting gadgets.

This year, the Consumer Electronics Show included keynote addresses by CEO's from companies like Microsoft, Intel, Verizon, Yahoo, and Sony. Many other companies where on-hand to showcase their new electronics and portable devices. I'll be providing a wrap-up this week and showcasing some of the exciting developments that came as a result of this year's show.

> Learn more about the 2006 International CES Tradeshow

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:59 PM

Avid audio tool, desired level for dialogue

Mixing audio levels in Avid Xpress, or Final Cut Pro can be confusing. If you are mixing for broadcast television keep your levels so they peak somewhere between +6 and +8 on the VU meter side.

If you are mixing for multimedia output, such as a streaming web movie, then you should try and mix your levels to the very top of the scale without exceeding 0 on the digital scale.
Keep in mind that that the Digital scale on the left of the Avid audio tool is only a reference, and is different for each manufacturer. The only important factor is the 0 at the top of the scale. Anything over zero will be useless digital noise. The default setting for Avid is -14 equals 0 VU.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:51 PM

Using Sync Lock in Avid Express Pro

The sync lock feature allows you to maintain sync among several tracks while adding, moving, trimming, or removing frames in a sequence. For example, if you insert an edit into one track that is sync locked to a second track, the system automatically inserts filler in the second track to maintain sync between the two.

You activate sync locking by clicking the Sync Lock button in the Track Selector panel to display the Sync Lock icon. You can also switch all sync locks on or off by clicking the Sync Lock All button.

Consider the following aspects of sync locking:

1. Edits performed in editing, Segment, or Effect mode override sync-locked tracks.

2. Sync locking applies to single-roller trims only because dual-roller trims do not break sync. For more information, see Maintaining Sync While Trimming.

3. You can sync lock any number of tracks in any combination. The tracks do not require matching timecode or common sources, and can include multiple video tracks as well as audio tracks.

4. Sync locking affects entire tracks. This means that parallel segments in other sync-locked tracks are affected when you add, move, trim, or remove material anywhere in the sequence.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:35 PM

Preserving In and Out points when Using Match Frame in Avid Xpress Pro

When you utilize the matchframe capability of Avid Xpress Pro, you are calling up the frame that the blue locator bar is currently parked over in the timeline, from the original clip, which may be burried deep within a bin under many other clips. Perhaps you are looking for different framing of the shot you that you currently have in your sequence. Match Frame keeps you form having to manually dig through a sea of clips to find the original file.

If you find yourself using a particular clip over and over again, keep in mind that each time you perform a Match Frame the previously set in and out points for the clip will be erased. There are two things you can do to prevent this from happening:

After you have set the in and out points for the clip that you have added into your sequence, go back and replace those points with locators.

You can also hold down the ALT key for a PC or Option key for a Mac and click on Match Frame icon to preserve your in and out points when you recall that clip. If you do not have the matchframe icon assigned to your timeline toolbar, simply go to Tools > Command Palette > Other > Match Frame and drag the icon to a button you least use in the timeline toolbar to replace it.

By utilizing the Command Palette, you can assign the Option key modifier to the Match Frame icon so that this process will be automated. Go to Tools > Command Palette > Other > Add Option Key and drag it to the Match Frame icon in your timeline. You will see a black dot at the foot of the icon to signify a modifier has been added.

Take a look at this interesting article that debunks some of the myths that are circulating around out there about HDTV!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:16 PM

Editing LiveType Movies While In Final Cut Pro

The ability to use external editors inside of Final Cut Pro is a very convenient function that gives you the flexibility to update a LiveType movie that has already been incorporated into a FCP Project. Before you perform this function, you must go into the External Editors tab under Final Cut Pro > System Settings and set LiveType as your external editor for Video Files.

1. Click on the LiveType clip in your Final Cut Pro timeline to select it.

2. Control click the clip, if you have a one button mouse, or right click with a two button mouse, and select Open in Editor from the menu.

3. The LiveType movie will then open within LiveType itself and be ready for editing. Each adjustment that you make will be updated inside of final Cut Pro after you save the file.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:14 PM

DVD and Deinterlacing

If you are creating content that will be distributed on DVD, then you need to pay very close attention. I just completed a two DVD set that caused more nightmares than was necessary. I use Avid Express Pro HD to edit and assemble my programs. Then, if any effects or composting is needed, I use After Effects to perform all of those tasks. Once you are satisfied with the completed program you need to make some sort of vehicle to get you program onto a DVD authoring software package. The best way to preserve quality is to make a QuickTime Reference.

A quick time reference uses the original files on your hard drives without compressing and with no loss of quality. These steps are all important but the one that I overlooked was de-interlacing. When I was done with transcoding and authoring my DVD I had jagged lines with any motion or hard edges. This was very frustrating and I went back and changed every step to try and rectify the problem. What it turned out to be was de-interlacing was not turned on in my authoring program. I use Adobe Encore but all authoring or compression software has a de-interlace setting. Make sure you turn on de-interlacing and you will be very satisfied with your productions.

Also check out this creative cow tutorial about deinterlacing.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:10 PM

On-Demand and Live Streaming with Windows Media Services

Microsoft's Windows Media Services provides users the opportunity to provide Live and On-Demand streams. Windows Media Services is the Streaming Server for the Microsoft platform and is a part of the Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions. Windows Media Services provides some awesome features that make your deployment of video streaming content exceptional and worthwhile.

Here are some of the features of Windows Media Services:

-Video Playlist Creation
-Ad Insertion
-Live Streaming from Remote Locations
-Push and Pull Distribution
-Real-time Reporting
-Server Log Creation
-Publishing Point Wizards
-Set limits for amount of streams

Windows Media Services is a feature rich Streaming Server and also allows account managers the ability to set up on-demand publishing points and live streaming publishing points. The Streaming Server does not charge users for the number of unicast streams that it provides (The amount of streams possible is based on bandwidth availability). What is great about the Windows Media Services is that you can see in real-time how many users are viewing your Streams. Statistics are also available about your streaming visitors by enabling the WMS Client Logging feature. Windows Media Services works hand-in-hand with Windows Media Encoder for Live and On-Demand streaming. The Windows Media Encoder software is free from the Microsoft website.

Learn more about the Windows Media Services Streaming Server.

Get details on the Free Windows Media Encoder software.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:05 PM

January 03, 2006

New On-line Resource for Understanding 3G Technology

Talk3G is a new on-line resource for everyone involved in third generation mobile communications. It combines end users and experts in one place. Once a message is posted it is instantly accessible to everyone, delivering support benefits and reliable information about 3G telephony services with maximum efficiency. Talk3G is a non-commercial organization.

The project has been privately funded and is voluntary and free from commercial sponsorship and advertising. This means members do not have to put up with annoying banners or be influenced by commercial agendas.

'3G is exploding into the marketplace, with some very attractive handsets coming out this year. This will bring consumers to 3G who have many questions about the technology, in turn generating a huge customer services burden on all those involved in the supply chain,'says Ben Fitter.

Talk3G launches with a user base of enthusiasts and industry professionals. The administration team is confident that they will be able to offer sound advice to consumers from the outset, assisting both existing and potential 3G customers in choosing products and getting the most benefit from them to suit their individual needs.

Visit the Talk3G forum.

Note: Registration is free and bound by a strict policy that no user data is exchanged with any third party companies or organizations.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:11 PM

Saving Color Correction Parameters in Avid Xpress Pro

When you are in the Color Corrction toolset and have finished making adjustments to a clip, you can save the color correction parameter to use later on a similar clip.

After you have finished color correcting the clip, control click for Mac or Option click for PC the C1 bucket to save the adjustment parameters.

Keep in mind that when you end your Avid Session these saved parameters will not be retained. Create a color correction bin and drag the icon from the C1 bucket to the bin to save it.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:08 PM

December 29, 2005

Creating a Picture in Picture Effect in Avid Xpress Pro

To create a PIP effect in Avid Xpress Pro, you must first have two video tracks with the desired footage placed over top of one another. You could perform the PIP effect with just one video track if you desired, but remember that the video in the track would then be placed on a black background. For this example, make sure you place the footage that you want to appear in the PIP effect on top of the footage that you wish to serve as the backdrop.

1. Open the Effects bin and under the Blend options select Picture-in-Picture.

   

2. Drag the PIP icon over the video clip in track 2. You will then see the effect in the Composer Window.

   

3. Click the Effects Mode icon and you will see a bounding box surround your PIP effect. Click in the middle of the bounding box to move it and use the handles to change its size. In the Effect Editor Palette you will be able to further manipulate the PIP effect.

   

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:25 PM

December 28, 2005

Troubleshooting Motion 2

If Motion is being quirky, here are some things you can do to try and troubleshoot. Keep in mind that Motion is inherently processor intesive and at times things are going to appear to be moving slower than expected. Make sure that the machine that you are running Motion on meets the recommended system requirements. Now, with that being said...

Deleting The Preferences

1. Within the Mac OS Finder, go to your home folder > Library > Preferences.

2. Locate the com.apple.motion.plist in the preferences folder, then drag it to the trash can.

Deleting Receipts and Reinstalling Motion

Make sure Motion is closed before you perform this.

1. Navigate to the Applications Folder in your Mac OS and open it.

2. Move the Motion application to the trash.

3. Navigate to Library > Receipts.

4. Within the Receipts folder, find the 'Motion2.0pkg' file and drag it to the trash.

5. Reinstall Apple Motion.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:33 PM

DVD Studio Pro G5 and iMac Compatibility Issues

If you have purchased a late model Power Mac G5, released after October 19th, 2005 or an iMac G5 (iSight) model computer and have installed DVD Studio Pro 3 on them and have had nothing but problems, there's a reason why. Apple has just released a statement that DVDSP 3 only works on machines that have AGP video cards and the late model G5's and iMac G5 (iSight) computers use a newer PCI Express video card making DVD SP 3 unsupported by these models.

