The Pro Video Coalition Cut.N.Colro by Steve Hullfish has released part 2 of making the switch from FCP 7 to AVID. This talks about SmartTools (Avid's concession to an FCP like Timeline) and keyboard controls as well as the Pen tool for Audio rubberbanding.
VideoCopilot has finally released it's long teased Element 3D plug in for After Effects for $149.95. or $195.50 with Pro Shaders, $249.50 with Motion Design Pack and Pro Shaders or $495 including all 6 3D packs and over 500 in 3D models to use with it.Looks pretty damn cool actually and I would love to give it a try! Been watching videos for some time, and it looks really damn powerful without having to have extensive 3D skills.Looks like you can do particle effects with real 3D elements, very very cool. I have some ideas just from looking at the footage.
Got an e-mail from Singular Software this morning saying they have been purchased by Red Giant. Singular's Plural Eyes is awesome software and I love Red Giant's software as well, so hopefully it will be a match made in heaven. You can read about it at Red Giant's Web Site. And you can continue to purchase Singular Software from their web site until everything is moved under the Red Giant brand.They are taking the entire Singular Software Team, so the same great software should be coming including the upcoming Plural Eyes 3, which we have already seen the beta of.
Steve Hullfish of Cut.N.Color at The Pro Video Coaltion has part of an article on Making the Switch to FCP 7 from Avid Media Composer.it talks about using JKL and IO which are the same, and then how AVID shows you what speed it is playing back, and the differences in keyboard shortcuts with normal tools, such as zoom.
Biscardi Creative has posted part 3 of it's switch to CS6 from Final Cut Pro 7. A good read with interesting points.•Because of Native editing, they their render time is basically down to realtime render, so a 30 minute show has around a 30 minute render! That is a huge change!•It requires more setup before hand, and it is smart to organize everything before import.•Still using FCP 7 for videotape ingest!•Use Davinci Resolve for grading, though it does not support all the files that Premiere Pro does, so a flattened ProRes Quicktime file is created from final timeline and use resolve's scene detect tool!There is of course more, and this is a must read for switchers!
FXGuide has a fxpodcast with Alvy Ray Smith. He was Xeroc Parc, Lucasfilm and Pixar, and has had a huge impact on computers today. You can read about him in the awesome RIDERS OF LIGHTNING and DROID MAKER.
Cheesy Cam has a video on the Manual Focus noise of the new Canon 40mm F/2.8 Pancake lens which could be an issue for video shooting.
Trapcode's blog has an excellent tutorial by John Einselen on how to create realistic dust hits with Trapcode Particular.
So I am 6 weeks out from Surgery and my sternum should be mostly healed, so I am going to the chiropractor today to get my back adjusted and see if I can get a bit out of the pain I have been in since the surgery. The back has been the worst part.Sure the Chest is sore, but mainly because the muscles have been cut, and sowed back together. So it is week and I have to take it easy, though I did get a couple of Kettle bells so I can start exercising again (though with less weight) and really get my chest back up to speed.And of course now we have the fun of getting additional hospital bills after we thought we had paid everything off! We hit the max out of pocket on insurance, and here they go charging us a lot more! WTF! Hopefully it is a mistake, but we shall see.Now for the scab update.The top of the main wound seems to have pretty much healed. No more scab, just red. I thought I would have a divot there, but it seems my body has healed over.The chest tube wounds have been causing trouble. I lost both scabs, and though the one on my right looks pretty good and clean, the left one is forming another dark scab, which will likely come off again before too long. And I still have the weird little bruise with the knot under it next to that one. It hurts and even bothers me when I am sleeping, though it is getting better.Overall the scars are still pretty red, and the big one is still sore, especially when I use my chest to lift anything or do much with my arms besides watch movies or play video games. Need to get my chest in better shape so I can get back to work, but that is what the kettle bells are for!Overall doing pretty damn well, but looking forward to seeing what the chiropractor can do today! I am sure it will take a few visits, especially if he can only use his tool and not do a full adjustment, but we shall see, and I will report on it.
Went to my cardiologist on Friday, and overall he seems to think I am doing pretty damn well. In fact he doesn't want to see me again till December when he will give me another echo to see how things are doing. And it has been a long time since I haven't seen my cardiologist every 3 months! Now we didn't get to talk about everything because the fire alarm went off and we actually had to leave, but I did get permission to drive again (though I had already gone to the grocery store once). Should start being able to lift more than 10 pounds next thursday too, as that is 6 weeks.And was given permission to sleep on my side, hallelujah! So hard to sleep on my back! Now the first night was a little painful, actually my ribs hurts on each side, but since then it has been much better. I sleep better, and feel better when I wake up. I just don't wake up so much which really helps!My next job is just to lose weight, which should be easier now that I have some stamina!Still have a bit of a cough at night, though it is getting better.Still on the awful no sodium diet, but we are making it easier since we got an awesome Breville Breadmaker, and have started making bread without salt (though it sure could use some salt, ha!). It is pretty amazing to have Fresh bread in 4 hours. And being a Breville it is pretty bad ass. Has a timer if you want to wake up to bread, and will even add in other ingredients when it should (like nuts or fruit or spices).And yesterday my huge sticking out scab finally came off. It looked to only be attached on side for a while, but finally came off, leaving a bit of a divot, though some of that has already filled in with more scab (though it didn't really bleed, just filled in).You can see how red it is in there.Doesn't hurt and hasn't been bleeding and have just kept cleaning it, so that is good.Here is a wider shot, where you can see the weird bruise I have on the right, which feels like a not underneath.And here is a wide shot with the big wound.Overall am doing pretty great. Will likely be going back to work within a couple of weeks.