I needed prompter software to go with my Neewer teleprompter. But which to use? I discovered that what I wanted was not easy to obtain. Here’s what I picked, why I picked it and how to set it up for a Mac.
Francesca asks: “I need to move a library between two different versions of Final Cut Pro. How can I do this?” Larry has the answer, and a workaround.
We all want accurate color in our video. But, good golly it’s hard, as this conversation between Gary Bowman and myself illustrates.
Alan has always had problems creating smooth zooms using an iPhone. In this demo, Larry Jordan illustrates the new multiple lenses and zoom features in the iPhone 16 Pro.
Jason manages multiple editors and needs to transfer sequences from Adobe Premiere Pro to Apple Final Cut Pro. In this demo, Larry Jordan shows exactly how this is done.
Richard needs to change the size of his images, but is worried about them getting blurry. In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to safely scale images in both Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, without losing image quality.
Siamack is new to Final Cut and struggling to organize her media. In this video, I provide a variety of organizational tools she can use, with a special emphasis on keywords.
Alain asked how to create an animated flashlight beam in Apple Motion. So I showed him; afterward I realized I was wrong. Here’s both what I showed Alain, then an even better way to create a flashlight effect.
In answer to Dave’s question, here are several trouble-shooting tips for Apple Final Cut Pro.
At first blush, Sidebar – the ability to mirror an iPhone or iPad on a Mac – doesn’t seem to offer much value. But, when you mirror the Mac on a mobile device, magic can happen.
Paul asks: “Is there a way to always import files into a Final Cut Pro library by default?” The answer is that storing files in the library IS the default, but it is easy to change accidentally. Here’s how to reset and verify your storage locations.
Still images are rich in data about the camera, lens and settings used to record an image. Surprisingly, most of this information is missing in a video file. Geoff asks why?
A somewhat hidden feature in Final Cut Pro 11 is Smart Conform. Apple describes this as an easy way to “make social media-friendly versions of projects in square or vertical formats.” Apple Help states: “Smart Conform analyzes the contents of …
There are two principle ways to create titles in Premiere: Manually or using After Effects templates. Let’s take a look at both in this illustrated tutorial.
Earlier this month, while I was on vacation, Apple updated Final Cut Pro to version 11.0.1 to fix four bugs. Here’s the list.
Last week, I demoed how to create a magnetic mask to remove a background. Later, I exported a still frame from FCP to promote the webinar. At which point, the weirdness started. Still frame exports don’t come close to matching Final Cut. Here are the details. NOTE: Fixed in FCP 11.1.1.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan explains what video stabilization does, the options available, and how to apply stabilization to your own video.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan what visual generators are in Final Cut, how to modify them and ways to use them.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to use blend modes to fix image problems, enhance an image or create a surreal effect.
Editing may tell stories, but visual effects make those stories eye-catching. In this short video, Larry Jordan illustrates how to create and format 3D text. Plus, how to convert 2D text into 3D.
Recently, I purchased an OWC Thunderbay 4 RAID. To go with the RAID enclosure, I also bought four Seagate Iron Wolf Pro 16 TB drives. Over the last two weeks I conducted a wide variety of performance tests and, in many cases, the results surprised me.
This tutorial measures and illustrates the difference in speeds between different HDD (Hard Disk Drive) RAID levels. This also provides definitions of these different levels and recommendations on which to use for your storage.
High-performance, high-capacity storage is at the heart of everything we do as media editors. Clearly, performance improves with each generation of gear. Equally clearly, none of us have unlimited budgets. These tests compare the benefits of migrating from Thunderbolt 2 storage to Thunderbolt 3.
For many years, I’ve written that the fuller a spinning hard disk drive (HDD) is, the slower it goes. But, while I’ve “known” this for years, I never really bothered to test it. Until this week, as part of a detailed review of a Thunderbay 4 HDD RAID. Here’s the answer.
I’ve often wondered just how much better an SSD is for multicam editing than an HDD (spinning hard disk drive). Recently, as part of detailed review of the OWC Thunderbay 4 HDD RAID, I decided to find out.
I’ve always “known” that HFS+ is better for formatting spinning hard drives for the Mac than APFS. But, I wondered, is that just hearsay or is there some truth to it? So, I put them both to the test. The results are surprising.
