The ProVideo Coalition website is a wealth of information. If you don't have it bookmarked, you should. There are some really smart people that post great articles there.
I came across a few articles that I thought I would pass along to you all. The first article is about using both Premiere Pro and Avid for editing, and using the speech transcription tool in Premiere Pro along with ScriptSync in Avid. While the writer, Steve Hullfish, prefers to finish his edit in Avid, I would stick with Premiere Pro for the entire edit. But I think the article highlights something that Adobe has going for it - it works well with others. Someone correct if I'm wrong, but outside using an EDL, I don't know another NLE that allows you to open up project files from a different NLE, and let you save out a project file that you can open in another NLE (just for Avid at the moment). "Big deal, Addison!" you might say. "Why would I ever want to take my project out of ___?" Well, here's one such example.
http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/shullfish/story/speech_search_meets_scriptsync
Another great article is about shooting greenscreen. Alex Lindsay has wrirten two great posts on the subject, and if you do any greenscreen work, you should definitely give them a read.
part 1
http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/alindsay/story/greenscreen_primer_part_1/
part 2
http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/alindsay/story/greenscreen_primer_part_2/
I hope these help out some of you. Let me know if you see something great out there, and I'll try and post it here for everyone to read.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
San Diego Premiere Pro User Group
With all the Final Cut Pro editors having user groups, I felt like it was about time for those of us who edit with something different (and dare I say...better?) to have a group.
With that in mind, I'm putting together the San Diego Premiere Pro User Group. I've received the blessing from Adobe, and I've set up a site you can visit to join and get updated information - http://groups.adobe.com/groups/370282e160/summary
My goal for the group is to expand the knowledge of we Premiere Pro editors, as well as form a network where we can all call on each other when we need help. I have to be honest - there aren't as many of us PPro editors out there, and we should do all we can to help each other out.
One thing I want to try and do every meeting is have a member show something they created, and talk about how they did it - show the workflow they used, how they used Premiere Pro (and After Effects, Photoshop, whatever...) to create their video. I've learned so much by listening to others talk about how they did things, how their creative process works, and how they efficiently used their tools.
So, for those of you who edit with Premiere Pro and live in the SoCal area, I hope you can make it. It should be a lot of fun, and I hope you can walk away from the meeting with some good tips for making your work better. And who knows - you may make some new friends.
The first meeting will be on October 29th at 7pm. For more information you can check the website, or just contact me. If you want to attend, please let me know so I can get an accurate head count. See you then!
With that in mind, I'm putting together the San Diego Premiere Pro User Group. I've received the blessing from Adobe, and I've set up a site you can visit to join and get updated information - http://groups.adobe.com/groups/370282e160/summary
My goal for the group is to expand the knowledge of we Premiere Pro editors, as well as form a network where we can all call on each other when we need help. I have to be honest - there aren't as many of us PPro editors out there, and we should do all we can to help each other out.
One thing I want to try and do every meeting is have a member show something they created, and talk about how they did it - show the workflow they used, how they used Premiere Pro (and After Effects, Photoshop, whatever...) to create their video. I've learned so much by listening to others talk about how they did things, how their creative process works, and how they efficiently used their tools.
So, for those of you who edit with Premiere Pro and live in the SoCal area, I hope you can make it. It should be a lot of fun, and I hope you can walk away from the meeting with some good tips for making your work better. And who knows - you may make some new friends.
The first meeting will be on October 29th at 7pm. For more information you can check the website, or just contact me. If you want to attend, please let me know so I can get an accurate head count. See you then!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
No Reason Other Then It's Funny...
I came across this video and thought I'd share it with you all...enjoy
Monday, September 14, 2009
Five Things to Think About When Going HD
I get lots of email - too MUCH email to be honest. But I do get email from some great sources of information in regards to our industry. One such place is ProMax (http://www.promax.com/). They can help you build your edit system and much more. They don't seem to advertise systems that run Premiere Pro CS4, but I'll try not and hold that against them.
As someone getting very, very close to getting a new HD camera (the Sony XDCAM EX3 may soon be mine!), I'm looking at moving the majority of my workflow into an all HD environment. I've done a lot of homework, but I got an email from the folks at ProMax that listed five gotcha's for editing HD. It contains some really helpful hints, and I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. You may know some of this - you may not, but I hope it helps some of you who, like me, are leaving Standard Definition behind and embarking into the bright, shiny world of HD...
