Read more about the article MediaStorm Guide to Organizing Assets with Color Labels

MediaStorm Guide to Organizing Assets with Color Labels

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Production Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. Today's post was written by MediaStorm producer Tim McLaughlin. At MediaStorm, we use tracks to organize by asset type on the timeline. It gives our timeline a level of organization and visual clarity that allows us to find specific items quickly. Additionally, because we often work on each others timelines, it gives us an immediate sense of familiarity with one another's projects. One of my favorite options in Adobe Premiere Pro is the ability to color code assets directly on the timeline, making the visual organization of the timeline all the more obvious. Below you’ll see a timeline color coded by asset. This post will teach you how…

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Read more about the article Finishing is the Hard Part: The Details

Finishing is the Hard Part: The Details

In a previous post, I described some of the psychological challenges of finishing a project. Just as we're ready to be done, we must once again see our work hyper-critically in order to complete the final stages of production. In revisiting this topic, I'd like to offer a more detailed list of the steps we follow once the picture edit is complete. Keep in mind as you move through these steps that finishing a project is a non-linear process. You may be mixing audio when you discover an image that needs recropping. It’s OK to make that change, but try to stay on task as it’s easy to get distracted. Audio Mixing Audio generally requires less render time than video so it's a good place to begin. Add tone between interview bites Mix interview, tone, b-roll, and music Add one frame dissolves to the head and tail of all audio bites Fix…

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Introduces Asset Parser for Final Cut Pro 7 and Premiere Pro 6

MediaStorm Introduces Asset Parser for Final Cut Pro 7 and Premiere Pro 6

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Today we are releasing our Asset Parser for public use. This free online tool created by the MediaStorm production and development staff generates a list of all image, video and audio files used in a project. When it's time to color correct photography, rather than scanning the timeline for image names, we use the Asset Parser to create a quick list. These file names can then be copy-and-pasted into Apple’s Aperture or a similar application to locate the necessary photographs. Here's an example of an asset list generated by the parser. In addition to speeding up your color correction workflow, this list can be used as a guide for other tasks, such as manually archiving your work. The Asset Parser works with both Final Cut Pro 7 and Premiere Pro 6. Try using the Asset Parser with your project at player.mediastorm.com/tools/asset-parser.

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Guide to the Adobe Premiere Pro Media Cache Database

MediaStorm Guide to the Adobe Premiere Pro Media Cache Database

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. Today's post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson. Each time you import audio or MPEG video files into Adobe Premiere Pro, the application caches a version into a database. This speeds up performance so that new previews do not need to be generated each time you view a clip. Audio is stored in a .cfa file and MPEG in .mpgindex. These files are shared between Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Encore and Soundbooth. By default both the cache files and the database are stored in the location /Users//Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common. To check this, open Premiere Pro > Preferences > Media. Storing Cache Files Under normal circumstances,…

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Guide to Dynamic Linking in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects

MediaStorm Guide to Dynamic Linking in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects

This article is part of a new series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Production Pro after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. Today's post was written by MediaStorm producer Eric Maierson. One of the many benefits of working with the Adobe Production Premium suite is the seamless manner in which applications work together. For example, you can easily send assets from Premiere Pro to After Effects to add additional effects or animation. Those changes will automatically update back in Premiere Pro, all without the need to export. This is a huge timesaver. In Premiere Pro select the clips you’d like to send to After Effects. Right-click and choose Replace With After Effects Composition (also found in the File > Adobe Link menu). A new composition will appear in your currently…

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