… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1825: Adobe Media Encoder Supports 8K

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Adobe Media Encoder supports frame sizes up to 8K.

Codecs such as HEVC and ProRes support video frame sizes up to 8K.

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Not all codecs support large frame sizes, but for those that do – such as ProRes and HEVC – Adobe Media Encoder will compress them.

In Tip #1829, we learned that Apple Compressor limits compressed file sizes to 4K, except for ProRes.

But, Adobe Media Encoder will support up to 8K UHD (7680 x 4320 pixels) for some formats, such as HEVC and Apple ProRes.

NOTE: H.264 is limited to 4K due to the design of the codec.

To compress a file that large, you’ll need to create a custom preset (see screen shot) and select a codec that supports frame sizes that large. HEVC is a good choice for compressed files, while ProRes 422 is a good choice for higher-quality files.

NOTE: Keep in mind that HEVC will take significantly longer to compress than H.264, so be sure to allow extra time for compression.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1827: Using the Broadcast Safe Filter

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Broadcast Safe filter clamps excessive levels to keep your video in spec.

The Broadcast Safe filter is in Effects > Color (top). Pick the color space that matches your project (bottom).

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Tip #1826 explained the value of Range Check. Range Check is a fast way to flag excessive video levels. But, how do you fix video levels that are out of range? Answer: The Broadcast Safe Filter.

Here’s how to fix errant video levels.

  • Go to Effects > Color and apply the Broadcast Safe filter to the clip with excessive levels (see top image in screen shot).

NOTE: You can create an adjustment layer, see Tip #1828 to apply this filter to a range of clips.

  • In the Video Inspector, select the color space of your project. (See the lower image in the screen shot.)

Excessive white or black levels are instantly clamped to 100 or 0 IRE. Clamping means you’ll lose detail in the brightest and darkest portions of the image. Most of the time, clamping will be fine.

However, for those times where that detail is important (the bright white lace of a wedding dress, for example) you’ll need to adjust video levels manually using the Color Board or Color Wheels.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1828: Adjustment Layers Can Do Magic

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Adjustment layers save time and simplify effects.

Adjustment layers are a special form of title.

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An adjustment layer is a custom title template which changes all clips below it in the timeline. For example, add an adjustment layer to change all clips below it to black-and-white, or apply the broadcast safe filter to your entire project, or apply the same color grade to multiple clips.

The benefit to an adjustment layer is that you can change the effect settings in the layer, without needing to adjust each individual clip. Or, remove an effect from multiple clips simply by removing the adjustment layer.

Premiere and Photoshop support adjustment layers natively. Final Cut does not. But… you can create one!

Here’s an article on my website that explains how to create an adjustment layer (you’ll need Motion). It’s a special form of a Title effect.

Another benefit – besides speed and flexibility – to creating an adjustment layer template is that you can “bake” in custom effects into the adjustment layer, as my article illustrates. This can save a significant amount of time during an edit.


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… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1812: An A.I. Upscaling Shootout

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Given his examples, I had a very hard time seeing any difference.

Original zoomed 2X (top) vs. Topaz Gigapixel AI (bottom). Image courtesy of Nick Lear.

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This article, written by Nick Lear, first appeared in ProVideoCoalition.com. This is a summary.

One of the burgeoning fields in post-production is Artificial Intelligence (AI) or machine learning. For example, upscaling or “uprezzing” is something most editors do every day without thinking much about it. Drop in a 720p clip into your HD 1080p timeline and scale it up to fill the screen and move on. The issue is that simply scaling the clip looks soft.

NLE’s today default to using a simple zoom for up-scaling because it is fast. But, thanks to AI, there are more options available today than ever before.

When we talk about A.I. there are broadly two types of artificial intelligence. The first, called General A.I. (or AGI), is real intelligence like a human has – think of a robot that can really think for itself. The second is narrow A.I., a.k.a machine learning or pattern recognition or neural networks. It is this that is being leveraged to find those missing pixels.

Here’s his leaderboard in order of quality:

  1. Adobe Camera Raw
  2. Topaz Video Enhance AI
  3. Pixop
  4. Topaz Gigapixel AI
  5. Alchemist
  6. Davinci Resolve Super Scale
  7. After Effects Detail-preserving Upscale

NOTE: While this lists the results in terms of quality, the first few choices are also the hardest to use.

