My Blog

Category: Final Cut

  • 10 Things Final Cut 7 Switchers Should Know about Premiere Pro CC

    I often get asked by coworkers or colleagues, “What are the main differences between FCP7 and Premiere Pro?” And the truth is, there are a lot of similarities between the two applications, but there are also a ton of little differences. This video features 10 things that I think any new Premiere Pro users should know. This one is definitely on the longer side for our videos, but I think the tips are really helpful. So hangin there, and let us know if have any questions.

    And the synopsis from Premium Beat:

    10 things that FCP7 editors should know about Premiere Pro include:

    1. Scratch disks are project based
    2. There is less transcoding necessary
    3. Setting render codec (codec settings not as ‘important’)
    4. Partial renders on clips are not maintained
    5. Audio tracks are handled differently, stereo is on one track
    6. Premiere Pro has powerful audio sync tools
    7. Changes to simple editing (smoother process in Premiere)
    8. Copy and paste clips onto different tracks
    9. Scrubbing is possible in the Premiere Pro project panel
    10. Batch export in the background while editing

    UPDATE: In terms of batch export, you can now queue it via, cmd-M with multiple clips selected. No more having to drag over to media encoder.

    10 Premiere Pro CC Tips for Final Cut Pro Video Editors

  • Media Manager or Project Manager in conjunction with reLink reTooled – Work From Home

    Ok, so if you’ve been following the site you probably know about reLink reTooled. You know that it was created to be able to relink files of different titles and durations, for things like relinking an offline edit to a color correct.

    What you may not have realized is there is a ton of other ways to use it. In this video, we talk about using it in conjunction with Final Cut Pro 7’s Media Manager or Premiere Pro’s Project Manager. Now we all know we can use these features to archive our projects to make our project smaller. But we can also use them to be able to take our projects on the road without the overhead of all of the original media.

    So here’s the scenario, you’ve been working all day on an edit and its starting to get late. You want to finish up the edit at home, but you don’t have time to copy all of the media to an external drive. After all, a large edit could easily contain hundreds of gigabytes worth of footage. Sure, you could media manage your project so you can trim your sequence down to just a few seconds of handles to finish your edit, but how would you then get your edit relinked to your original media when you get back to the office.

    Enter reLink reTooled…

    Just remember, all of your media needs to be .mov files for this workflow to work!

  • Switcher’s Guide – Premiere Pro Speed Changes & Freeze Frames

    In this video we discuss the numerous similarities and differences between speed changes and freeze frames in Premiere Pro and FCP7.

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  • After Effects Render and Replace in Premiere Pro and FCP7 – Using reLink reTooled

    A lot of films, TV shows, and commercials use After Effects as their go-to motion graphics, visual effects, and compositing platform. In some workdlows, its okay to render your final out of After Effects, but personally I find that workflow too limiting. After all, how often is an edit really “locked” when your client, producer, director, etc. say that it is? And to start tweaking an editor or worse have to play back edit changes from After Effects, isn’t ideal to say the least.

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  • Conform in your NLE with Our New Software

    Anyone who works in a facility that works with an offline and online process probably knows that the online, or conform, process has typically been handled by the big guys. Smoke, Flame, Pablo, you know, the expensive ones. (Ok, maybe Smoke isn’t THAT expensive anymore, but you get the point).

    The main reason for this is trying to relink an offline edit to your trimmed color correct files has always been a nightmare. If you were to take an offline EDL or XML into FCP7 or Premiere Pro, and try to reconnect to the clips manually, it was an insanely tedious if not impossible process. Those applications want clips to be the same length as the original, the same names, the same frame size. With a color correct, however, that won’t be the case. Maybe you did your offline edit at proxy resolution. Maybe your file names have changed. And even if none of that happened, the clips length won’t match. When you edit, you edit with long clips. Then you might use a few seconds of a several minute clip. Color correct with a few seconds of handles, and want to relink. You might also have several source clips from the same original clip, necessitating new file names.

    That is where reLink reTooled comes in. You take your offline edit and export an xml. Then open up reLink reTooled, load that XML and point it to your new media. Then you can choose your relink criteria and save out an XML that references your new media. That’s all. I’ve been using this tool for many months now, and have put it to the test on large national clients. Using a combination of FCP7 and After Effects, conforms have been simplified and transformed from the days of capturing from a D5. The whole process is intuitive and simple. But your best bet is to just watch the video and see it in action. Check out a brief teaser above and a full demonstration below.

  • Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro – Rendering, Why it’s better in Premiere Pro…almost.

    First off, if you want to know the logic behind what your sequence settings should be and when to render and not render, see these two posts, Sequence Settings Part 1 and Part2.

    This post is intended to be a look at the differences in what will require rendering and re-rendering in FCP vs. Premiere Pro.

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  • Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro – Clip Linking and Grouping

    In this Premiere Pro tutorial we compare audio and video linking in Premiere Pro vs. Final Cut Pro.  We also discuss Premiere Pro’s Group Function and how you can use it to extend your timeline functionality.

    In Premiere Pro these are the ways to link audio and video clips together:

    • Use the Clip Menu/Link or Unlink Command to Link 1 piece of Audio with 1 piece of Video.  If the audio is in the video file, they will be linked automatically.
      • If linked, these clips can be temporarily unlinked by holding the alt/opt key and clicking, moving, trimming, or cutting.
    • Use the Clip Menu/Group or Ungroup Command to Link multiple pieces of Audio and/or Video. The clips will be dragged, trimmed (see video for how this works), or slipped together.
      • If grouped, these can also be temporarily ungrouped by holding the alt/opt key and clicking, moving, trimming, or cutting.
    • When comparing Premiere Pro with Final Cut, the real difference is the way you temporarily unlink audio and video (and of course the Group Function, which Final Cut lacks).  In Final Cut, you use the button on the top right of the timeline to turn linking on or off.  In Premiere Pro, you use the alt/opt key.  Depending on the instance, I like each technique, and sometimes I find myself wishing for the other when in the opposite program.  What do you guys think?

    Credits: Thanks to John Gumaer for doing the intro sound design.

  • Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro- Sequence Settings – Part 2

    In this two part video, the first in our “Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro” series, we discuss sequence settings in Premiere Pro.  We’ll cover the basics of starting a new project, what all of those presets mean, and how they relate to the Final Cut Pro 7 sequences you are used to.

    In this video, I discuss Final Cut 7 and Adobe Premiere Pro’s different approach toward render files.

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  • Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro- Sequence Settings – Part 1

    In this two part Premiere Pro tutorial, the first in our “Switcher’s Guide to Premiere Pro” series, we discuss sequence settings in Premiere Pro.  We’ll cover the basics of starting a new project, what all of those presets mean, and how they relate to the Final Cut Pro 7 sequences you are used to.

     

    Credits: Thanks to John Gumaer for doing the intro sound design.