July 3, 2023

Happy July! Like thousands of others, I got caught in the canceled flights maelstrom of last week. But, finally, I'm back home and working again. Whew!

My new Mac Studio arrived the day I left on vacation and I got home the day before I needed to write this newsletter. So, I haven't even unpacked it yet. However, I'm spending all next week testing it and will have a detailed report next Monday. (Send me an email if there's something specific you'd like me to look at.)

This week's issue includes tutorials for Final Cut, Premiere and general business. My lead story looks at how to color grade Log video in Final Cut without using a LUT.

Link: Final Cut Pro: Color Grade Log Video Without Using a LUT

In the news:

Lumberjack System announced that Builder NLE, their text-based editing app that works seamlessly with Final Cut, is now available for purchase in the Mac App Store. Builder NLE includes unlimited free transcription in 16 languages, closed caption support on Stories, unlimited Stories, a comprehensive Keyword Manager, and extremely powerful search and filter tools to get you to your stories faster.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/builder-nle/id6450122801?mt=12

Chaos announced the release of Chaos Vantage 2, a massive upgrade to their real-time visualization tool. With nearly 20 major new features, Vantage provides easy access to photorealistic animations, previs and scene explorations at lightning speeds.

Link: https://www.chaos.com/vantage

OWC launched MacDrive 11, a software solution for accessing Mac disks, drives and RAID volumes on Windows. There are two versions: Standard & Pro. 

Link: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/macdrive

Audiomovers is partnering with Avid on a bundle to bring remote audio collaboration to new and existing Pro Tools users. LISTENTO from Audiomovers is a remote collaboration plugin that allows users to share uncompressed audio straight from their DAW. Users create and share links with clients or collaborators, which can then be opened in their DAW, in a web browser window, or on Audiomovers’ own apps for iOS and Android. 

Link: https://www.audiomovers.com

BorisFX announced the CrumplePop's advanced AI-driven audio tools are now available as a plugin for Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools! One license gives you access to all supported hosts with new purchasing and activation options.

Link: https://blog.borisfx.com/crumplepop-avid-plugin-support

VPN Mentor has an excellent article on bias in AI image generation. They looked at Dream by Wombo, Nightcafe, Midjourney and DALL-E 2. I especially like their statistical approach and the easily accessible detail in their results. (Thanks Eli B.!)

Link: https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/ai-generated-images-research

Webinars will return next week, July 12. This will be a combination of "Ask Me Anything" and a detailed performance analysis of the new M2 Mac Studio. Email me questions that you'd like me to cover. As always, registration is free!

Link: Register for Larry's FREE Weekly Webinar

The first of two Premiere tutorials this week illustrates how to optimize Premiere Pro preference settings for single editor editing. The defaults aren't bad - these are better.

Link: Optimize Premiere Pro Preferences for Single Editor Editing

The second Premiere tutorial is a reader request on how and why to create audio presets. If you are constantly making the same changes to your audio, presets will speed your work.

Link: Create Audio Presets in Adobe Premiere Pro

As you have probably guessed, I'm Mac-centric in my computer knowledge. However, I've been told that there are other operating systems out there. This guest article, written by Angela Wellnes, discusses how to pick the right Windows laptop for media editing.

Link: Which Laptops Media Creators Choose In the US

Video is an important part of marketing these days. This article, by Chelsea Lamb, explores video marketing from the perspective of clients teaming with video pros to improve the results they get from their videos.

Link: 5 Steps to Kickstart Your Video Marketing

I updated one of my most popular articles of all time: "EQ: Warm a Voice and Improve Clarity." With the removal of FatEQ from Final Cut Pro 10.6.6, I updated this article to explain how to use a better audio effect - Channel EQ - in FCP.

Link: EQ: Warm a Voice and Improve Clarity [u]

I also updated "For Video Editing Storage - How Fast is Fast Enough?" with more accurate results when using a single NVMe SSD. My original report seriously understated their speed.

Link: For Video Editing Storage – How Fast is Fast Enough? [u]

I'm looking forward to exploring the Mac Studio. New hardware is always fun to play with. I enjoy seeing what it can do - and how much better the new is compared to the old. But, hardware alone isn't enough. I got an email this morning from an editor who is getting work done on a 2013 iMac running macOS Mojave, which was released in 2018. As we look for ways to distinguish ourselves from the competition, keep in mind that storytelling and results matter more to clients than gear.

Until next week, stay healthy, stay hopeful and edit well.

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