Final Cut Pro 10.4

A small version number change, a big update for Apple’s legendary video editing tool

By David Schloss

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X is a program that exemplifies Apple’s recent design aesthetic: minimalist, powerful and a tad bit confusing. The dueling interests of adding sophistication to a tool while keeping that tool free of confusing interface elements is at the heart of all great design, and sometimes the complexity of a system gets so great that... Read more

Lightroom CC: The Truth Is In The Cloud

An Adobe Lightroom rant, but in praise of it

DL Byron

Look, anyone surprised by Adobe supposedly killing the pro version of Lightroom (now named Classic) and launching a cloud version hasn’t been paying attention. There’s so much going on in tech, photography and the world, in general, I won’t blame you if you haven’t noticed. I did because it’s my job and I’ve been using a prerelease version... Read more

RAW Video Formats Explained

In the world of video editing, there's a big difference between the quality of different formats and how they affect your work.

By Andy Shipsides

At the video rental house AbelCine, where I work as the Chief Technology Officer, we offer a class on video formats that covers a variety of different terms and compression formats. One of the more common questions I’m asked is, “What’s the difference between uncompressed video, raw and Log recording?” With so many cameras these... Read more

Storage Wars Of A Different Kind

Do we invest in our existing archives as a potential revenue source, or keep the material but not spend the hundreds of hours it will take to catalog and keyword all of the footage?

Dan Brockett

I’m at war with myself. Well, perhaps war is too strong of a word. Let’s tone that down to “in conflict” with myself—over drives. A few weeks ago, I decided to do some end-of-summer housekeeping in our edit bay. I went through every hard drive that my company owns. I took screen captures and created a file folder using screen caps of file... Read more

DaVinci Resolve 14

Getting to know the video editor with legendary color control could change how you grade colors forever

Brian Hallett

When Blackmagic Design acquired the assets of the legendary but financially troubled post-production company da Vinci Systems in 2009, it took over stewardship of Resolve, a color-editing tool with roots going back to the videotape-grading tools the original company developed in the 1980s. The company stepped up the R&D budget for the program, and... Read more

Taking Your Media Assets With You

Moving video files from location to studio or client can seem daunting, but technology is here to help

David Schloss

WD MyPassport Wireless Pro Getting video and image files back to your studio or to the client is oftentimes more daunting of a challenge than the actual creative assignment. The files created by video cameras and still cameras keep getting larger as sensor sizes and video resolutions increase. While a lot of location work has the luxury of a timeline... Read more

Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite 13

Is this the only plug-in you will ever need for editing video?

Dan Brockett

Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Suite 13 includes seven separate plug-ins designed specifically to let editors manipulate, color, style, refine and polish videos, and is available for $899 for the full version. Used by over 100,000 film editors worldwide since its initial release in 2001, Magic Bullet Suite 13 builds on the historic plug-in, adding several... Read more

Making The Cut

In the not-so-distant past, editing for film and television was a well-established practice, but in our modern tech-savvy world, how exactly has the process changed?

By Dan Brockett

The role of editor has changed drastically from days of old, where professionals toiled in tandem to shape and carve out the final product. The ingest process would convert footage into an edit-friendly, low-res format that was logged by an assistant editor before an off-line editor shaped storyline, culminating in an on-line edit to conform to all... Read more

Boris Continuum Complete

Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) is a comprehensive set of over 230 VFX plug-ins designed to complement postproduction tasks—from editing and effects, to graphics and finishing.

By Justin Sucara

Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) is a comprehensive set of over 230 VFX plug-ins designed to complement postproduction tasks—from editing and effects, to graphics and finishing. Prior to sampling the tools in the new BCC 10 release, I honestly was a bit skeptical; I’ve never used Boris plug-ins, and the company’s website and branding don’t match... Read more

DaVinci Resolve 12

More than a color-correction tool, the latest update aspires to be a complete post package

By Michael Heldman

Since acquiring DaVinci and its color-correction software Resolve in 2009, Blackmagic Design has released several updates to the program. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux, Blackmagic’s latest version of DaVinci Resolve continues to offer new features along with an improved UI design. There are two versions available: the free DaVinci Resolve and... Read more

Node On

Blackmagic Design’s Fusion 7 lets you create your very own blockbuster

By Michael Guncheon

Once mentioned only in the realm of action-adventure or science-fiction films, visual effects are now a part of many other genres. Whether it’s to achieve a special look, create set extensions, track, stabilize or simply add atmosphere to a scene, effects work these days can be just as important in a romantic comedy as it is in a space epic. With... Read more

The Art Of Better Pixels

The new Dolby Vision format from the audio giant dazzles, promising a wider color gamut with 21 stops of dynamic range to dramatically improve the viewer’s experience

By Dan Brockett

Most of us in the business of creating visual content are at least casually familiar with the Dolby brand. In the analog days, it was Dolby noise reduction and, more recently, state-of-the-art theater and home surround-sound technology. Founded by engineering genius Ray Dolby, Dolby Laboratories has been improving and refining its sound for over five... Read more