It was stated that simply attempting to import an MPEG 2 asset into DVDSP 3 on a Quad Processor model is enough to make the program unexpectedly quit. Apple suggests that you upgrade to version 4 of DVDSP if you are using the hardware mentioned above and wish to use DVDSP.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:28 PM

Analyze Your Streaming Server Logs Using Sawmill 7.2

By processing the log files from your streaming server, you can learn a lot of valuable information about your visitors and their media viewing habits. To process those log files you can use an application called Sawmill available at www.sawmill.net. The application is available for Windows, Linux, Mac and Solaris.

The application provides the following:

• List of viewer IP addresses
• Media playback history
• Visitor click throughs
• Information on viewer Operating Systems
• Ability to create Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly reports

Sawmill 7.2.2 provides analysis of over 600 log file formats with support for Windows Media Streaming Server, Helix Universal Server and QuickTime/Darwin Streaming Server log files.

Learn more about Sawmill 7.2.

View Live examples of Sawmill statistics.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:26 PM

QuickTime Streaming Server Delivers Standards-based Formats

Using QuickTime Streaming Server is a great way to deliver your video and audio streaming content. The latest version of the server software, Quick Streaming Server 5.5, comes as part of the Mac OS X Server software. QuickTime Streaming Server allows administrators the ability to view the connected users, media playback history, and set up video and audio playlists.

Learn more about QuickTime Streaming Server.

In addition to creating playlists users can stream QuickTime .MOV files as well as the following formats:

• MPEG-4 (Part 2)
• H.264 (Part 10)
• MP3
• 3GPP

What is great about using QuickTime Streaming Server to deliver streaming content is you do not pay a fee for the amount of streams delivered using the server software. You only need to pay for bandwidth you use through your hosting provider.

The standards-based server software runs in Darwin Streaming Server form on Mac, Windows and Linux Operating Systems.

Find out more information about Darwin Streaming Server.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:21 PM

December 27, 2005

Can't Hear Realtime Soundtrack Pro Effects in Final Cut Pro

If you have ever kicked out audio from a Final Cut Pro project into Soundtrack Pro, laid down some realtime effects, saved the changes, then sent it back into FCP but could not hear the effects, its because the effects were not rendered to the audio file. This goes for audio in Apple's Motion being sent to Soundtrack Pro and back again as well.

In order to use realtime effects in a project go to Process > Bounce Realtime Action within Soundtrack Pro to render the real-time effects to the file itself. You can also apply effects as actions by selecting them from the Process menu These effect will be also be rendered to the audio file.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:09 PM

Quick Audio Tip For Shooters

For all of you Final Cut Pro artists out there who also shoot, the next time you are out in the field and you have only one performer on mic at a time, try recording your mono audio into both channels of your camera. The only difference is let channel one be your main input and pot down channel two to a lower db. This will give you some room in post to salvage an area where the host may have shouted or raised his or her voice creating a hot level.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:08 PM

Final Cut Pro and The Blue Man Group

Director/Editor Kevin Rhoades used Final Cut Pro to capture the excitement and intrigue of Bluephoria, the hit theatrical performance by, you guessed it, 'The Blue Man Group.' The show has already been a hit in London, New York and Las Vegas and it was Kevin Rhoades' job to cut 40 hours of raw footage into an hour and half video with a return time of only a month.

They were shooting in the dark with 12 synchronized cameras.

"It’s a very dark show with a lot of blacks and very bright colors," says Rhoades. "HD gave us the latitude we needed to capture the strong contrasts."

Read how Kevin and his crew pulled it off!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:06 PM

Flip4Mac Important for creating Windows Media Content

If you are using a Mac and want to do video compression for Windows Media streaming, you can use the Flip4Mac WMV Studio export component. What is nice about Flip4Mac WMV Studio is that it utilizes QuickTime. What this means is that QuickTime based applications such as: Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express HD, iMovie, Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.1, Cleaner 6, QuickTime Pro and Compressor can export directly to Windows Media. You can also import Windows Media content to applications such as Cleaner 6 and Sorenson Squeeze 4.1. for encoding to other QuickTime formats.

Here are some of the features of Flip4Mac WMV Studio:

• Uses 1-pass CBR, 1-pass VBR , 2-pass CBR and 2-pass VBR compression
• Allows the creation of Meta data for Windows Media content
• Data rate can be limited
• Allows customization of video frame sizes
• Users can adjust Frames Per Second (FPS)
• Keyframe Every settings are adjustable
• Encodes to Windows Media 9

Find out more about Flip4Mac and other Telestream products.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:03 PM

The Frame Viewer in Final Cut Pro

The Frame Viewer will appear as a tab in the Tool Bench Window allowing you to perform side by side comparisons of the previous edits with the current frame, following clips with the current frame, scenes with and without filters applied so that you can make sure your sequence has the flow you intended. This is a good way to eyeball scenes that may have been shot under various light conditions and for lining up shots for sequence continuity.

Simply go to Tools > Frame Viewer. Each drop menu in the Frame Viewer will give you options of which clips you can monitor in your sequence and how you wish to view them.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:58 PM

December 22, 2005

Storing an Effect for Repeated Use in Avid Xpress Pro

Let's say that you have created the popular white flash effect for your Avid project via the Fade to Color Effect located in the Effects Pallete. For consistency, you may want to save the effect that you have already created for multiple use throughout the program. That way you wouldn't have to keep recreating the effect everytime you wanted to use it, you could just tweak the one you have already made or use it as is.

Storing an Effect

1. After you have tweaked the Fade to Color Effect in the Effect Editor and applied it to an edit point in your sequence, you will notice an icon representing that effect at the top of the Effect Editor Pallete.

   

2. Activate the Bin window by clicking in it and Press Control N for a PC or Command N for a Mac to create a new bin and name it Effects.

   

3. Simply drag the effect icon from the top of the Effect Editor into the new bin. Now at any point in your sequence when you need this pre-tweaked effect, all you have to do is drag this icon from the Effects bin you have made and place it into your sequence.

   

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:42 PM

December 21, 2005

Batch Export From Final Cut Pro

The Batch Export capability is very useful if you need to export many clips and sequences to various formats and settings. Each clip or sequence in the Eport Quque can have its own bin and independent export settings. You could export multiple sequences as Quicktime movies containing different dimensions if you wanted to.

Here's how to do it:

1. Select all of the bins, sequences and clips you want to export from within the Browser Window. Keep in mind that you can choose items from multiple projects.

2. Go to File > Batch Export and the Export Queque will open.

   

3. Press Command B to create a new bin and drag new clips from the browser to the bins in the Export Queque if additional clips are desired.

4. Click on the Settiing tab to mark your export settings.

5. Set the destination of your export by clicking on the Set Destination button.

   

6. Pick the desired file format from the Format list.

7. Pick a preset setting from the Settings list. The selections you see in this list are contingent upon the file format you chose earlier.

8. Configure additional settings, if you are given the opportunity, by clicking on the Options Tab. Whether you are given the option to use the Options tab is contingent upon settings you have made earlier in this process such as the selection of a file format.

9. Click on naming options to create a custom file extension. You can choose Strip Existing Extension in order to add your own custom extension. You can add a custom extension by typing it into the entry box to the right or choose whether or not the default extension for the export will be attached to the name of the file.

   

10. If your chosen format is a Quicktime Movie, you will be given the option to export Audio or Video or both. You will also be prompted to choose which type of Quicktime movie you wish to export. If your exported material has transitions between media, you will have to recompress.

    If you have set a range in a sequence, via in an out points, for this export, then choose Use Item In/Out or the entire sequence will be exported.

11. Click OK twice for your settings to be accepted, then click Export in the Export Queque Window.

See how to export a still image from your project in Final Cut Pro.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:20 PM

Avid Express Pro and Problem Transitions

Editing brings many different challenges everyday. From color correction problems to audio issues, it always seems something needs to be fixed. Well a problem I ran into recently was some footage that I had obtained to edit for a client did not have enough handles to perform any kind of transition. In other words when the action was over he immediately pressed the stop button and only pushed the start button within maybe one second of the action beginning. The major problem with shooting like this is that he had many shots that I had to use to the very last frame and the nest shot I had to start within the first few frames. This leaves no frames to make your dissolves or fades. So first of all hopefully if you shoot your own footage or have an excellent cameraman this will not happen very often but when it does here is a quick solution.

Open the title tool and create a black title. Just make a square the size of the box and fill it with black. Save to a bin. Now you have a fade to black transition. All you have to do is determine the size of fade and apply directly above the transition. So, if you what a 30 frame fade then simply load the black title into the source monitor and mark an in and an out to equal 30 frames. In your time line find the edit point and place an in point 15 frames to the left of the edit point. Now overwrite the black title to the video track above your edit point. The next step is to make this title fade. Select the black title and enter into the effects edit mode. Now all you have to do is place a key frame 7 frames from the first key frame and 7 frames from the last key frame. Now select your first and last key frames and make the foreground to equal zero. Select the second and third key frames and set the foreground to 100. Before you close the effects editor drag the effect icon into a bin so that you can use this effect without have to make again. You now have built a perfect 30 frame fade to black for any situation.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:14 PM

December 20, 2005

Use third-party After Effects Plug-ins inside of Avid Xpress Pro

What would it do for your workflow if you could use third-party After Effects plug-ins right inside of Avid Xpress Pro? That would save you the time of moving over a project from the Avid into After Effects and it would save you money if you did not already posses Adobe After Effects. Well such a workflow has now been made possible!

