… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1796: Move Multiple Clips with One Shortcut

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The ability to move clips as a group makes it easier to adjust segment timing.

Selected clips moving using keyboard shortcuts.

Topic $TipTopic

Premiere provides a fast and easy way to move multiple clips at the same time: the Track Select Forward tool. Here’s how it works.

From the toolbar, select the Track Select Forward tool. (There’s no assigned keyboard shortcut, but you can add one in Premiere > Keyboard Shortcuts.)

Click in the timeline. All clips that exist at that frame in the timeline are selected, even if it’s only the tail end of a clip.

NOTE: If you find yourself selecting clips that you don’t want to select, move the cursor past the end of the clips you don’t want to select.

  • Type Cmd + [left / right] arrow to move all selected clips one frame left or right.
  • Type Shift + Cmd + [left / right] arrow to move 5 frames left or right.

EXTRA CREDIT

In the tool bar, click the small arrow next to the Track Select Forward tool to choose the Track Select Backward tool. It works the same way, except that it selects all clips BEFORE the position you click in the timeline.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1791: Free & Paid Plug-ins for Premiere Pro

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Dozens of effects, transitions and fonts for Premiere Pro

Image courtesy of AEJuice.

Topic $TipTopic

Recently, Jacob Syrytsia, co-founder of AEJuice contacted me about their free plug-ins for both After Effects and Premiere Pro. They have hundreds to choose from. Learn more.

AEJuice is a team of motion designers and software engineers that create tools for animation. It was founded in 2015 by Jacob Syrytsia and Mark Duval.

They currently offer a bundle for Premiere Pro consisting of dozens of effects, sound effects, transitions and other elements.

Here’s the link.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1785: 24 Hidden Tips for Premiere Pro

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Four YouTube videos filled with hidden tips and tricks.

Image courtesy of PremiumBeat.com

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Mike Maher, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

This article contains links to four YouTube videos showcasing hidden Premiere tips from:

  • Zach Ramelan
  • Film Bodega
  • Peter McKinnon
  • Cinecom

These cover editing, effects and workflow. The article linked above has more details on each video so you can watch the one that is most relevant to you.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1795: Hidden Timeline Secrets

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Don’t duplicate projects! Always create snapshots.

New timeline options in Final Cut Pro.

Topic $TipTopic

One of the new timeline features Apple added recently to Final Cut is invisible, unless you know where to look. Here’s where it is and what it does.

  • Click the small white arrow to the right of the project name at the top center of the timeline (indicated by the red arrow in the screen shot).

Five choices present themselves:

  • Duplicate project. I strongly recommend you NOT use this. It causes problems with compound and multicam clips. Instead, Control-click the project name in the Browser and choose Shapshot Project.
  • Reveal Project in Browser. This displays the project in the Browser. (This is a good way to then use Snapshot.)
  • Project Properties. Another way to change the settings applied to a project.
  • Close [project name]. This closes the project in the timeline, but does not close the Library
  • Close Other Timelines. Final Cut supports multiple timelines open at once, though it only displays one at a time. Closing unneeded timelines frees up RAM.

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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1794: Two Shortcuts to Create Still Frames

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Still frames, unlike Hold frames, create separate media that can be easily moved.

A still frame, applied as a connected clip.

Topic $TipTopic

Every week, as I edit my webinars, I need to create still frames to hide an edit or cover a mistake. A Hold frame won’t work because I need separate media to adjust its position in the timeline. Here’s how to do this using just two keyboard shortcuts.

  • Put the timeline playhead on the frame you want to use for the still frame.
  • Type Shift + F. This creates a match frame between the clip in the timeline with the master clip in the Browser. Specifically, it moves the playhead in the Browser to match the frame in the timeline.
  • Type Option + F. This edits the frame under the playhead in the Browser as a connected clip at the position of the playhead in the timeline.

I use this technique in virtually every project I edit.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1790: Multi-camera Screen Recording Tips

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Mulitple images don’t require multicam.

Source timecode for three clips: two video and one audio. The gray clip indicated it’s disabled (V).

Topic $TipTopic

Recently, I’ve started recording my webinars using two sources: my screen and a camera pointed at my face. Why? Because I wanted to give myself a new editing challenge… and it’s good to see the person speaking. Here’s what I learned in editing these.

Telestream Screenflow is software I’ve used for years to record my webinars. It provides high-quality (ProRes 4444), is color accurate and easily exports to Final Cut for editing. (No, I don’t edit in Screenflow.)

Screenflow now has the ability to record both the screen and a webcam at the same time. So, while I don’t use my webcam for my live events, I do include video of myself in the download versions of my training. Telestream exports my video already scaled and positioned where I need it.

