Join Apple Certified Trainer Abba Shapiro as he shows you how to use Compressor to submit a batch&compress from multiple sources at once.



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Keyboard shortcuts are great,and they’re even better if you actually learn them. We find color-coded keys to be a plus, and lots of manufacturers make great keyboards for Final Cut Pro and other applications. But chances are you have a perfectly fine keyboard that came with your computer.

Instead of buying a new keyboard, check out Logic Keyboard. They sell a do-it-yourself kit (complete with a key ripper). It’s an easy swap and they have keys for both types of recent Apple keyboards. Plus it’s far cheaper than buying a whole new keyboard. Installation takes about 10 minutes. But here’s an important tip: take one key off at a time and replace; the first time we tried it we had trouble remembering where every key went.

Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

One question we get a lot is “why does my text look so soft?” While there are few answers to this question, but the most common reason is the codec that is being used for the sequence the text resides in. Compression heavy codecs like DV and HDV tend to make text look soft.

Consider “up-rezing” to an uncompressed sequence when you’re done with your show to help with the text and graphics. If you’re going back to tape you’ll need pretty fast hard drives to play this sequence back, but if you’re outputting to DVD or QuickTime you don’t need to worry if your drives can play this back.

To “uprez” your sequence use the following steps:

1. Duplicate your final sequence so you can have a back up.
2. Open the duplicate sequence and go the Sequence Menu > Sequence Settings (Command + 0).
3. From the compressor pulldown choose 8- or 10-bit uncompressed (10-bit will create bigger render files compared to 8-bit).
4. Click OK.
5. You will have to re-render your sequence but your text and graphics will thank you for it!
   

Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Richard Harrington as he explains how to use primary color correction in Final Cut Pro to fix problem footage.



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One of the biggest new features in Final Cut Pro 6 is the ProRes 422 codec. The idea behind the codec is to give HD quality at SD data rates. And it works! Comparing ProRes 422 footage side-by-side with uncompressed HD, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference. As an added benefit, it was designed with real-time performance in mind.

The codec is available in two modes—the standard ProRes 4:2:2 and ProRes 4:2:2 (HQ), which stands for high quality. The codec can be used for both SD and HD footage, though most of the time you’ll use it solely for HD footage. Pro Res 4:2:2 is currently one of the best alternatives to an uncompressed SD or HD workflow.

There are a number of ways to work with ProRes 422 in FCP.

• Capture and edit in ProRes 422 using capture and sequence presets.
• Transcode your video to ProRes 422 using the Media Manager or Compressor.
• Render to ProRes 422. Sequences that use either native HDV or XDCAM HD and that use long-GOP MPEG-2 can see significant increases in RT performance by rendering to ProRes 422. To do this, choose Sequence > Settings or Command + 0 and then Render Control. In the Render section, choose ProRes 422 in the codec pulldown.
  

Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.

Join Apple Certified Trainer Abba Shapiro as he shows you how to use button styles to paste a typeface across multiple buttons in DVD Studio Pro.



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Join Apple Certified Trainer Richard Harrington as he explains how you can quickly edit to music by customizing your keyboard so you can"tap out"the beat. This is part 2 of 2.



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Inside the Color Corrector 3-way, you’ll see three eyedroppers in the upper area. These are useful for fixing color balance. Think of this as white balancing in post; we’ve even fixed video shot on the wrong camera preset.

• Use the Whites eyedropper to click on something that should be white. Don’t go for the whites of someone’s eyes; go with a large area such as a wall.
• Use the Blacks eyedropper to click something that should be black.
• The Mids eyedropper really only works when using a chip chart or something with 50-percent gray.
• If the color balancing is overcompensated, you may need to drag back toward the center in the color wheel.
  

Like this tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the Spot from Focal Press.