The Editblog

About a year ago (March 22nd to be exact) I dropped a post here on the Editblog about Twitter asking for followers to join in and discuss editing, post-production, and all those things we do. A good group began to follow and now a year later there’s a very active editing and post-production group of Twitterers out there in the world. Over at the Editblog on PVC I followed up on this post a year later, taking a look at where we are and where we might go from here.

If you are in to editing and enjoy listening to podcasts and haven’t yet subscribed Shane Ross’s new podcast The Edit Bay then click this iTunes link and subscribe. Shane is the creator of the Little Frog in Hi-Def blog as well as a top poster on many Internet forums. Shane’s podcast is a short little story (under 10 minutes) from the edit bay. If you are new to this whole editing and post thing then Shane’s stories are great listens for what you might be in store for in the future. If you’re a veteran then you can really relate. Since I freelanced from a home studio for nearly 8 years I really related to episode 4 about editing from home.

Suite Take is a great new site dedicated to “reviews, experiences and opinion from the edit suite.” Check out Emergency Boot Drive, Photoshop Tips, and Dealing With Unwanted Guests just to name a few good posts.

Going to NAB 09? Here’s 27 things to do before a conference.

One of the best After Effects sites has a round-up of tutorials from around the web. And then there’s 300 more from this site. Is there any reason I haven’t learned AE better besides time?

More free FCP plug-ins. And then even more.

Jon Chappell has a great post about Final Cut Pro’s internal tools.

HDFilmtools.com has an interview with Slumdog editor Chris Dickens.

Are you an animator? There’s an animation timing app for the iPhone.

LifeZero talks about why he’s a Mac. He’s also developing an application to test hard drive speeds.

I’d make my own “dim-able” Kino if I was more mechanically inclined.

59.94 vs 59.94. If frames rates have ever confused you then you have to read this post from Little Frog in Hi-Def and the discussion that follows.

Do you ever exhibit some of the signs of a bad film director?

Jim at Final Cut User has a great review of the Matrox MXO2. Shane Ross has talked about it too a couple of times.

It’s true, the option key can be your friend while working in Avid.

Here’s a nice little pdf called RED101. (the link clicks through Google btw)

Avid has released Media Composer 3.5 and it’s now available with a 14 day free demo version.

Links from Twitter:

Here’s some writers, actors and directors on Twitter.

ywwg wrote about his adventures building an Avid and FCP edit suite.

eastbayjay tweeted the top 10 low budget films under $500,000.

AvidTechnology linked to a light-painting tutoral with Avid FX.

tylerginter link to a You Tube video about the power of flash when used correctly.

PXLpainter linked to the fun periodic table of typefaces.

phillipgibb wrote about Twitter tools he finds useful.

And creattica had two good ones, though they often post links to lots of good stuff. 33 hi-rez desktop images and Photoshop keyboard cheat sheets.

Are you going to NAB this year? Do you need a free pass to the show floor?

Yes Apple isn’t going to be there and neither is RED or Quantel … But Avid is, Adobe is, all of the other camera manufacturers are going to be there. Plus there’s a lot of other great small software developers that will be on the show floor so there’s going to be a lot to see. Plus the Final Cut Pro SuperMeet will be happening as well. You might can find a good deal on a flight if you try hard or fly Southwest and you can definitely find a good deal on a hotel. Get a pass to the show floor and get to Vegas. I looks like I’ll be there too and I am very excited. And I will not eat at any buffets this year.

To get your free pass that includes access to the exhibit floor and the opening keynote  (a $150 value) go to http://nabshow.com/passport and enter this code: TP01.

See ya at NAB 09!

There’s a new That Post Show up and online where we discussed the new Avid announcements, including Media Composer 3.5. In addition to myself and host John Flowers the guests included:

Norman Hollyn (normanhollyn.com, twitter.com/schnittman)
Jim Geduldick (www.finalcutuser.com, twitter.com/filmbot)
Jason Diamond (www.mbsproductions.com,twitter.com/jasondiamond)

It’s a good discussion if you are an Avid user or are thinking of becoming one. And since Media Composer is available as a 14 day free trial then why not give it a try! A complete set of show notes is available on the site as well.

It’s fun to look back at all of my movie stubs when digging through receipts while getting ready for taxes. And it’s even more fun to put them in order of what I saw. The thing that struck me this year was how few movies I saw in the theatre! I am ashamed of myself because even though there is Blu-ray, big HD tvs and great sound I still love the experience of going to the theater. It was a busy year and I didn’t make it to the local film festival since they scheduled it the same week as NAB. And if they seem a bit off it’s because some of these flicks were released in 2007 and didn’t get here until 08! I try to do this every year ’cause it’s fun to list ‘em out.

1. The Dark Knight

2. Slumdog Millionaire

3. WALL•E

4. There Will Be Blood

5. The Curious Case of Benjamen Button

6. Tropic Thunder

7. Cloverfield

8. Hancock

9. Speed Racer

10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

And there there was U2:3D which was really good and a very unique concert film experience.

It was a crazy, busy month of February at the Editblog on PVC where we attempted one QuickTip a day (as well as all the other tasks of editing) for the entire month. They all went up (usually before noonish), some for Avid, some for Final Cut Pro with a few others thrown in the mix as well. Here are links to them all:

Quicktip Day 01: Use that CAPS LOCK! – FCP

Quicktip Day 02: Map your 9-split exactly to the keypad – FCP

Quicktip Day 03: Project folders in the Finder sidebar – Mac OS

Quicktip Day 04: Tear off the Avid tool palette

Quicktip Day 05: FCP Keyboard changes are viewable in the menus

Quicktip Day 06: Edit FCP Column Heading

Quicktip Day 07:  Custom Avid bin column headings

Quicktip Day 08: Play Base Layer Only – FCP

Quicktip Day 09: Save FCP Column Layouts

Quicktip Day 10: Save Avid Column Layouts

Quicktip Day 11: turn on settings in User Preferences – FCP

Quicktip Day 12: Expos̩ to the function keys РMac OS

Quicktip Day 13: Check Your FCP AV Devices

Quicktip Valentine’s Day 14: Insert a ? or a ? – Mac OS

Quicktip Day 15: Option click to select a file name …. or not? – Mac OS

Quicktip Day 16: Expand all FCP tracks via mouse

Quicktip Day 17: Add Avid filler at start

Quicktip Day 18: Determine total Avid bin duration

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

Quicktip Day 20: Annotate pictures with Preview – Mac OS

Quicktip Day 21: Set the FCP Logging Bin

Quicktip Day 22: slate buttons to increment numbers – FCP

Quicktip Day 23: Saving a Custom Avid Effect

Quicktip Day 24: Apply Saved Avid Effect to Multiple Clips

Quicktip Day 25: Access Custom Avid Effect

Quicktip Day 26: Saving EDL Comments in Avid

Quicktip Day 27: Promote to Avid Advanced Keyframes

Quicktip Day 28: Turn off Video Scopes Playback – FCP