HD really is the future of video production and post. SD and DV are pretty much on their way out. It’s very hard to find a post house working with any SD and/or DV footage and most networks won’t accept any new content that is not shot and edited in HD. Having said that, to edit HD properly, you need to be prepared because there are some “gotchas” that if you don’t address before you start your project, you will have issues finishing that project.
Below is our list of the top 5 gotchas when editing HD:
Not getting the right amount or type of storage.
Make sure you have not only the right amount of storage (which depends on the type of HD you will edit), but also the right type. There are many choices out there, from SAS to eSATA to USB to Firewire drives. Each type has its positive and negatives. Other things to look into when getting a storage solution includes the speed of the drive (e..g 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM vs. 10K RPM) and how the storage solution is set up (such as RAID 0, 1, etc.). Picking the wrong solution for the type of HD editing you need to work on will make your project fail from day one.
Thinking all HD is the same.
All HD is not the same. If you are going to edit HDV, you can get away with a lower powered system running a Firewire drive. If you are going to edit XDCAM EX or DVCPRO HD footage, you will need a more powerful system to properly edit that footage. Thinking of editing uncompressed HD? Now you are talking about a high-powered system with lots of memory and storage space running in RAID mode. It’s important to note that all HD is not the same and you need to have a system properly configured for the specific type of HD you will edit.
Thinking you can use your SD images and motion graphics in your HD edit
Do you have a lot of Standard Definition images from previous projects that you want to use in HD? What about motion graphics you created in SD? How about stock footage that was shot in SD? You will need to up-res most of your footage that was SD to match the new resolution size of HD. Thinking you can just drop an SD footage, increase it’s size by 200% and think it will look great, is a big mistake that you don’t want to be caught making in the middle of your project!
Not having an archiving solution in place
HD takes up a lot of storage space. If you are working with a tapeless solution (such as XDCAM EX or P2) then you won’t have a proper backup of that footage in a secure tape. You need to figure out an archiving solution that protects the footage from any accidental deletions or hard drive crashes.
Thinking all NLE’s can author Blu-Ray DVDs
Not all NLEs can author Blu-Ray. In fact, depending on which platform you do your video editing on, you can be severely limited on the ability to author Blu-Ray DVDs affordably. Make sure you know all of your options before you start your project if your final delivery method needs to be in Blu-Ray.
And that's it - thanks ProMax!
As someone getting very, very close to getting a new HD camera (the Sony XDCAM EX3 may soon be mine!), I'm looking at moving the majority of my workflow into an all HD environment. I've done a lot of homework, but I got an email from the folks at ProMax that listed five gotcha's for editing HD. It contains some really helpful hints, and I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. You may know some of this - you may not, but I hope it helps some of you who, like me, are leaving Standard Definition behind and embarking into the bright, shiny world of HD...
HD really is the future of video production and post. SD and DV are pretty much on their way out. It’s very hard to find a post house working with any SD and/or DV footage and most networks won’t accept any new content that is not shot and edited in HD. Having said that, to edit HD properly, you need to be prepared because there are some “gotchas” that if you don’t address before you start your project, you will have issues finishing that project.
Below is our list of the top 5 gotchas when editing HD:
Not getting the right amount or type of storage.
Make sure you have not only the right amount of storage (which depends on the type of HD you will edit), but also the right type. There are many choices out there, from SAS to eSATA to USB to Firewire drives. Each type has its positive and negatives. Other things to look into when getting a storage solution includes the speed of the drive (e..g 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM vs. 10K RPM) and how the storage solution is set up (such as RAID 0, 1, etc.). Picking the wrong solution for the type of HD editing you need to work on will make your project fail from day one.
Thinking all HD is the same.
All HD is not the same. If you are going to edit HDV, you can get away with a lower powered system running a Firewire drive. If you are going to edit XDCAM EX or DVCPRO HD footage, you will need a more powerful system to properly edit that footage. Thinking of editing uncompressed HD? Now you are talking about a high-powered system with lots of memory and storage space running in RAID mode. It’s important to note that all HD is not the same and you need to have a system properly configured for the specific type of HD you will edit.
