Browsing Category Blog

Instagram filters for video

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Brent Pierce

Everyone loves the Instagram app for the iPhone. It’s a cool way to create vintage/retro photos with a tap of the finger. Seriously, people go nuts over these type of filters. A while back, Daniel Box, created Photoshop actions of these filters. They’re awesome. Just a click of the mouse, and you’ve “Instagrammed” your photo in Photoshop.

I wanted a way to use these in applications like After Effects or Final Cut Pro. An easy way to achieve a simple color change is by using Look-Up-Tables (LUTs). I’m not gonna dive too deep into what exactly a LUT is, but basically, it communicates color changes from different applications. Aharon Rabinowitz posted a tutorial video about using Red Giant Software’s LUT Buddy, a free application by RGS to create and apply LUTs. It’s pretty helpful in introducing someone to what a LUT is, and how they work.

I took Daniel Box’s Instagram Photoshop actions, and made them into LUTs and presets to use with video. They work wonderfully. Keep in mind. LUTs are a bit limited in their functionality; they cannot apply things that use masks or generators, such as vignettes, diffusion, blurs, etc. But they are still awesome.

Here is how to use these LUTs.

Download and install LUT Buddy from Red Giant Software. It’s free.
Download and unzip my Instagram LUTs. Huge credit to Daniel Box.
Apply the effect “LUT Buddy” to your footage, click Options, then Import LUT, then choose which effect you would like.
If you are using After Effects, copy the provided “Instagram” presets folder into your application presets folder. (Applications/Adobe After Effects/Presets)

What’s the difference between a Shotgun Mic and a Boom Mic?

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Brent Pierce

Simple, a shotgun mic is a microphone that has a directional pick-up pattern. The microphone itself is known as a shotgun microphone, due to the “shotgun” type of polar pattern. They can also have cardioid and super-cardioid polar patterns. They are the most common type of mic on a film or tv set.

A boom mic is any microphone that is at the end of a long, extended pole, also known as a “boom pole.” It doesn’t matter what type of microphone you use, if it’s on an extended pole, it is a boom mic. It is the technique of using the microphone, rather than the microphone itself. A boom pole is used to get the microphone in as close as possible to a subject, without getting in the camera shot. Most boom mics are used with shotgun mics.

So, if you have a shotgun mic, and you put it on a boom pole, it becomes a boom mic, as well as a shotgun mic. Kapeesh?

Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic

Boom mic

FCP Quick Tip: Using Audio Properly

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Brent Pierce

In this quick tip, I show you how to use audio in Final Cut Pro 7. The file type needs to be exactly AIFF, 48 Khz, and 16 bit to work natively in FCP. It only takes a few seconds to convert to this format.

If you are experiencing glitches or “pops” in your audio, this is your problem.

Watch on Vimeo

Ebay tip: bid during the holidays

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Here’s a quick tip for all you ebay buyers.

Most of the bids on an ebay item happen within the last few minutes. People throw in everything they’ve got at the last minute at an item they’ve been watching for a few days. So, you may be able to snag a few great deals on Christmas day, as most people are spending time with family and not stuck in front of a computer all day. I’m not saying don’t spend time with family, but if you really want to try and get a good deal, step into your office or tinker on your smart phone for a few minutes and see what you can get. Also try to bid during Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Eve.

The same goes for Super Bowl Sunday. Pretty much EVERYONE in America is completely tuned into the Super Bowl during that time. So hop on the computer and start throwing bids down on those items that are ending soon.
Some other events that might be good to bid during: Victoria’s Secret fashion show, popular network TV shows, Sunday or Monday night football, etc.

If you’ve been waiting for that perfect deal on a camera rig, this weekend might be your best chance.

FCP Quick tip: Paste Attributes and Scale to Sequence

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Brent Pierce

In this Final Cut Pro 7 quick tip, I show you how to copy and paste attributes to other clips. I also touch base on the “scale to sequence” command.

Watch on Vimeo

Render and Export in Final Cut Pro

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Brent Pierce

In my years of using Final Cut Pro, I’ve stumbled across the question myself, “Do I need to render before I export in Final Cut Pro?”

Short answer: “No.”

Now, I’m not going to get too deep into what rendering is, but rendering is basically FCP’s way of making preview files for you to view. Sometimes, you can’t view heavy effects or mismatched codecs in your sequence in real-time, so FCP creates render files that allow you to view the clip in real-time.

