by maxafter.com

Click on the three images below for a direct link and preview, as well as detailed item description and tutorials, to these FREE after effects templates.  While you’re there, feel free to check out their other paid templates.

FREELOGO01 $0.00 ONLY

FREETEXT01 $0.00 ONLY

MORE INFO

FREESHARP $0.00 ONLY

MORE INFO

This past week I posed the question: What are the absolute BEST yet FREE After Effects tutorial sites out there? via LinkedIn After Effects and Motion User’s Groups.  I appreciate those that took the time to respond…

1.   http://www.mamoworld.com

2.   http://www.videocopilot.net/

3.   http://www.motionworks.com.au/

4.   http://www.sternfx.com/

5.   http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/redgianttv/

6.    http://ae.tutsplus.com/ (not all free)

7.   http://maltaannon.com/

8.  http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffects  (AE), then http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/applemotion  (Motion)

9.   youtube

10.   http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/

11.  http://sternfx.com/

12.   http://www.applemotion.net/macbreak-studio/   (Motion)

13.  http://www.finalcutking.com/tutorials/motion.html

14.  http://allbetsareoff.com/category/tutorials/

15.  http://www.claygasbury.com/

Of course this listing is not a complete one and only comes with years of motion graphics creation.  Feel free, by all means, to tell us YOUR favorite free tutorial websites so we can add them to our growing list.  We’ll be happy to post updates as we receive them!

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This week I posed the question: Whats the BEST and FREE FCP Tutorial sites out there? on LinkedIn Final Cut and Editors user’s groups and this is a nice list of what was provided.  Kudos to everyone who responded to my poll!  Check them out, as I will, and feel free to post your comments and feedback back here…

1.   Creative Cow

2.   YouTube  (such as:  http://www.youtube.com/user/TimesaverTutorials )

3.   appleshakeguru via YouTube

4.   http://www.fcptutorials.com/http://fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorialshttp://www.geniusdv.com/news_and_tutorials/2011/12/free_final_cut_pro_70_tutorials.php

5.   http://www.finalcutking.com/

6.   http://fcpx.tv/

7.   http://www.rippletraining.com/powertips.html

8.   http://www.larryjordan.biz/editing-resource-library/  (newsletter and blog)

9.   http://www.pixelcorps.tv/macbreak_studio

10.   http://www.filmmakingwebinars.com/webinars/  (some free)

11.   http://www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro/

12.   http://www.fcptutorials.com/

13.   http://fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials

14.   http://www.geniusdv.com/news_and_tutorials/2011/12/free_final_cut_pro_70_tutorials.php

15.  http://www.colorgradingcentral.com/

Stay tuned tomorrow for a complete list of What are the absolute BEST yet FREE After Effects tutorial sites out there? via LinkedIn After Effects and Motion User’s Groups.

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by Premiumbeat.com

Here’s a blog I came across in my research for even more Final Cut Pro tutorials.  The first few pages deal with FCPX while the later include FCP7 tutorials.  Here’s just a taste of what premiumbeat.com has to offer the FCP user (other tuts on Avid, After Effects, etc– are on the sidebar)…

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro Tutorials, Tips, tricks and news

Convert FCP X projects to FCP 7 sequences with Xto7

By Ashley Kennedy on 12/18/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro X Video Editing

Xto7 for Final Cut Pro (by Assisted Editing) allows you to take your Final Cut Pro X timeline to Final Cut Pro 7. You can also go directly to other Final Cut Pro 7 XML workflow programs, as well as to Adobe Premiere Pro (and to After Effects via dynamic link). It’s available in the App Store for $49.99.

Plural Eyes Sync Software Comes to Final Cut Pro X

By Danny Greer on 12/17/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro X Product Reviews Video Editing

Singular Software releases their popular Plural Eyes support application for Final Cut Pro X. Available as a free public beta version, this application automates the syncing of audio and video files in your project’s timeline.

Using Event Manager X to Control and Troubleshoot Events in Final Cut Pro X

By Danny Greer on 12/2/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X Product Reviews

In this post we’ll take a look at Event Manager X, an application that allows you to choose what events and projects show up in your FInal Cut Pro X interface. A timesaver and organizational tool, Event Manager X fills a gap in FCPX file management.

Exporting Video with an Alpha Channel from Final Cut Pro X

By Danny Greer on 11/26/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X

Learn how to export footage from Final Cut Pro X with a preserved alpha channel! Great for taking your footage into other applications, such as Motion and After Effects, for compositing and graphics work.

AIFF, MP3 and WAVs — What’s the Best Audio Format for Video Editing in Final Cut Pro?

By Danny Greer on 11/18/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X Video Editing

Learn which types of audio files work best in Final Cut Pro! Avoid the common mistake of integrating low resolution files into your projects. Instead, learn how to convert your audio files to FCP (and FCPX) friendly formats!

Troubleshooting Final Cut Pro X Data and Settings Corruption Problems

By Ashley Kennedy on 11/15/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X Tutorials Video Editing

If Final Cut Pro X won’t launch, crashes while launching, or crashes while open, there are some basic troubleshooting tips you can follow to try to quickly get yourself back up-and-running. Check out this tutorial to equip yourself with the proper technical expertise!