Thinking you can use your SD images and motion graphics in your HD edit
Do you have a lot of Standard Definition images from previous projects that you want to use in HD? What about motion graphics you created in SD? How about stock footage that was shot in SD? You will need to up-res most of your footage that was SD to match the new resolution size of HD. Thinking you can just drop an SD footage, increase it’s size by 200% and think it will look great, is a big mistake that you don’t want to be caught making in the middle of your project!
Not having an archiving solution in place
HD takes up a lot of storage space. If you are working with a tapeless solution (such as XDCAM EX or P2) then you won’t have a proper backup of that footage in a secure tape. You need to figure out an archiving solution that protects the footage from any accidental deletions or hard drive crashes.
Thinking all NLE’s can author Blu-Ray DVDs
Not all NLEs can author Blu-Ray. In fact, depending on which platform you do your video editing on, you can be severely limited on the ability to author Blu-Ray DVDs affordably. Make sure you know all of your options before you start your project if your final delivery method needs to be in Blu-Ray.
And that's it - thanks ProMax!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Great Websites to Check Out
I recently saw a post on LinkedIn about what websites we video professionals go to for information and tutorials. While my list is pretty long, some of my favorites are (in no particular order):
www.creativecow.net
http://prolost.com
http://provideocoalition.com/
http://www.studiodaily.com/main/
http://www.motionworks.com.au/
And this is just to name a few.
But the one site I visit on a regular basis and always with a high level interest and excitement is Video Copilot (www.videocopilot.net). If you don’t know the site, or its owner Andrew Kramer, get to know them. The site is jam packed with tutorials that I guarantee will make you better with After Effects. Andrew walks you through the steps in creating some of the most amazing stuff. You’ll look at some of the clips in the tutorial section and think, “There’s no way I can do that!” Really? Watch the tutorial and Andrew will show you how…and usually with no extra plug-ins other then what’s in After Effects.
And it’s not just the tutorials that are great. I own and use on a regular basis many of the products sold on the site. Riot Gear, Evolution, the Twitch plug-in, and the Designer Sound FX are all regular tools in my arsenal. I wouldn’t go into an edit without them. Also on the site are custom After Effects presets that allow you to do some really great things. I really can’t encourage you enough – visit this site…it will make you better. If you look at my demo reel (www.100acrefilms.com), you’ll see many of these tools used in it.
I can’t imagine anyone working in our industry not making the time to visit sites like those I listed. There is so much out there, and I think that no matter how long you’ve been working there is always something new you can learn. I spend a lot of time on the web, reading and watching clips about how to improve my skills. Even if it’s something I already know how to do, I’ll watch because every once and awhile I pick up some trick to do it quicker, or some other shortcut that helps me with some other task.
What sites do you visit? Where do you go to learn and grow your skills?
One last thing – for those of you who read this and live in the San Diego area, I’m starting up a Premiere Pro user group. If you’re interested in joining up (come on – I know you Premiere Pro users are out there!), then let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop. It should be a lot of fun – and hopefully very informative.
www.creativecow.net
http://prolost.com
http://provideocoalition.com/
http://www.studiodaily.com/main/
http://www.motionworks.com.au/
And this is just to name a few.
But the one site I visit on a regular basis and always with a high level interest and excitement is Video Copilot (www.videocopilot.net). If you don’t know the site, or its owner Andrew Kramer, get to know them. The site is jam packed with tutorials that I guarantee will make you better with After Effects. Andrew walks you through the steps in creating some of the most amazing stuff. You’ll look at some of the clips in the tutorial section and think, “There’s no way I can do that!” Really? Watch the tutorial and Andrew will show you how…and usually with no extra plug-ins other then what’s in After Effects.
And it’s not just the tutorials that are great. I own and use on a regular basis many of the products sold on the site. Riot Gear, Evolution, the Twitch plug-in, and the Designer Sound FX are all regular tools in my arsenal. I wouldn’t go into an edit without them. Also on the site are custom After Effects presets that allow you to do some really great things. I really can’t encourage you enough – visit this site…it will make you better. If you look at my demo reel (www.100acrefilms.com), you’ll see many of these tools used in it.