But, FCP does NOT need these render files to export. Yes, if you create render files, it will use them to speed up the export process, but if you do not create them, FCP will do so in the background while it is exporting.

I usually render everything for a final 100% real-time viewing, but there are rare occasions where I have no need for render files. Such as a 30 minute speech that I am not cutting, just simply placing text and graphics over the entire thing. The text and graphics, once placed on top, will show me that a render is needed to view in real-time. But I know I don’t need to watch the entire speech, so no need to waste time and render. Simply export (CMD+E) and everyone’s happy.

I would, however, strongly encourage you to render, even if you don’t need to preview, if you are sending your timeline straight to Compressor via “File>Send To>Compressor”. Compressor will slow your computer down big time trying to render at the same time as encoding, so definitely render before you send.

Here’s a setting that not many editors know about: ”Unlimited RT”

Unlimited RT is basically a back-hand to the render bar.

Click this. Select "Unlimited RT."

If this option is available, it will show here.

It’s a setting found in the timeline, that forces FCP to play as many frames as possible when your effects exceed the processing power of your computer. Final Cut Pro does this by spending time to process some frames in real time while skipping others completely. It’s not available for all effects and codecs, but if it is available, I always enable it. As opposed to Safe RT, Unlimited RT will change your red render bars to orange, meaning that it will drop frames and quality during these segments to achieve real-time playback.

Red render bars: this is with Safe RT

Orange render bars: this is with Unlimited RT

It’s a pretty cool feature. Depending on your system, you may get a pretty decent 12-15 fps playback. That’s enough to quickly check your effects without rendering. On an old MacBook Pro, playing full 1080p ProRes 422 files, I can only playback about 2-3 fps. So it’s not very usable in that case.

So go on, don’t be afraid to skip the render process if you don’t need it.

3 rookie DSLR problems

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Brent Pierce

DSLR’s are awesome for video. They’re a great way to get great cinematic looks on a budget. They pack alot of power in a small package. These are cameras that we, as consumers, can purchase on our own, yet they are powerful enough to make Hollywood movies. The DSLR revolution has brought out tons of new filmmakers that are trying their hand at making some cool stuff. I bet that most of the videos uploaded to Vimeo are shot with a DSLR.

But, like all artforms, there are a few things that make the rookies stand out like sore thumbs. These are 3 simple problems that, as long as you think about them before you shoot, can be easily fixed.

1. Shaky Footage - DSLR’s have a poor center of gravity and they’re small, so they receive every tiny hand shake and amplify it. Seeing shaky, jittery footage usually makes me turn the video off before I get a headache from watching it.

How to solve this: Get some sort of support. I don’t recommend relying solely on a tripod, as you are limited and can’t walk around or get different angles. Monopods are great for keeping your camera steady, especially during long events. Monopods are a godsend when I shoot weddings. You can also invest in some sort of shoulder rig to go mobile, although it may wear you down after a long period of shooting with it.
People always try to cover up jittery footage with a stabilizer effect in post, but it usually looks horrible. So fix the problem in production so you don’t have to deal with it in post.

2. Too Shallow DoF - DSLR’s are awesome in the fact they they give you a super shallow depth of field. Depth of field is the plane that is in focus. The shallower the DoF is, the more blurred out the background will be. Deeper DoF will get more things in focus.
So the shallowest DoF is better, right? Wrong.
Yes, you want some nice DoF, but one the biggest problems that I see around the net, it too shallow DoF. A common mistake for newbies is to simply crank your aperture open all the way, so you get some “nice” bokeh and the burry “film-look.” This is a problem, especially if you are shooting an event, and have to pull focus as your subject constantly moves.

How to solve this: Don’t shoot wide-open. Ever! Well…..very rarely shoot wide-open. On the Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens, if you have your aperture at 1.4, you’re liable to leave your viewers wondering what it is that they’re watching. If you’re shooting a person’s portrait at f/1.4, the tip of their nose may be in focus, but the bridge of their nose will be blurred out of focus. That’s too shallow. If I’m looking for shallow DoF, I usually tend to shoot at least a half-stop up from wide-open, if the subject is contained and not moving around much. If the subject is walking, I’d go at least a full stop and a half up. Yes, the shallowest DoF may make the background look ridiculously blurry and bokeh-y, but not at the expense of proper focus.