Export Stems out of your Final Cut Pro X Timeline Using Roles

By Danny Greer on 11/11/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X Video Editing

In this post we’ll take a look at the newest feature addition to Final Cut Pro X, the introduction of roles. Learn how you can use roles to export out audio and video stem files from your FCPX projects…great for working in third party applications and for archiving!

Digital Rebellion Updates Post Support Software for FCP, FCPX, AVID & Premiere

By Danny Greer on 10/26/11 Category: Avid Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro X Product Reviews Video Editing

Digital Rebellion releases two new applications to organize and manage your video editing project files and footage. Compatible with AVID, Premiere, FCP and FCPX, Digital Rebellion’s Pro Maintenance Tools and Pro Media Tools will streamline your workflow and troubleshoot common editing application errors.

Managing Transition Behavior in Final Cut Pro X

By Ashley Kennedy on 10/18/11 Category: Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro Tutorials Final Cut Pro X Tutorials Video Editing

When you add transitions in Final Cut Pro X, the default behavior is to use material already edited in the Timeline, rather than to use material from your shots’ handles. This makes the duration of your A-side and B-side shots—as well as the entire sequence—shorter with each transition you apply. Check out this tutorial to discover why this probably isn’t the best workflow, as well as how to switch this behavior back to traditional methods.

CatDV Supports Translating Final Cut Pro Projects from FCP7 to FCPX

By Danny Greer on 10/14/11 Category: Avid Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro X Product Reviews Video Editing

Want to open your Final Cut Pro projects in FCPX? CatDV is a third party application that acts as a “translator” of XML data…allowing you to open a cuts-only sequence of your FCP7 (or earlier version) in Final Cut Pro X and vice versa. Save time and keep your edits organized using this powerful support application!

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by Alex Gollner

Alex Gollner’s FCP effects and tweaks have been around for many years and now he’s updated and added new ones for the new Final Cut Pro X.  These six effects give you more control over the way transform and trim effects work in Final Cut Pro X.

You can choose how values change between keyframes – effect the shape of the value curves for x position, y position, rotation, scale and edge trim amount:

You can also control the order of these effects. You can trim before scaling, then scale before rotating and rotate before setting x and y position. You do this by choosing the order you apply the effects the clip. If you change your mind about the order, you can drag effects up and down within Video panel of the clip inspector.

In the scale and rotation effects you can also set the centre around which the clip is scaled and rotated:

Here are the controls for all six effects:

Click here to view the rest of Alex Gollner‘s article.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 84th Academy Awards. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Hugo
• Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• Real Steel
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• The Tree of Life
• X-Men: First Class

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

The Academy has also produced its trailer for the 84th Academy Awards in conjunction with Funny Or Die. The trailer features host Billy Crystal and celebrity cameo appearances by Robin Williams, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox, William Fichtner and Vinnie Jones. You can watch it below:

“We wanted to try something a little bit different this year instead of a traditional, clip-based piece,” said Academy Chief Marketing Officer Christina Kounelias. “The trailer has a fun twist that conveys how excited everyone is to have Billy back.”

Source: http://www.oscars.org

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by Jesse Rosten

This commercial isn’t real, neither are society’s standards of beauty.

By Michele Yamazaki, Toolfarm.com

In honor of adding DropDrop Templates to our store, we’re giving away the free DropDrop After Effects project with 77 compositions inside.

To download:

1. Login or register for an account at Toolfarm.com. We’ll sign you up for our newsletter (which you can unsubscribe from at any time) but we’ll never sell your info or use it for any nefarious means.
2. Go to our Demo Downloads page
3. Under Freebies, check Cassidy Bisher’s Color Grades for After Effects (and anything else that catches your fancy)
4. Click Continue button and receive the download link

Check out all of the cool DropDrop Templates available at Toolfarm. Each has a video sample and the templates are 1920×1080. Some require third party plug-ins but most do not. Have a look at the System Requirements for that information.

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by NoiseIndustries.com

Install FxFactory to use free effects and trial versions of commercial effects.
No purchase required to use free products.
Commercial products can be purchased and unlocked as needed.

 

Installing and using FxFactory

Introduction to FxFactory

By Michele Yamazaki, Toolfarm.com

Someone on one of the groups on Facebook was talking about using templates and how they make a great jumping off point for projects. I’ve heard of other people get really down on templates though, saying that they are cheating. So let’s play the little game of Pros and Cons for using templates and presets.

