… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #056: Use Motion to Tweak Your Effects

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Apple makes it easy to customize your effects.

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While it is true that you can’t directly modify an Apple-supplied effect, there’s a workaround: You just need to make a copy of it first.

Control – click (right-mouse-click) any effect, transition, generator or title and choose Open a Copy in Motion.

Final Cut will copy that effect and open the copy in Motion, where you can make as many changes as you want.

When you save the file, Motion displays a dialog allowing you to create a new template and category for this effect. This makes it easy for you to organize your custom effects.

NOTE: While the ability to open effects in Motion is true for Apple and 3rd-party effects, many developers “lock” their effect so that you can’t modify it.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #128: 9 Hidden Mac Keyboard Symbols

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

The Option key is your passport to hidden symbols.

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We all know about emoji, but there are useful symbols hidden all over your keyboard. Most of these can be found using the Option key; some with Shift + Option. Here are some of the most useful.

Type This Get This What This Is
Option + [ ] “ ” Curved Quotes
Option + g © Copyright symbol
Option + r ® Registered trademark
Option + 2 Trademark symbol
Option + 8 Bullet symbol
Shift + Option + 8 ° Degree symbol
Option + 3 £ British pound
Shift + Option + 2 Euro
Shift + Option + = ± Plus/Minus symbol

When you have a few free minutes, press Option, then Shift + Option and press different keys. You’ll find a wealth of symbols scattered all over your keyboard.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #118: Walkie-Talkie Radio Codes

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

PremiumBeat decodes common on-set radio chatter.

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The folks at PremiumBeat recently published the basics of on-set walkie-talkie etiquette. (Smile… back “in the day” we used megaphones. Walkie-talkies are MUCH cooler.)

Here are some common radio codes you may hear during production:

  • Go to. This is a request to switch from the general communication frequency to a specific frequency for a longer conversation.
  • What’s your 20? What’s your location.
  • Copy and 10-4. Yes, I understand.
  • 10-1 and 10-2. Um, bathroom break.
  • Go again. Tells the other party to please repeat themselves.
  • Flying in/out. Bringing someone or something to or from the set.
  • Keying or Hot-micing. You are pressing the mic button and not talking. This will not make you any friends.

Share your own favorite codes in the comments below.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #073: When Do You Need a RAID?

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Storage is more important to video editing that your computer.

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RAIDs (Redundant Array of Independent Devices) are the high-speed, high-capacity workhorses of media editing. However, they are also much more expensive than buying a single spinning hard drive.

When should you consider a RAID?

  • When you need more capacity than a single drive can provide.
  • When you need more speed than a single drive can provide
  • When you want protection in case a drive fails. (Though a RAID won’t protect your data if you accidentally erase the wrong file. That’s what backups are for.)

RAIDs cost more than a single drive. They also are not as portable. But, as frame sizes, frame rates, and bit-depth all increase, editors are rapidly reaching the point where a single drive – even a single SSD – is not fast or big enough.

EXTRA CREDIT

How you configure a RAID affects its performance, read Tip #30 to learn more.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #051: Pick Your Favorite (Shortcuts)

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Don’t like the shortcuts available? Pick something different!

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If you are migrating to Premiere from other NLE software you don’t need to give up your favorite keyboard shortcuts. In fact, Premiere comes pre-installed with four different sets to choose from:

  • Premiere Pro Default
  • Premiere Pro CS6
  • Avid Media Composer
  • Final Cut Pro 7

To select switch between sets, open Keyboard Shortcuts (under the Premiere menu on Macs, or the Edit menu on Windows).

Then, in the top left corner, select the set you want to use in Keyboard Layout Preset.

Instantly, you are back home again.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #047: Pretty Panel Moves

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Panels are at the heart of the Premiere interface and… they are shifty!

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The Premiere interface is very fluid. Any panel can be dragged anywhere – including outside the interface to become a floating window, or moved to a second monitor.

Here’s how:

Grab the title bar of the panel you want to move and drag it.

As you move it purple “wedges” appear at the edges of other panels. Here’s what they mean:

  • Right wedge (illustrated in this screen shot). The panel you are dragging will appear to the right of the panel with the wedge in it.
  • Top wedge. The panel will appear above the panel with the wedget.
  • Bottom wedge. The panel will appear below the panel with the wedge.
  • Left wedge. The panel will appear to the left of the panel with the wedge.
  • Center box. The panel will appear in the same panel bar as the one with the blue box.

This is a lot harder to explain than to do. Grab a panel, drag it and watch what happens.

EXTRA CREDIT

If you like your work, select Window > Workspaces > Save Changes to this Workspace.

If you don’t like it, select Window > Workspaces > Reset to Saved Layout.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #033: What Is the Mercury Playback Engine?

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

A software framework to enhance performance.

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The “Mercury Playback Engine” is the name for a large number of performance improvements that first appeared in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. These improvements continue to expand with each release.

If you have a supported GPU, this acceleration is handled by the card. If you don’t, acceleration is handled in software. Hardware (the card) is always faster.

The Mercury Playback Engine improves the speed of:

  • Real-time effects playback
  • Rendering for preview and final output
  • Visual effects
  • Image scaling
  • Deinterlacing
  • Blend modes
  • Color space conversion

However, most of the time, it does not affect the speed of encoding or decoding media.

Whe you are creating a new project, Mac users should select the Metal option. Windows users should select CUDA if they have nVidia graphics cards or OpenCL for AMD or other GPU options.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #124: Update the Browser When a Multicam Clip Changes

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

How to get the Browser to pay attention

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Antoine Le Pourhiet writes:

I solved a problem with multicam editing in Final Cut Pro X. I’m sharing it in case it helps others.

When you manually change the content of a multicam clip, the clip length doesn’t change in the Browser.

But what if I want to see the full clip in the browser to use keywords or Favorite/Rejected tags?

The solution is to make the clip fully visible in the Timeline (project) and then do a match frame (Cmd + F) so the clip refreshes in the Browser.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #119: Move Around in Final Cut – Hands-Free!

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

There are better ways to get around than the Hand tool

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The Hand tool (shortcut: H) allows you to move around the Timeline with just a click and drag.

However, if you have a trackpad or a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can move around simply by scrolling.

NOTE: If you have a scroll wheel that only moves vertically, press the SHIFT key to scroll from side to side.

You can also very quickly move horizontally by dragging the light gray handle at the very bottom of the timeline. (This handle only shows up if you are zoomed into the timeline.)

Finally, if you want to see your entire timeline at once, type Shift + Z.

For all these reasons, I can’t think of the last time I actually used the Hand tool.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #113: Remove a Yellow Alert – Option 2

Larry Jordan – https://LarryJordan.com

Sometimes, alerts happen because the FCP X database doesn’t update.

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Ziggy reports:

If you are getting a yellow alert in FCP X, it may be because the FCP X database doesn’t seem to update very quickly when you make a change to an external file, such as a motion graphics or VFX file.

If you know you just updated such a file here’s a quick workaround:

  • Select everything in the timeline (shortcut: Cmd + A)
  • Copy it to the Clipboard (shortcut: Cmd + C)
  • Then click anywhere in the timeline to deselect everything.

Your yellow alert should disappear.


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