Read more about the article User Questions on the MediaStorm Post-Production Workflow

User Questions on the MediaStorm Post-Production Workflow

Marius asks: I’ve previously bought your complete workflow and recently the Field Guide (so much good information guys!!). But I have a question. In the folder structure section you usually create an Z_Version folder and Z_Transcription. What do you put in these folders and why is it a Z? Let me begin by explaining the purpose of the version and transcription folders. At MediaStorm, we transcribe every interview. It’s the only way to make sure that no good bite gets left behind. It’s almost impossible to connect responses from the first minute of an interview with those spoken at the end unless they’re written down. So before we create a multi-camera sequence, we export an audio file of each interview for transcription. These audio files are exported to the Z_Transcription folder and can be deleted at the end of production as they won’t be used directly in the final project. The Z_Versions folder is used…

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Guide to Downloading from YouTube and Vimeo

MediaStorm Guide to Downloading from YouTube and Vimeo

Last week I started a project that incorporates previously produced material. The client stores this footage on YouTube and Vimeo. Once I’ve selected the clips I’d like to use, they will send me the Final Cut Projects and raw assets so I can use their material accordingly.

But it takes time to procure these files and as always, the clock is ticking. You’ve probably been in this situation yourself.

Rather than screen-capture the files with QuickTime or iShowU, my workaround is to download directly from the aforementioned sites. This is far faster as I don’t need to rerecord in real time.

I use the free service keepvid.com which allows the user to download videos directly from sites like YouTube and Vimeo. This works via a bookmarklet—a few lines of javascript—that sit on your browser’s bookmark bar.

To begin, load keepvid.com in your browser. 
(more…)

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Read more about the article MediaStorm Guide to the Slip Tool

MediaStorm Guide to the Slip Tool

This article is part of a series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro CC after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. One tool I often overlook when editing is the slip tool. My buddy Tim McLaughlin reintroduced me to its power last week. The slip tool allows you to change the in and out point of a single clip without affecting it’s duration or the duration of adjoining clips. Your project length stays the same. Activate the slip tool with either the shortcut key Y or by clicking on its icon in the toolbar. Next, hover over a video clip and you’ll see that your cursor change to the slip icon. Hold down your mouse and drag forward or backwards inside the clip, don't move the clip itself. You’ll…

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Read more about the article Thoughts on Picture Editing

Thoughts on Picture Editing

The writer John Gardner once described a good novel as a “long and continuous dream.”Picture editing at its best, works similarly. It’s an immersive experience. When I think about picture editing, I think of the exact moment one image changes to the next. It’s here that meaning is created, in the viewer’s attempt to make a connection between two different pictures [1]. That “blink” is likewise the foundation of cinema. Picture editing for me is an intuitive process—I’ve been called slow but I think deliberate may be more accurate. I’m obsessive, trying and retrying dozens of variations until one feels right. It’s not always easy to articulate exactly how or why something works because like a dream, the best edits often provoke the viewer precognitively. Nevertheless, here are some questions I ask myself as I work: Does the image advance the story? Does it create forward movement in the narrative by offering…

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Read more about the article Check Every Output

Check Every Output

Here’s a simple tip I’ve learned the hard way: check every output. And by check I mean watch your files from start to finish every time. Because no matter how conscientious you are, it’s just too easy for typos and sound pops and other gremlins to slip by. Checking every output is the only way to catch them all. Once, at the very end of a Storytelling Workshop, I made some last minute structural changes to our team’s project. I did not have time to check my work before the final screening. Everything was out of sync and everyone saw it. It was a disaster. Check every output. Prior to the ICP Infinity Awards, we played back all of the projects on a large TV. Among the discoveries: white edges on photographs that went unseen on a smaller monitor, low-res footage that had not been replaced, watermarked video. We caught these mistakes…

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