Sample: CrumplePop Crafty Titles

Pros of using templates and presets

• Save money and time when budgets and deadlines are tight. A template is definitely a way to get something together quickly. Most templates and preset packages are very inexpensive too, so when the budget is so low and the deadline is so close, pulling from a template can save your bottom line.
• Get over your creative hump. Sometimes you’ll hit a wall and can’t come up with anything you like. Using a template can spark your creative juices. You can also create effects that you don’t yet have the knowledge to build, which can often get in the way of creativity.
• Work around problems and monotony. Have to create a cube with video on each side and can’t get the sides to line up or have to make a video wall that’s a falling apart? Try some LME templates. On the other hand, sometimes things are not so hard to build but repeated, such as titles. Use a preset or template to make tons of titles, which in turn, will save time and money.
• Learn from templates by reverse engineering. Some templates, such as the Professional Video Templates from After Effects, are very intricate and complex.Reverse engineering can teach you valuable skills about putting comps together, order of effects, expressions and so on. It can help you learn a host application even more thoroughly than just training. I always thought it was interesting to reverse engineer other people’s effects to see how they were done and I must admit that it’s how I learned a lot about After Effects in the early days.
• Tons of variety! The template market has exploded in the past couple of years for many different host apps.
  • Red Giant has launched Guru Presets for Red Giant and Trapcode products.
  • CrumplePop has very cool templates for Final Cut Pro and FCPX.
  • GrayscaleGorilla had fantastic kits for Cinema 4D.
  • LME has massive amounts of templates for After Effects. Get hundreds of templates and presets for pennies each.
  • Professional Video Templates – they have been around for a while but they are still slick! And inexpensive.
  • DropDrop – we’re adding them in the next week or two. Interesting stuff for After Effects
  • Check out all the templates we have for a slew of host apps and plugins.

Cons of using templates and presets

• It looks like other people’s work. If you are not careful and don’t modify the design much, you can fall into the trap of having your work look like someone else. Let me give you an example. I watched a video at a fitness club that was very slick and straight out of the Video Copilot box. I did mention this to the owner of the gym, who did not make the video (it’s a franchise) and they’re not using the video here anymore. The look of some of the Video Copilot tutorials is very recognizable to someone like me (and probably a lot of you out there). Maybe your client won’t know, but your peers will know!
• You depend on them for all of your work. There are some “artists” out there who don’t know the software and will just use templates. I have seen this a lot in wedding videos and I think its fine in that case. Brides and grooms often don’t have the budget for custom graphics. But, if you use it as a crutch so you don’t need to learn the software and are getting by, you’re only cheating yourself.
• Templates can stiffle creativity. Yes, I know I said it can get you over the creative block, but take this example: I have a friend who works for a major television station network which shall remain unnamed. The entire franchise of tv stations across the US is now forced to use the same templates for all of their news graphics. The artists at the station have lost creative control. That blows.

Template and Preset Ettiquite

I’m sure you all know Aharon Rabinowitz of Red Giant Software. We were talking a few years ago about how people copy his work and the work of Andrew Kramer’s crew at Video Copilot. Their work is great, right? Indeed. He had told me that someone he talked to had lost out on a job because someone else had turned in a reel that was full of Video Copilot tutorials and templates with their own content. Now this, in my opinion is unacceptable.

• Do not include templates on your demo reel. Passing off someone elses work as your own is unethical. Now this area is very gray. If you’re only using a small portion of a template, like a video cube, I think that is fine, but if you’re using full blown templates with your own text and video, without major modification, that is just wrong.
• If you’re using a template in commercial work, modify it so that it becomes your work, not the template creator’s. Yes, this is sort of a repeat of the last statement, but it’s important.

Sample: Professional Video Templates Frames & Roses for After Effects

To summarize my views, think of templates and presets like a seamstress uses a pattern. The pattern may be from Buttrick, but the seamstress chooses the fabric, the trim, and makes modifications to suit the person who will wear the dress. Another analogy, a cookbook. Sure, following a recipe to the T may give you perfect results but how many times have you swapped pecans for walnuts or ground turkey for ground beef? You change the amount of spice, salt and sugar to suit your taste, too. You can learn techniques and flavor combinations by reading cookbooks. Looking at recipes is also a great way to give you inspiration in the kitchen and but in the end, the dish is usually unique. The same thing should be said for templates and presets. Get inspired, learn from them and make them your own.

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by Rebekka Deforce

Most people think that video editing is only about cutting out all the stuff that doesn’t look good, mistakes, shaky shots and the footage of you filming your feet because you forgot to turn off the camera

Video editing sure is all that but certainly a lot more than that. It is the most important part of your video production, the part where emotions and drama is created.

Video editing is actually the process of adding stuff, not taking it away. It is not only about trimming the footage; it is about adding flow, emotions, illusions and creating an entertainment factor.

It is also about communicating with your audience, not only bringing pictures across, but bringing feelings across.

Video editing: when art meets science

Video editing  requires your both brain halves to work together. One side for the technical part, the other for the creative. When those two are working right, video editing can be a wonderful thing.

On the other hand, when the technical part isn’t working properly, it can be very frustrating. Choose your video editing software carefully and take time to get to know it. Take a course or follow some tutorials. This avoids frustrations along the line.

Also, figure out what the message is you want to bring across in your movie. Some cool effects alone won’t make a great movie. Get the essence of a story or your message down on paper before you start filming and editing.