3. Poor Exposure - Another very common mistake by newlyweds to DSLR’s is bad exposure. Especially over exposure. It may look good to you on the tiny 3″ screen, but to the image sensor, it may be completely bown-out. When an image has spots that are too bright, it peaks and has no color information. Trying to color grade footage that is blown-out is a nightmare. So, once again, fix it in production so you don’t have to deal with it in post.

How to solve this: Watch you histogram! Before every shot, yes I said EVERY shot, check your histogram to make sure you are not peaking over the top, or suffering with too much lost at the bottom. This will help you to get proper exposure. Most DSLR’s can access the histogram by pressing the INFO button a couple times to overlay it over your video. But don’t worry, it’ll hide itself once you press record so you can see your subject.
Also, you will benefit greatly with an external monitor to simply show you a bigger picture of what you are shooting. External monitors will not only help with your exposure, but your focus and composition as well.

There are many more steps to becoming a great cinematographer, but these are 3 simple steps that can make your footage better.

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Brent Pierce

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Oklahoma at my grandparent’s house. I love it there. I took a bit of video to bring back. Didn’t plan on making anything out of the footage, but made a short and fun edit.

No matter how many hours you work a week, or how much traveling you have to do, ALWAYS spare the time for family. They need you, and you need them.

This was all shot with a Canon 60D, 28mm f/1.8, Rode Stereo VideoMic, and small shoulder rig. Color graded with Magic Bullet Looks and my Awesome Looks presets.

Enjoy

Watch on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays!

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Brent Pierce

It’s the holidays everyone! The time of year where you have an excuse to get out the camera gear and not go into work. Seriously, go create some cool stuff, whether it be photos, videos, graphics, paintings, or giant Gundam statues. So get out there, get in your family’s face with your new fancy shoulder rig, tell your little cousin to hold your boom mic, play a swanky 3D looping “Smith’s Christmas 2011″ graphic on your big ass TV while everyone opens presents.

Why? Why not?

Make something happen!

Hope For Lubbock 2011 Promo

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Brent Pierce

This is the promo for Hope for Lubbock 2011. Last year’s promo can be found here. Opening sequence was done in After Effects, and the rest was edited in Final Cut Pro. The talking heads were shot with a Canon 5D mkII and a 50mm f/1.4. I only used 1 omni light with a softbox, mainly because I did not want to haul anymore gear than I had to down the hall. Lazy of me, I know. But it worked. Slight color grading was done in Magic Bullet Looks.

The song is by E.S Posthumus. A great band for some epic orchestral music.

Watch on Vimeo

Luster Film Burns

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Brent Pierce

If you’re a fan of filmburns, then you definitely want to check out these full HD Luster Film Burns from Denver Riddle. He’s worked hard on these, and you can tell. 4 of his HD burns are available from this free pack. But, if you want more (and trust me, you do), then head on over to his site and check them out.

Here’s a video from Denver explaining how to use these filmburns in Final Cut Pro.

Luster Film Burns

From Digital Cinema Foundry

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK!!!

Features:

Custom Film Burn/Light Leak Clips
HD 1080P
H.264
Instant Download
Cross Platform/Application Compatible
They’re Awesome!?!

Testimonials of Film Burns:

AWESOME!! been looking so hard for this! really appreciate it so much! Janet Rich

Thanks a lot for putting these up- saved my bacon! Great stuff! James Adkins

Q. I was wondering if we could use your film burns for an advertisement? Mike Tanji
A. Uh, YES! Go nuts! Denver Riddle

Luster Film Burns

Green Screen – Brie White Gomez

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Brent Pierce

We recently set up a new green screen in our studio up at the church. Last week, I decided to put it to use. There’s still some kinks that need to be ironed out, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Watch in Vimeo

I shot this with a couple of Sony EX3′s. When shooting on a green screen, it’s all about the lighting. And you want to have your subject pretty far away from the green screen. I am limited to a fairly small studio, so I managed what I could. Some of the shadows were a problem with the couch being so low to the ground, so to hide the bad key at their feet, I put a dark shadow under them in After Effects.

The shadows around the feet did not key very well.