Elastic Gasket is an adapter that will allow you to utilize a list of supported third-party After Effects plug-ins without ever leaving your Avid editor. Version 2.0 is compatible with any Avid system that supports AVX 1.5 or later, and RT mode support. Windows based Avid Media Composer Adrenaline 1.0 or later and Avid Xpress Pro 4.0 or later.

The makers of Elastic Gasket suggests that you test the compatibility of a given version or plug-in feature with your Avid System via the demo version of the ware before making a purchase.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:30 PM

December 15, 2005

Using Peak Detection To Modify Audio Hot Spots in FCP

When you play back a sequence, you can tell which audio spots are hot by simply looking at the audio meter clipping into the red area, but you cannot pinpoint the specific problem areas within your audio clip so that you can address them.

You can detect specific hot spots in your audio by marking audio peaks in Final Cut.

Marking Audio Peaks

1. Make sure that you have UNselected all audio and video in the timeline.

2. Go to Mark > Audio > Peaks > Mark. Final Cut Pro will then place peak markers in the Timeline Ruler above the sequence hot spots. If a section of your audio has a hot point that lasts longer than a spike, a peak marker with a duration will appear over that area in the Timeline Ruler.

   

Now that you have detected audio peaks now its time to fix them.

Lowering Audio Hot Points

There are multiple ways but here are two:

1. Select the area of the audio clip that was marked as hot underneath the peak markers. You can do this buy creating through edits with the razor blade tool to designate the areas right underneath the peak markers, then going back to the selection tool to make your selections (Shift Click to make multiple selections).

2. After you have made your selections, go to Modify > Levels > and adjust the gain. If you make the changes Relative, if you have already keyframed the audio in this area the keyframes will be maintained. By making your changes absolute, you will blast away any keyframes that where previously set and all audio will be adjusted to the assigned dB level.

   

Another way to adjust the audio in these problem spots would be to Toggle On Cip Overlays at the bottom right of the timeline > control click on the pink overlays on your audio to create keyframe points that you can drag up or down to adjust levels.

Learn how to remove audio filters and keyframes in Final Cut Pro!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:20 PM

Basics for MPEG-4 Licensing for Streaming Content

Many are not aware that if you are creating a business model for streaming content based on the MPEG-4 standard there are some licensing issues you need consider. The good thing about the licensing for MPEG-4 content is it is mainly targeting towards those individuals or organizations that are making money off of streaming MPEG-4 content.

Here are some of the details under the MPEGLA MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio License:

> Get more details about the MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio License

On a Subscription-basis, royalty fees need to be paid if you have more than 100,000 subscribers in a Calendar Year. There are no royalty fees that need to be paid if you have 100,000 or less subscribers in a Calendar Year. The maximum that any entity has to pay is $300,000 for greater than 25,000,000 subscribers.

'In cases where a user's products or services do not reach the minimum threshold amounts above which royalties are payable, the user would still need to conclude the MPEG-4 Visual License with MPEG LA in order to benefit from the coverage the License provides,' says Dane E. Rauschenberg, Licensing Associate for MPEG LA.

On a Title-by-Title basis, royalties paid are the lower of 2% of the price paid to the Licensee or $0.02 per title for video greater than 12 minutes. A good thing is that there is is no royalty for a specific title of 12 minutes or less.

This MPEG-4 licensing information only pertains to Visual content. It does not include audio.

If you would like to find out more information and details about MPEG-4 audio licensing you check out these websites:

• www.sisvel.com
• www.vialicensing.com
• www.fraunhofer.de
• www.licensing.philips.com

Note: Specials Thanks to Dane E. Rauschenberg from MPEG LA for providing an overview of the MPEG-4 Visual Licensing.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:14 PM

December 14, 2005

Assigning Labels to Clips in the Browser

You can make quick notes for clips, bins and sequences within the browser in Final Cut, by assigning labels to them. For Example:

No Color: None
Orange: Good Take
Red: Best Take
Blue: Alternate Shots
Purple: Interviews
Green: B-Roll

Assigning a Label to a Clip

1. Select the clips in the Browser that you want to label.

2. Either control click, if you have a one button mouse, or right click, with a two button mouse, on top of one of the selected files and navigate to the Label option, then choose a label. Each of the clips, will be labled with the assigned color and if you pull over the lower right corner off the Browser Window to the right, your clips will be labled accordingly in the Label field.
   
   

Changing Label Names

Go to Final Cut Pro > User Preferences > Click on the Label tab > Change the name > Click OK.

Learn how to create a static region within an FCP timeline so your work doesn't get lost!

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:59 PM

December 13, 2005

Recompressing Media For The On The Go FCP Editor

WARNING: This tutorial may not prove helpful to any current relationship you may be involved in.

If you're wanting to take work home with you or if you need to cut while in route to Grandmas house for the holidays, why not recompress your media files at work to lower-resolution files, move those to your laptop and cut on on your Powerbook?

Recompressing Your Sequence

1. Select your sequence in the Browser, then go to File > Media Manager

2. Within Media Manager, click on the Media options and choose Recompress. Uncheck the option for 'Delete Unsued Media From Duplicated Items.'

3. Go to the 'Recompress Media Using' options and slect 'Offline RT NTSC (Photo JPEG).'
   

4. Go to the Media Destination pane of the Media Manager and use the Browse tab to navigate to a location whee you can create a folder to save the recompressed files in.
   

5. Click OK in the Media Manager, then give your recompressed file a unique name. Click Save. Your recompressed file will now appear in the assigned folder at a lower resolution and a new tab will appear in the FCP Browser containing the file.

Check out Pyromania, a new five-disc collection of royalty free HD clips.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:30 PM

Ripping DVDs For Edit In Final Cut Pro and Avid Xpress Pro

There is alot of confusion circulating around the discussion forums on the topic of finding an efficient way to extract material from a DVD to import into Final Cut Pro for re-editing. After doing some research, I found such a ware that will allow you to read the dvd > set in and out points for the scenes that you want > and extract that video in a format that can be taken into Final Cut Pro and Avid. If you already have pre-existing VOB files, you can read them through DVDXDV and extract from them as well. Keep in mind that this ware is for Macs only.

DVDXDV Pro will allow you to extract high quality audio and video from a DVD to be used in Final Cut Pro and Avid. Their are two versions of this software, DVDXDVPro ($80), which is the more robust version of the program that will allow the reversal of the original interlaced field ordering of a DVD, widescreen resizing, 3:2 pulldown removal, and multi-channel audio export.

DVDXDV ($25) is being marketed more to the home video crowd and not the video professional. It will allow you to kick out a quicktime file with all audio in this version being exported as a stereo mix, it also allows for video cropping and resizing and field order reversing. There is also an 'Expert Settings' option in the Export dialog that will allow you to manipulate compression settings.

After downloading the trial version of DVDXDV Pro, my initial response was that it would be well worth the wait of shipping. You don't have access to an instant download of the ware if you should decide to purchase it, but I imported some extremely high quality audio and Video into Final Cut Pro and Avid from this ware!

If you find yourself needing to use material from premade non-encrypted dvds, you should really give DVDXDV Pro and DVDXDV serious consideration. If you have Quicktime 6 or later,click here to see a video sample of the process of how you get DVD material into Final Cut Pro. Download the free trial version and see if its right for you!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:24 PM

December 12, 2005

Flash 8 Player Provides Better Video Quality

There are significant improvements in using the Flash 8 player for playback of Flash streaming content. The new Flash Player 8 has support for the On2 VP6 codec, which provides noticeable quality improvements over the Flash 7 player. The On2 VP6 Codec is a more efficient codec by providing better quality at lower bit rates.

The On2 VP6 codec is only available inside the Flash 8 Player. Older versions of the Flash Media player support the Sorenson Spark video codec. The On2 VP6 codec can be used for compression inside Flash 8 Professional and is available for purchase as a plug-in for Sorenson Squeeze.

Here are some of the benefits of encoding to Flash 8:

• Supports playback of 8-bit alpha channels
• Compression quality improvements
• Faster and smoother video playback
• Easy for users to upgrade using auto-update process

Listen to Derrick's Commentary from GeniusDV

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:29 PM

Audio Output Presets In Final Cut Pro

You can reset the default audio output in Final Cut Pro for all future sequences by going into the User Preferences Window.

1. Go to Final Cut Pro > User Preferences and choose the Audio Outputs tab.

2. Either choose a preset from the list or customize one by editing it. If you choose to edit a preset, it will signify that a copy will have to be made. Click OK in this dialog box.

3. Within the Audio Outputs Preset Editor, enter a name and description for the new preset you are creating.

4. Select the number of audio channels for access.

5. In the Grouping category, choosing Stereo for each pair of audio channels you will be allowing for panning. The Dual Mono selection will allow for each channel to be used as a distinct output.

6. Select a downmix level. If you are working with many audio tracks, downmixing will allow all of those tracks to be mixed into a single stereo output. The downmix level represents the level of each output to avoid distortion. Think of it this way, the more channels you have to downmix the lesser this value needs to be to avoid distortion.