Let me give you my 10 best video editing tips

1. Always shoot with the editing in mind, take different shots, close shots, wide shots, zooms and pans, hold the camera steady, film enough footage, you can always cut out later what you don’t need.
2. Work organized, if you are making a longer movie, prepare a storyboard up first. Name your clips in your video editing software. Use the same names as you use in your storyboard. If you don’t name your clips you will end up with a heap of files and you will lose a lot of time trying to find the footage that you are looking for.
3. Once you have your footage loaded into your editing software, start with creating a “rough edit” put the main footage you want to use in chronological order in the time line. You are building a frame for your edit.
4. Now it’s time to cut out the crap, trim the beginning and endings of each clip and cut out all the unusable shots.
5. Time to start telling your story. Where can you add close ups? What shots can you add to enhance the dramatic effect? Try out different things and notice the feeling, the emotions that the pictures are bringing across
6. Don’t go crazy in cutting. Unless you are making a bad MTV music video, you want your shots to last longer than 1 sec. Static shots can last between 2 and 10 seconds. If there is a lot going on in the shot or somebody is talking, it can be longer. Try to switch between shot lengths, some longer shots and tan some shorter ones. Don’t go for the stroboscope effect and don’t bore your audience with endless clips. In about 5 seconds, the human brain has seen most details of a picture.
7. Adding some effects can bring your audience more into your movie and will make your movie more beautiful and cool. Play around with the transitions and try to “feel” what different effects do to your movie. Here I want to warn you again, don’t go crazy with flipping and twirling stuff unless it really adds something to your movie, Here and there a soft transition and some colour enhancement will do for most videos. There is no golden rule. Just watch and use what is most appropriate for you.
8. Create a nice intro or title and some titles at the end. They will make sure you have a proper beginning and ending in your movie. Going to black at the end of a movie will create a dramatic effect. When a title follows that black, the audience can breathe in again. Play around with stuff like that and try to notice how different effects will bring different emotions.
9. A very important part of your video editing is adding music and sound effects. The same footage can bring a completely different message across if it is accompanied with some house beats, some slow rock or some dramatic epic underscores. Test different kind of music tracks for your video and “feel” the difference. A good choice of music will give your video that “wow” effect and will radiate those emotions you want to bring across.
10. Last but not least: RAM memory is a video editor’s best friend. No matter what video editing software you are using. Minimum system requirements are MINIMUM system requirements for the software to get installed on your computer. It doesn’t say your editing will go smoothly. Invest in some extra RAM memory if you plan to edit videos regularly. It will prevent your software and videos from lagging and will keep your editing up to speed.

These tips should get you started easily and will help you with the most essential basics of video editing.