Christopher Campbell created an amazing time-lapse image sequence about painting a large picture. Then, he asked me for ways to make this time-lapse look better. Here is a technique you can use in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
As I was editing a recent webinar, I rediscovered three highly useful techniques that sped my work. Since these are not techniques I use everyday, I wanted to share them with you so you could save some time on your next edit as well.
Apple changed how adjustment layers for Final Cut are created in Motion with FCP 11. An adjustment layer in Final Cut Pro is a special clip to which you can apply effects that affect all layers or clips below it. The only problem is that it doesn’t exist. Here’s how to create it.
The Ken Burns effect provides automated image animation and it works for both horizontal and vertical projects. But there are several cases where keyframes work better. Larry Jordan illustrates both in this short video.
Drop zones are areas in a Final Cut Pro effect into which you can insert an image or video. But, there’s a key “gotcha” that you need to know to use them effectively. Larry Jordan explains.
Backups are basic to protecting your media. But what should you use for hardware, or software, and how many backups are “enough.” Larry Jordan explains the basics.
There are four menu options to scale images in Premiere Pro. One is a really bad choice, while two aren’t bad. But one is clearly the best choice when you also want to animate image scaling. Larry Jordan explains.
Most of the preference settings in Adobe Premiere Pro are fine. But, not all of them. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows which preferences you need to change to improve performance.
A fast way to edit video programs that feature lots of interviews is using speech-to-text editing in Adobe Premiere Pro. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how you can quickly create and edit using transcripts, then how to turn those transcripts into captions.
Dan asks: “I just edited a short family video and was stunned at how long it took! What should my expectations be for editing a project?” This is a GREAT question and one that I’m asking my readers to share their thoughts. Yes, the answer could be anything – but we still need to create an estimate.
Gary asks: “I recall you said that mixed frame rates cannot exist on a DaVinci Resolve timeline. Often my media is submitted in a myriad of forms/rates. How do I deal with that?” Actually, Resolve handles mixed frame rates easily – with one BIG!! gotcha. Here are the details.
Geoff is experiencing consistent jerkiness during pans of any speed on multiple cameras when shooting PAL video. Take a look and see if you can solve the problem.
Recently, I made a mistake that destroyed all my existing projects. Here’s what I did, and here’s what I learned: how to archive projects, how to restore from backups and where to set the initial Resolve Project Library.
Here’s a very fast technique that can reduce (or emphasize) wrinkles in an actor’s face – without resorting to plug-ins. Watch as Larry Jordan illustrates how this adjustment works – improving how an actor looks instantly!
In this short video, Larry Jordan demonstrates how to import timelines from Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro for color grading, then export them back out again.
This short video showcases the differences between using Lift – Gamma – Gain and Shadows – Mids – Highlights to change the gray-scale values of a clip. These differences are significant, powerful, and highly useful, as Larry Jordan illustrates.
Over the last week, I tested Apple Final Cut Pro 11, Adobe Premiere Pro 25 and DaVinci Resolve 19.1 using a variety of computers from 2018 to the new M4 Pro Mac mini. This article summarizes what I’ve learned with an emphasis on the M4 Pro Mac mini and M2 Max Mac Studio.
This review looks at the performance differences in video editing running DaVinci Resolve 19.1 on a variety of Macs from the 2018 Mac mini to the new 2024 Apple M4 Pro Mac mini.
The new Transcribe to Captions automatically generates text captions from clips in the Final Cut timeline. It fast and dead easy to use… except, there’s one small problem: It creates captions in the wrong format. In this demo, Larry Jordan shows how it works and how to change caption formats.
The new Magnetic Mask is nothing short of amazing. Whether you want to remove a background, improve a color grade, or apply an effect to only a portion of the clip, the Magnetic mask is your new tool of choice. This video shows how it works.
The new Transcribe to Captions Feature in Final Cut Pro – the first, big step toward speech-to-text. Here’s an illustrated tutorial on how this works AND an essential workaround that you need to know.
Here’s an illustrated, step-by-step tutorial to Apple’s Magnetic Mask, new with Final Cut Pro 11. This can create amazing results quickly – once you know how it works.
This review looks at the performance differences in video editing running Adobe Premiere Pro 25 on a variety of Macs from the 2018 Mac mini to the new 2024 Apple M4 Pro Mac mini. The results may surprise you!
It’s important to remember that you don’t need to buy the fully-loaded version of any system to get serious work done. Here are my thoughts on how to configure an M4-series Mac for serious video editing without breaking the bank.
