Blog Archives

Understanding what video scopes tell us about our images is essential to creating great looking images; regardless of which video editing software you are using. In this article, I explain the basics of the waveform monitor and vectorscope, how to read them and how they affect color correction.

The TourBox Elite (and its sister TourBox Lite) are well-built control surfaces designed to make using creative applications faster and easier. The hardware will last for years. But their tutorials and “Getting Started” documentation need a lot of work.

There you are, immersed in creating your next epic – Ghost King Arising – when you are struck by a thought. “What, exactly, does a ghost king sound like?” Here are two audio effects in Apple Final Cut Pro – Alien and Spectral Gate – that you can use to answer that question.

Apple updated Final Cut Pro for both iPad and Mac last week. While it looks like the iPad version got all the love, there’s more to the story – beneath the surface.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we shot interviews at the 2024 NAB Show. This includes gear, people and process.

This is a video interview with Simon Fearn, Chief Technology Office of Marquis. He explains Marquis Medway and how it is central to many news, production and live video acquisition workflows, their latest releases for NAB, and describes the trends they are watching in media this year.

Michael Cioni, founder of Strada, premieres Strada, an AI-assisted, cloud-based, subscription media search and management tool which enables video editors to do more – faster.

Here’s a list of the companies we are interviewing at the 2024 NAB Show along with links to watch them.

Last week, I asked readers to write about web services they found useful in video editing. Here are two reports on what works.

CommandPost is an indispensable tool for Final Cut Pro. One of its key features enables a scrolling timeline. However, this feature can conflict with the latest version of Final Cut. Here’s what you need to know.

In today’s world of digital video, the Broadcast Safe effect (or Video Limiter in Premiere) is gathering dust in a corner. But, there is a BIG benefit to using it when you have a lighting problem to solve, as this tutorial illustrates. This trick works for all the major NLEs.

The shift towards more complex projects requires reevaluating rendering solutions. Integrating cloud-based render farms into VFX workflows requires careful planning and execution. Here’s a detailed guide to ensure a successful transition.

In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to create and motion track a shape mask to change the color of objects in a frame. He also shows how and why to use the Broadcast Safe effect.

Masks hide things – even in video. In this short tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use shape masks and color masks to change the color of objects in a video.

In this short video, I show how to change the color of a single object in a frame. This is called a “secondary color correction.”

8K is coming. Not today and not tomorrow. But sooner than you expect. To get ready, you should first look to upgrade your storage, then, once it is both big and fast enough, upgrade your computer. Here’s what you need to know.

3D 3D Video Polygons, from Luca Visual Effects, creates highly-adjustable eye-catching 3D effects and transitions that push the boundaries of 3D in Final Cut Pro.

When it comes to removing backgrounds using a green-screen key, not all video codecs create the same image quality. Here’s what you need to know to shoot and edit the cleanest keys.

I wrote last week that a bug in Final Cut prevents dynamically updating Photoshop images in Final Cut when they are revised and saved in Photoshop. At some point, Apple will fix this. But, for now, here’s a workaround, first …

Time Machine requires its own storage volume. While you can back up to the cloud, backing up to local storage is far faster and cheaper. But, there’s a trick you can use to make this local backup even better.

Sometime in the past, Final Cut Pro handles importing Photoshop images. Changes used to be handled dynamically, but, in the current version, changes to a saved file seem to be ignored. This is not right. Here are the details.

ChronoX is a utility that measures the elapsed time of Final Cut Pro exports in a precise and fully automated way. There are two versions: Standard (free) and Professional. Here’s a detailed review of what this software does.

Most of the time, syncing clips to be frame accurate is good enough. But, sometimes you need more precision. This tutorial illustrates how to slip audio inside the frame in 1/80th of a frame increments using Apple Final Cut Pro.

In this short video, Larry Jordan explains the potential causes of audio drop-outs during video editing. He’ll also provide some ideas on where to look for a fix.

There are several security reasons for editing video where the computer is not attached to the Internet. But, if you do, which video editing software will work without the web?

Recent updates to Apple Final Cut Pro added several more mask effects, three of which I illustrate in this tutorial: Corner mask, Graduated mask, and Image mask. Here’s what they look like and how to create them.