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By Johnny Chung Lee

(click to enlarge) Why build a cheap camera stabilizer? Camera stabilizers are attachments used to capture smooth looking video even when the camera and camera operator are in motion. The camera operator may walk (or even jog), move through tight hallways and doorways, and even climb up and down stairs without shaking the camera. Unfortunately, professional camera stabilizers cost around $1500. Even the cheap 3rd party ones cost $600+. Not exactly a bargain considering many of us use cameras in that price range. So, I decided to make my own version. It turns out, it only costs $14. Not too bad. And I’ll show you how to build your own right here. Whether you are an aspiring filmmaker, a videographer, the family documentarian, or just want more utility out of your video camera, you’ll appreciate a camera stabilizer. If you know what you are doing, you can probably build one of these in about 20 minutes. It might take you an hour if you have to read this web page while you do it and aren’t very good with tools . This camera stabilizer design works with anything that has a tripod mount and should be fine with cameras that weigh less than 5 pounds. For heavier cameras, I would recommend building a large sled for better support and easier mounting or considering adding a professional tripod head . If you make it out of steel or iron as I recommend, you will have to worry more about the solidity of your camera than the solidity of the camera stabilizer. But before we begin, I should warn you that improper or irresponsible use of a camera stabilizer can quickly result in damage to your equipment and/or injury to yourself and others.
Tools
	The main tools you’ll need to get your hands on are a drill and a stationary vise. It’s possible to do it without the vise, but it’s far more difficult and potentially dangerous. You can buy a vise for about $15 from Home Depot or Lowes and it’s well worth the money if you are going to do any future projects. It’s meant to be table mounted, but I just bolted it to a big board that I can stand on while I use it. Mounting it is important. I tried doing this once without mounting it (didn’t have spare board at the time) . It was a p-a-i-n.
	You’ll need drill and a 1/4″ drill bit that can go into galvanized steel. So, cheap wood bits will probably not survive this project. This happens to be a very nice drill in this picture, but any power drill will do.
	You also need a wrench, screwdriver (type depends on the bolts you get), and a hammer. I had a little combo thingy I got from the dollar store. It actually works pretty well because the wrench part is a little bit clawed, so it grips pipes really nicely.
Parts
	Pipes First you’ll need three pipes. I like to use 1/2″ galvanized steel or black iron. It’s strong, threaded at the ends, and a comfortable thickness. You can use any length pipes you like, but this project uses three 10″ pipes (about $1.50 each).
	End caps You’ll also need three end caps. You can get away with just two, but the last one is used to cover up those nasty sharp threads on the end of the pipes. I’ve gotten cuts while building these things by accidentally grabbing the threads too hard . These are about 80 cents a piece. Make sure they fit the pipes, 1/2″ diameter.
	Tee Basic T-joint. Again, make sure it fits the pipes. If your standard hardware store doesn’t have this, you can try a plumbing store. About $1.30.
	Weight This is just a simple barbell weight from a sports store. The one shown in the picture is 2.5 pounds, but you can buy any weight you want. But, anything heavier than 5 pounds starts getting too heavy to carry around. Get a weight that has a 1″ diameter hole. These are about $3.
	Other small parts Here’s a break down of what you’ll need: A – two 1-1/2″ 1/4″ machine bolts B – one 1/4″ wing nut C – three 1-1/2″ diameter flange washers for 1/4″ bolts D – three lock washers for 1/4″ bolts. E – two 1/4″ machine nuts.
	All these together costs about two dollars. You sometimes can find these for really cheap at a specialty hardware store. General hardware stores tend to charge a lot for the specialty washers and nuts. Total Cost: 3 x $1.50 + 3 x $0.80 + $1.50 + $2.00 + $3.00 = $13.40 (yours will vary) There you go. Can’t get much cheaper than that!
Assembling the Handle
	This first step is pretty easy. Just attach the tee and end cap to one of the pipes to form a basic handle. Feel free to tighten these parts together as much as you like. I recommend using the vise and a wrench. Don’t use your hands, you’ll just hurt yourself and not get it tight enough.
Drilling the End Caps
	Put one of the end caps in the vise as shown. Then drill a 1/4″ hole in the center of the cap. It’s doesn’t have to be perfectly in the center, but the closer the better. You really want to use the vise because you’re drilling through a quarter inch of galvanized steel. It’s enough to bring weak drills to a dead stop and will definitely do a number on your hand if you just try to hold it. Not mention it can get hot. Protective eyeware such as safety goggles should AWLAYS be used when using any powertool! Also little bit of machine oil (or even vegetable oil) can make this easier as well as preserve your drill bit.I like using a slow speed because when the bit comes out the other side it’ll jerk from grabbing onto the metal. It’s far more pleasant to have a slow jerk than to have the drill suddenly fly out of your hand. Do this in a place that’s easy to clean up. You’ll make lots of metal shards. Outside is where I did it. And don’t use you fingers to wipe away the shreds!!! They’ll get in your skin. Use a brush, or blow the shards away.Do this for two end caps.
The Camera Mount
	The mounting requires the parts in the picture on the left. Bolt, two lock washers, flange washer, nut, wing nut, and a drilled end cap. Put a lock washer on the bolt and the put it through the end cap with the bottom of the bolt coming out of the top of the outside of the end cap like in the middle picture. Put another lock washer on and then the nut. Put the end cap in the vise and tighten with a wrench. The lock washer will keep the bolt from turning.You’ll want to make this really tight because this is where your camera attaches. You want it tight not because it’ll fall off or anything, but because putting the camera on and taking it off requires lots of turning action. If it loosens, the bolt will pivot around as will your camera making hard it to keep still. If this happens while you’re filming, you’ll have to stop and find a wrench. This schematic viewmay be a little clearer than the pictures.Use a hammer to dent the center of the flange washer. You can do this by putting the washer across the hole of the weight, putting the head of the bolt on the hole, and hammer the bolt. You want to have the center area of the washer higher than the rim. So when you attached the mount to the camera, as shown in the right picture, the rim of the washer pushes up against the area around the bolt. This washer will distribute the force away from the single point of contact. So, the wider the washer the better. If you don’t use the washer, the camera will shake a lot right at this connection as well as putting a great deal of stress on this one tiny spot that could damage your camera. So if you lose this washer, I don’t recommend using this stabilizer without it. Use your fingers to tighten the wing nut on the mounting. DO NOT use a wrench. You may risk stripping the threads on your camera or breaking the tripod mount. Both are equally bad.
