podcast

Sony NX30: currently best in its class, yet improvable

2013-05-20T16:14:00+00:00

Thanks to Miami dealer and rental house Midtown Video and later to PRODU.com, I had a brief opportunity to test the Sony NX30, the NXCAM camcorder I’ve come to call the “little sister” of the NX70, which I covered in detail last year. Officially called the HXR-NX30...

Beyond AVCHD: a proposed new standard for AVCHD cam manufacturers

2013-05-20T15:35:00+00:00

Back in November 2011, I published an Open Letter to professional AVCHD camera manufacturers. In that Open Letter, I clarified what I liked about the then current offering of pro AVCHD cameras;pointed out details I found inappropriate especially for pro users; and made requests. Now I am going...

Archiving Final Cut Pro X Projects and Media

2013-05-14T13:23:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training talks about archiving your projects in Final Cut Pro X.

Once you've delivered your edit to your client, they've approved it and you've been paid, how do you go about saving that project and storing it...

Text Animation in Motion

2013-05-07T13:08:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, I show Steve Martin from Ripple Training a few tricks for animating text in Motion.

Text, like shapes, particles, replicators, cameras, and other objects in Motion, has a dedicated set of behaviors available for animating it in various ways. In...

MSNBC mainstreams the radio/TV term “rundown”

2013-05-03T18:05:00+00:00

Although the word “rundown” is used in baseball and in common US English as a “quick summary of main points of information”, its very unique meaning in radio and TV production has been (up until very recently) unknown beyond media professionals. In fact, many media...

Combining Cartoon with Brainstorm

2013-05-01T15:26:00+00:00

Ever feel like you’re getting the same old looks out of Cartoon, no matter what you try? In this third and final installment of learning how to get better results with the Cartoon effect, we will show you how to combine Cartoon with the After Effects Brainstorm module to get unexpected looks out of Cartoon, including images that look like they were created with a fine pencil, fat markers, or a photocopy machine.

Enhancing the Cartoon Effect

2013-04-30T14:48:00+00:00

In this second installment of learning how to get better results with the Cartoon effect, we will go beyond altering Cartoon’s own parameters from their less-than-ideal defaults and explore pre- and post-processing the video clip getting the Cartoon treatment.

Creating a DVD - Without the DVD

2013-04-30T13:18:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training shows us a neat trick for creating a "diskless" DVD straight from Final Cut Pro X.

Although DVDs are becoming less prevalent due to the rapid rise in web-delivered HD video, some clients still require them. Plus,...

Using Cartoon in After Effects

2013-04-29T16:04:00+00:00

As we’ve mentioned before, we updated our After Effects Apprentice video courses last year. As part of adding and reorganizing material, some movies got cut. But we hate to see anything go to waste, so we’re reposting them here for free - including a three-movie set on using the Cartoon effect.

Cartoon may be one of the most unfairly maligned tools in After Effects. Some of that is due to burn-out based on the popularity of the this look a few years ago; a lot of that is due to the less-than-attractive default settings for Cartoon. But if you’re reading this, you know to go beyond the default settings - and learning those settings is the basis of this first movie.

Canon’s new XA20 and XA25 cameras fulfill wishes from my Open Letter to pro AVCHD cam manufacturers

2013-04-26T14:43:00+00:00

Back in November 2011 (17 months ago) I published an Open Letter to pro AVCHD camera manufacturers. With their introduction of their new XA20 and XA25 cameras at NAB 2013, Canon has fulfilled some of the key wishes I had expressed in that Open Letter, in addition to making other improvements...

Using Behaviors in Motion

2013-04-23T13:06:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, I talk with Steve Martin from Ripple Training about using behaviors instead of keyframes for creating animation in Motion.

Almost everything in Motion can be animated either with traditional keyframing methods or by using procedural objects...

NewTek commits to adding internal waveform monitor to TriCaster 40

2013-04-19T19:57:00+00:00

After expressing my profound constructive criticism about the lack of an internal waveform monitor in the TriCaster 40 (both publicly (in ProVideo Coalition magazine and privately) in 2012, I am now delighted to report that I have just received written confirmation of NewTek’s...

How to make the Lumix GH3 camera deliver proper, recordable 1080p over HDMI

2013-04-17T22:52:00+00:00

Many initial users of the Panasonic Lumix GH3 camera who tried to record its 1080p signal externally have been disappointed to see that it wouldn’t work. That’s because as shipped from the factory, the GH3 does not output its native framerate over HDMI. For example, in 1080/25p...

NAB 2013: Átomos expands Connect converter line with CONNECT-AC; lowers prices

2013-04-17T16:44:00+00:00

Back in October 2012, I published a review of the Connect H2S (HDMI>SDI converter) from Átomos (link ahead), which includes onboard pulldown removal and a test pattern generator. The original H2S and S2H include a battery, charger, and external AC power supply. Now at NAB...

Telestream amends key response for recent WireCast article

2013-04-16T14:43:00+00:00

On April 1st, 2013, I published an article called How to pick your ideal HDMI or HD-SDI interface for WireCast (Pro). The article was based upon facts received after several sessions of detailed emails exchanged with the covered manufacturers (Blackmagic, Matrox, and...

Mark, Replace, Slip

2013-04-16T13:21:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training shows us a cool trick for performing a particular kind of replace edit in Final Cut Pro X.

Replace edits are quite powerful tools for swapping out one clip in a project for another or adjusting (slipping) an...

Copying Keyframes in Motion

2013-04-09T19:58:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, I show Steve Martin from Ripple Training several different ways that you can transfer keyframes created on one object onto another.

It's easy to animate layers in Motion using keyframes, and to then adjust the animation by working in the...

Time Lapse Workflows and Final Cut Pro X

2013-04-02T13:36:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training explains his workflow for creating time lapse movies from a series of photographs using Final Cut Pro X and other applications.

Timelapse photography has become very popular recently - and with the advent of...

How to pick your ideal HDMI or HD-SDI interface for WireCast (Pro)

2013-04-02T01:28:00+00:00

UPDATED: This article now updated info. Many people have heard of Telestream’s renowned WireCast (Pro) software, which can convert a qualifying Mac or Windows computer into a multiple-input audio/video mixer (“switcher”). Among its features are a...

Working with Keyframes in Motion

2013-03-26T13:38:00+00:00

This week on MacBreak Studio, I get back to the basics in Motion by showing Steve Martin from Ripple Training how to create animation with keyframes.

Keyframes are the basic building blocks for creating custom animations and Motion has a variety of tools for working with them...