In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to use hot, new third-party software within Final Cut Pro to solve problems, find missing files, get you better organized, make your actors look beautiful, your transitions eye-popping, your effects killer, even create an edit from a written transcript without typing a word! Many of these plug-ins truly are something very close to magic!

Filled with step-by-step, real-world examples, this session covers motion effects, text effects, generators, and shows what the filters in FCP can REALLY do! This also explains hard-to-understand concepts of keyframes, composite modes, and nests. Learn how to use Final Cut Pro to bring your imagination to life!

This is the second in Larry Jordan’s Fundamentals of Final Cut Pro Series. Nothing generates more questions and confusion than trying to figure out how to best set-up, organize, optimize, and trouble-shoot Final Cut Pro. In this tutorial, Larry shows you how to organize your hard disks, set up a working folder structure, presents a consistent project and folder naming system, optimize key preference settings, and trouble-shoot common Final Cut Pro problems. If you feel like Final Cut is running on square wheels, this session is for you.

In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you what you need to know to successfully improve the quality of your sound. Starting with a definition of key terms, followed by techniques in both Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro, this session will give you the skills you need to immediately improve the quality of your sound.

In this one-hour session, Larry Jordan shows you what you need to know to successfully understand and use video scopes to improve the look of your video. Using step-by-step techniques and actual media, Larry explains terms, illustrates the four different video scopes in Final Cut, and shows you how to use them to improve your video.

In this one-hour video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you what you need to know to work successfully in a tapeless world. Using step-by-step techniques and actual media, Larry explains how to organize your system, how to name your folders and files, shows you traps to avoid, then, using Final Cut Pro, illustrates how to ingest (meaning “bring into Final Cut”) virtually every popular tapeless video format.

Using Apple’s Compressor software, this session is the first in our Compression Complete series and provides specific examples of how to compress video for the web, DVD, and mobile devices. This session also illustrates how to test your compression settings.

In this session, host Larry Jordan explains why it’s hard to make still images look good, shows how to prep your images for video, illustrates how to size your images properly, and shows how to create moves on stills using Apple’s Final Cut Pro and GeeThree’s PhotoMotion. Plus, this provides extensive tables illustrating how to properly size stills.

This session is the third in our Compression Complete series and provides specific examples of how to transcode media using both Apple Final Cut Pro and Compressor; including working with DSLR media.

This session provides theories, suggestions, and examples on how to improve video images quality. It does not discuss specific cameras, video formats, or equipment. Also, this video does not discuss color correction.

This is the first in Larry Jordan’s series: The Fundamentals of Final Cut Pro. This tutorial looks at the relationship between video formats and hard disk storage. In almost every case, a dropped frame error is caused by a hard disk that isn’t fast enough to support the video format you are editing. In this session, you’ll learn how to pick the right storage for your media, avoid problems with dropped frames, and keep your system running smoothly.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to use each of the three sections of this tab: Scaling, Cropping, and Padding. He illustrates how to properly set aspect ratios so your videos come out looking perfect. He also illustrates the differences between cropping and padding, along with how to decide which to use and how to set them. He illustrates all of this using both SD and HD video.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, I show you how to create three really useful keyboard shortcuts for navigating the FCP 7 timeline. Plus, I show you where to look to explore for more hidden shortcuts.

This is the fourth of an extended four-part series on creating and editing multi-channel audio interviews in Soundtrack Pro.

This is the third of an extended four-part series on creating and editing multi-channel audio interviews in Soundtrack Pro.

This is the second of an extended four-part series on creating and editing multi-channel audio interviews in Soundtrack Pro.

This is the first of an extended four-part series on creating and editing multi-channel audio interviews in Soundtrack Pro.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to use markers — starting with what they've always done, then moving into new features, such as setting colors, hiding and revealing markers, navigating, moving and deleting markers, and exporting marker lists as text files. Plus, a new editing enhancement that optionally ties a marker to clips on the Timeline!

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to use powerful new features in Compressor (version 3 or 3.5) to deinterlace your video. Along the way, he provides you with guidance on when it’s better to use interlaced, vs. deinterlaced, footage, which filters to avoid, and then he illustrates a specific, step-by-step technique you can follow to make your video look great.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains what normalization is, how to apply it in Final Cut Pro 6 or 7, what settings to use, and what normalization is doing to your clips. If you need a fast fix to soft audio, and you don't have time for a formal mix, this technique can make a world of difference in almost no time at all.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to organize your audio – called checker-boarding – for mixing. Then, he walks you through the process of setting your audio levels with specific settings and examples. He also explains why this is so important.

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to use the Speed Tool to quickly adjust the speed of a clip using a technique similar to the Time Remapping Tool in Soundtrack Pro.

In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to create these transitions. He starts by creating a clip with an alpha channel (transparency), then how to use that clip to create your own customized alpha transition. He also shows you how to create an alpha transition even if you don't have a clip with an alpha channel.

In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you what an alpha channel is, how to create a clip that contains an alpha channel, and how to export it so that the alpha channel is retained.

In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you three ways to use nests in your daily work: To create a show master from a collection of sequences, To add an effect to a group of clips as though it was a single clip, and To change the processing order so that motion effects are created before a filter is applied.

Rotoscoping is the process of manually removing a portion of an image in a clip, without using a green screen. In this tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to remove the background of an image – in this case, a cement wall – quickly and easily by combining the compositing power of Final Cut Pro 6 or 7 with the ability to manipulate pixels using Photoshop CS3 or CS4 Extended.

This quick reference book is filled with the fast tips you need to speed your work. You have the basics of Final Cut Pro down but when it's crunch time, it's the hidden techniques, shortcuts, and workarounds — the power skills–that make the difference.

Using Compressor 3, Larry shows you how to import a file, how to preview your video accurately, how to create custom audio and video compression settings, when to use filters, how to deinterlace, and offers a variety of image sizes optimized for HD video.

In this short, focused video tutorial, Larry demonstrates how to set your project properties to match your video settings, how to create templates for 16:9 NTSC and PAL video, how to create and modify an existing template, how to modify text and effects, how to save a template, and how to create a template preview.

In this short, focused, video tutorial Larry Jordan shows you eight different selection tools in Final Cut that can make your life a lot easier. Discover how the Edit, Group, Range, and Track selection tools work, the keyboard shortcuts you can use to extend their reach, and hidden tips that can increase their power.

In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to create a custom compression setting inside Apple Compressor 3 to make your video look great. Covering topics such as audio compression, video compression, filters, deinterlacing, and data rates, Larry will walk you through the necessary steps to make your movies web-friendly!

In this short, focused video tutorial, Larry Jordan demonstrates how to create a compressor droplet from existing settings, where to store media, how to apply the droplet, plus many helpful tips along the way!

Larry Jordan explains how to use Compressor to convert your video to the proper format, how to determine the source and destination settings for the compressed file, and how to submit it for compression.

In this short, focused video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to change QuickTime settings to achieve great-looking playback. You'll learn how to adjust the video track settings inside QuickTime Pro to make your QuickTime movies look the way you expect!

In this short, focused, video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows you how to easily animate your text using custom effects. You'll learn how to create a lower-third background, how to animate your text, how to add keyframes, how to adjust keyframes, how to add up to 72 different animation parameters to your effect, and how to save your effect so you can reuse it again later.

In this short, focused, video tutorial Larry Jordan shows you how to do an automatic color correction in seven steps using the Color Corrector 3-Way filter in Final Cut Pro. This technique is especially useful when time is tight and the clip has a bad color cast — or as the first step toward manual color correction.