The added shadow helped to hide the bad key.

Brent Pierce – Demo Reel 2011

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Brent Pierce

I am a filmmaker based out of Lubbock, Texas. I am available for travel. You may contact me for any of the following positions, including sub-positions (assistants):

Director
Cinematographer (Director of Photography)
DIT (Digital Imaging Technician)
Editor
VFX Artist

[contact_form]

Watch in Vimeo

You Changed My Name

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Hope for Lubbock was a big event last year that Fist Lubbock put on. It was a time and place for the homeless and needy to get a good meal and get involved in worship as well. This is a music video I was a part of for Hope For Lubbock. You can view the promo here. Basically, it is the stories of real people in our congregation that had a radical change in their life, and how God brought them hope. Due to having to work around multiple people’s schedule, it was shot over about of month’s time. The audio is from the live performance during the event. We took the ~~boring~~ ~~overdone~~ classic cardboard testimony idea, and put a spin on it by writing the words on their arms.

All post-production was done by Cody Nitcher. I did the production and pre-production along with Cody. He did a phenomenal job editing this together and explaining each story. Telling a story without dialogue is very different from using dialogue to get your point across. It’s a more difficult, in a way.

Watch in Vimeo

HDR timelapse test

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Earlier this week I spent golden hour at The National Ranching Heritage Center to get a quick timelapse of the sunset. While setting up, I was feeling adventurous, and figured I would try something I knew nothing about, high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR). This is the result of the test.

The camera setting was in manual. You usually want to use Aperture Priority when shooting sunrises/sunsets, but I was not sure how that would effect the HDR, so I left it on manual. I took 3 exposures for each image using the bracketing feature on my Canon 60D. One picture OVER-exposed by 2 stops, one correctly-exposed, and one UNDER-exposed by 2 stops.

+ 2 stops

+/- 0 stops

- 2 stops

Merged all exposures into one HDR image

I tone-mapped in Photomatix Pro, which is a phenomenal application for merging photos into 1 tone-mapped image. You can also create an HDR image with just one single RAW file, but it does not produce as good results as the bracketing feature. I adjusted the parameters until it looked perfect, then I batched the rest of my photos. It’s super easy. Almost too easy. This application is definitely worth the money if you are looking into getting into HDR.

Again, this was just a test. I noticed that as the sun went down and my images got darker, the shadows in the HDR images were very grainy and unusable (see image below. Notice how crappy the shadows are on the steer.) That’s why it may be smart to use aperture priority instead of full manual, but then you get into other problems such as flickering.

Alot of grain in the shadows of the steer

This quick test showed me how awesome HDR is. I see tons of potential in shooting timelapses like this. But, like everything, it CAN be over done and lose it’s effect. It also showed me how easy it is to marge bracketed photos with Photomatix. Seriously, try it. I cranked the below images out in about 90 seconds. Bracketed with +/- 3 stops.

+/- 3 stops. Processed quickly in Photomatix.

+/- 2 stops. Processed quickly in Photomatix.

Using the function key on a compact Mac keyboard

Speed up your workflow with shortcuts

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Please note: this article is directed towards Final Cut Pro 7 editors, but the basic principle goes for any application.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll notice that I talk alot about using shortcuts. I love using hotkeys to speed up my workflow. I strongly encourage you to take just a few minutes and assign a few custom hotkeys to your most commonly used actions. I edit on both a Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro, both of which, have pretty compact keyboards. To access any of the alternative function keys on the top row (like insert and overwrite), you have to hold the fn key down. Using those becomes a huge hassel when you want to be fast at editing.

Using the function key on a full Mac keyboard

Using the function key on a compact Mac keyboard

Since I personally use the top row function keys all the time (lock audio/video tracks, choose audio/video destination, insert/overwrite, etc.), I’ve switched from the default standard function commands, to those of the alternate commands. So I no longer have to hold the fn key to access the insert and overwrite actions. To do this, simply go into your System Preferences>Keyboard Settings>and uncheck “Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.” This will take some getting used to because to access the usual things like volume, brightness, and expose, you’ll have to hold the fn key. But this WILL save time for the hardcore editor.