7. Click OK for this dialog box and OK in the previous box.

See how to adjust audio for a group of clips in Final Cut Pro.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:24 PM

Selecting All Clips Forward and Backward in FCP

In a huge sequence filled with many clips, it can be difficult to select a range of clips. the Select All Forward and Select All Backward tools in Final Cut Pro will allow you to simply select all clips before or after a designated clip.

Selecting All Clips After a Designated Track

1 Choose the Select Track Forward tool from the tool palette.

2 Click on the clip that you wish to make first in the selection. All other clips following this clip will be selected.

Selecting All Clips Before a Designated Clip

1 Choose the Select Track Backward tool from the tool palette.

2 Click on the clip that you wish to be last in the selection. All of the preceeding clips will be selected.

Learn how to set marker durations in Final Cut Pro!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:18 PM

Checking Luminanace Range in Final Cut Pro

If by surprise you are receiving either red or green lines througout your video in the canvas, you have probably pressed Control and Z by accident. When you see these zebra lines, Final Cut Pro is checking the luminance levels of your video, this is called Range Checking.

Along with these stripes you will also receive one of three symbols at the top of the current clip located in the Canvas Window. A checkmark in a green circle signifies that luminance levels for the current frame are safe and below 90 percent. There are usually no zebra lines present when this lone checkmark is present.

The next symbol is a checkmark in a green cirle with an arrow pointing upwards. This signifies that some of the luma levels are between 90 and 100 percent and you will see the suspect areas shrouded in green zebra stripes. This is also an acceptable level.

The next symbol is a yellow warning icon, which means your levels are over 100 percent. This icon is accompanied with red stripes over the problem areas.

Press Control Z to activate this function and press them again to deactivate it.

Learn how to match hue in Final Cut Pro in this GeniusDV tutorial!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:12 PM

December 08, 2005

Stream Hosting Companies Provide Added Benefits

As individuals set out to provide an in-house Streaming Server, there are some questions to consider. Here are some of them:

- How many viewers will be viewing?
- Who will maintain the server?
- What happens if the Server crashes?
- How much bandwidth will be needed?

Hosting your own Streaming Server is usually best when you plan to provide a small amount of streams to clients. Having a T1 only allows delivery of a small number of streams, which also depends on the bit rates that you are providing. In addition, Streaming Server licensing can be expensive for most. The licensing cost does not include hardware cost. The average user will not be able to justify this type of expense. It is for reasons such as these that you may consider turning to a Stream Hosting Provider.

Here are some of the benefits that VChange, a top-quality Stream Hosting Provider, has:

1. Streaming Server redundancy - Having multiple load balanced servers available for streaming allows for easy maintenance of servers, better reliability for streaming, and higher capacity.

2. Licensing for various delivery formats - Since the costs for licensing is taken care of by VChange, customers do not have to pay individually for licensing. The cost is shared amongst customers.

3. Data Center co-location - This is a better form of delivery. Vchange offers links to main data center hubs through servers right on the edge of the Internet. This means viewers can access content quicker and with a better experience, avoiding countless network hops.

4. Higher capacity streaming - More potential viewers can watch your content because the bandwidth needed to deliver your streams in provided by VChange.

Learn more about Streaming Hosting Services with VChange

Note: Special Thanks to Jeff Korn at VChange for providing additional information for this write-up.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:33 PM

RealNetworks Makes Streaming Server Set-up Easy

RealNetworks makes setting up a Streaming Server easier for novices. Installing the Helix Server seems to be an easy process. To make that process even easier, they have provided a great number of video tutorials and resources available on RealNetwork's website. Viewers can find videos on such topics as: Live Broadcasting, Streaming Server Set-up, RealProducer and other topics.

Watch Video Tutorials from RealNetworks

There is a price tag associated with setting up a Helix Streaming Server. You will have to pay for the Helix Streaming Server License. The price is directly connected with how many streams you would like to provide from your Streaming Server.

Here is more information about the different Streaming Servers from RealNetworks:

Helix Server 25

- Provides 25 streams
- Multi-format support
- Delivers more than 50 media formats
(This includes RealMedia, Windows Media, QuickTime and H.264)

Helix Server 100

- Provides 100 streams
- Multi-format support
- Delivers more than 50 media formats
(This includes RealMedia, Windows Media, QuickTime and H.264)

Helix Server Unlimited

- Provides Unlimited streams
- Multi-format support
- Delivers more than 50 media formats
(This includes RealMedia, Windows Media, QuickTime and H.264)

Get more detailed information about Helix Servers

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:31 PM

December 07, 2005

Quicktime 7 and Device Connection Problems

For all of you Final Cut Pro and FC Express users out there who have updated to the latest version of Mac OS X and Quicktime and are experiencing connectivity issues between the NLE and a deck or camera, you may need to trash some of your Quicktime Reciepts. Here's how to do it!

1. Navigate to /Library/Reciepts/

2. Find the Quicktime Receipt files.

3. You are only selecting the ones that have version numbers included in their names such as these:
   
   Keep in mind that your receipts may be different from these.

4. Drag these receipts to the Trash Can.

5. Go to Quicktime for Mac OS X then download and install the latest version of QuickTime.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:16 PM

Using iTunes to Encode Audio to Various Formats

Besides using iTunes to listen to your favorite Podcasts, watch QuickTime videos, Video Podcasts, or burn CD's of your playlists, it can be used for one more thing, encoding audio. iTunes can be used to convert audio from a music CD, CD-r or Stand-alone audio file format.

Here are some of the formats that you can compress your audio to using iTunes:

- AIFF
- AAC
- Apple Lossless
- MP3
- and WAV

To encode your audio file to a specific format you will need to set up your audio encoding settings in the iTunes Preferences accessible via the Edit Pull-down menu in iTunes. Once inside the Preferences, click on the Advanced Tab and Select the Importing Sub-Tab. Under the Import Using drop-down menu users can choose which format to encode their audio files to. Next, in the Settings drop-down menu choose Automatic or Custom. Once you are happy with your settings, Click OK to close the iTunes Preferences Dialog Window.

To convert your audio file to your desired format, Click on the Track in the iTunes playlist. Next Right-click ( on Windows) or Control-Click (on Mac) and select 'Convert Selection to .....'. The Convert selection option will display the audio format you designated in the iTunes Preferences. The compressed audio file can be found in the default location for iTunes audio files which is the iTunes folder under My Music (for PC) or Music (for Mac).

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:12 PM

File formats supported for output by After Effects

Being able to output to different formats is very critical for not only your workflow but being able to meet clients needs. You can output the file formats listed in the following table from After Effects 6.0 and above. The Professional edition supports file formats at 16 bits per channel. The standard edition exports these files at 8 bits per channel.

Adobe Motion Exchange (.amx)
Adobe Photoshop (.psd)
Animated GIF (.gif)
Bitmap (.bmp, .rle)
Cineon (.cin)
CompuServe GIF (.gif)
ElectricImage (.img, .eiz)
Filmstrip (.flm)
FLC (.flc)
FLI (.fli)

Hopefully this guide will help you achieve the goals of your next project.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:09 PM

November 18, 2005

Cleaner for Mac is Making a Comeback with 6.5 Update

About 6 years ago I started compressing video with an application called Media Cleaner Pro 4.0, later called Cleaner 5, and then Cleaner 6 (on the Mac platform). It was a great application and could do many things as it related to video compression and then for the the last 2 to 3 years the Cleaner updates stopped coming. The last Cleaner 6 update was back in 2003. I along with many others have been frustrated with the lack of product updates but finally Cleaner 6.5 is on the way.

The next release Cleaner 6.5 for Mac, manufactured by AutoDesk, is supposed to be available sometime this winter (hopefully early winter).

These are the features expected to be available in Cleaner 6.5:

- Export Flash video .SWF and .FLV files
- Export to DivX format
- Support for QuickTime 7 including H.264
- Support for Real 10 which includes RealVideo and RealAudio
- Support for MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 (& AAC support) , AVI and WAV

I have always liked the Cleaner product and even without support over the years has included many great features for authoring and compressing streaming content. I am exciting about the possibilities within Cleaner 6.5 and am very hopeful that this next release of the Cleaner product for the Mac will make many happy and we can forget all the many days we asked for better support of the Cleaner product.

Take a look at the information on Cleaner 6.5

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:00 PM

After Effects Radio Waves Effect

After effects offers many effects in the effects palette. Figuring out what each effect does can be a daunting task so we will take the next few days and highlight a few little know effects.

The Radio Waves effect creates radiating waves from a stationary or animated effect point. You can use this effect to generate pond ripples, sound waves, or intricate geometric patterns. You can control the emitted waves' shape, width, color, speed, rotation, life span, fade rate, and other properties. Use the Reflection control to make the shapes bounce off the sides of the layer. You can also use Radio Waves to create realistic wave displacement maps that work well with the Caustics effect. You can add a stroke, and adjust the wave motion. If this looks like an effect you may want to try open you help file in After Effects to see all of the parameter settings.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:51 PM

November 16, 2005

1-Day Video Streaming and Compression Seminar

GeniusDV has an upcoming Full Day Seminar on Video Streaming and Compression in Orlando, Florida. The class is a great 1-Day class to learn about all the confusing information surrounding streaming video. If you need to start adding videos to a website this is the class for you.

Participants will learn things like:
- Proper videography techniques for web video
- How to choose the right video and audio CODEC's
- How to add Streaming video to a website using EMBED and OBJECT tags
- Benefits and Disadvantages of providing download streaming videos
- Benefits and Disadvantages of providing real-time streaming videos
- Benefits of CBR, 1-Pass VBR and 2-Pass VBR compression
- How to export QuickTime Videos from a non-linear editor

Also, learn how to compress streaming videos to formats such as: Windows Media, QuickTime, Real Media, Flash, MPEG-4 and H.264. Software such as Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite, Flip4Mac and Compression Master will be the featured in the class.

