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FCP 7: Color Correcting Using Limit Effect

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.

Using Leopard’s Help System

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.

Laying Final Cut Pro Projects Back to Video-Tape

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.

Working With Large Projects

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.

A Method of Decreasing Audio Echoes

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.

Exporting Video Files from Keynote

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.

Using Keynote for Animated Sequences in Final Cut Pro

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.

Creating Multiple Keyframes At Once

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.

World’s Fastest Keyboard Shortcut Finder

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.

OS X 10.3 File Journaling Explained

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.

Tips on Getting a Job in Post-Production

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.

Thoughts on the Apple iPad

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.

Redux: Interlacing and Deinterlacing

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.

Three Interesting Things About Soundtrack Pro 2

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.

Intercutting SD and HD Footage

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.

Editing HD in an SD Timeline

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.

Improving Video Export Quality

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.

Problems Importing Text into Final Cut Pro

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.

Importing Subtitles to DVD SP

Adding subtitles is something DVD Studio Pro is very good at. But sometimes, importing a subtitle file doesn’t work. This explains why and how to fix it.

Prepping Still Images for Video

One of the most complex steps in video editing is getting your computer-based images to look good in video. This article explains how video images are different from computer images and what you need to do to make them look great.