Blog

• http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/202/883396
  • i was self taught for after effects, as many were before non-linear editing became so affordable that any school could afford to start up a digital media program (even jr. high/middle schools).
  • you might look into an after effects book by chris & trish meyers called ‘creating motion graphics’ (i actually didn’t have that book when i was learning, but i’ve since heard that it’s one of the best for learning ae).
  • total training has a good series after effects of tutorials
  • lynda.com is good resource too.
  • and, of course, there are lots of ae tutorials here at the (creative) cow.
  • aharon rabinowitz has many geared towards the fundamentals of ae. look into some of his workflow tuts and other earlier ones where he covers some basic essentials.
• Book: Motion Graphics with Adobe Creative Suite 5 Studio Techniques, Richard Harrington and Ian Robinson
  • http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1660189
    • Excerpt: Repairing and Retiming Footage

Given my poor experiences on my [MacBook Pro (2009) > Boot Camp > Windows 7] with Boris Blue and with DaVinci Resolve, it is by no means certain that [Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium] will fare any better.  But it’s worth a try.

So I downloaded a trial.  As part of that I had to first allow [Adobe Download Assistant] to be nstalled and executed.  It prompted for my level of expertise.  I answered: <<Novice: I could use all the help I can get>>.  In response it gave the following link:

• http://tv.adobe.com/product/cs-production-premium/
  • Many videos, including films, feature-tour, hardware, software, …

The download is apparently 7.116 GB, estimated download time between 5 and 8 hours. Overnight in other words.

I attended, working on one of the camera units.  Had a great time, learnt lots, at all sorts of levels.  Even how to make good use of the Movie Slate application on my iPhone!  Link: http://www.fstopacademy.com/

• Master Indexes:
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/142.aspx
  • http://community.avid.com/tags/Avid+for+Final+Cut+Pro+Users/default.aspx

• Avid Basics re Projects, Bins, Users, User-Settings
  • Notionally “Avid for Final Cut Pro Users” but generally useful introduction, complete with pragmatics.
  • Overview:
    • In this set of tutorials, it is assumed that a Shared project called “Tempest” will be edited by two people, Laura and David, one on day-shift (say) and the other on nights.  They can each select eithers’ settings (editor configs) via the Project Window’s Settings tab, under the User dropdown.  No need to log-out of Avid or indeed to switch User login sessions.  I guess a given user could create several configs e.g. default, david, david_temp
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70313/393166.aspx
    • Module 1, Lesson 1 - Creating a Project
    • Private/Shared etc., User Settings (independent of User logged-in), Film features
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70314/393171.aspx#393171
    • Module 1, Lesson 2 - Intro to Project Window - Avid for Final Cut Pro Users
    • MenuBar: [Tools > Console] brings up a text logger where progress can be recorded by users (as far as I can tell from the tutorial)
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70315/393176.aspx
    • Module 1, Lesson 3 - Where to find Avid files
    • Explains where the Avid files are stored on the computer’s hard drive, and how to take your settings from system to system.
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70317/393180.aspx
    • Module 1, Lesson 4 - Project Differences
    • Explains Avid Projects, Bins and how one can move & create stuff equivalently in Avid or in Windows Explorer (etc.)
    • Also explains some ways it differs from FCP.

• Importing Media Logs (from external apps)
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70318/393190.aspx#393190
    • Module 2, Lesson 1 - Logging and Digitizing
    • Can initially log media in Spreadsheet (e.g. Excel), Database (e.g. Access), FCP Batch Lists or Telecine Logs, then export as a tab-delimited file, then use Avid Log Exchange (application) to convert to the ALE format, which can then be imported by Avid to auto-creat and populate corresponding Bins.
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70319/393191.aspx#393191
    • Module 2, Lesson 2 - Using Excel to Log Footage
    • It works, and populates a Bin,  but the spreadsheet requires very specific formatting etc.
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70320/393193.aspx
    • Module 2, Lesson 3 - Using FileMaker Pro to Log Footage - Avid for Final Cut Pro Users
    • (I haven’t looked at that yet - domestically distracted…)
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70325/393201.aspx#393201
    • Importing Final Cut Pro Logs (into Avid, via ALE)
    • FCP: [File > Export > Batch List], then run ALE, then small manual tweaking of this (”Reel” -> “Tape”)
  • http://community.avid.com/forums/p/70326/393202.aspx#393202
    • Using Telecine Logs

I just discovered multiple Sony Vegas written tutorials by Gary Rebholz.  These are really great, the website ought to draw more attention to them.  They are highly informative and would help new users get up to speed more quickly not only on realising what is possible in Sony Vegas but also a better grounding/understanding on the concepts and tools behind the “magic”, both fundamental ones and obscure (but handy) ones.

• http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/news/article.asp?type=11
  • Examples:
    • …
    • 20 techniques for organizing your Vegas Pro workspace (part 1)
    • Utilizing the DVD Architect Properties window
    • Seven Steps to Getting the Most Out of Your Personal Video Camera
    • Incorporating RAW images Into Your Vegas Pro projects
    • Understanding Video Compositing
    • Displaying your closed captions in Windows Media Player
    • Improved multicamera tools in Vegas Pro 10 software
    • …
• Also one can obtain different kinds of articles by altering the number after “type=”

Sony Vegas allows chains of effects (”FX”) to be built up, which can optionally be exported or imported as FX Presets.  Some generous people on the web have offered their own FX Presets to achieve “Movie Looks” (dramatic looks) of various kinds.  These are more about emphasizing different kinds of mood than achieving clinically pure or film-grainy image quality.  Further details below…

(more…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8BPMQrNlpA&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te6B7pn_FNM&feature=channel

Latest list of Avid Media Composer Tutorials by Douglas (Gaijin-Eyes):

• http://community.avid.com/forums/t/71781.aspx 
• http://www.gaijin-eyes.com/

At startup (by default), in addition to “new project” options, it offers:

• Quick Tours
  • http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/whats-new.html
• Online Tutorial
  • http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/resources/

On my system at least, these load surprisingly slowly, then if either of the above are selected then the Motion GUI closes, leaving the Motion app active (but, as far as I can see, useless).  Maybe I’m missing something?