Never Stop Learning

Whether you’re currently a student or a seasoned professional looking for a few tips or something new, there are a lot of options out there, ranging from online courses to intensive training sessions. News University offers online journalism training. Courses cover a broad range of topics, including leadership and management; reporting, writing and editing; broadcast; online; ethics; visual journalism; and journalism education. Many of their courses are free and self-directed. News University is a joint project between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Poynter Institute. Speaking of Poynter- if you’d rather attend a “live” course, the Poynter Institute has seminars in St. Petersburg, FL, throughout the year covering many of those same topics. Classes are kept small and focused, with both Poynter faculty and working journalists coming in to teach. If you’re free in September, they have a course coming up on Multimedia Reporting in Teams: New Tools…

Continue ReadingNever Stop Learning

Timecode Calculator Widget

Adding timecode can be a hassle. Netmedia's timecode calculator handles the task with ease. This Apple OS X widget performs basic math functions for a variety of tape and film speeds, including drop frame and non-drop frame. Download it here. Learn more about our approach to producing multimedia by purchasing MediaStorm's Post-production Workflow. Spanning more than 200 steps, the workflow covers every phase of editing, from organizing and editing assets in Final Cut Pro 7 through backing up and archiving your project. The workflow includes exclusive access to our Aperture Workflow and our Final Cut Asset Parser. Learn more about MediaStorm's Post-production Workflow.

Continue ReadingTimecode Calculator Widget

MediaStorm’s Guide to Restoring Preferences with Final Cut Rescue 5

Final Cut Rescue 5 is a simple utility that deletes Final Cut's preferences and replaces them with clean new ones. To setup Final Cut Rescue, first quit FCP. If you are using FCP 5, delete the preferences below: Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences/com.apple.FinalCutPro.plist Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data/Final Cut Pro 5.0 Prefs Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data/Final Cut Pro Obj Cache Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data/Final Cut Pro Prof Cache Next, restart FCP, make some changes and then save your project to create new preferences. Open Final Cut Resuce and click "Backup." You've now saved a clean set of preferences. The next time FCP is acting oddly, close the application, open Final Cut Rescue, and click "Trash" then "Restore." FCP should now be good to go. Final Cut Rescue 5 is freeware. Learn more about our approach to producing multimedia by purchasing MediaStorm's Post-production Workflow. Spanning more than…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm’s Guide to Restoring Preferences with Final Cut Rescue 5

Final Cut’s Button List

One of Final Cut's hidden gems is the Button List, which is found under the Tools menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Option+J. The Button List allows users to create a shortcut button for any of Final Cut's numerous commands. To find a specific function, either click the disclosure triangle adjacent to the appropriate grouping or enter a keyword in the Button List's search field. Next, simply drag your selected function to the top right corner of your Browser, Viewer, Canvas, or Timeline window. (If you currently have no buttons on your bar, you'll see what looks like a coffee bean.) Your shortcut button will now appear. You can easily rearrange buttons via dragging and dropping. To remove a button, simply drag it from the bar. Finally, by right-clicking on a button, you can add a spacer as well as color-code your shortcuts. My favorites include "Export QuickTime Movie...," "Linked Selection,"…

Continue ReadingFinal Cut’s Button List

MediaStorm’s Guide to Controlling Gain in Final Cut

A handy keystroke for increasing the gain on an audio clip is to first highlight the clip then hit control+] (close bracket). To decrease gain, use control+[ (open bracket). Once your clip(s) is selected you can use these keystroke to increase or decrease your levels on-the-fly. An alternate method is useful when you want to increase the gain on multiple clips, perhaps overriding any audio keyframes you have already created. To do this, select the clips you wish to change then use the keystroke Command+Option+L. The Gain Adjust dialog box will appear, asking how you'd like to increase/decrease the level. Select "Absolute" to set all clips to the same level. "Relative" works like the control+bracket method described above. For additional Final Cut shortcuts, see MediaStorm's Producing in Final Cut. Learn more about our approach to producing multimedia by purchasing MediaStorm's Post-production Workflow. Spanning more than 200 steps, the workflow covers every phase…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm’s Guide to Controlling Gain in Final Cut