Here are three tips that I’ve learned in editing this extra camera:

  1. The camera is consistently recorded 2 frames out of sync with the audio. This is easy to fix by sliding the camera clip two frames earlier. To make sure I don’t move it back I monitor the timecode of all clips in the timeline using Window > Source Timecode (see screen shot).
  2. Because both clips need to be visible at the same time, I don’t create a multicam clip, but, instead, stack the clips vertically. Then, I enable or disable my on-screen video as needed.
  3. Because the video is from my webcam, I do all color correction for this clip before I start editing. That way, I don’t need to color grade each individual clip when editing is complete.

I like the results and it doesn’t add that much more time to the edit.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1788: Costs of Video Editing in the Cloud

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Not all cloud-based editing is the same. This compares differences.

Blackbird’s “Video Editing in the Cloud” report.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jose Antunes, first appeared in ProVideoCoalition.com. This is a summary.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Blackbird focuses on workgroup editing, generally for live productions, more than individual edit stations.

Blackbird is a company that provides video editing in the cloud. Recently, they published a free report: “Video editing in the cloud: An analysis of the true Total Cost of Ownership.”

The keyword for Blackbird is “cloud-native”. Its solution, according to the company, is different from on premise video editing workflows adapted for the cloud, known as “cloud based”. You may think that cloud workflows are just that, cloud workflows, but Blackbird says otherwise, and the report now introduced by the company: Video editing in the cloud: An analysis of the true Total Cost of Ownership aims to examine how different cloud editing solutions are architected and how this reflects on the total cost of ownership for the customer.

As the report notes, “the urgent adoption of the cloud in the media production industry brought the prospect of flexible working, scalability, collaboration, security, quality control, loss prevention, efficient upgrading, analytics and lower carbon emissions. Once the cloud became the path through the pandemic, these benefits became tangible and it was clear that there was no way back.”

Now that the cloud is here to stay as a workflow option – an essential one, according to some -, another question must be asked: which type of cloud workflow is best? That’s where the report published by Blackbird might help. According to the company, “through independent research, the report highlights the hidden costs of traditional on premise video editing workflows adapted for the cloud, known as ‘cloud based’, when compared to cloud native Blackbird.”

Here’s the link to download free report. (PDF, no user information requested.)


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1787: Directing Advice From the Best

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

This short video packs a lot of advice into a very short time.

Noah Baumbach (left) and Taika Waititi.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jason Hellerman, first appeared in NoFilmSchool.com. This is a summary.

Every time I talk to a filmmaker, I try to ask about the one lesson they wish they knew when they were coming up. It’s so important to listen to the generations that came before and to seek out advice whenever possible.

Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker who received two Academy Award nominations for writing The Squid and the Whale and Marriage Story, both of which he also directed. Taika Waititi is a New Zealand film and television director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and comedian. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. David Fincher is an American film director whose films have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for Best Director.

Here’s the link to a YouTube video compilation of these three directors sharing advice to new and practicing directors.

NOTE: The video only runs 2:25.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1786: 5 Ways to Turn Your Camera Vertical

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These five mounting systems assure steady vertical shots.

Wooden Camera Vertical Plate (image courtesy of PremiumBeat.com)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Tanner Shinick, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

If you’re at all involved with full-time or freelance content creation, then it’s likely someone is asking you (with ever-increasing frequency) to produce vertical video. And that means it’s likely you’ve been asking yourself: “What are the best ways to mount a camera vertically?”

Here are five of our favorite answers in the form of products that will make shooting vertically a breeze.

  1. Tripod with 90-Degree Tilt
  2. UURig Vertical L-Bracket
  3. Manfrotto L-Bracket Q2
  4. Wooden Camera Vertical Plate
  5. Portrait Mode on Ronin RS2

The article illustrates all five options, and provide links to learn more.


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… for Apple Motion

Tip #1784: Function Keys Make Motion Move

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

I use these F-keys in every Motion project.

This preference is off by default. Find it in System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard.

Topic $TipTopic

Not all Mac keyboards support Function keys (called: “F-keys”). But, for those that do, Motion has built in F-key shortcuts. Here’s what they do.

  • F1. Show Inspector > Properties
  • F2. Show Inspector > Behaviors
  • F3. Show Inspector > Filters
  • F4. Show Inspector > Selected object
  • F5. Show/Hide Project pane
  • F6. Show/Hide Timeline
  • F7. Show/Hide HUD
  • F8. Toggle Viewer full-screen
  • F9. Show/Hide Background Tasks window
  • F10. Output to VR headset

EXTRA CREDIT

F-keys are not enabled by default. To turn them on go to: System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard and check the check box illustrated in the screen shot.

Laptops and some smaller keyboards have an Fn key in the lower left corner. Press this while typing a number to emulate pressing an F-key.


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