Hawaiki Keyer 5 is a high-quality, infinitely-adjustable chroma-key plugin for Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro and Motion. Offering controls that simply aren’t available on other keyers, when you need to create a truly clean chroma-key, even with substandard production, you need Hawaiki Keyer, from FxFactory.

I created a green-screen shot that was impossible to key because the foreground elements kept keying out due to reflections. Here’s how to use a solid matte in Adobe Premiere or Apple Final Cut Pro, or even DaVinci Resolve, to fix this.

Background Remover, from FxFactory, removes backgrounds behind people without requiring a green screen or a stationary background. It works in Apple Final Cut Pro & Motion, along with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. It creates amazing results effortlessly and quickly. Here’s a review.

There are two key questions we ask whenever we buy storage: How fast does it go and how long does it last? We’ve got a pretty good handle on SSD speeds. Trickier, though, is determining endurance (life-span). Here’s what you need to know.

What causes those strange hash marks at the top of clips in Final Cut Pro? Actually, they are indicating a good thing – here’s what they are and how to turn them on or off.

Apple Final Cut Pro has four ways to place clips: In the Primary storyline, a connected clip, a connected storyline, or  a compound clip. There are several differences between these. Here’s how to choose which to use.

So, I wondered whether Final Cut Pro exported faster if you rendered the timeline before exporting. The answer surprised me – most of the time, it doesn’t. Here’s what you need to know to speed your exports.

Have you ever wanted to find a shot you haven’t used yet? Yeah, happens to me all the time. Fortunately, Final Cut Pro makes it easy. Here’s how to either find the media you are using, or find the media you are NOT using.

There’s a hidden rating feature in Final Cut Pro that can help you organize your clips. It’s been there since FCP was first released over a decade ago. However, in recent years, Apple has deemphasized this to the point you …

Video Walls 3.0, by Luca Visual FX, is an extremely well-thought-out, highly-flexible series of 3D video wall effects. The controls are detailed and the results are mind-boggling. Even better, though, the defaults work without any modifications, so if you are pressed for time, you don’t need to tweak anything to get an outstanding effect.

Recently, I’ve gotten a lot of email from people trying to capture video from video tape. This used to be easy… but with changes to Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro, it has become more challenging. Here’s what you need to know.

For speed, solid construction, ease of use and portability, the OWC Express 1M2 is amazing. Faster than Thunderbolt, about the size of a deck of cards. Fits in your pocket. Oh… and no power brick. Here’s mu review.

This article takes a closer look at improving video editing and computer performance using SSDs and provide specific suggestions on the gear to buy and how to configure your system.

Export segmentation is one of the new features in Final Cut 10.7 that becomes available when you upgrade to macOS Sonoma. This harnesses the power of multiple media engines in Apple silicon chips to accelerate H.264 and HEVC exports in FCP or Compressor. While this makes exports faster, it also has other benefits – and limitations.

In this short video, Larry Jordan explains how to configure either Apple Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro to use SSDs instead of hard disk drives (HDDs).

In this short video, Larry Jordan demos Smart Collections – which are simply saved searches – in Apple Final Cut Pro.

Many projects use the same effects – and effect settings – over and over. Creating these each time is a waste of time. Why? Because Apple Final Cut Pro makes it easy to create custom effects, reuse them as often as you need, even share them with other editors. Here’s how.

Regardless of which NLE you use for editing, we are all looking for ways to make editing go faster. Recently, I discovered an inexpensive purchase that can transform the speed of your existing computer system: An SSD RAID. These charts explain why.

Apple has improved object tracking in the 10.7 version of Final Cut Pro. While still not perfect, it is much faster and more accurate. Here’s how it works.

Apple updated Final Cut Pro to version 10.7 and included a number of new features. Here are details on three that are especially useful: Timeline scrolling, collapsing clips and faster H.264 and HEVC exports.

Today, Apple released new versions of Final Cut Pro (10.7), Motion (5.7), and Compressor (4.7). Here are the details.

There are a variety of ways to find, select, and rename media in Apple Final Cut Pro. Here’s what you need to know.

A typical problem when I record Zoom calls or screen captures is that the audio and video are out of sync. Here are three ways to sync clips, with one being the best option.

Picture This… Imagine clicking a button and having a high-quality, AI-generated image appear directly in your Final Cut or Premiere Pro timeline. It exists. Philip Hodgetts describes the software.