TV

FCP X, Photoshop, and RAW

On this week's MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | May 21, 2013

This week on MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin from Ripple Training gives us some tips on working with RAW images in Final Cut Pro X.

We've talked about RED RAW workflow in an earlier episode of MacBreak Studio - how you can work with these RAW video files natively in FCP X,... Read More

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HDSLRShooter at NAB 2013: Carl Zeiss Compact Zoom 28-80

Lightweight Zoom Lenses Feature Interchangeable Mount System

By Clint Milby | May 20, 2013

When you're considering what to invest your money into in regards to camera equipment what comes to mind?  Some may say the camera body, but with technology changing moment to moment the body is  one of the most disposable pieces of a camera rig.  At best you may be... Read More

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What’s In a Name?

On the differences among grading controls and operational ordering

By Alexis Van Hurkman | May 20, 2013

In this week's somewhat detail-oriented "Answers Occasionally Given," I start out tackling the differences among color and contrast controls with similar names; in particular, the difference between Lift, Shadow, and Offset controls. Then, I move on to a reader's question about the best stage of a multi-operation color adjustment in which to adjust Luma. It's GRIPPING, I tell you…

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Sony NX30: currently best in its class, yet improvable

The NX30 beats its bigger sister the NX70 in a few areas, but is yet to be upgraded to Beyond AVCHD.

By Allan Tépper | May 20, 2013

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... Read More

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Beyond AVCHD: a proposed new standard for AVCHD cam manufacturers

Herein you’ll find the Beyond AVCHD Manifesto.

By Allan Tépper | May 20, 2013

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... Read More

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After Effects ExtendScript Training: Ep. 7

ExtendScript Script Writing Training

By David Torno | May 18, 2013

Welcome to episode 7 of the After Effects ExtendScript Training series. This week we will be creating new comps and folders as well as creating Nulls, Solids and Text layers.

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NAB 2013: Manfrotto 500 Series Tripod Head & Fluid Monopod

Light weight 500 Series Head With Tripod/Monopod Options Perfect HDSLR Production

By Clint Milby | May 14, 2013

The last of their 'Bridging Technology' series, Manfrotto's new lightweight fluid video tripod head was released during NAB 2013. The new 500 tripod heads will come with four different tripods, two carbon fiber and two aluminum, and is able to hold up to 11... Read More

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NAB 2013: Atomos Ninja-2 Price Drop & DSLR Support

HDMI Field Recorder Now Compatible with 5D Mark III

By Clint Milby | May 14, 2013

After discovering Atomos back in January of 2013 at the San Francisco Supermeet, I was intrigued by the Ninja-2 especially when I realized a pending firmware update for the 5D Mark III would make it compatible with the Ninja-2.  

This portable field recorder and... Read More

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Archiving Final Cut Pro X Projects and Media

This Week on MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | May 14, 2013

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... Read More

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After Effects ExtendScript Training: Ep. 6

ExtendScript Script Writing Training

By David Torno | May 12, 2013

Welcome to episode 6 of the After Effects ExtendScript Training series. This week we will be learning to collect data from multiple assets into an Array() via a loop. We are also going to learn how to set various values of comps, layers and properties via ExtendScript.

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Two Questions About Video Scopes

Ruminating on the Differences Between Visual and Graphical Analysis

By Alexis Van Hurkman | May 09, 2013

In this inaugural post of my new question-and-answer column, I tackle two kickoff queries about video scopes from colleague Scott Simmons, who thoughtfully saved me from having to come up with something on my own. If you have a question about color grading, postproduction workflow, or any interesting intersection of production and post, send it my way at ahurkman@procoalitions.com. I'll answer via this column as time permits.

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Premiere Pro (and all the Adobe apps) are going cloud only

No more software boxes or 4 figure purchase either for that matter

By Scott Simmons | May 09, 2013

It’s been an eventful few days in and around the general world of film and video post-production. If you haven’t heard (but of course you have) Adobe made the decision to move all of their software licensing to the cloud, their Creative Cloud, and charge $50 a month to access to everything they make. No more paying some $1,500 up front for the Production Premium and having a box shipped to your door. While it would be nice to have a less expensive monthly access to only those video-centric apps (I’m never going to use Dreamweaver, InDesign or Muse among others) you really do get a lot for that $50 (check out the pricing page for other price options that could lower your monthly bill to Adobe). 

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Text Animation in Motion

This Week on MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | May 07, 2013

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... Read More

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After Effects ExtendScript Training: Ep. 5

ExtendScript Script Writing Training

By David Torno | May 04, 2013

Welcome to episode 5, this week we will be accessing renderqueue items, templates, outputmodules, as well as the file output name and path. I will also be taking the single item access approach from last week and will now show you how to access multiple items. To do this we will be... Read More

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MSNBC mainstreams the radio/TV term “rundown”

Beyond its baseball and common use, “rundown” has a very specific use in media production, especially in live news.

By Allan Tépper | May 03, 2013

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... Read More

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Combining Cartoon with Brainstorm

Using one tool to show you what another can do.

By Chris and Trish Meyer | May 01, 2013

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.

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JVC commits to adding SFTP (Secure FTP) to GY-HM650 camera

In addition to live streaming, JVC is adding SFTP to the GY-HM650 camera.

By Allan Tépper | May 01, 2013

After an Open Letter in 2009 about the importance of using SFTP (Secure FTP) in order to have our passwords travel through the Internet encrypted, followed by two short articles about JVC’s GY-HM650 news camera, I am glad to report that JVC has now committed to adding SFTP to the GY-HM650... Read More

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Enhancing the Cartoon Effect

Just as you shouldn’t use all effects at their defaults, don’t be shy about combining them with other effects.

By Chris and Trish Meyer | April 30, 2013

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.

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Creating a DVD - Without the DVD

This week on MacBreak Studio

By Mark Spencer | April 30, 2013

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,... Read More

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Using Cartoon in After Effects

Go beyond the defaults to get more interesting looks.

By Chris and Trish Meyer | April 29, 2013

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.

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