August 19, 2024

All kinds of news this week! First, as many noticed, our server went down last Monday afternoon, which makes accessing newsletter articles impossible. It took us a few hours, but we found the problem: the server operating system ran out of storage space. Once we removed innumerable log files that had run amok, everything was just fine. No hacking, no lost data. Just a server with inadequate room to run. Sorry for the problems. Sigh...

It is always interesting to discover that what you thought you knew was wrong. That happened to me writing this next tutorial. I always thought that adjusting vibrance to enhance an image was adjusting mid-tone saturation. But it is actually much more effective than that. Here's a quick example of why vibrance is better than saturation at improving your images.

Link: Saturation vs. Vibrance. What’s the Difference for Video?

On August 7, Apple released macOS 14.6.1. While I purposefully did not upgrade to 14.6, I did upgrade to 14.6.1 and have had no problems since. Just thought you'd like to know.

Selling webinars is how I pay the rent. Over the last year, sales have dramatically fallen and I'd like to learn more about why - and what I can do to make these more valuable to you. Here's a seven question survey - I would be grateful for your opinion ESPECIALLY if you haven't purchased a webinar recently.

Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M33FM2F

TOP THREE NEWS STORIES THIS WEEK

News moved to my home page, now with daily updates - 16 new stories this week. With IBC in a few weeks, expect more news on a daily basis. Check back often.

Apple updates Final Cut Pro to version 10.8.1. New version provides bug fixes, no new features. I upgraded earlier this week with no problems.

Link: Apple updates Final Cut Pro to version 10.8.1

Cinedeck announced two new products: CloudFlow Hub and ConnecX Hub. CloudFlow provides cloud-based production, ConnecX Hub supports collaboration.

Link: https://cinedeck.com/cloudflow-hub/

Vizrt offers a recorded webinar on “Enhancing Creativity and Flexibility in Live Streaming Production.”

Link: Vizrt Creativity Webinar

By the way, if you are a developer, or know one, please have them send me their press releases so I can keep us all informed on the latest news. There's no charge for this service.

Last week's webinar - Secrets to Faster Editing in Apple Final Cut Pro - covered more than 50! shortcuts, hidden techniques and optimizations; all designed to make you faster. The Timeline shortcuts section, alone, has a dozen hidden keyboard shortcuts that make magic happen. Save 25% when you download it from my store or view immediately in my Video Training Library.

Link: Secrets to Faster Editing in Apple Final Cut Pro

Webinars will return after Labor Day on Sept. 4.

In my live webinar last week, we were discussing how to organize media and I said that once media had been imported into a library, there was no easy way to get it out. After the event was over, I decided to research this and discovered that not only was I wrong, but I was wrong TWICE! There are two ways to get media out or into a Final Cut library - each has advantages and disadvantages. So, I wrote tutorials for both of them.

Link: Move Media Out of a Final Cut Pro Library to Store Externally

Link: Two Very Fast Ways to Move Media Into or Out of a Final Cut Pro Library

Here are three video excerpts from last week's webinar, all designed to highlight hidden aspects of Final Cut's interface that can save you time.

Link: Final Cut Pro Workspaces – A Better Way to Organize the Interface

Link: Make the Most of Final Cut Pro’s Browser Settings

Link: Navigating the Final Cut Pro Viewer Menu

One of my goals for the fall is to expand my coverage of our community and the tools it uses. I'm looking for experienced writers to contribute articles for this newsletter. If you are interested, send me an email. I'm also open to suggestions on what more we should cover - iPhone video? Cloud production and editing? Plug-ins? Media management? Other software (yeah, Resolve is already on my list….) Share your thoughts on what subjects would be most helpful to you.

Not to worry, I'm still focusing on media production and post for the non-enterprise user. But there's a lot going on - more than one person can handle. So, my hope is to find help to increase what we cover. As always, I welcome your comments.

Until next Monday, stay healthy, stay hopeful and edit well.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» Saturation vs. Vibrance: What's the Difference? (Tutorial)

  » This tutorial shows how to use them for video.

» Move Media Out of an FCP Library (Tutorial)

  » This takes a few extra steps - but has one big advantage.

» Two Very Fast Ways to Move Media In or Out of FCP (Tutorial)

  » This is very fast - but has one significant limitation.

» FCP Workspaces: A Better Way to Organize the Interface (Tutorial)

  » How to access, apply and customize them.

» Make the Most of FCP Browser Settings (Tutorial)

  » Better ways to organize files, create metadata and search.

» Navigating the Final Cut Pro Viewer Menu (Tutorial)

  » The Viewer has a lot of customization - all in this one menu.

TOP 4 TITLES LAST WEEK