View the class summary and outline for the Video Streaming and Compression Seminar

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:42 PM

iPod Compression Tests

GeniusDV recently did several compression tests for the Video iPod, aimed at helping people create good compression settings for preparing videos for iTunes and the Video iPod. If you are using iTunes 6, it appears to be more forgiving and allowing playback of more types of QuickTime videos than the Video iPod.

In my testing I compressed 19 videos for iTunes and the Video iPod and all 19 played back successfully inside using iTunes 6. Only 17 of the videos compressed played backed successfully on the Video iPod. The videos that did not play on the Video iPod used 2-pass VBR for the compression method. I compressed to H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, and QuickTime in my testing.

Get settings for preparing content for the Video iPod in the GeniusDV Compression Forum

I posted a list of many of the settings used to successfully compress videos for the Video iPod, using QuickTime Pro and Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite on our website. They can be found in the GeniusDV Video Compression Forum.

A Special thanks to A MacIntosh Store for allowing me to test video on one their Video iPods

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:41 PM

The latest supported decks for Avid Express Pro

Avid editing products support a number of videotape decks from many manufacturers. The decks can support full edit capabilities, or only record or play functions. Avid provides deck control capabilities through either a direct serial connection or a V-LAN/VLX connection. Macintosh systems support serial decks. Windows systems support serial decks and DV cameras and decks (for systems with the DV/MPEG option) - 11.8_supported_decks_serial.htm. Avid engineers have spent many hours keeping up with and testing many different decks. Check out the full list of supported decks just remember if your deck is not listed it still might work with the generic deck settings that Avid provides.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:38 PM

Use the StreamGuide for Video and Audio Channels on the Web

The StreamGuide provides a great on-line streaming resource for Video and Audio on the web. The StreamGuide provides a free, format neutral audio and video guide to streaming media. Sponsored by StreamGuys, the StreamGuide currently list over 620 on-line stations from 220 countries.

If you have an on-line channel streaming channel you can submit it to the StreamGuide.

The StreamGuide is also ready for the next generation of streaming media on the web by providing a Podcast Directory where you can submit your audio and video podcasts.

Visit the StreamGuide Video and Audio Streaming Channels and Podcast Directory

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:29 PM

Access Denied in Avid Express Pro HD

As editors in the NLE world we all must contend with computer problems. Instead of have great knowledge of our application software we must also be computer technicians of software and hardware. I came across the dreaded error

Exception: DISK_ACCESS_DENIED filename: C:\OMFI media files

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:10 PM

October 27, 2005

Sorenson Squeeze settings for Avid DVD

If you are an Avid Xpress user, you may find it frustrating navigating through all the settings in order to produce a good quality DVD.

You will need three software products to create a good quality DVD.

- Avid Xpress (DV or Pro)
- Sorenson Compressions Suite 4.1 or higher
- A DVD Authoring Program

The trick is to use Sorenson Squeeze to output the corrected field order from the Avid software. Here is a fantastic tutorial on making a DVD with Avid Xpress with Sorenson Squeeze.

If you own Avid Xpress Studio, it comes bundled with all the software products required to make good quality DVD's.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:47 PM

Avid Express Pro and Digital Audio Scrub

Have you ever wanted to hear pieces of your audio while you drag the blue indicator bar through your timeline? Well, there is great feature in Avid call Digital Audio Scrub. This is a great way to locate audio cues in either your sequence or source clips. The first thing you need to do is select the tracks you want to scrub by Alt clicking the Speaker icon next to the track and this will turn it gold. Avid will try and scrub as many tracks as it can, as long as the track is on, but if you make them gold this will ensure you at least hear those tracks. Now press the Caps Lock key to activate Digital Scrub for full time-scrubbing or press hold down the shift key for part-time scrubbing.

You now are a scrub master!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:44 PM

Avid Express Pro Shortcuts

Everyone is looking for shortcuts in the editing process. Speeding up task such as resizing tracks or windows is one of those tasks that make your workflow easier but can take up unnecessary time. Well, here is list of a few keyboard shortcuts for your timeline that are great time savers in Avid Express Pro.

1. Alt + Ctrl + click in Timeline: Snaps to last frame of the nearest transition or mark; also snaps to any audio keyframes visible in audio tracks
2. Alt + click in Timeline: Enables lassoing of transitions and segments in Timeline
3. Ctrl + L or K: Enlarges or reduces highlighted track in Timeline
4. Ctrl + Y: Creates new video track
5. Ctrl + U: Creates new audio track
6. Ctrl + Shift + H: Hides tracks in the Timeline
7. Ctrl + click Track Monitor icon: Solos video or audio track
8. Ctrl + A: Selects all tracks
9. Alt+ Matchframe key: Places match-frame edit in Source pop-up monitor without marking IN point at frame

These are just a few shortcuts to get you started! Stay-tuned for more amazing time-saving shortcuts and do not forget to sign up for the next Avid class.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:43 PM

October 20, 2005

Flash Video Studio is a Breeze

Flash Video Studio is a great tool for creating SWF and FLV flash videos for the web. I checked out the tool and it is easy to use and the cost is pretty inexpensive. The software allows the ability to create HTML that goes with your Flash Streaming videos along with the ability to customize frame sizes, frame rates, and keyframe frequency. If you need to add a watermark to your streaming videos, you can easily do that with this tool.

One cool element of Flash Video Studio is the ability to change to change between different Flash players for your Flash content along with the ability to customize the color and other features of the Flash player you choose. The tool is simple to use and great for those that do not want to take the time to learn Embed and Object Tags for added Flash Streaming videos on-line.

Check out Flash Video Studio

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:51 PM

Deleting Hint Tracks from a QuickTime Streaming Video

With the new QuickTime 7 Pro there are some changes as it relates to the software. One change is the way you delete Hint Tracks. For anyone that is using QuickTime streaming videos and putting them on a Streaming Server you will need to use hint tracks. Nevertheless, if you are posting your streaming videos as downloadable to a web server instead of real-time streaming you will not need the videos hinting. It only make the files larger so you should delete the hint tracks. Here is how to do it:

1. Open your hinted video in QuickTime Pro 7.
2. Go the Window pull-down menu and choose Show Movies Properties
3. You will see the hint tracks listed as Hinted Video and Hinted Sound.
4. Click on both tracks and hit your delete button. Select delete when the dialog box comes up and you're done.

Now you can take your QuickTime Streaming videos and posting them as downloadable files on your streaming server or you can make changes to your video.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:48 PM

October 19, 2005

After Effects and Nesting

Learning how to nest in After Effects is very important to your workflow. If you are not familiar with the term nesting here is a quick definition:

When creating an elaborate composition, you may find it easier to organize the layers that make up the composition by using a technique called nesting--putting one or more compositions into another composition. You can create many levels of nesting. Nesting will allow you to save many hours of matching scale and timing to other layers.

To fully understand nesting you should go through this great tutorial on nesting and you will be able do complex tasks that not only look professional but save hours of time!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:02 PM

Avid Express Pro HD and Loss of Deck Control

Sometimes after upgrading to the latest version of Avid Express Pro HD you may have found that you can no longer control your deck and the capture controls do not work. This happened recently with the latest version of Avid Express Pro HD 5.2. It appears to that this only happens with HD versions of the software. Although, this problem is specific to communicating from the CPU directly to the capture device, there have been cases when this method has rectified capture issues with a DNA device (Mojo or Adrenaline) as well. This can be resolved by registering the DVBuffers. (this file is a part of the DIO Runtime, which is installed with the Avid software, and is essential for Avid's communication with external capture devices).

To register the buffers:

1. Click Start, then click Run

2. In the command line, type : regsvr32 DVBuffers.ax

3. If you typed this line correctly, a popup window will display a message, DLLRegisterServer in DVBuffers.ax succeeded, (the message may vary from version to version.

If the line was typed incorrectly, the message will report that the registration failed.

You now have control!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:43 PM

October 18, 2005

Avid Express Pro and the Moving Filmstrip

If you have watched television lately you probably noticed the popularity of the filmstrip used to insert several images. Creating this moving filmstrip in Avid is very simple if you follow some exact math parameters. GeniusDV has a great tutorial on producing this filmstrip for your production. This tutorial covers the 3:00 second duration clips. If you desire a longer clip you must just keep in mind that all clips must be divisible by three. I have used the moving filmstrip in several commercials with great success! So you now have the power to make your own filmstrip and don’t be afraid to experiment with different backgrounds.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:43 PM

Director's View Makes it Easy to Add Flash Videos On-line

There is a great and easy-to-use tool to add Flash streaming videos to a website. The tool is called Directors View and provides easy-to-build customizable video portals for your website. Directors View allows the ability to capture, compress and add Flash videos to your video portal.

This product is designed for the non-technical person that wants a simple way to get Flash streaming videos on-line. Directors View comes bundled with Sorenson Squeeze Flash MX. Sorenson Media provides high quality and easy to use compression tools for Streaming videos

Take a look at other Directors View features

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:41 PM

Avid Express Pro HD and Frame Rate Conversions

There are times in a production when the footage only exists in one format and the user needs it in another. A common example is a 24p project being handed an establishing shot on digibeta. In this case, the footage is interlace, 60 fields at 30 frames per second, while the project type is progressive and 24 frames per second.

