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Tip #1809: After Effects Gets a Whole Lot Faster

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1809: After Effects Gets a Whole Lot Faster

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Making After Effects faster is a key goal for Adobe.

Image Credit: Adobe

Topic $TipTopic

Last week, Adobe released a new beta version of After Effects that emphasizes speed. Here are key excerpts from the Adobe press release, written by Sean Jenkin.

Since we released Multi Frame Rendering for export in March, the team has been very busy making more of After Effects faster by using all the cores in your system.

Faster previews & better monitoring

Multi-Frame Rendering for Previews accelerates your creative process by taking advantage of your system’s CPU cores when previewing your compositions. With Dynamic Composition Analysis, After Effects looks at every aspect of your hardware — V-RAM, RAM, cores — and makes intelligent choices on how to render your designs based on your composition and computer configuration.

To super-charge your creativity further, we recently added Speculative Preview which helps you work faster even when you’re not working. While After Effects is idle — like when you’ve stopped to admire your beautiful design, check your email, or get coffee — your composition (and any pre-comps in that comp) will automatically render in the background meaning your designs are ready when you’re ready for them to play back.

Faster exporting & notifications

When it comes to rendering your compositions — especially to H.264 — Multi-Frame Rendering export from Adobe Media Encoder makes the most of your time at work by rendering multiple compositions in the background while you’re still working on others.

A long-requested feature is here at last as well. Render Queue Notifications gives you precious time back in your day, allowing you to confidently walk away from your computer for extended periods of time. After Effects will notify you when your renders are complete via the Creative Cloud app and notifications will display on your phone or smart watch.

Faster effects

After Effects has an insane number of effects and porting them to work on multiple cores was quite the challenge and has taken a lot of time. However, we continue to make progress and you’ll see many daily and weekly updates with more and more effects optimized throughout the Public Beta cycle from now until MAX, 2021.

Here’s a link to learn more.

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Tip #1661: Three Quick Video Scope Tricks

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1661: Three Quick Video Scope Tricks

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Final Cut’s scopes can be selected and modified using these controls.

The View menu determines video scope layout, the small menu selects which scope to display in each panel.

Topic $TipTopic

The video scopes in Apple Final Cut Pro are both flexible and powerful. Even so, we can still tweak them further. Here are three tips I find useful in almost every project.

TIP 1: CHANGE LAYOUT

Open the video scopes (Cmd + 7). Click the word View to select how many scopes you want to view. I tend to prefer the “two side-by-side option” in the top right corner of the View menu.

This allows me to see both Waveform monitor and Vectorscope at the same time.

TIP #2: REMOVE COLOR

By default, Final Cut’s video scopes display the color associated with a specific pixel values, for instance dark green, in the Waveform monitor.

While very cool, you can turn these colors off by selecting Monochrome.

TIP #3: PICK YOUR SCOPES

When you have one or more scopes selected using the View menu, click the small icon below the word View and choose which scope goes in each scope panel.

Most of the time, I’m looking at Waveform (Luma) and Vectorscope (100% Vector).

Until I get into very specific color grading, these two scopes tell me everything I need to know to gauge color and grayscale values during my edit.

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Tip #1545: What Media Tech Can Expect Post-Pandemic

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1545: What Media Tech Can Expect Post-Pandemic

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Life will not be the same – hopefully, it will be better.

(Image courtesy of Pixabay at Pexels.com.)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jenny Priestley, first appeared in TVBEurope.com. This is a summary.

TVBEurope wanted to find how the industry is feeling about the future. We asked a number of key industry figures how they view the next 12 months and whether the industry will return to pre-pandemic workflows.

“A lot of what has been put in place to cope with the pandemic, will become established ways of working and doing business, including home and remote working, remote production workflows, increased streaming volumes and direct to consumer propositions,” says James Arnold, chief commercial officer at Red Bee Media.