The Counter Weight
You’ll need the barbell weight and the parts shown in the pictures below. They’ll go together in the pattern shown in the next picture. The bolt goes through two washers that sandwich the weight. Then stick on the end cap, put on the lock washer, and then finally the nut. Hand tighten the parts until they are snug. This schematic viewmay be a little clearer than the pictures.The lock washer deep inside the end cap will keep a grip on the nut. So, you don’t have to stick pliers down there to turn it. Just turn the cap. Stick the cap in the vise shown on the bottom left. Then you can use the screwdriver to tighten the bolt, or just grab the weight and turn it. The weight should turn the bolt, and the vise will keep the cap from turning. I like to tighten it until the outer washer starts to bend inwards. This reduces the amount the bolt sticks out – good for when you want to put it down on the base. If you do use the base as stand (not highly recommended because it’s easy to knock over), you can buy rounded bolts and little rubber feet. These will make a much nicer base that won’t wobble. You can tell I like to do this and I say it easy to knock over from experience. My camera still seems to work okay, though.
All Together Now…
	Lastly, take the remaining two pipes, screw them into the T joint of the handle, and attached the base and the mounting. And your done! You can tighten these parts as much as you’d like. Either give them a good hand tightening or the full fledged vise and wrench tightening. The only reason not to do the vise-wrench tighten is if you want to be able to collapse this or swap components. You can vary the pipe lengths and barbell weight however you like.I would probably refer to this combination as the sport model. Mostly because it’s balance point (with camera) is near the T-joint and can be spun around by the handle pretty well. It’s really agile. Longer bars and heavier weights change the handling. When you store it without the camera, the mounting washer is left hanging on the end. I recommend taking off the wing nut, putting on the washer, and then screwing the wing nut back on. That will help keep it from getting lost.
Using Your Stabilizer
The side handle is used to stabilize side-to-side rocking. The vertical shaking is pretty much dampened by the weight. You may hold it however you’d like. The way I like holding it is shown in the picture. How you use it is 80% of the smoothness. This even is true for the professional stuff with all the fancy shocks and hydraulics. Don’t expect this thing to perform miracles, you have to practice using your arms and body to create a smooth motion. Watch your hands while you walk, and see how level you can keep them relative to the ground. Watching the shadow of your hands on a sunny say is an easy way to isolate thier movement. Keep your legs bent and learn how to “glide”. I talked with someone who has used professional stabilizers and they said this was, “really, just as good.” Getting good results is not so much about the equipment, but how you use it. That’s really true about everything.WARNING: Improper or irresponsible use of a camera stabilizer can quickly result in the destruction of your equipment and/or injury to yourself and others. Be careful, watch where you are going, pay attention to where you are swinging your camera, and just try not to do anything stupid for your own sake. Useful Add-Ons These are some additional things you might want to consider making because they make the stabilizer more versatile. Click on the images to enlarge. Inverting bracket One of the bad things about the camera stabilizer by itself is that it makes it very difficult to get low angle shots such as those hovering just above the floor or looking up at a person. To fix this, you can build a U-shaped inverting bracket that wraps around the camera allowing it to be attached on the top rather than the bottom. Click on the picture to the left to enlarge. You can buy the aluminum bar at most hardware stores, cut it to length with a hacksaw, drill the holes, and bend it using the vise. Make sure the top hole is exactly above the bottom hole, otherwise it becomes off balance. Use a ruler to make measurements. You’ll lose about 1/8″ of an inch in the bend so be careful and account for that. It’s also much easier to get a controlled bend if you make a little notch with the hacksaw on the inside where each bend should be. Alternative weight and bar length Here I used a 24″ tube at the bottom and a 5 pound weight. This reduces vertical vibration producing smoother walking shots. But the overall rig gets heavier and tilting the camera becomes much harder because the center of gravity is now well below the handle. If you want more agility, use the sport version with all 10″ bars and the 2-1/2 pound weight. Having a variety of lengths and weights is a reason you may not want to tighten everything with a wrench. Hand tightening is usually good enough to keep everything together. You can see this version is pretty tall. Using the inverting bracket, you can get nice near ground video like the sample videos above. Large Sled for Bigger Cameras Here’s a simple way to add a big platform to the top of the stabilizer for use with larger cameras (or simply so you can turn the mounting bolt rather than turning the camera). Cut a rectangular piece of wood at least as large as the base of your camera. Buy a 1/2″ flange to replace the mounting cap on top. Put screws through 3 of the 4 holes of the flange into the wood platform. Drill a 1/4″ hole all the way through the platform where the 4th hole in the flange is and use that for your mounting bolt. You can see a close up of this on the left (click to enlarge). This is a quick and easy way to really beef up the camera support for bigger cameras (ex: 16mm film, Canon XL1, Sony VX2000, etc.). Unfortunately, you can’t the use inverting bracket in combination with this. Compatible with Many Professional Tripod Heads The mounting bolt can also fit many professional tripod heads shown on the left (click to enlarge). This allows you to quicky and easily add the benefits of a true tripod mount such as greater mounting security, tilt control, and a quick-release platform. This may be useful for attaching higher end cameras like the shnazzy Sony HDR-FX1 in the pic.