The article provides more details, comparison images and a video showing the results of uprezzing film from 1911 to 4K.

Here’s the link


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1811: Transcriptive Rough Cutter

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Transcriptive creates a text-based editing system for Adobe Premiere transcripts.

The new Caption panel in Adobe Premiere Pro 2021.

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First reported by NewsShooter.com, link, Digital Anarchy has released a new take on its intelligent transcription products called Transcriptive Rough Cutter.

Rough Cutter for Adobe Premiere is built on Digital Anarchy’s Transcriptive AI plug in, and it automatically and instantly creates new video sequences by analyzing text transcripts. The edits in the sequence perfectly match the edits in the transcript so this lets you create an instant rough cut, complete with a timecode associated with each word.

Video editors can edit sequences and clips by simply editing the text of the transcripts it generates. Premiere Pro editors working with a sequence of one or more clips can use the transcript text to literally cut video and create new sequences; text edits in the transcript will be reflected as edits in the video, precisely at the points in the text where words, phrases or even paragraphs were deleted. This creates a new assembly or rough cut that reflects the edits made on the original text.

Transcriptive Rough Cutter can use transcripts from Transcriptive-A.I., Adobe Sensei (A.I.) Captions, human transcripts, and other types of transcription.

In a recent blog post, Jim Tierney, CEO of Digital Anarchy, also detailed how to move transcripts from Adobe Premiere Pro to Transcriptive and back.

“If you want to make use of the Adobe transcriptions anywhere but in the Premiere’s Text panel… it involves several steps (instead of the one-step process it should be).”

“Their new Caption system is in the release version of CC 2021. So if you’re trying to get captions out of Transcriptive and into Premiere, you can do that with any version of CC 2021. Since this is easy, just Export out of Transcriptive and Import in Premiere.”

His blog then details how to get transcriptions out of Premiere for review and editing in Transcriptive, then back into Premiere for actual captioning.

Here’s the link to the Digital Anarchy blog.


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… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1816: Synchrimedia Updates MovieCaptioner

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

MovieCaptioner creates, imports and exports captions.

Image credit: Synchrimedia.

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Captions are increasingly important, not just for new media, but existing files as well. Synchrimedia makes MovieCaptioner, an after-the-fact caption software for Mac or Windows computers.

NOTE: I’ve used this software on my own projects.

It can create captions manually, or import 18 different caption formats. It supports 25 different caption export formats. Last week, they released a free upgrade optimized for Big Sur. Other new features in the upgrade include:

  • New 1-Minute Intervals Transcripts option under the Edit menu. Displays all captions for each minute of video instead of timecode for each caption. It is also an available option under the Multi-File Export option.
  • Restored the left/right arrows for the buttons that maximize or minimize the share of the screen either for transcribing or editing (the 2 buttons next to the Duration timecode display above the movie). With Catalina and Big Sur, these arrows were missing.
  • Fixed a bug where the Caption Row is sometimes unpopulated, preventing captions from displaying in Preview mode.
  • Fixed a bug where the last transcribed caption was not being displayed if all captions were not yet transcribed.
  • Timecode will now continue to run in Preview mode even past the last caption.
  • Removed a stray alert in the Split Caption button that was for development purposes only.

The software is $49 single-user – 50% off from now til Sept. 6, 2021. (10-user and site licensing is also available.)

Here’s the link to learn more. A free trial is available.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1823: Big New Features in Adobe Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

M1 support adds speed, captions available to “All App” subscribers free.

The new Create Transcript dialog window in Adobe Premiere Pro.

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Adobe released a significant update to Premiere Pro in July that supported speech-to-text and native M1 Mac support. Here are key details taken from Adobe’s press release.

Available now, Speech to Text in Premiere Pro gives creators all the tools they need to make captioned videos the new standard. With Speech to Text, Premiere Pro is the only NLE offering an integrated and automated workflow for creating transcriptions and captions. Speech to Text is, on average, 5x faster than other captioning workflows and is included at no additional cost for subscribers.

As well, native support for Macs powered by M1 in Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, and Character Animator, accelerates those applications on the latest Macs. New text and graphic capabilities give storytellers more creative tools for titles and captions. Across the release, and in public Beta, there are improvements for collaboration, color, and performance.

