In this article I want to give you some suggestions on proper selection of compression bit-rates; as well as how to improve the compatibility of the CDs and DVDs that you burn.
Keyframes and motion paths are used in Final Cut to move images around the screen. However, every keyframe contains additional Bezier controls if you know where to look. This article shows you where they are and how they work.
There are two questions I get asked a lot: what’s the best camera, and what’s the best hardware. This article explains why answering the hardware question is so difficult. It isn’t that there’s no answer, its that the answer is TOTALLY dependent on what YOU need. Take a look here at why.
One of the easiest questions to ask, and one of the hardest to answer, is “What’s the Best Camera?” The problem is that tricky word “best.” In this short article, I provide some general guidance, along with a list of a dozen questions you need to answer before you can find the camera that’s best… for you!
I have a client who’s beginning to edit to documentary that has over 100 hours of material to be edited into a 30-minute documentary. What he wants to do is log each clip, then copy that logging information out of Final Cut so he can load it into Excel. The advantage of exporting all this data is that he can think about his clips, and share this information between producers, without running Final Cut.
Faster is always better, when you can maintain control and quality. Here’s a VERY fast way to reset clip durations in the Browser that can save you tons of time, when compared to doing it one clip at a time.
Here’s something to try when Final Cut won’t open after an upgrade. Most likely, it’s due to bad plug-ins. This article describes what to do to fix it.
AVCHD Discs are a nice compromise between full-HD Blu-ray Discs, and the standard def DVDs we’ve all been using for the last 20 years. While, currently, Final Cut Studio can not create Blu-ray Discs, it can create a version of Blu-ray called “AVCHD.” This article explains what AVCHD Discs are, why you would use them, and how you create them.
Every clip in Final Cut supports up to three timecode tracks — a primary and two auxilliary tracks. This article describes how to access them, change the timecode they contain, and idea on what to use them for.
With FCP version 4.1, Apple changed the rules on how copy and paste work. You now need to know about “auto-select.” This article explains it.
Understanding how auto-render works can save you hours on each project. Here’s a step-by-step that explains it.
With Blu-ray winning the DVD format war, attention has now turned to the costs of creating a Blu-ray DVD. This article explains that the cost of replicating one of these new format discs isn’t cheap.
It’s easy to create burned-in timecode for video clips. But what about visible timecode for audio clips? The answer is “maybe,” but probably not.
Here is a great trick to solve one of the features of FCP that drives me nuts — we can’t slip keyframes. But, here, in this article, I’ll show you an undocumented way to slip audio keyframes. Very cool and very quick.
Setting the correct audio recording levels on a video camera is crucial to obtaining the best sound during production. This short article explains some of the choices and what you need to know.
Using Pro Tools to mix your Final Cut Pro project is a great way to achieve excellent audio. However, there are some tricks you need to understand in this process, as explained here.
Final Cut Pro hates compressed audio. This article explains the problems you will having working with it, as well as providing a simple conversion process that solves the problem.
Ever wonder what levels to set your reference tones to? Should you output tone at 0 dB, -12 dB,-18 dB, or -20 dB. In this discussion, Larry is joined by Woody Woodhall, president of Allied Post, to get a better understanding of the issue. And, yup, it’s just as confused as we thought!
Audio in FCP is clip-based, rather than track-based. This article describes a variety of ways to change the levels of more than one clip at once.
This is a quick simple technique to automatically create keyframes for an audio filter. Basically, audio key-framing in real-time.