I thought the start of the new year would be a good time to review the software I use most frequently at MediaStorm.
The Essentials
Adobe Premiere Pro CC 
Aperture (Mac App Store, $79.99) – Aperture is Apple’s workhouse picture-editing software. While it’s due for an update, we’ve been relying on Aperture for the better part of a decade. For an extensive guide to Aperture see the MediaStorm Post-production Workflow ($14.95).
Keyboard Maestro ($36.00) – Keyboard Maestro is a macro utility. When a user inputs a single keyboard shortcut, Keyboard Maestro will respond with a series of predefined actions. This small application really increased my logging speed last year. See MediaStorm Guide to Super Fast Logging with Premiere Pro and Keyboard Maestro.
PluralEyes ($199) – Essential software for syncing multiple audio or video sources. See MediaStorm Guide to Creating Multi-Camera Sequences in Premiere Pro, Part 1.
Final Cut Pro 7 – Apple’s venerable editing software is no longer available for purchase nor is it in heavy use around the office. But with nearly 40 TB of legacy projects, it’s still critical to have a copy on our production stations.
Transcripts
Apple Dictation (built-in OS X 10.8 and above) – Tucked away inside recent versions of the Mac operating system is a rather reliable dictation application. It won’t actually transcribe for you, but I’ve found dictation to be faster than typing. See MediaStorm Guide to Dictation with Apple Mountain Lion.
Transcrivia ($29.99) – Transcrivia adds a timestamp each time you hit the return key. Used in conjunction with Premiere Pro and you’re essentially adding timecode to your transcript. The only way to fly.
Backup
SuperDuper! ($27.95) – Our daily editing sessions end with SuperDuper! Industrial-strength backup you can count on. See the MediaStorm Guide to SuperDuper!
Dropbox (free, additional space available for more money) – MediaStorm recently switched our file sharing from FTP to Dropbox and it’s been hassle-free for our clients ever since.
Screen and Audio Capture
iShowU HD Pro (MAS, $64.99) – Captures sound and video from your computer screen. We use this when recording our online training.
Piezo (MAS, $15) – A super simple tool that records audio from any application on your computer. It’s great for grabbing scratch audio.
Utilities
1Password (MAS, $34.99) – An essential tool for managing passwords.
Bartender ($15) – A helpful menu bar app that creates a submenu bar so that you can keep the top of your mac clean.
Glui (MAS, $6.99) – I’m a recent convert to this app. I use it for screenshots and annotations. It automatically uploads to Dropbox, too.
MenuMate ($4.99) – This is a new one in my toolbox. With one shortcut key, you can enable an app’s entire menu from your mouse location. No need to return to the menu bar anymore.
TextExpander (MAS, $34.99) – Create snippets that expand as you type. For instance, when I type msb.com, I get http://mediastorm.com/blog. If you find yourself typing anything more than once, TextExpander will quickly pay for itself.