Quicktip Day 21: Set the FCP Logging Bin

Quicktip #21 (February 21, 2009) Set the FCP Logging Bin

The logging bin is the bin where logged or captured clips will be stored. That bin can be identified by the slate icon next to it. You can set a logging bin by right+clicking on a bin and choosing Set Logging Bin:

The GT35pro meets the RED camera

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to take part in a RED camera test with my friends at Compass Cinema. We went out to local camera rental house CameraTrux and where they had set-up their RED with an assortment of lenses as said “test away!” Since I’m a post guy I take every opportunity I can to play with cameras and things outside of the edit suite so I took my HV20 and the GT35pro adapter along for the ride. When it wasn’t too annoying I tried to shoot some footage along side the RED to compare and contrast with the footage from the GT35pro. I shot footage of the still life as well as the chain link fence outdoors. It’s funny when you think about a 4K camera with some really great lenses being intercut with an under $1,000 consumer HDV camera and vibrating lens adapter and how it shouldn’t seem possible but they actually go together pretty well with the video compressed down for web viewing. The RED footage is a transcode through Clipfinder to 1080 ProRes and the back-to-back shots have been color corrected with Colorista to make them match better ... except for the fence outside. I couldn’t seem to get those tones to match closer. I need to keep reading Steve’s great book The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction

While they look pretty good here on Vimeo I did a test where I took a similarly dark shot of the still life and the red-berry bush outside and did some grading on the RED raw R3Ds in REDAlert vs. the Canon HDV files in Final Cut Pro ... It’s quite the difference in latitude and what you can do with the image. As was to be expected.

Quicktip Day 20: Annotate pictures with Preview

Quicktip #20 (February 20, 2009) Using Preview to annotate images

As much as I love ImageWell for quick annotations of images without the overhead of a Photoshop launch, you can do a lot of the same stuff in Apple’s Preview application. Just right click on the top of a window and choose Customize Toolbar (or choose View > Customize Toolbar) and drag the Annotate bubble into the toolbar and you will now have rectangles, circle, arrows and text tools to annotate an image:

If you notice there are a lot of other tools in there as well like crop and rotate. .

A video only an editor or engineer could love

Live Action Oscar Nominated Short Films on iTunes

For all of us out there that love (and make) short films it’s especially pleasing when the presenter announces the winners of the short film categories on Oscar night. I always wonder what the winner is thinking and feeling as they make that long walk from the back of the room up to the stage to accept their Oscar. In the early 90s they tried to do away with the shorts categories (at least on the telecast from what I remember) and there was such an uproar by a number of prominent filmmakers that they kept the categories intact. A couple of years ago they tried to give all of the shorts awards away at one time and that was an awkward train wreck. It has been suggested more than once that the shorts need to go. Sure the Oscar telecast is bloated and long but for a filmmaker the act of even having the shorts categories represents something to strive for. The knowledge that you have just as much of a chance as anyone at a real Oscar nomination is a great incentive to do you best work on your short film. The odds are still great but dedicated filmmakers work against the odds all the time. Since shorts are such a staple of the Internet the Academy should embrace the short film format more than ever. Even CNN has a story about the shorts filmmakers!

iTunes has recently posted all 5 Oscar nominated short films for sale via Shorts International. The direct iTunes links can be found at this link on Ticklebooth. The animated ones are all linked here.  I haven’t been able to find and view the Documentary Short Subject nominees so if you have a link to them please post it in the comments. The Oscars are this Sunday so get your viewing done before then!

Quicktip Day 19: Try the option and shift modifier keys under the Finder menus

Quicktip #19 (February 19, 2009) Use the option key for more Finder options

When working in the Mac OS Finder you can press the OPTION and/or the SHIFT key on the keyboard for other tasks and options from the Finder menus:

In the above example of the SHIFT key pressed under the File menu in the Finder you have the option of Add to Favorites (instead of Add to Sidebar) and Find by Name… (instead of simply Find…).

If you press shift + the Apple menu you get the option to Force Quit Finder instead the usual Force Quit that brings up the Force Quit dialog box. You also get a number of different options when you use the Option modifier key as well. Explore the different menus to find them all!

Chat with the editor of Slumdog Millionaire

It’s no secret that Avid editing systems and Avid technology had a hand in a lot of this years Oscar nominated films. To celebrate, Avid is giving people the opportunity to chat with one of them! On Monday, February 23 at 1:00 PM PST, Chris Dickens, editor of Slumdog Millionaire, will conduct an online chat and take your questions. Since this will be one day after the big Oscar ceremony you can ask him how it feels to win! Or how if feels to lose depending on how it goes. I’m sure he’d say it’s just an honor to be nominated. To participate in the chat you have to sign up first. I would love to take part in this chat (personally I hope Slumdog sweeps the awards) but since I’ll be in an edit session I’ll just have to catch the podcast afterwards.

Quicktip Day 18: Determine total Avid bin duration

Quicktip #18 (February 18, 2009) Determine total Avid bin duration!

If you want to know the total duration of an number of clips in an Avid bin just select clips:

And then press Command+i to load information about the selection into the Console:

As you can see a lot if helpful information can be found with this method. Total duration of all the clips, number of items selected, number of items in the bin ... etc.

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