Using the Timewarp effect - part of the FluidMotion effects engine in Media Composer Adrenaline HD and Avid Xpress Pro HD - the user can create alternate frame rates and keep the original audio in sync.

Read on to find out how!

The Timewarp effect can be used to create all the frame rate conversions needed. The table below gives all the values needed to crate any frame rate.

1. Create 30I NTSC project
   
2. Capture shot to be converted
   
3. Edit onto timeline (V and A)
   
4. Apply the Timewarp effect from the effects palette
   
5. Select FluidMotion from the Render Using menu
   
6. From the Formats menu, select Interlace as input and Progressive as Output
   
7. Open the Speed graph and enter 125 into value entry box at the bottom of the window.
   
8. Render
   

The result will be a progressive clip of the same duration but now running 125% faster. When this clip is imported back into a 23.976p project, it will be slowed down by 25% due to the 1:21 frame relationship. This way, durations remain the same and the original audio remains in sync.

In order to get the clip back into a 23.976p project, export V only as a QuickTime reference and the audio as a WAVE file.

Import these two files back into a 23.976p project and sync the V-only clip with the A- only clip using AutoSync.The result is a sync VA clip in a 23.976 frame progressive format.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:36 PM

October 14, 2005

Workspaces in Avid Express Pro

Being able to save your favorite workspaces and link them to a user setting is a very important feature to speed up your work flow. I have my standard editing workspace, audio editing workspace and a capture workspace always one button away. Here is how to link user settings and workspaces:

To link user settings and a workspace:

1. Create a new workspace setting and give it a custom name.
2. Double-click a setting from the Settings scroll list that you want to link to the new workspace. For example, double-click Capture. Adjust the Capture setting to what you want.
3. Give this Capture setting the same name you gave the workspace in step 1.
4. Double-click another setting, for example, Media Creation. Select new options, and click OK.
5. Give this setting the same name you gave the workspace in step 1.
6. Double-click the workspace you just created.
   The Workspace Settings dialog box opens.
7. Click Activate Settings Linked By Name. For more information about options, see Workspace Settings.
8. Click OK.

All the settings and the new workspace you created are activated when you activate this workspace.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:59 PM

Play Windows Media Streaming Videos in the QuickTime player

The latest codecs in Windows Media player look great as it relates to downloadable and real-time streaming videos. One problem for those that are using the Mac platform is they do not get to take advantage of those codec quality improvements. That is because Windows Media player for the Mac has not been upgraded along with the version for Windows.

Here is something that will help you. Telestream has a Flip4Mac Windows Media plug-in that works with QuickTime and allows the ability to playback Windows Media streaming content in the QuickTime Player. The quality is excellent and Mac users can begin to enjoy Windows Media content in a new way.

The cost for the plug-in is inexpensive and worth the $9.99 it costs. Telestream makes other great tools in addition to the Windows Media plug-in for QuickTime Player. There are also Windows Media Import and Exports components if you need to import and edit Windows Media content or if you need to export Windows Media content for streaming for the web. These tools work with QuickTime compatible applications

Link: Telestream Windows Media tools for the Mac

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:53 PM

Tool to Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Video

Have you ever had a need to convert a PowerPoint presentation to video? With some high-end self advancing PowerPoint presentations and some regular manual-advancing presentations this might be something that you need to do. If this is the case, take a look at PowerPoint Video Converter.

It is pretty easy to use. Open the application select the PowerPoint presentation you want to convert to video. Then click start. The tool even has a way to specify an auto play setting allowing the presentation to play through without you clicking anything. You can also specify a frame size.

The PowerPoint to Video Converter software is great because it allows the ability to save a video file to uncompressed AVI which allows for easy compression in a Video Compression application. This will be a good first step in helping you create PowerPoint videos that need to be added to CD-rom, DVD or the Web.

Download a trial of PowerPoint to Video Converter

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:51 PM

DV Scene Detection

One of the most important features of many non linear editing systems is the ability to understand DV metadata that contains time of day marks. Both Avid Xpress and Final Cut Pro have this feature.

In Final Cut Pro it is called DV Start Stop Detect. In Avid Xpress it is called DV Scene Extraction. The end result for both programs is the same.

However, there are a few limitations to this technology. Here they are:

• There needs to be a change in time while the footage is being recorded. Hence, the camera operator must start and stop the camera between scenes.
• Footage must originate on DV. Beta-Cam, Digital Beta-Cam will not work.
• You must record your footage using a firewire cable directly into your editing system. Running the signal through a converter or using SDI will not work.
• The time-clock (time of day clock) must be correctly functioning in your DV camera.

One interesting note, if you make a Direct DV to DV copy using a firewire cable, the meta data (DV Start Stop information) will be maintained.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:49 PM

October 13, 2005

After Effects and Avid EMP

If you edit on Avid and also have After Effects you need to make sure you install the Avid External Monitor Preview (EMP) plug-in for After Effects. This allows you to view your After Effects project on an NTSC monitor. This is a huge benefit when you are creating your After Effects project because you can see exactly what it is going to look like when it is broadcast or played on a television.

The one thing you need to be aware of when installing the EMP is that you need to uninstall Avid first then install the EMP or else it will not work. Once you have installed the EMP you then can reinstall Avid. To turn on your external monitor you need to open After Effects and navigate to Edit > Preferences and then you will see the Avid plug-in at the bottom of the preferences. Open this up and click on the IEE-1394 preview. Now you can preview all of your After Effects projects on your NTSC monitor.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:12 PM

October 12, 2005

After Effects Shine Plug-in

If you plan on taking your creativity to the highest level then now doubt you will eventually need more effects for your projects in After Effects. I use several additional plug-INS in most of my projects but one of the hottest plug-ins right now is Trapcodes Shine. You have more than likely seen this used over and over in many different applications and the uses for shine are endless. It gives the illusion that light is coming from behind your subject or text. You can also animate this plug-in for a motion type effect. You can download this plug-in for After Effects from the Trapcode web site and read several tutorials on different ways to use Shine.
Trish & Chris Meyer compare the different light ray tools in an article in DV Magazine May 2002; Shine proves being the fastest and a must have!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:59 PM

Tutorials and Samples for Learning HTML

If you are interested in learning HTML, ASP, Javascript or SMIL to add your streaming videos or interactive content on-line, Here is a website to help you.

On the website there is information about Object Tags, Embed Tags, Video and Audio Media. When you visit the website you can interact with hands-on tutorials that help you understand the web authoring process. To add streaming videos and audio to the Internet you must learn how to work with HTML or other Mark-up Languages and this site does a great job of teaching that. Link: www.w3schools.com

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:58 PM

Cool Tool to view Sorenson Media Video CODECS

There is a cool on-line demo to check out the video compression quality of the Sorenson Media CODECs.

The tool is nice because it shows you what the video looks like with and without compression using CODECS such as: MPEG4, Sorenson Spark Pro and the Sorenson Video Pro 3. You can see examples of 2-pass VBR, Image Processing, Cropping and other features.

View the Sorenson Media CODEC demos

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:56 PM

October 11, 2005

Final Cut Pro Logging

Although the majority of the logging capabilities of Final Cut Pro are located in the Log and Capture window, you can always add more information via the browser window after you have captured the desired material. With this being said and with all of the proper hardware connections having been made, here are some of the most popular ways to log and capture material within Final Cut Pro.

Batch Capturing allows you to review the material that you have shot via a camcorder or VTR and set in and out points for multiple scenes that you wish to capture within the log and capture window. You can name those scenes, then go back and capture all of those scenes one after the other hands free by selecting the Batch button. This method is useful if capturing the entire tape is not an option and if you need multiple select scenes. You could run into problems with a batch capture if the tape you are ingesting has many timecode breaks.

Another popular Log and Capture method is logging a clip, then immediately capturing that single clip. You would capture each clip in this manner. This technique can take a while and would be useful when you are aware that there are many timecode breaks within the tape you want to ingest.

With drive space permitting, you could also capture an entire tape as one huge clip, then use markers to break it up into individuals scenes after capture. If you have recorded the footage toggling the record button off and on between takes, you could also use the DV Start/Stop Detect function to break it into individual scenes.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:34 PM

View H.264 Streaming Content using QuickTime 7

It is a good time for people that view QuickTime streaming video content on the web to start upgrading their QuickTime software to the latest version, QuickTime 7. One of the greatest elements about this version update of the media player is the addition of the H.264 CODEC into the player. This will allow the viewing of H.264 streaming content.

Also, Quicktime 7 also has automatic bandwidth detection similar to Intelligent Streaming for Windows Media and Surestream for Real Media. Content providers will be able to embed profiles for different bit rates/data rates and the QuickTime 7 player will delivery a streaming video suitable for your internet connection. This is a great feature!

There is also a complete re-design of the media player that sports a new look and numerous additional features. The new QuickTime 7 player is definitely worth checking out.

Download QuickTime 7 by visiting Apple's website

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:28 PM

October 10, 2005

Animating text in After Effects

Adobe After Effects 6.5 includes nearly three hundred preset text animations that you can apply from the Effects & Presets palette to instantly create complex text animations. You can view the available presets in the Animation Presets folder in the Effects & Presets palette.

To apply a text preset:
Drag an animation preset from the Effects & Presets palette to a text layer in the Composition window or Timeline window. I use these text presets on a daily basis and the great thing about them is that they are fully adjustable. In your timeline you can easily adjust the range. If you would like the animation to be quicker then simply move the two keyframes closer or maybe you want them to last longer then just move them farther apart.