“On the vendor side there have been some excellent changes made during the last 12 months,” said Ciaran Doran, Rohde & Schwarz’s director of marketing, broadcast and media. “Such as improving how we demonstrate products and solutions via cloud technology and video conferencing – meaning we don’t all jump on a plane as fast as before. This not only improves efficiencies but saves the planet. But it’s crucially important that we return to getting to meet each other because creativity is at its peak when we engage with each other – and business flows from that human interaction too. Overall, we don’t see the future as a challenge, we see it as exciting. When the day to day rules get broken new opportunities arise and that’s when innovation takes a leap forward.”

“I think we learnt that change is possible if we really have to and used in the right way, technology is a facilitator of quick change more than we think,” adds Erik Ahlin, head of sales and marketing at Vidispine. “I think we also learnt that face-to-face meetings and interaction is still very important. It seems highly unlikely that even as travel restrictions and social distancing measure ease that any business, including the media industry, will return completely to pre-pandemic ways of working – not least because we were already trending towards many of the changes that have been made, those trends have just been accelerated.”

Yvonne Monterroso, director product management, at Dejero believes the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new technologies and transformed future workflows into the workflows of today. For her, the key word for the next 12 months is enablement: “In the longer term, I don’t think we’re going to be talking about bit-rates or encoding formats or networks speeds or if it’s cloud or on-premise, we’re just going to be talking about enablement – talking about people and how their jobs can be simplified from a technical and content perspective, no matter where they are located.”

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Tip #1539: Quickly Fill a Shape with a Gradient

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1539: Quickly Fill a Shape with a Gradient

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Who Knew… um, that this would work?

A shape filled with a gradient.

Topic $TipTopic

Here’s a very fast way to fill a shape with a gradient in Apple Motion.

Add a Library shape to the Viewer. (In the screen shot, I used a diamond.)

Then, from Library > Gradients, drag the gradient you want on top of the shape in the Viewer.

NOTE: You could also drag and drop the gradient on top of the element name in the Layer’s panel.

Poof! Done.

EXTRA CREDIT

You can change the gradient colors by selecting the shape in the Layers panel, then using Inspector > Shape > Fill to change the gradient.

Cool.

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Tip #1388: Learn Apple Motion In Depth

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1388: Learn Apple Motion In Depth

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

In depth training in Apple Motion from beginning to the end.

The Apple Motion 5.5. logo.

Topic $TipTopic

You can learn Motion – if you take it in easy steps; and I have exactly the training you need.

I specifically created these six titles as a set to provide consistent content and coverage. These start at the very beginning, then keep adding more and more techniques until you are introduced to every major element in the program.

Apple totally revised the Apple Motion interface and its operation with version 5.3. Since then, the rate of change in the software has slowed down. This means that, while the videos are a bit older, the information is still accurate – and I can save you money

Special Offer: SAVE 50%! Buy Now!

This Motion bundle includes the following titles:

EXTRA CREDIT

This bundle also includes practice media and sample projects. Running time is slightly more than six hours.

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Tip #1370: intoPIX JPEG XS Now Supports Premiere

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1370: intoPIX JPEG XS Now Supports Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

intoPIX offers JPEG codec optimized for large frame sizes and speed.

The intoPIX JPEG XS logo.

Topic $TipTopic

intoPIX, provider of innovative image processing solutions, announced the launch of its JPEG XS Plugin for Adobe Premiere for video editing and live streaming. An innovative solution that significantly speeds up the pre- and post-production pipeline in JPEG XS format.

“Our plugin creates a perfect match between a versatile tool and the low-complexity, low latency codec that will preserve the picture quality” explains Justine Hecq, Product Marketing and Business Development Manager. “It grants Adobe Premiere users hassle-free access to 10 times the data space, compared to using uncompressed video.”

The new Plugin is embedding the FastTICO-XS SDK and meets all the requirements to switch to a JPEG XS-based workflow effortlessly: super-fast encoding and decoding, support of all resolutions from HD, 4K to 8K, a wide range of pixel formats (4:2:2, 4:4:4,…), MXF wrapping and audio support. Moreover, it does not require a high loading process: you can achieve all of this using a normal Intel or AMD processor.