by Adorama TV

Adorama is great for selling all sorts of video, media & photo products…but did you know they also have almost 31,000 subscribers to their hundreds of photography tutorials on youtube?

Why don’t you go here to check them out and perhaps stay awhile…?

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These subtle details from some of the director’s iconic filmic sequences were culled from Gustav Mantel’s “gallery of living movie stills.”  The best filmic sequences are often the most simple. Gustaf Mantel clearly shares the love for the work of Stanley Kubrick and has immortalised some classic moments in the high-brow format of an animated gif.

Take your time, some of the loops are almost imperceptible, the beauty laying in the subtlety of it all.

_______________________________________________________________________

(To see more on this subject of animated gifs and cinemagraphs, click here and here.)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1964)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Shining (1980)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

by cinema5

A look at the new RED Scarlet-X 4K camera.
Basic configuration, minimum accessories and weight.

See the related article on cinema5D:
cinema5d.com/news/?p=9409

Part 1/2 Touch it, feel it, a quick look at the exterior of a basic Scarlet-X shooting package.

In the first video I presented the following products by RED digital cinema:
- Scarlet-X Brain
- Canon EF Aluminum mount
- SSD Side Module
- 2x 64GB SSD’s
- Side Handle
- 4 RedVolt Batteries
- 2 Travel Chargers
- Red Station
- Red Pro Touch Lcd 5″

In the second video I present the following 3rd party accessories:
Many of these accessories are also available by RED and other manufacturers. I’ve contacted most of the manufacturers of 3rd party equipment. However Arri was the only company that was kind enough to lend me their stuff and most importantly provide it on time (2-5 weeks…). Their equipment is equally reliable, certainly this reliability comes at a slightly higher price.
I was not able to get my hands on an acceptable handheld rig solution. While I have received many promises none of the manufacturers delivered samples. I believe a good solution for handheld does not exist at this time or requires some DIY and a lot of assembly. We try to find such a solution in the buyers guide.
15mm:
- Arri 15mm LW support.
- Arri MMB-2
- Arri MFF-2 (not MFF-1!)
- TvLogic VFM-056W lcd
- Wooden Camera UVF mount (with a diy construction to fit lcd)
- Tokina 11-16mm lens
19mm:
- Arri Bridgeplate BP-8
- Arri MatteBox MB-29
- Matser Prime 25mm T1.3
- Arri Follow Focus FF-5
Harddisk Recorder:
- Atomos Samurai
- BNC / HD-SDI cable

Note: The Atomos Samurai does not have a means to measure exposure yet. So unless there’s a way to see an exposure histogram for the Scarlet-X HD-SDI feed you can only judge correct Samurai recording exposure by judging what you see on the Samurai monitor.

Here’s the growing Scarlet-X buyers guide for accessories compatible with the Scarlet-X:

(please add stuff there)

Testing of the Scarlet-X:
- Scarlet-X motion & grading video
- Scarlet-X 2K vs 4K shootig: frame comparison
- Scarlet-X sensor detail on a 28mm photo prime
- Low light comparison between the RED Scarlet & Canon C300
- Photos of the Scarlet-X
- Lensport height problem explained

by Imagineer Systems, Studio Monthly and Nino Del Padre

Click here for more information...

