So Apple killed the iMac Pro, now it is all about seeing what video options M1 Macs have

 

So I got an iMac Pro because my old Mac Pro 4,1 died, and there was no new MacPro out as of yet. It was obviously a stop gap machine, and it’s only ugprade was removing the lowest multi-core version and an upgrade to the Radeon Pro Vega 64x 16 GB from the Vega 64 16GB, which is just a slight speed increase.

And the latest 27 inch iMac can in fact beat the performance for the iMac Pro. The top of the line can be upgraded to a 3.6GHz 10 Core Intel-Core i9 with turbo boost to 5.0GHZ, it can have up to 128GB of RAM, up to an 8TB internal SSD, an the top video card is a Radeo Pro 5700 XT  with 16GB of GDDR6 Memory. This machine should smash the 10 Core iMac Pro in performance, and the Xeon’s never really added anything to the Mac except multi-core and the ability to have dual processors. And you can even get the Matte finish from the MacPro displays for half the price, which is impressive, but they need a second display like that to match the price and look.

It is likely that the next M1 or it’s follow up chip will be an iMac, but the first M1 machines not only share video memory with the main memory, but also stop at 16GB of total RAM. And sure the performance of them has been impressive, but for heavy pro work Apple had better be doing some form of video card to really push the video end and GPU performance, and we have seen no sign of it, but I would hope that a high end iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac Pro would have it to push the video performance.

Video editing software needs a separate GPU with it’s own memory, lets hope Apple agrees.

I was accepted to the Adobe Speech to Text Beta for Premiere Pro, can’t wait to give it a real run through!

 So I applied to the Adobe Speech To Text Beta for Early Access, and was accepted, woohoo!

I didn’t realize it is locked to your account and will work in both Premiere Pro 15.0 and Beta based on my Adobe ID, I thought it would only run in the beta, so this is great news.

I am currently cutting commercial and direct response shots, and with testimonial this feature will be invaluable!

I will be reporting on it as I try it out. I have been very excited about this feature for some time.

I can’t believe I didn’t know how to paste unformatted text until I read this post from OWC, I always just used TextEdit

Dennis Sellers at OWC Rocket Yard has a post on how to paste non-formatted text on your mac, and I can’t believe that I never knew the keyboard shortcut Shift-Option-Command-V to paste without formatting.

I always used Textedit to past into and turn it non-formated.

This is huge, I always have issues with pasting formatted text, just as the article talks about.

Some really cool online editing tools at EditiingTools.io

EditingTools.io is a very cool web site with some very useful tools online. You might not need them right now, but when you do it is going to be great to remember they are there.

EditingTools.io is a collection of generators, scripts, converters and machine learning applications made over the last years for various projects & productions. 

They accept donations to keep their free tools online.

There are some very useful tools for converting or combining AVID Log Exchange files or ALE files.

XML to Splitscreen XML to perfectly do split screens.

A very useful Marker Converter to convert timeline markers from Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Frame.io, SubRip Subtitle, CSV, PDF and more.

A subtitle tool & converter.

A tool to generate an Editor’s Codebook from ALE files.

A Music Cut Sheet creator from XML files (woohoo, awesome if you have to make them).

A Edit Shot List / VFX Shot List from XML.

And so much more. These are great tools to know about in case you need them.

A Keyboard based launcher for Adobe Premiere Pro, I have written about it before, but you should check out Knights of the Editing Tables awesome Excalibur

 

So this one I have written about before, but that was before I really started using it. Now I am a big fan of keyboard based launchers and have used LaunchBar from ObDev on my mac for many years and FXConsole from VideoCopilot in after effects since it’s release (and will be writing about both in the future here) but this time it is Excalibur from Knights of the Editing Table for Adobe Premiere Pro.

This once again is a keyboard launcher for Premiere Pro, you hit a keyboard shortcut, I use option-spacebar and then you can add effects, presets or transitions from the keyboard. It works and it works great.

And the most amazing thing is being able to add transitions and then set the length all from the keyboard! WOOHOOOO!! This is from a feature I have long missed from Final Cut Pro 7 where I could different length shortcuts for Dissolve and quickly put them on. Now I can do it without leaving the keyboard!

Here I have the transition selected.

Here I have typed cross then I hit right arrow and typed 8 for 8 frames and enter.

The Cross Dissolve was added, and when I double click on it it is 8 Frames, AMAZING!

Personally this is 100% worth the $75 and I might even buy a second license to bring to work with me, that I can uninstall and bring to new locations once the Pandemic is over.

Knights of the Editing Table Excalibur has been updated to version 1.1.0 with Undo support now added

 

Knights of the Editing Tables awesome Excalibur a keyboard based launcher for Premiere Pro has been updated to version 1.1.0, and it is a free update to registered users. 

The most exciting feature is having added Undo which works with both Excalibur commands (which sometimes didn’t show up in the Premiere Pro history) and normal Premiere Pro commands.

