Final Cut allows you to connect an unrelated audio clip with a video clip, using either Link or Merge. This article describes how and how to select the right one.
It drives me nuts! The Link Selection tool is right there in the Timeline. But using it is likely to slip your audio and video out of sync. There’s a better way, and this article explains it.
Sometimes, you need to change the color of part of an image (like a car or sculpture), but not all of it. Or you want everything black and white, except one thing. This article shows you how.
OS X 10.5 (Leopard) has a new help system that is very cool and available in just about every application. In this article, Ben Balser describes what you need to know to take advantage of it.
As we move more and more into a tapeless workflow, I realized that new editors may not know how to record a project back to video-tape; a process called “lay-back”. So, this brief article tells you what you need know, as well as how to structure your sequence for tape.
The bigger a project gets, the more critical it is to get it organized. In this article, two readers suggest ways you can use to get your projects under control.
One of the hardest emails to read starts: “After years of work, I’m finally ready to submit my project to a festival. All I need to do is get rid of the audio echoes and I’m done.” The sad part is that is not a lot that can be done to reduce echoes — except for the ideas in this article.
Keynote is a secret weapon in the arsenal of creating motion graphics. The problem is getting the files exported from Keynote into something we can edit. This article describes the process, along with several tips from readers.
Here’s a fast way to use Keynote create text animations — especially for text-heavy clips. This is also a much faster way to create animated bulleted lists as well. This technique shows you how to make this work.
Here’s a technique you can use to create multiple keyframes in multiple clips at the same time with a single mouse click. Then, I’ll show you how to get more control over the keyframes you set.
I was surprised to discover I haven’t written about this technique – I use it in almost every project I edit. Built into Final Cut Pro is a really fast, REALLY easy way to find keyboard shortcuts or menu items — if you know where to look. In this article, I’ll show you where.
File journaling is new in OS 10.3. This article explains what it is and what video editors need to know about it to optimize their systems.
Here are a series of tips, gleaned from lots and lots of painful experience, that can help you find and land a great post-production job.
Apple has announced their new iPad, though as of this writing it has not yet shipped. What is the iPad good for? Should video professionals pay attention? In this article, I share some of my thoughts on where the iPad fits in.
Interlacing, deinterlacing, progressive — three very confusing terms to many people. This article explains what they are, when you use them, what to do when you see them, and why you should care — not, in many case, not care at all.
The more I work with Soundtrack Pro 2, the more I like it. Recently, I spoke with Apple about STP and learn some quick facts I wanted to share with you here, including what gear you need to hear surround sound.
Money was tight, so “they” decided to shoot the project using both SD and HD cameras. Now, your stuck editing them. HOW??? In this article, we explains a variety of ways you can intercut between SD and HD material, and how to avoid problems with poorly converted video.
Not everyone needs HD. However, HD can make reframing a lot easier — especially when it is integrated into an SD timeline. This article provides an example of how this is done.
What’s the best way to get the highest quality video images during export? DV, especially, looks particularly poor when you view it in QuickTime. This article explains what’s going on and what you need to know to make your exported video look as good as it possibly can.
Final Cut Pro allows you to import text into a text clip, which allows you to write your text in one place, then display it in Final Cut. The problem is, that importing doesn’t always work properly. This article describes the problem and provides a solution.