To learn more of these exciting tricks sign up for the upcoming GeniusDV After Effects classes.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:30 PM

Setting Up A Voiceover Studio

Whether your goal is to create quality voiceovers for your own indpendent films cut with Avid or Final Cut Pro, commercial spots, or to showcase your talents in hope of landing a few freelance gigs, setting up your own voiceover studio requires cautious planning and research.

Will the space you have designated for your studio suffice? Will it be located in an apartment and if so, is it secure from outside noises? Do you own a computer with a decent soundcard and what sort of microphone should you use? These are just a few questions you need to be asking before you make such an investment. This article will help you answer these questions and get you going in the right direction.

Take a look at Equipping Your Home Voiceover Studio.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:16 PM

Avid and Final Cut Pro Plugins

Have you been searching for that perfect software plug-in so you can create that specialized effect?

There is a great website called toolfarm.com that contains a comprehensive list of plug-ins for various video editing software packages. You might want to add this site to one of your favorites.

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:14 PM

Cache settings in After Effects

If you are having troubles with your RAM previews being slow, then your cache, not cash, maybe set to low. Here is a rundown of how to up your cache.

To set Cache preferences:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Cache (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > Cache (Mac OS.)
   
   
2. Set any of the options below:
   
   
3. Enter an amount for Image Cache Size as a percent of the amount of installed RAM. (The default value is 60%; Adobe does not recommend values over 90%.) The amount you enter determines the maximum amount of memory After Effects uses for cached frames. The number of frames that RAM Preview displays is also limited by this setting: Increase it to get longer RAM Previews; decrease it if RAM Previews are jerky or halting because of virtual memory paging activity.
   
   
4. Enter an amount for Maximum Memory Usage as a percent of the amount of installed RAM. (The default value is 120%; Adobe does not recommend values over 200%.) This setting limits the amount of memory After Effects can use. Increase the amount if insufficient memory errors occur. You can specify amounts greater than 100% because virtual memory is not limited to the amount of installed RAM.
   
   

To purge the cache:
Make sure that the Timeline window is selected, and choose Edit > Purge > Image Caches.

Now do you have enough cash(e)?

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:12 PM

October 05, 2005

Avid Express Pro Color Correction

Understanding how to use the different waveform monitors inside your Avid application is essential to proper color analysis. You first need to understand the difference between the YC waveform monitor and the Y waveform monitor and when to use them. The most common is the Y waveform monitor is used to analyze the blacks, whites and midtones. This is the most common scope to use to match scene brightness across your cuts and make sure that you are within the safe limits of broadcast. The YC waveform is best used to check your chrominance values. These are your chroma and luma waveforms but you should never use the YC waveform to detect luminance because it can be very difficult to detect luminance with the chroma wave in your sight. The blue-green waveform should not exceed 110 IRE for NTSC and never fall below -20 NTSC. Keep these tips in mind and you will be on your way to effective and accurate color corrections in Avid Express Pro.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:13 PM

October 04, 2005

Reduce the memory needs in Adobe After Effects

Reducing a composition's memory requirements: Once you identify the layers that use memory-intensive features, you can employ several strategies to reduce the memory load:

1. Collapse transformations of nested compositions where possible. Collapsing transformations calculates the transform property changes once for all nested compositions instead of calculating at every level in the composition hierarchy. This saves memory and improves performance. This technique cannot be used if the nested composition uses a mask or effect.
2. Render compositions in draft mode. Although draft quality is not sufficient for final output, it produces a movie that is good enough for previewing your project.
3. Reduce the number of changes you can undo with the Undo command by choosing Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > General (Mac OS) and typing a lower number for Levels of Undo.
4. Free up RAM currently used to cache images by choosing Edit > Purge > Image Caches. You can also free up RAM currently used to store undo changes by choosing Edit > Purge > Undo.

If these tips do not help then maybe more RAM is in your future?

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:03 PM

October 03, 2005

Adobe After Effects - Finding your footage

If you have ever wanted to find out where your footage is located, either in a particular folder or which hard drive does it live on, it has never been very obvious in Adobe After Effects. To locate footage in your project all you need to do is right-click (PC) the footage in your project window and use the reveal command. This will show where the footage lives. I have found this to be very important if you have multiple hard drives and you would like to consolidate all of the footage on to one hard drive.

Make sure you sign up for one of the few remaining seats in the next GeniusDV After Effects 5-Day class coming October 17-21.

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:51 PM

Convert Audio Waveforms to Keyframes in After Effects

Have you ever wanted to make your text dance to your music? Maybe you have wanted a graphic to pulse to the beat! No problem with After Effects. This is called Convert Audio Keyframes. Here is a quick rundown of how to convert your audio to match your needs.

First highlight the track of music you want to keyframe, and go up to the animation tool on the toolbar. Now navigate to Keyframe Assistant and choose Convert Audio to Keyframes. You will notice now that you have a new track at the top of your composition that says Audio. This is where you will find all of your keyframes that you can now parent to scale, opacity or whatever you feel like making fluctuate with your keyframes.

Now go out there and make your graphics dance!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:48 PM

September 29, 2005

Coloring your clips in Avid Express Pro

Assigning a color to your clips is a very useful tool. I have found this to be especially helpful when there is a clip in my timeline that I have maybe cut into two or more pieces. If you want to move this clip in your timeline and keep all of the pieces together, if they are the same color it makes it very easy to identify. This is only one reason to color your clips. Another might be you want to keep certain clips together by their color, for example: all of your outdoor midday clips you want one color and all of the evening shot another.

Here is how to color your clips:

1. Make sure you are in text view in your bin.

2. Click on the fast menu in the lower left corner and click on headings.

3. Under headings you will see color as a heading option. Click color and then OK at the bottom.

4. Now you will have a color heading in your text view that you can modify by hovering in that column and clicking once and opening the color dialogue box.

5. You can choose the few preset colors or any color from the color palette by choosing pick at the bottom.

Don’t forget to save this color text view so you can access it from any project.

... And you thought you left the Crayolas behind in elementary school!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:57 PM

Avid Express Pro and Boston Legal

Avid is always up for the challenge to meet the high demands of movies and broadcast television editors. The new hot show Boston Legal placed high demands on its lead editor Philip Neel. Neel, a veteran television editor (Ally McBeal, Sisters), is challenged by taking each hour episode and packing it with seriousness and humor all with faced paced action and camera work. Neel and his editors extensively use Media Composers and Express Pro:

Having the Avid Express Pro really helps ensure that everyone keeps working and that we have much less downtime. It gives us a lot of flexibility. - Anne Uemura, Associate Producer, Boston Legal

Get the full scoop about editing this exciting new show and don't forget to get your seat in one of GeniusDV's upcoming classes!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:54 PM

NTSC Safe in Adobe Photoshop

Meeting the standards set by the FCC for broadcast is a very important task if you edit for television. All televisions today are built to meet these specifications. You need to make sure that your black levels are set to 16 or 7.5 IRE and the absolute white never exceeds 235 or 100 IRE. Believe it or not if these illegal broadcast colors where to be sent over the air they would bleed into the audio stream and create a buzzing sound. To make sure that you always are within specifications you need to go to the levels adjustment.

1. Go to Image in the top toolbar and navigate to Adjustments.
2. Navigate to Levels and open the Levels dialogue box.
3. At the bottom of the box you will see output levels and change them to 16 for the low and 235 for the high.

Just remember the 16 equals 7.5 IRE and 235 is equal to 100 IRE.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:47 PM

Avid Express Pro 5.X and HD Capture

Now that we have the ability to edit in either High Definition or Standard Definition we now have more settings to choose before we capture. The most important setting is the Video Resolution Setting. The great thing about Avid Express Pro is that you can combine SD and HD in the same timeline as long as the frame-rate is the same.

The first thing you need to do is determine the format that you are going to capture. You then need to decide if you are going to capture in OMF or MXF format. The formats are wrappers for your media files, your choice will not affect quality but you need to be aware of the programs you may need to open these files in. A good rule of thumb is OMF for all of your SD and MXF for HD. To switch between these formats you need to go to your settings tab in the project window and double-click media creation. Now select the media type tab and this is where you can choose your format. This is just an intro to what your different types of formats and what they are about. Sign up for one of GeniusDV's Avid Express Pro combos to become an expert in Avid Express Pro.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:42 PM

Anamorphic and Non-Anamorphic DVDs

Many of the questions being raised by beginner editors in discussion forums, referring to Anamorphic and Non-Anamorphic video, arise from the fact that they don't have a clear understanding of some of the big terms that are being thrown around today. Words like: Non-Anamorphic (Letterboxed), Anamorphic, and possibly just as equally as important, they do not know how to distinguish between them.

Before you make that DVD you're thinking about, Check out this visual representation of Anamorphic and Non-Anamorphic video being played back on various televisions that are 4:3 and 16:9. It will definitely give you clarity as to the appearance you are looking for.

We've all walked into Best Buy and seen an Anamorphic image being improperly played back on a 4:3 screen, not a good way to sell tv sets. Check out the tutorial Anamorphic VS. Non-Anamorphic DVD.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:41 PM

September 23, 2005

Avid Express Pro HD Version 5.1.7

Avid has just released the latest version of Express Pro HD. The latest update fixes many minor issues but mainly focuses on Panasonic P2 changes. These changes include: better P2 card reading support, most 3rd party audio cards are now supported, updating user profile settings now offers a message box to tell you what has been updated, and many errors have been addressed.

To read everything that has been updated check out this Avid read-me for a detailed list. Now go out and get updated.