I can’t imagine anyone working in our industry not making the time to visit sites like those I listed. There is so much out there, and I think that no matter how long you’ve been working there is always something new you can learn. I spend a lot of time on the web, reading and watching clips about how to improve my skills. Even if it’s something I already know how to do, I’ll watch because every once and awhile I pick up some trick to do it quicker, or some other shortcut that helps me with some other task.
What sites do you visit? Where do you go to learn and grow your skills?
One last thing – for those of you who read this and live in the San Diego area, I’m starting up a Premiere Pro user group. If you’re interested in joining up (come on – I know you Premiere Pro users are out there!), then let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop. It should be a lot of fun – and hopefully very informative.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Pull Better Keys with Key Correct Pro
I've been meaning post a review of Red Giants Key Correct Pro for some time now, but as I've just gotten married and had a crazy couple of months, I haven't had a chance. But I saw yesterday on the Red Giant site (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com) that they are running a sale on Key Correct Pro for $99.
If you do any green screen work at all, this plugin is (in my opinion) a must have. If you shoot DV and/or HDV for compositing work, it becomes even more useful. I've been planning a whole big entry about how it works and showing some examples of work I've used it on. But this clip from the Red Giant site does a much better job. It's by Michele Yamazaki, who wrote a book called Greenscreen Made Easy. You can view the tutorial here:
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/redgianttv/item/19/
Again, it's a great plugin, and for $99, it's a steal.
If you go to my website - www.100acrefilms.com - you can view one project I did for Staylor Made Communications where we did a LOT of greenscreen work.
If you do any green screen work at all, this plugin is (in my opinion) a must have. If you shoot DV and/or HDV for compositing work, it becomes even more useful. I've been planning a whole big entry about how it works and showing some examples of work I've used it on. But this clip from the Red Giant site does a much better job. It's by Michele Yamazaki, who wrote a book called Greenscreen Made Easy. You can view the tutorial here:
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/redgianttv/item/19/
Again, it's a great plugin, and for $99, it's a steal.
If you go to my website - www.100acrefilms.com - you can view one project I did for Staylor Made Communications where we did a LOT of greenscreen work.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
FCS3...Apple's CS3 release?
I couldn’t help but notice that Apple released Final Cut Studio 3 last week. Being an Adobe Production Premium guy, it doesn’t really affect me too much in my day to day world of production. But, it a larger sense, it affects all of us in the production world because if Apple’s stats are right (50% of the editing market, 1.4 million users) then that’s a big number of people using FCP. I have no idea how they arrive at the 50% number – did they poll post-production houses? I must have missed that one…
But back to my point…as Apple now claims to own half the market it would seem that makes them the leaders - I’m guessing Avid and Adobe control the next 2 largest shares. And as the leaders, when they release something, it’s usually a big deal. I remember when FCS 2 came out – I was at NAB that year. Good Lord…judging by their booth, you’d think that they had redefined the NLE. And truth be told – it was a great release. ProRes, Color, new version of Motion. The point of all this is to say that a lot of the industry looks to Apple to see what they are doing – where they are headed. For better or for worse, those of us non-FCP editors have to acknowledge that it’s becoming (if it isn’t already) a FCP world. What Apple does makes the other NLE makers stand up and take notice.
And with such market dominance, it was a big surprise when I saw the press release for FCP 7 and FCS3. My reaction was, “Really – that’s it? After 2 years, that’s all you came up with?” I think some of the changes are pretty good – the new ProRes formats look intriguing. But as a whole, this feels more like it should be FCS 2.5 rather then 3. I heard so many rumors – rumors of a UI overhaul, more native drag and drop support (no log and transfer), 64 bit, etc. I guess I was expecting more (after 2 years) from the mighty Apple.
So, as a Premiere Pro editor how does this affect me? Well, I really feel now that CS4 is a better, more feature rich NLE then FCP…but I realize that’s my opinion – go ahead all you FCP editors, tell me why I’m wrong…I can take it! I think that if Apple doesn’t release another version of FCS shortly after it releases Snow Leopard (as has been rumored), then I think Adobe and Avid could gain some ground back on that 50%. I expected, as I think many others did, that Apple would take the lead big time with this release and I don’t believe they did. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are treading water with it, but they aren’t swimming that fast.