Speech to Text

Speech to Text includes support for 13 languages, and early access users around the world have confirmed the impressive accuracy of their transcriptions. When changes are needed, such as correcting the spelling of names, users can easily edit the text in the transcript. When the transcript is ready, Speech to Text automatically creates captions on the Timeline, leveraging the power of Adobe Sensei machine learning to match the pacing of human speech. Once the words are on the Timeline, captions can be customized using the design tools in the Essential Graphics panel.

Speech to Text is included with a Premiere Pro or Creative Cloud all apps subscriptions at no additional cost, enabling Premiere Pro users to increase the value of their video content easily and efficiently.

Premiere Pro on M1-powered Macs

Premiere Pro and the Adobe video apps enable editors and content creators to leverage the latest Mac hardware so they can keep up in a fast-paced world. With native support for M1 on Mac , Premiere Pro runs nearly 80% faster than comparable Intel-based Macs. As users upgrade to M1-powered Macs, Premiere Pro is ready for them. Along with Premiere Pro, the July release includes M1 support for Media Encoder and Character Animator. Premiere Rush and Audition received M1 support in April and May, respectively. And M1 support for After Effects will be introduced in public Beta later this year. After Effects integration features within Premiere Pro, such as Dynamic Link and Motion Graphics templates, have already been optimized for M1-powered Macs.

Here’s a link to all the new features.


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… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1824: The Productivity Impact of Speech to Text

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The new integrated speech-to-text workflow in Premiere improves efficiency.

Adobe Premiere Pro logo.

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The Pfeiffer Report was commissioned by Adobe to analyze the efficiency and productivity gains of the Speech to Text feature set in Adobe Premiere Pro.

On average, Speech to Text provided a 187% productivity increase over using online transcriptions based on six individual workflow scenarios that Pfeiffer tested.

Here’s a link to the full report. (Free and no user data required.)


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1801: Apply Effects to Multiple Clips – Fast!

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Timeline Index is a very powerful, yet underused tool.

Timeline Index (top red arrow), Clips text button (middle red arrow) and Video button (bottom red arrow).

Topic $TipTopic

There is a very fast way to apply the same effect to multiple clips scattered throughout a timeline. But, it isn’t very obvious. Here’s how it works.

After editing your clips into the Timeline:

  • Open the Timeline Index (Shortcut: Shift + Cmd + 2)
  • Click the Clips text button (middle red arrow in the screen shot).
  • Click the Video text button (bottom red arrow).
  • To select a single clip, click the clip name.
  • To select a range of clips, click the first, then Shift-click the last.
  • To select a discontinuous group of clips, click the first, then Command-click the remaining clips.
  • Each time you select a clip name it is also selected in the Timeline.
  • To apply an effect to all selected clips, find it in the Effects Browser, then double-click it.

EXTRA CREDIT

If you drag the effect onto a clip, it will only be applied to the clip you dragged it onto.


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… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1807: Create Your Own “Edit Checklist”

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Instantly view either completed or still-to-do tasks.

The marker dialog (top) and the Timeline Index (bottom).

Topic $TipTopic

Final Cut Pro supports creating a personal “To-Do” list during your edit – that’s dynamic and built directly into the Timeline. Here’s how.

As you edit clips into the Timeline:

  • Create a marker (Shortcut: M) anywhere you want to leave yourself a note about a task.
  • Double-click a timeline marker to open it and enter a description (top screen shot).
  • Click the middle icon at the top of the Marker dialog (top red arrow). This converts a marker into a To-Do marker.

NOTE: To mark a task as complete, check the Completed checkbox.

  • Open the Timeline Index (Shortcut: Shift + Cmd + 2)
  • Click the Tags text button (middle red arrow).
  • To view all To-do markers, click the icon indicated by the left lower red arrow.
  • To view all completed markers, click the icon indicated by the right lower red arrow.

EXTRA CREDIT

You can also check a To-Do marker as completed by clicking the marker icon in the Timeline Index list.

To jump to a marker, click its name, not the icon, in the Timeline Index.

To remove one or more markers, select them in the Timeline Index and press the Delete key.


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