This Incredibly Fast 64-bit Planar Tracker Will Help Any Facility Save Time Changing Elements in Even the Most Complicated Scenes The sleight of hand we, as video editors, have to accomplish on a daily basis gets a little maddening at times. It’s considered an easy day when all you have to do is blur out a copyrighted logo on someone’s shirt who is moving in place slightly. No biggie. Then a couple of days before the deadline, the client calls and says legal can’t clear a billboard and it needs to be removed. You know, that one behind his head… and a clump of trees… while the camera pans around them. That’s when a good planar tracker comes in. To handle that billboard, I typically go into After Effects, manually place the insert for the billboard and create and animate a mask for the object that is in front of said trees and talent. At least that’s how I used to do it. Then I found Mocha, from Imagineer Systems.
Mocha Pro is the latest version of the company’s planar tracking software. It combines the functionality of previously available products into one single package, making it easier to get the job done faster. Mocha Pro, like the original Mocha, uses planar tracking to track regions of planar surfaces in your footage, not just a few local pixels, computing not only second variables, such as X-Y movement, rotation and scale, but 3D elements such as perspective, for ultra-convincing replacement of any part of your scene. Not spending much time creating visual effects I was surprised how useful a tool like Mocha was to a full-time editor for situations like he billboard, and a great deal of other things, too. Mocha’s primary uses include brand replacement, item removal and logo replacement. We once had to remove a controversial book from a bookshelf in the background in one project and it came in very handy. Mocha Pro also helped us on a recent project, a promotional video for a client’s upcoming iPad app. The app itself is still in beta and too early for a copy to work on a native iPad, so we had to get by on simple animations based on developer screenshots. As we all know from software development, a project can have features, menus and graphic elements added, moved or deleted all together, potentially making some of our user footage obsolete or misleading, and in effect, worthless. We took care of this problem ahead of time by shooting the iPad usage with an all-green wallpaper, giving us a good solid base to use Mocha Pro’s color tracking abilities. (It wasn’t until later I learned that this step wasn’t necessary, as the program would have had no problem with an image on screen and would have been better with perhaps just a black screen to keep some of the natural reflections from the screen.) With a few quick splines, we were able to insert footage of the most updated versions of the app using the same original shot and create a clean roto for out talent’s hands (the results are seen below). Without Mocha we would have had to re-shoot again just to show a slightly different menu in use. Feature Sets In addition to its existing planar tracker and rotoscoping tools, Mocha Pro adds a number of other features that help get the job done swiftly and efficiently. Mocha Pro’s “Insert” feature tackles even tough movement situations, such as motion blur, with great results, and includes the ability to render out inserts with alphas so they are usable in other scenes. For further refinement, the mesh warp tool lets you distort the insert and make them “bend” around objects with more difficult angles. The 3D offset means you can further tweak tracking data, such as depth and rotation, making even subtle changes to the perspective of the surface easy to compensate for. With Mocha Pro’s removal tools, tracked layers are analyzed, taking lighting and shifts in luminance into consideration. With this tool, you can accurately remove objects behind other objects by “predicting” what is behind it; the calculations are based on what it found elsewhere in the footage. Removing simple things like boom mikes or even entire objects takes much less time than it did in the previous version. You can even get granular and use the software to remove blemishes and do digital makeup retouching. All of your planar tracking and roto data can be exported to After Effects, Flame, Fusion, Nuke and a bunch of other important hosts. A Very Easy Learning Curve I found Mocha Pro much easier to use and learn than point tracking, where you draw a little box around a few pixels that have a high contrast and a bigger box around the area that you want to search. Point tracking works as long as you have a clear point to track. However, as the light in your scene changes, the perspective changes or the point is inevitably blocked by something else and the track will get lost and wander off. Mocha Pro is a separate program and opens on your system onto one large window, which can be re-sized and moved around. The controls are laid out very well and once you figure out what the icons mean, it is pretty straightforward. The tutorials on the Imagineer web site are really well done and offer in-depth lessons on almost every one of Mocha Pro’s many parts. The online manual is also really good, with step-by-step instructions with pictures. Performance Mocha Pro is fast and we’ve found that it moves pretty quickly through HD files, producing amazing results. It takes a few minutes to make the tracks, depending on how complex and long they are. The way the software makes roto-masks and tracks them is where it really shines, however. The speed with which it does this means you’ll blaze through most of your rotoscoping tasks. I’m talking about cutting times in half and, sometimes, even cutting the time down to 10% of the original. We’ve saved hours on each rotoscope job. Nino Del Padre launched his Del Padre Digital in 1991. Today he oversees a business that now encompasses digital cinematography services, animation and interactive design solutions to ad agencies, corporate clients, broadcast networks and the entertainment industry, as well as partnerships with institutions as diverse as LEGO, Hasbro and NASA. www.ninodelpadre.com/   Overall Rating = Hot Summary:  This incredibly fast 64-bit optimized, standalone 2.5D planar tracking package is perfect for any production house that needs to add, remove and change elements in even the most complicated of scenes. It will definitely save you both time and budget, and should be a worthy addition to your editing arsenal. What It Costs You: $1,495 (full version); $895 (upgrade). Target Apps: Mocha Pro is the ideal VFX complement for film/video post production, creative motion graphics and 2D-3D conversion pipelines. What’s Cool: Native 64-bit support, great performance, affordable compared to other similar programs, and exports to many formats. What’s Missing: Nothing. System Requirements: Mac Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent Memory: 2 GB + Disk: High-speed disk array Graphics Card: NVDIA Quadro FX 1500 or equivalent Monitor: 1200×800 or higher PC   Processor: At least 1-GHz Pentium IV or PowerPC G4 Disk: At least 1 GB Memory: At least 1 GB Graphics card: Must support OpenGL Monitor: Minimum resolution 1200×800 pixels www.imagineersystems.com

Edit Smarter with Larry Jordan contains hundreds of articles and tutorials of everything video from current to past!

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FCP X: Create a Picture-in-Picture Effect

A picture-in-picture effect is a very popular effect

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 40,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 15 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

by Appleserialnumberinfo.com (Thanks to Guy Noffsinger for posting)

Serial numbers are a manufacturers way of tracking model and build information.
Also in case of production flaws serial numbers are very handy tools to see where the flaw
occurred and which models are affected. Appleserialnumberinfo enables you to look-up the
information of any Mac, iPod, iPhone, AppleTV and many more Apple products. We support
most devices dating back to 2000 and we can show you where your product was built, when
it was built and even the build number. Besides detailed information about the hardware you
can also see if there is a repair program available for your product, if the warranty is still valid
and a list of important updates. Type your serial number in the search field to see what it can
tell you about your Apple product!

What's in a serial number anyway?

A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It’s used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac’s serial number for and more importantly… what is it hiding and what can it do for you ? Serial numbers are used by manufacturers to track individual items, usually for quality control.  This way it’s easier to track down production issues, production numbers, determine warranty etc.
Serial numbers are valuable in quality control, as once a defect is found in the production of a particular batch of product, the serial number will quickly identify which units are affected. Serial numbers are also used as a deterrent against theft and counterfeit products in that serial numbers can be recorded, and stolen or otherwise irregular goods can be identified. In your Mac’s case it holds a lot more info.

A serial number only holds hardware information, not personal information.
Only the store where the hardware was purchased holds records with the name, purchase date etc.

Appleserialnumberinfo.com can only read out the hardware information since we are not linked to any
store databases.

Appleserialnumberinfo.com attempts to support all major Apple products dating back to the year 2000, this is done by help from the users. Every day many users submit their hardware info to help our database become bigger, better and more reliable. Without that submitted information the site would not be what it is today.

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