Jan. 23, 2017



Last week, I spent a day wandering the show floor at NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants). The show is huge - hundreds of exhibitors, tens of thousands of attendees filling all the halls at the Anaheim Convention Center, right next to Disneyland. Let me tell you, walking into a 50,000 square foot hall, filled with uncounted exhibitors showcasing the latest in electric guitar technology where each booth has attendees playing new-fangled instruments at top volume - well, it redefined "cacophony." It was a fascinating kind of chaos.

One of the reasons I was there was to meet with Larry O'Connor, CEO of OWC, to talk about new technology they were exhibiting and expecting to ship later this year. As part of our conversation, I asked him what I could do to help make sense of the ever-changing technology we are surrounded with. And he told me: "Covering technology is important, but don't lose sight of the workflow. Spend time talking about how all the different pieces fit and work together."

I thought that was an insightful comment. For example, in my review of the Envoy Pro mini in this issue, if all I did was measure the speed of the unit, it would be accurate but not helpful. As I started to work with the Envoy in conjunction with my other storage devices a different picture emerged - one that I found much more interesting and useful.

In fact, the best place to discuss how all the pieces fit together is our weekly podcast, the Digital Production Buzz. We have already expanded our definition of creativity to include more than just filmmakers, but also music, lighting, audio, choreographers, as well as our traditional emphasis on new technology. I think it is also important for us to add a regular feature on workflow - looking at the bigger picture of how things work together. Michael Kammes is reporting on this for us already, but we need to do more. We are currently working on new segments that will premiere in the next few weeks. In fact, if you have a system that you want to share with other, email me so we can add you to the program.

Thinking about new technology, Apple updated Final Cut, Motion and Compressor last week. I have a blog that covers the details, which you'll find below. Updates are always nice, but the Compressor update is
especially important. The 4.3 release had, for me, show-stopping problems with watermarks, compression speed and DVD burning. All of these have reportedly been addressed in the new update.

Why, you may ask, did I say "reportedly?" Well, it all has to do with this house renovation thing I'm currently living through. The sanding and painting should be finished by mid-week - I hope - which means that I can finally uncover my computers and get back to work; specifically, downloading all the latest updates. My two top goals are testing the new version of Compressor and getting caught up on all the product reviews that are piling up on my, currently, plastic and ceiling-dust covered desk.  I cannot WAIT to start cleaning the place up.

Because of all the construction, webinars are delayed one more week. After that, I should be able to resume my regular production schedule.

In the meantime, be sure to listen to The Buzz. We had a great show last week talking careers and jobs. Lots of interesting discussions on how successful people got to where they are now. It was a fun show.

Well, its time for me to get out my shovel and start dusting. In the meantime, enjoy your week and edit well.

 
Last Week On The Buzz!

Our last show talked about finding and getting jobs:

   * Nancy Schreiber
   * Kimberly Smith
   * Michele Yamazaki-Terpstra
   * Jonathan Handel
   * James DeRuvo

Nancy is the first woman ever given the ASC Presidents Award. Kim invented "Movie Games," a new way to teach filmmaking, Michele talked about how she grew her career, Jonathan explained the new concept of "synthespians" - or artificial actors. And James presented our weekly DoddleNEWS update.
Listen or read each full episode here.

Text transcripts provided by Take1.tv. Read the written transcript from this week's show here.

New shows air live every Thursday evening at 6:00 PM Los Angeles time.

Tune in live here.

Subscribe to The Buzz on iTunes. Click here.

 
The Hardware Side of Video Editing
As I was testing a 2016 MacBook Pro laptop, I realized that much of what I knew regarding hardware for video editing was out-of-date. It was time to update my thinking.

This week, I covered what I learned: 

* How to measure performance
* How Premiere and FCP X use RAM, CPU, GPU and storage
* How to pick the right system for your needs

This was a really cool event. Be sure to listen. 

Download your copy here. Or join our Video Training Library
Construction Pauses Webinars
I am renovating my office and studio - well, actually, the entire house.

I can't uncover my computers - there's STILL too much dust and wet paint.

So webinars are pausing this week until I can get this mess cleaned up.

In the meantime, check out over 200 courses - both short and long - in our Video Training Library.

Learn more here. 
 
» Apple Updates Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor ( News)
   » This is a small update, but an important one.

» Product Review: OWC Envoy Pro mini ( Product Review)
    » A VERY portable SSD, but also a look at how hard it is to measure "speed."   

»
Kodak Brings Back Ektachrome; and Maybe Kodachrome ( DoddleNEWS)
    » Film is coming back to filmmaking.

» Rode Announces New Microphones for Filmmaking ( DoddleNEWS)
    » Two new mics and new upgrades for existing mics.
 
» EQ: Warm a Voice, Improve Clarity

» The Difficulty of Preserving our Past

» Premiere Pro: Boost & Smooth Audio Levels

» Is the MacBook Pro fast enough for video?

» View tutorials here

» 212: Hardware Side of Video Editing

» FCP X: Workflow & Editing (v. 10.3)

» 203: New Features in Final Cut Pro X 10.3

» 208: Get Started with Final Cut Pro X

» View all webinars here

» Peder Jørgensen: Soundly

» Kevin Klingler: Smartsound Updates

» James DeRuvo: DoddleNEWS Update

» Kimberly Smith: "Movie Games"

» View all interviews here
 
 
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