I have this box unchecked

To view all of your shortcuts, go to tools>keyboard layout> customize, or simply press option H (yes, there is even a shortcut for the shortcuts window.) You need to know the normal and most-common hotkeys. These can get you by with most simple projects:

Transport keys – JKL
All of your tools - I cannot stress this enough. As a professional editor, you NEED to have ALL of your tools memorized and shouldn’t even need to have your tool palette on screen
Zoom – command +/-
Fit to window – shift Z
Cut, copy, paste – command C, X, P
New project - command shift N
Open project - command O
New sequence - command N
New Bin - command B
In and out points - I/O

To be a professional and fast editor, you need to not only know the common shortcuts, but the uncommon ones as well, and even create custom ones to fit your editing best. Here are a few uncommon shortcuts that I have found I use most. Some are more advanced than others:

Trim - Use the brackets [ ] or comma/period. More on this can be found here.
Log and capture - command 8
Mark clip - X
Extend edit - E. Select an edit, and press E to extend it.
Add edit - control V (does the same thing as using the razor blade tool)
Add marker - M or ` (tilde key~top left)
- Edit a marker with M again while on the marker frame
- You can also add specific colors of markers with shift 1, 2, 3, etc.
- You can also immediately edit a marker if you add the option key to the combination above
- You can also extend markers with option ` (tilde)
Go to markers - shift up arrow (previous marker), shift down arrow (next marker)
Video/audio destinations

Set video/audio destination - F6 (video), F7 (audio 1), F8 (audio 2)
- example: to set the video destination to track 3, press F6 then 3.
Lock video/audio track - F4 (video), F5 (audio)
- example: to lock video tracks 3, 4, and 5, press F4 then 345
Insert/overwrite - F9, F10
Play around current frame - \
Add default transition - command T (video), command option T (audio)
Go to edits - up or down arrows. You can also use ; (semicolon) or ‘ (apostrophe) keys
Timecode entry - use the numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) to go to a specific timecode
- You can also use + and – to add or subtract from the current timecode
Open text generator - control X

Those are the advanced shortcuts that I find myself using on every project. Again, not every editor edits the same, so these may not be as popular with your exact editing technique.

Customize keyboard layout window

Once you’ve been editing for a while, you’ll notice actions that you use over and over. You need to apply these actions to hotkeys in order to save time. Here are a few custom hotkeys that I have found myself using the most. I assigned these because I found myself constantly going to the menu to find them. If you never use these, don’t worry about them. Custom shortcuts should be customized to YOUR editing style, not mine:

Insert/overwright - , (comma) . (period)
- F9 and F10 also do this by default, but I found myself looking down for a brief second searching for the F9/F10 keys every time. Using comma and period is MUCH easier. You don’t have to move your hand from the JKL position. And since comma and period have the same default action as the bracket keys, you don’t lose the trim feature when you change them
Audio: apply normalization gain - option N
Send to Compressor - control option C
Send to Soundtrack Pro audio file project - control option S
Export using Quicktime conversion - control E
Composite modes - control command 1, 2, 3, etc

Get familiar with your shortcuts. Glance at the keyboard shortcuts window (option H) from time to time, just to see what you can use. Force yourself to use them. It may take a few days or weeks to learn them, but once you do, you’ll be glad you did. It’ll make you a better editor. You’ll spend less time clicking through menues, and more time creating. The above shortcuts may only be for Final Cut Pro 7, but you need to get familiar with your NLE and figure out what custom shortcuts you need to make.

Load a custom keyboard layout

If you’d like to download my custom keyboard layout for FCP7, you can click here to download it. But, again, you should definitely take some time to figure out what YOU use most and apply those actions to YOUR customized keyboard.

“Here for You” before & after

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Brent Pierce

This is a quick intro video that I composited together for my church here in Lubbock, Tx. The story was simple: We are here for GOD, not any false profits or other material distractions that may bring someone to church. This video was played live with the band playing the intro to the song “Here for You.” The last scene of the wide timelapse of the sanctuary was played at the very end of the song. The audio in this uploaded version is just a placeholder.

On the left, is the original footage shot with a Canon 5D mkII and a Sony EX3. On the right, is the final result, after visual effects and color correction. I tracked the scenes in Mocha and composited them in After Effects. I made 2D text with the built-in text tool, instead of 3D text with Zaxwerks Invigorator, mainly because I only had 1 day to finish this. Then I brought them all into Final Cut Pro and stuck them together and color graded mostly with Magic Bullet Looks. I could have color graded inside of After Effects, but I like to apply color grades after the final edit, where I can see all the clips together and their output, even on something as simple and short as this.