And support for Control surfaces like Stream Deck and Loupedeck which will certainly allow for some new control abilities. I know many settings for the Stream Deck in After Effects use VideoCopilots FX Console, so this will certainly be an exciting addition in the future.

You can also add Adjustment layers, Nest clips as Premiere Does or per Excalibur which allows for multirack audio to nest. You can add a show clip keyframe command.

My next post is another post on Excalibur, so be sure to check that out as well.

I am having some issues with this release in Premiere Pro 2019, which it did work in previously and as the error message shows it has to with world scripting added in later releases.

Apple Quicktime on Mac and it’s awful issue of Gamma Shift in Video from Premiere and DaVinci Resolve

An image from a short film I have been grading, on the left is the image as shown by quicktime, and the right is in VLC matching what you see in DaVinci, you can see that they are quite different. It is the damn Apple Quicktime Gamma shift!

So I have been having issues with the gamma problem with my producers viewing my movies, since I am working from home, and we are running Premiere. I knew about the issue in the past, but have been looking into any solutions, and found some amazing articles on the subject that you should certainly read to know more about this frustrating issue.

Todd Dominey has an awesome article on the issue from Janurary 24th, 2021, that is a must read.

And Dan Swierenga has another great read on DaVinci and the issue at his blog The Post Process.

For those who don’t know is that basically Apple and Quicktime have a Gamma shift issue with Video Footage that has to do with Apple Colorsync and how it tags video. So if you play your videos on a Mac in Quicktime or in any Colorsync application (life Safari) a video from Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve they will be brighter and less contrasty than they actually are. It can be a huge issue when sending to clients.

The issue does not occur with Final Cut Pro X because it uses ColorSync (not having to be cross platform).

The solution is to use a non-colorsync application to play the video back and it will look correct (or at least more as it was intended). This can be done with Mozilla Firefox or VLC.

You could add a LUT to try and fix it (and Adobe actually has one) but for people on windows or using a non-color sync app the image will be too dark, and the the fix is never going to be perfect.

So the problem become getting people to use VLC as Apple is never going to fix it’s messed up Gamma settings.

Adobe Creative Suite Video feature request, easily copy and paste a Lumetri color from Premiere Pro to After Effects without exporting a LUT

 

As someone who works extensively between After Effects and Premiere Pro, I do love Adobe Dynamic Link (though it could use an update for sure), there is one thing that I wish could come easily between the two programs, and that is Lumetri Color Effects.

Yes you can pass the Lumetri Effect them through via Dynamic Link, but that is better for sequences, than individual shots. And yes you can export a .cube effect from your Lumetri Color, which is a LUT. The LUT can then be added in Lumtri, but it isn’t just repeating the Lumetri Effect, it is a Lumtri with a LUT added to it (and since After Effects and Premiere Pro use different Color spaces since After Effects uses RGB vs YUV), it is easier to tweak a bit if it is the Lumetri Color effect.

Now the easiest for the user would be if you could copy and paste the effect.

The Lumetri Color panel is one thing, but it is also an effect.

And the Lumetri effect shows up in After Effects as an effect as well.

Now I am assuming copy and paste would be difficult as some program would need to be running to catch the copy and move it over (something in creative cloud), but this would be absolutely ideal.

Now the solution is to make all your selects in Premiere and send it over via Adobe Dynamic Link then use the lumetri off those. And this does work, but it isn’t as easy as copy and pasting from one to the other for sure.

Or you can send out individual LUTS from the Lumetri Color Tab.

And select Export Cube to export a LUT that you can then add onto a Lumetri basic correction or a look you can use in the Creative section of Lumetri (and this is good because you can control the strength of the effect).

Now they could put in a Creative Cloud sync like you can do with Essential Graphics templates, but most of the time I am using my own Adobe login so the sync is useless, and I have always thought it needed some more job specific settings, like they only show up if you select the job you are on, and would download the templates to the job folder so that when you back it up they are there for anyone using the job especially in the future.

Should post continue it’s work at home policies put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic or return to edit bays?

 

OK this post is a little different, and not directly about using Premiere, instead I want to talk a little about work at home. Most editors have switched to working at home during the covid-19 pandemic because it just isn’t safe to work in an office.

Personally, I have absolutely loved it. I am married and I own a house, and have dogs, so I love being home as I can see my wife and dogs, I can start laundry at lunch, and most off no commute.

The commute in Los Angeles is always brutal, I would say it averages an hour each way a day, but can be much worse. I worked a job in Long Beach and it was 2 hours each way, every day, and the day it started there were fires and my drive took 4 and a half hours to get there and 3 and a half to get home. I don’t mind never commuting again. Hell on The Hobbit behind the scenes, where we forced into 12 hour days, I started at 5 am so at least my morning commute was better.