NOTE: Missing from this list is support for M1 Macs.

Here’s a link to learn more.

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Tip #1371: Introducing intoPIX JPEG XS

… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1371: Introducing intoPIX JPEG XS

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

JPEG XS is specifically targeted at high-end video applications.

The intoPIX JPEG XS logo.

Topic $TipTopic

intoPIX is a technology provider of compression, image processing and security solutions.

One of their newest codecs is JPEG XS. JPEG XS is specifically targeted at high-end video applications, such as broadcasting, broadcast contribution, virtual reality applications, and so on.

As described by Antonin Descampe, co-founder of intoPIX:

“The main difference between JPEG XS and existing codecs from JPEG, MPEG or other standardization Committees is that compression efficiency is not the main target. Whereas other codecs primarily focus on their compression efficiency, disregarding latency or complexity, JPEG XS  addresses the following question: “How can we ultimately replace uncompressed video?”. The goal of JPEG XS is therefore to allow increasing resolutions, frame rates and number of streams, while safeguarding all advantages of an uncompressed stream, i.e. interoperability, visually lossless quality, multi-generation robustness, low power consumption, low latency in coding and decoding, ease of implementation, small size on chip (no additional DDR), and fast software running on general purpose CPU and GPU.

“No other codec fulfills this set of strong requirements simultaneously. It can thus “compete” with ncompressed in every aspect and reduce bandwidth / video data significantly.”

Here’s a link to learn more.

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Tip #1387: Calculating Clip Positions

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1387: Calculating Clip Positions

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Final Cut simplified how clips are positioned, making effects easier to calculate.

Repositioning clips in Final Cut is easier due to how it determines clip position.

Topic $TipTopic

I discovered this tip while researching a recent PowerUP webinar introducing Apple Motion 5.5.

All NLEs determine position using pixel coordinates. Where those coordinates start is called the 0,0 position.

Final Cut sets the 0,0 position at the exact center of a project. The significant benefit to this approach is that you can instantly center a clip, regardless of its size, by entering 0,0 in Video Inspector > Transform > Position.

NOTE: Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro determine clip positions in a sequence from its upper left corner.

By defining the center as 0,0, the position of the center doesn’t change even when the project size changes. Final Cut’s approach also makes the math of moving clips much easier, because when you move a clip, you are moving it from it’s center, not the upper left corner.

For example, when creating a “quad split” image (see screen shot), where each image is scaled 50%, the center of each frame moves by the same amount, but in different directions:

  • Top left: -320, 180
  • Top right: 320, 180
  • Bottom left: -320, -180
  • Bottom right: 320, -180

The only difference is the sign (positive or negative), the pixel values are all the same.

NOTE: This positioning scheme also means that if something is off-center, it is easy to center simply by entering 0,0 as the position coordinates.

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Tip #1293: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Random Weirdness

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1293: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Random Weirdness

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

It is fascinating to see what readers find interesting!

Topic $TipTopic

During this last year, The Inside Tips published 975 tips and techniques covering six subject categories:

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple Motion
  • Codecs & Media
  • Random Media Weirdness
  • Visual Effects

Here are three “Top Ten Tips Lists:” The first shows the most popular tips covering Random Weirdness. The second list shows the Top Ten most read tips across all categories. The third list shows the highest rated tips across all categories sorted by votes.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS FOR 2020
FOR RANDOM PRODUCTION WEIRDNESS

  1. Tip #767: Import Media From an iPhone – FAST!
  2. Tip #166: 8 Camera Hacks
  3. Tip #631: Get Freelance Work From Video Marketplaces
  4. Tip #324: Improve Your Video Interviews
  5. Tip #743: 3-Step Pricing Formula for Videographers
  6. Tip #175: Lighting Tricks with Your Cell Phone
  7. Tip #897: The Real Reason for a 12K Camera
  8. Tip #974: A Master Class in Vertical Video
  9. Tip #395: 4 Cameras Hacks That Save Time
  10. Tip #598: How to Set Up a Live Streaming Studio

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS for 2020
(Sorted by Views)