The scene outside with the sky replacement timelapse was a bit of a challenge. Had I thought ahead and known I would be doing a sky replacement, it would have been quick and easy, but I shot the 2 shots about 20 feet apart at different angles, and about 15 minutes apart (with the sun setting fast). I key framed the corner-pin effect in After Effects to line up the 2 pieces of footage and graded the sky scene to match the original scene. It turned out good enough for the 3 seconds that it is shown.

Thanks for watching!

Watch on VIMEO

Screen shot 2011-09-28 at 7.31.34 PM (2)

Matt + Orlie Wedding Trailer via Stringer Productions

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Last weekend, you may have seen a few tweets from me while I was filming a wedding with my buddy Clayton Stringer. Although I no longer choose to produce wedding videos independently anymore, I am more than happy to offer my hand at being a second-shooter. It’s a great way to explore the world of videography and get some awesome hands-on experience. And, if you do it right, it can pay pretty stinkin’ well. My man Clayton is killing it over at Stringer Productions. Seriously, check him out. This is the trailer for the wedding we shot, edited to perfection.

WATCH ON VIMEO

I was on a Canon 60D, and pretty much used a steady-cam and a monopod all day, with the exception of the ceremony where I started on a monopod then transferred to a tripod during the ~~boring~~ good stuff. Clayton was on a Canon 5D mkII, also used a monopod all day and occasionally rocked a slider, which is essential in event videography. Both the steady-cam and slider add such a cinematic style to a documentary. If you’re in event videography, I suggest investing in some sort of steady-cam and a slider. We had Manfrotto quick-release adapters on all our gear, so switching from a monopod to a tripod to the steady-cam to the slider was a cinch. We had a plethora of lenses at our disposal. We both love using primes, so that’s what we stuck to all day, again, with the exception of the ceremony, where I used a zoom lens from stage. Although you are limited to one focal length when using primes, they are great in low-light, and we had enough to choose from, that it was never a problem to find the right lens.

GEAR:

Canon 5D mkII. [link]
Canon 60D. [link]
Manfrotto 501 HDV tripods. [link]
Manfrotto monopods. [link]
Glidecam 2000 Pro. [link]
Konova slider. [link]

LENSES

Bower 14mm f/2.8. [link]
(2x) Canon 28mm f/1.8. [link]
Zeiss 50mm f/1.4. [link]
Rokinon 85mm f/1.4. [link]
Canon 200mm f/2.8L. [link]
Canon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS. [link]

UPDATE: Here’s the final video from clayton.

DaVinci Resolve: Free Live Webinar

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Brent Pierce

On Thursday, September 8, filmmakingwebinars.com is hosting a free live 90-minute webinar on “How to get started with DaVinci Resolve for any NLE editor.” DaVinci Resolve is a high-end color correcting application that has a very steep learning curve. There is free version of the $30,000 suite to download for all you adventurous color-graders, and also a $1,000 software-only version.

The webinar is free to watch live, or $15 after the live viewing. Here is more info straight from the webinar website.
——————————————————-
DESCRIPTION

Using a project based approach, we will walk you through your first Resolve project from start to finish. We’ll take a TV Spot that was cut in Final Cut Pro 7, grade it in Resolve, then return to Final Cut Pro for titling and final delivery.

We will also discuss working with Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro as well as using the built-in scene detection for projects without the sequence metadata.

Where applicable, we’ll tell you the differences between the paid version and free version of DaVinci Resolve.

AGENDA

Interface overview.
Prepping your Final Cut Pro timeline.
Conforming the FCP 7 timeline in Resolve.
Grading, adding nodes, using secondaries, PowerWindows and tracking.
Round tripping back to Final Cut Pro.
Working with Avid, Premiere, and using scene detection.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Any NLE editor interested in leaerning more about DaVinci Resolve. Final Cut Pro Editors wanting to learn about the specific workflows between FCP and DaVinci. Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro editors wanting to learn color workflows with DaVinci Resolve. Any other professional interested in professional color grading workflows.

PREREQUISITE

Basic knowledge / interest in color correction and editorial workflows.