I hate the commute, but also getting ready for work. Now I can just wear sweatpants, which is so much more comfortable, but it is also the time getting my ice and water bottles and ice tea. And even more so it is being able to spend that time with my wife and my dogs and sit on my couch. And when work is done, to be able to go right to making dinner. Or even starting some dinner early so you can eat bot longer after finishing dinner. Maybe some of it comes down to being married and having a house and loving being home.

What I was surprised about, was a thread on a post production Facebook group about the topic, where I would say 2/3 of people hate work at home or would prefer to return to an edit bay (at least half), while the rest loved work at home. This blew my mind as if I had a choice I would never return to an office.

Most said social interaction was what they missed, others thought editing went better in real time in a bay, less versions, others wanted to get out if their home as there were too many distractions, and people also said not having a powerful enough machine or fast enough internet at home.

OK so I have loved worked at home forever, my first real editing job was on the Lord of the Rings behind the scenes and I did all those from home and it was wonderful, just went in tor screenings.

Honestly when at home, I get more work done, I don’t get distracted by people at work, and I spend less time surfing the net, and can focus better without being distracted.

And my home computer is better than most computers I have run into at work, and even if the machine was more powerful, it is not as customized as mine, and it isn’t just keyboard shortcuts. Never has as many plug-ins, other pieces of software, nor pieces of hardware, like my Tangent Wave, Ergo keyboard, Elgato Streamdeck or my trackball. And software like LaunchBar speeds up everything I do on the computer. So everything I do is more efficient on my own computer.

And I do get working on secure things for studios is harder being at home, but certainly not impossible or more expensive than maintaining edit bays. 

And the argument that the investment for new post people is ridiculous. First off most assistants will at least have to start in an office. And they can save up for a system. I had to have a system or I would not have been able to get my first edit job. And honestly all editors should be learning new things or at least new features on their home machines.

And the social thing. Sure I get making relationships with people, but when editing, personally I would rather have the least distractions possible. And when I am eating lunch (when I diet I fast and don’t eat till dinner) I would rather bring lunch and eat while working, because it means leaving for home 30 minutes early, and I would always rather be home.

As for it taking longer, and not being in person, well something should be worked out for that. I have heard of people using blackmagic boxes to live stream, and being able to switch to a camera at the press of a button. Need a secure method to do this that is studio approved. I am going to research a solution to this more, from Blackmagic ATEM Mini or I was also thinking about streaming boxes from Elgato. Screenings in person do always make you see issues you didn’t see before.

And speaking of tech, I have seen posts on the same facebook forums on local raids with custom cloud syncing software, with built in encryption. This way you are given most files and keep them organized the same, then just syncing new graphics. This would be amazing with a solution like Adobe Teams for project management.

As for notes, I like e-mailed and time-coded notes, written down so I know what they want. I hate taking notes because you always miss stuff (or things don’t get said). I am good at taking notes, but I would rather have e-mailed notes or Frame.io markers. 

I really do hope work at home is an option after the pandemic, because for me it is how I would always like to work. I have loved it since I first got to do it.

Now the biggest problem with working at home in California is the AB5 legislation which has made 1099 and Schedule C work basically illegal. So to write off your home computer and software, in California you have to incorporate and then be double taxed, as the corporation and then paying yourself, which negates at least some of the money you would save in write offs. And to work at home you need a smoking fast rig and screaming fast internet connection, that got much harder to write off.

Things to try when Premiere Pro has issues exporting a sequence

If you use Premiere Pro enough, you will run into issues, and the most frustrating issue of all can be when you have problems exporting a sequence, especially when you are on a deadline. This can be absolutely terrifying, and you need to get your sequence exported ASAP!

So I thought I would give you some things that have been known to work for me.

The first thing to try is to trash the current render of your timeline and re-render. If you have a rendered timeline and you go to export a sequence you can save time and sometimes export easier by selecting use renders.

You can see this select above in blue, USE PREVIEWS. When your sequence is rendered and things are going well, it will use your Previews to render and should greatly speed things up.

Still sometimes the renders can get screwed up so clean fresh renders are a first step.

A second thing to try is is if you are compressing to a different format than you are editing in, is to try to match the sequence settings.

Especially if you are using the Previews this can speed things up and with no cross compression make the video easier to export. You can then recompress using Media Encoder, which should go quickly. Sure it is an extra step, but if it gets a working sequence out, it is worth it.

Next if things are really bad and you can’t get the sequence to export at all, you should move the sequence to a new clean project. 

You should make a new project and drag the Sequence over, which will bring just it and the associated media files.

Most of the files are even brought over organized as they previously were, though unfortunately the organization of the sequences has not come over. Still save this Project and export from this project. This might mean that there is corruption in your project file.

Sometimes I move all the files in a project into a new fresh project and it can solve some issues.

Earlier of my posts talked about trashing the preferences and that is another thing I would try.

Hopefully when you run into the problems of exporting a sequence these things can help, and hopefully they can help you.