July 7, 2025

When we are locked into an edit, all our attention is on story-telling. But we are only one power failure away from calamity.

So, this week, I have two tutorials on how to rescue a project when something goes wrong: one for Final Cut and the other for Premiere.

Last week's webinar, "Video Scopes & Color Grading in DaVinci Resolve," contained more than three dozen demos, starting with moving files between software, reading video scopes, then looking at a whole lot of different ways to change the look of a clip.

Best of all, almost all of this can be done using the free version.

No webinar this week, I want to get caught up replacing lost articles. Still, I welcome ideas on what to cover next. Email me. 

Thinking about last week's webinar, I have two more excepts for you. The first showcases four automatic color tools that can improve the look of your video without any real understanding of how the Color page works.

(Truthfully, this is how I got started working with color in Resolve.)

I purchased the Studio version of Resolve last April because I wanted to use speech-to-text to help me edit more than 60 videos from the spring NAB Show as quickly as possible.

While the Studio version adds dozens of features, most of them AI-powered, there were four for color grading that just left my jaw on the floor. 

After last week's webinar was over, Ken Paul Rosenthal and I got into a chat about the vectorscope and, as part of that, he mentioned a technique he used to improve exposures using a Blackmagic camera.

This was such a helpful idea that he gave permission to share it.

In the upheaval of life today, amidst the fear and challenge of AI, the restructuring of traditional media, collapsing budgets, and increasing competition, it is easy to forget that we got into this business to tell stories to an audience. 

Recently, I was watching some of the early films of Buster Keaton. Silent. Black and white. Grainy. And amazing. Without any of the technical tools we take for granted, he created illusions and adventures that, even today, evoke warm smiles and amazement, wondering "just how did he do that?"

Keaton, like Georges Méliès, George Albert Smith, and others, explored how to use this new medium to tell compelling stories by applying an out-sized imagination to very primitive gear and created magic that transcends time.

As we continue getting buffeted by the winds of change, keep this old adage in mind: "It is hard to remember, when you are surrounded by alligators, that your original intent was to drain the swamp." 

Don't lose sight of your goal: Story-telling is still a creative art and a well-told story is as valuable today as ever. It isn't your gear - it's you that makes the difference.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» Transfer Projects Between Final Cut, Premiere & Resolve (Tutorial)

   » How to send projects for color grading, then bring them back.

» Rescue a Final Cut Pro Library Using Backups (Tutorial)

   » Here's how to recover when things go wrong.

» Rescue a Premiere Pro Project Using Backups (Tutorial)

   » Things break all the time. Here's how to get them back.

» Four Automatic Color Correction Features in DaVinci Resolve 20 (Tutorial)

   » Automatic, but with great results. Here's how they work.

» Four Stunning Color Effects Only Available in Resolve 20 Studio (Tutorial)

   » Magic Mask, DeHaze, Relight and Depth Map. Amazing!

» Tips to Better Exposure with a Blackmagic Pocket 6K Pro Camera (Tutorial)

   » Ken Paul Rosenthal switched from Canon to BMD and discovered this secret.

TOP 4 TITLES LAST WEEK