PRESENTER

Barry Goch is an online editor working in Hollywood, CA. His recent work includes Falling Skies (TNT), Traffic Light (FOX), and Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory Season 4 (MTV) and is currently working on the new show, Awkward (MTV).

Barry is also an Autodesk Smoke Certified Instructor, the developer of Smokeys Smoke Keyboard Stickers, has presented other webinars at FilmmakingWebinars.com and has written many articles for the Editors Guild and is Post Magazine’s West Coast Contributor.

HOST

Marcelo Lewin is the CEO and founder of NewMediaWebinars.com, LLC, owner of FilmmakingWebinars.com, which creates webinars for and by digital media creators on various topics (e.g. Filmmaking, Coding, Photography, etc.) Previously, he founded various other companies including Pixel Heads Network which was acquired by ProMAX and MyInternetDesktop.com which was acquired by Internet Appliance Network. Prior to starting his companies, he has worked for Walt Disney Imagineering, NBC, Toyota, and J.F. Shea.

Davince Resolve Lite: Download Link

Filmmaking Webinars: “How to get started with DaVinci Resolve for any NLE editor.”

FCP7 back on shelves

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Well with the horrible release of Final Cut Pro X, commonly known as iMovie Pro, and the complete face-plant of Final Cut Studio, most thought that Final Cut Pro 7 would be no longer available at all. Today, I noticed a post on macrumors.com that users would be able to purchase Final Cut Studio by an 800-number. So go ahead and call 800-MY-APPLE and get Final Cut Studio before Apple really for real kills it. It’ll cost you $1,000 or $900 with an education discount.

Thanks MacRumors!

The Art of Flight

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Brain Farm Cinema’s new film “The Art of Flight” is looking killer. Check out the trailer. The film is available on iTunes or DVD and bluray. I’ll definitely be picking up a bluray copy.

VIMEO

Help Koo make his feature film

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Koo, over at NoFilmSchool, has just announced that he’ll be making a feature length film. Some of you may know Koo from providing the free DSLR Cinematography Guide on his site. It’s absolutely free, and has some killer training in it. He’s got some great free content on his site, and now is your chance to repay the favor back to him.

Koo’s new Kickstarter page has all the details. The film is called “Man-child,” and it’s about a 13 year old basketball player is being scouted and is said to be the next “Dwayne Wade.” Sounds interesting enough. His script was even accepted to IFP’s Emerging Narrative Program. That’s kind of a big deal.

His goal is ambitious at $115,000, but I hope enough of you will back him up and meet the goal before the deadline, which is September 23rd at midnight. So GO! Check it out via the links below.

Kickstarter Page
Koo’s blog page

FCP7 tip: Favorites

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Brent Pierce

It can be a hassle sometimes to search for a particular filter or transition in Final Cut Pro 7. Luckily, if you have favorites, you can put them aside and make them easier to find and use. This video tip shows everything you need to know about using favorites.

In the video, I use hotkeys to quickly add an effect. Below is a chart to help explain which hotkey corresponds to which effect. Click the image to enlarge.

Also, keep in mind, sometimes there is an issue where the order of the filters for the hotkeys gets mixed up. This also happens when adding multiple effects under a folder as one preset. If this happens, you may have to remove a few of the problematic effects from your favorites.

View in Vimeo.

Sorry that seems to be an invalid Vimeo URL. Please check it again. Make sure there is a string of numbers at the end (e.g. http://vimeo.com/2104600).

Video Copilot releases ‘Demon Cam’

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Brent Pierce

Video Copilot just announced their new film entitled ‘Demon Cam.’ It’s somewhat entertaining, although it turned out to just be a very elaborate iPhone app promo. Still, the very beautiful and sexy ~~girls~~ visual fx are stunning. Andrew Kramer never seizes to amaze me. Check it out.

UPDATE: More behind the scenes footage released.

And if you’re curious….

Source: VideoCopilot

← Older

Tags
After Effects audio cinematography color correcting compositing creativeLIVE demo reel DSLR ebay editing Film Burns Final Cut Pro Free Gear green screen HDR instagram Kickstarter long tip Magic Bullet Looks Mocha music video Production products promo quick edit quick tip random RED Red Giant Software Sale shortcuts Stringer Productions sunset templates Timelapse training Video Copilot Wedding Zacuto