Posted by MovingPicture at 03:00 PM

Exporting a Still From Final Cut Pro

You may find that in the midst of a project, you may need to export a still image for promotional purposes or just to email to someone for approval.

Exporting A Still Frame From Your Project:

1. Within the canvas or viewer windows, place the playhead overtop of the frame of video that you wish to export as a still.
2. Go to File > Export> Using Quicktime Conversion
3. After selecting the location where you wish to save the still, select the Still Image option from the Format pop-up menu.
4. Select a file format for your still. You can select the Option button for further export control of the image.
5. Click Save when you are ready to export.

Check out these free Final Cut Pro and Avid tutorials.

Posted by MovingPicture at 02:35 PM

September 21, 2005

Aspect Ratios and the DVX 100a

With the introduction of such economical, yet cutting edge camera technology that is available to the young Avid and Final Cut Pro User, never before has there been so many choices of workflow that you have to consider before taking that first shot. Are you shooting in 24pa, squeezed 16:9, true 16:9, letterbox, HD, HDV, and possibly the question that supercedes all the others is, 'Who is your target audience?' Well, lets take a look at that particular question.

Without getting into the logistics behind tranfering DV to film, let's say that your project will mainly be seen by people while in their homes, sitting in front of their television sets. Given, some are biting the bullet and investing in 16:9 sets or televisions that can switch between anamorphic and standard, there are still many who tune into ER on Thursday nights with a 1985 19' Sylvania. The point I'm trying to make is that with the wide array of hardware to capture and review footage in circulation, you may have questions?

Here is a conversation between industry professional discussing shooting 4:3 vs 16:9 via the Panasonic DVX-100a. This is good stuff!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:01 PM

Storyboard Editing in Avid Express Pro

Storyboard editing is a real effective way to quickly add clips in order to your timeline. I found this to be very useful in the last show I put together. I had never tried this form of editing before and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works under the right circumstances. If you have all the clips you need and they follow some form of order than storyboard editing might be for you. Here is a quick rundown on how to Storyboard edit.

First enter the Frame View in your bin (not storyboard view). Now mark in and outs for the each clip in the bin, by loading them into the source monitor. Once you have all the clips marked then arrange them from left to right in the order you would like them to be in your timeline. Avid will read your order as left to right and top to bottom. Drag a lasso around all of your clips to highlight them all. Now drag one of the clips into your timeline and ‘presto’ you now have a sequence that is ready to edit.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:56 PM

September 19, 2005

Photoshop Tips Part 5

The last few Photoshop Tips have all been about shortcuts. Well, you probably wish you could make your own shortcuts for your favorite functions. You can and here’s how.

Go under the Edit menu and choose Keyboard Shortcuts. In the Shortcuts For... pop-up menu choose Application Menus. Now you can select the function you would like to make shortcut for and highlight that function. Now just enter the keys you would like to use to bring up that function and you are done. You now have the power to create your own shortcuts!

We hope you have been able to use these Photoshop shortcuts tips to make your workflow faster and more enjoyable! Check in everyday for more Avid, FCP, After Effects or Photoshop Tips!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:28 PM

Photoshop Tips Part 4

Being able to use shortcuts is the best way to speed up your workflow. Whenever you make a shape or want to fill something with color there a many way sot perform this task. This is called the Fill Command under the edit menu. But if you look next to the Fill Command there is no shortcut listed. Well, there is an undocumented shortcut to fill whatever it is you are trying to color! It is Shift+Backspace (MAC Shift+Delete). This is one of those really cool undocumented shortcuts that will save a few mouse clicks. So now go impress your friends with this secret trick!

Want to learn more tricks? then sign up for one of GeniusDV's up and coming classes!

Stay Tuned for more Photoshop tips!

Posted by MovingPicture at 05:26 PM

September 16, 2005

Photoshop Tips Part 3

Centering one layer in another and duplicating a layer quickly is very important in Photoshop. If you have every tried to put two layers together and then spent time trying to center up one of the layers you know how much work it takes. Well, all you have to do is drag the object from one layer while holding down the shift key as you drag and when you release the mouse button, presto it’s perfectly centered! Also, a really quick way to copy layers is to press control+J (Mac command+J). Now you have a quick way to center a layer in another and duplicate a layer!

Stay Tuned for more Photoshop tips!

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:58 PM

AJA IO Review

It has been awhile since I’ve had to use the AJA IO box. I was pleasantly surprised at how flawless my experience was. I last time I had to use the unit was about a year ago and I didn’t have the same experience. At the time the MAC OS was 10.2.4 and version 1.1 of the IO software. It was buggy to say the least. I am not sure where the issue was, but as I recall, AJA was aware of it and working on it. What I do remember, was the great technical support at AJA. I really felt there was a passion for what they were doing. And the unit itself at its price point is a modern marvel and the power it gives in a serious edit suite you almost have to have. Well, I am happy to report the same great technical support was there but this time the software was ready for prime time.

I am now working in a suite running 10.4.4 on a G5 dual 2.5 gig and 6 gigs of ram with version 2.0 of the AJA driver. This time I had to install the unit myself. In the previous scenario there was a video engineer on staff who installed and configured the suite. I was a little hesitant to delve into the endeavor on a deadline. The goal was to hook up a beta SP deck via component and convert it to DVCPRO 50. Then use a single external firewire 800 drive to capture to. Of course, AJA doesn’t support this configuration and they said that actually the capture window might not even work. Its true that the AJA box does all its IO functions through a single 400 firewire port. And the other 400 port is on the same controller. If you want to use a 400 drive it can be done by installing a second PCI 400 port. I am happy to report that from the time of opening the box to rigging up the all the cables including audio mixer video monitor and installing the driver and presets was less than two hours. I launched final cut picked the appropriate ‘easy set’ up and transcoded the beautiful analog to digital footage. The RS422 device control plugged right in and worked perfectly. Just for the heck of it i decided to capture 10 bit uncompressed video to the same drive, and lo and behold that worked too! But why would you want to waste the space on this, the DVCPRO 50 codec is fantastic. Its almost scary how cheap and simple it is to do high quality desk top video these days, thanks AJA!

P.S. And this time when I called for tech support it I went straight to a tech, and he didn’t even ask for my name!

SATA or serial ATA is the latest low cost hard drive solution. There are an abundance of of third party vendors now offering SATA configurations for the MAC. One that stands out is FIRMTEK. They offer a verity of PCI-X solutions for the G5 MAC. I haven’t personally tried it but you could buy a SATA card and a low cost duel drive enclosure stripe it as a 0 raid and have no problems playing back multiple streams of uncompressed SD video or DVCPRO HD material. 800 gigs for less than $500 dollars! They also make 4 way controller cards that would let you take your internal drives off the motherboard completely. Freeing up valuable processor power!

Posted by MovingPicture at 06:55 PM

September 12, 2005

High Definition in the U.K.

As we all know HD is the wave of the here and now. Some shows that have been running in SD for years are now facing the HD dilemma. One of the longest late night shows in the U.K., Later...With Jools Holland, has been a tape based show for the past 13 years and in 2004 went away from a linear based system to HD. This was a huge step considering they skipped SD digital.

Once again Avid made this transition easy according to the show's ACE edtior:

HD was not as scary as I thought it would be... it's a fantastic visual concept and the pictures are almost too good.
- Perry Bellisario, Founder, Ace Post Production

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:46 PM

Photoshop Droplets and Avid Express Pro

Do you have a favorite task that you perform on all of your photos before you import them to video? Lets say you want all of you images to be 720X486 or you want them all to be saturated by an additional 10 percent. Well any task you can think of in Photoshop can be applied in one swoop using Photoshop Droplets.

Over at Genius DV, they have the tutorial to help you apply droplets to all of your photos or graphics. Don't forget to sign up for one of their up and coming classes to help you further your career in the film and video industry!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:42 PM

September 09, 2005

Avid and Mac OS X Tiger

Are you ready to feed your Tiger? Avid now has full applications of Express Pro and Media Composer for Macintosh OS X Tiger. Avid has been supporting the Mac systems since 1989 on the Mac 6 and has continued to support and push the levels of performance for the Macintosh. The latest version even includes a 3-D titling provided by Marquee. If you are ready to step-up to the latest version of Avid for your Tiger then hurry to the latest Avid update!

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:29 PM

Media Relatives and Avid Express Pro

Confused on which clips you have or have not used in your sequence? Then I have a friend for you. Selecting Media Relatives is a great tool that Avid incorporated to allow you to figure out which clips you have used in your sequence. This is very helpful to not only speed up your workflow but to also keep you from inadvertently using the same clip twice. Here is a quick run down of how to use this feature:

1. Open the bin that contains the chosen clip or sequence.
2. Open any other bins that might contain the media relatives that you want to find.
3. Resize and position the bins so that you can see their contents. Text view is best for viewing as many objects as possible.
4. Click the chosen clip or sequence, and select Bin > Select Media Relatives. The system highlights all related objects in all open bins.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:25 PM

September 07, 2005

Adjusting your Play Delay in Avid Express Pro

Are you annoyed that your external NTSC montior has a playback delay? I lived with this for about six months before I found this obvious cure! Here is the pill for delay sickness:

1. In the Project window, click the Settings tab.
   The Settings scroll list appears.
2. Double-click Video Display.
   The Video Display Settings dialog box opens.
3. Click the Desktop Play Delay slider and drag it to increase or decrease the amount of frame offset.
   You might need to readjust the frames a few times to find the correct offset.
4. Click OK.

You can always tweak this for different devices, so have no fear and adjust to your output needs.

Posted by MovingPicture at 04:51 PM