  1. Tip #479: Copy and Paste Masks in Premiere
  2. Tip #283: AAF vs. EDL vs. OMF Export
  3. Tip #413: Mask Multiple Clips with an Adjustment Layer
  4. Tip #474: DNxHR vs. ProRes
  5. Tip #329: Blurs and Mosaics are No Longer Safe
  6. Tip #592: Make Zooms More Interesting
  7. Tip #957: Apple Supports VP9 in macOS Big Sur
  8. Tip #1135: Boost and Smooth Dialog Levels
  9. Tip #715: How to Reset FCP X to Fix Problems
  10. Tip #342: Uses for Emoji in Final Cut Pro X

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS for 2020
(Sorted by Ratings)

  1. Tip #742: The Best Advice to Keep Your Cool
  2. Tip #614: What is the Alpha Channel
  3. Tip #580: The History of Storyboards
  4. Tip #911: The Skin Tone Line is Your Friend
  5. Tip #515: Using the Active Camera Menu
  6. Tip #631: Get Freelance Work From Video Marketplaces
  7. Tip #1056: Move a Mix from Audition to Premiere
  8. Tip #624: Not All Captions Look Alike
  9. Tip #581: Create Colorful Lighting for 3D Text
  10. Tip #398: Use Watch Folders in AME for Automation

NOTE: Each tip was rated 5 out of 5. They are sorted by the number of votes each tip received, with most votes listed first.

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Tip #1292: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Apple Motion

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1292: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Apple Motion

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

It is fascinating to see what readers find interesting!

Topic $TipTopic

During this last year, The Inside Tips published 975 tips and techniques covering six subject categories:

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple Motion
  • Codecs & Media
  • Random Media Weirdness
  • Visual Effects

Here are three “Top Ten Tips Lists:” The first shows the most popular tips covering Apple Motion. The second list shows the Top Ten most read tips across all categories. The third list shows the highest rated tips across all categories sorted by votes.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
FOR APPLE MOTION

  1. Tip #497: A Hidden Map in Motion
  2. Tip #840: Simple – But Eye-catching – Text
  3. Tip #1011: Unique Backgrounds FAST!
  4. Tip #496: A Very Cool Time-Warp Effect
  5. Tip #434: Create Smoother Gradients in Apple Motion
  6. Tip #498: Create a Spinning Globe
  7. Tip #956: Well… THAT was Obvious
  8. Tip #475: Fill Text with Video
  9. Tip #842: How to Improve Apparent Focus
  10. Tip #663: Motion Cinema Workspace

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
(Sorted by Views)

  1. Tip #479: Copy and Paste Masks in Premiere
  2. Tip #283: AAF vs. EDL vs. OMF Export
  3. Tip #413: Mask Multiple Clips with an Adjustment Layer
  4. Tip #474: DNxHR vs. ProRes
  5. Tip #329: Blurs and Mosaics are No Longer Safe
  6. Tip #592: Make Zooms More Interesting
  7. Tip #957: Apple Supports VP9 in macOS Big Sur
  8. Tip #1135: Boost and Smooth Dialog Levels
  9. Tip #715: How to Reset FCP X to Fix Problems
  10. Tip #342: Uses for Emoji in Final Cut Pro X

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

 

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
(Sorted by Ratings)

  1. Tip #742: The Best Advice to Keep Your Cool
  2. Tip #614: What is the Alpha Channel
  3. Tip #580: The History of Storyboards
  4. Tip #911: The Skin Tone Line is Your Friend
  5. Tip #515: Using the Active Camera Menu
  6. Tip #631: Get Freelance Work From Video Marketplaces
  7. Tip #1056: Move a Mix from Audition to Premiere
  8. Tip #624: Not All Captions Look Alike
  9. Tip #581: Create Colorful Lighting for 3D Text
  10. Tip #398: Use Watch Folders in AME for Automation

NOTE: Each tip was rated 5 out of 5. They are sorted by the number of votes each tip received, with most votes listed first.

Please rate the helpfulness of this tip.

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