Can Avid and Adobe catch that 50% number? Not overnight, but the video/film market is changing…and changing fast. Players have to keep up with the move to tapeless formats and new workflows. If Avid and Adobe can provide solid solutions to those new formats and workflows before Apple can, it could shift the industry. Apple has a lot on its plate – iPhones, iPods, iTunes…as well as looking towards a future without Steve Jobs. Could their competition be sneaking up on them – maybe. Time will tell…
This all reminds of me of a few years ago. When Adobe released Production Premium CS3, many of us Premiere Pro editors were a little disappointed. While the bundle did add OnLocation (formally DV Rack) and Ultra to the group, and added Premiere Pro back on the Mac, the changes to Premiere Pro were pretty minimal. Ironically, one of those changes was better clip speed and time re-mapping features. I heard from many Premiere Pro editors who said they were going to skip the upgrade because Premiere Pro 2 was almost rock solid and there wasn’t enough incentive to upgrade. I think many did later when native P2 and XDCAM support was added through free updates. But it just wasn’t enough reason to spend the money at first.
So I ask you FCP users…is this your CS3 release? Do you feel Apple dropped the ball, or are you really excited about this release? If so, what are you excited about? Where do you think Apple should go with FCP and FCS as a whole?
But back to my point…as Apple now claims to own half the market it would seem that makes them the leaders - I’m guessing Avid and Adobe control the next 2 largest shares. And as the leaders, when they release something, it’s usually a big deal. I remember when FCS 2 came out – I was at NAB that year. Good Lord…judging by their booth, you’d think that they had redefined the NLE. And truth be told – it was a great release. ProRes, Color, new version of Motion. The point of all this is to say that a lot of the industry looks to Apple to see what they are doing – where they are headed. For better or for worse, those of us non-FCP editors have to acknowledge that it’s becoming (if it isn’t already) a FCP world. What Apple does makes the other NLE makers stand up and take notice.
And with such market dominance, it was a big surprise when I saw the press release for FCP 7 and FCS3. My reaction was, “Really – that’s it? After 2 years, that’s all you came up with?” I think some of the changes are pretty good – the new ProRes formats look intriguing. But as a whole, this feels more like it should be FCS 2.5 rather then 3. I heard so many rumors – rumors of a UI overhaul, more native drag and drop support (no log and transfer), 64 bit, etc. I guess I was expecting more (after 2 years) from the mighty Apple.
So, as a Premiere Pro editor how does this affect me? Well, I really feel now that CS4 is a better, more feature rich NLE then FCP…but I realize that’s my opinion – go ahead all you FCP editors, tell me why I’m wrong…I can take it! I think that if Apple doesn’t release another version of FCS shortly after it releases Snow Leopard (as has been rumored), then I think Adobe and Avid could gain some ground back on that 50%. I expected, as I think many others did, that Apple would take the lead big time with this release and I don’t believe they did. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are treading water with it, but they aren’t swimming that fast.
Can Avid and Adobe catch that 50% number? Not overnight, but the video/film market is changing…and changing fast. Players have to keep up with the move to tapeless formats and new workflows. If Avid and Adobe can provide solid solutions to those new formats and workflows before Apple can, it could shift the industry. Apple has a lot on its plate – iPhones, iPods, iTunes…as well as looking towards a future without Steve Jobs. Could their competition be sneaking up on them – maybe. Time will tell…
This all reminds of me of a few years ago. When Adobe released Production Premium CS3, many of us Premiere Pro editors were a little disappointed. While the bundle did add OnLocation (formally DV Rack) and Ultra to the group, and added Premiere Pro back on the Mac, the changes to Premiere Pro were pretty minimal. Ironically, one of those changes was better clip speed and time re-mapping features. I heard from many Premiere Pro editors who said they were going to skip the upgrade because Premiere Pro 2 was almost rock solid and there wasn’t enough incentive to upgrade. I think many did later when native P2 and XDCAM support was added through free updates. But it just wasn’t enough reason to spend the money at first.
So I ask you FCP users…is this your CS3 release? Do you feel Apple dropped the ball, or are you really excited about this release? If so, what are you excited about? Where do you think Apple should go with FCP and FCS as a whole?
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