Digital Rebellion Blog

Thoughts on Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:32:53 MST

Today Apple released Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 which offers several new features such as multicam and broadcast monitoring (beta) that were previously missing.

Looking through the details, it's hard to find anything that would appeal to consumers and it is clear that this is an attempt by Apple to appease at least some of the pros. My first reaction (and the reaction of a lot of people on Twitter) was that this was the version Apple should have released back in June.

Here are some of the features I found interesting:

Multicam - 64 angles are supported and lots of options for syncing, including PluralEyes-style analysis of the audio waveforms. In comparison, Adobe Premiere Pro supports 4 angles and Final Cut Pro 7 supports 128.
Media Relink - You can now reconnect to files, which is useful if you need to swap out VFX shots or FCPX for some reason loses the link. This really should have been a 1.0 feature.
XML 1.1 - As mentioned earlier on this blog, the previous version of FCPXML didn't support audio levels so you'd lose your levels if you transferred the project elsewhere. This is now supported in FCPXML 1.1, although it's worth noting that Apple's developer documentation still says XML is not a perfect copy and does not contain everything that a project file does.
Broadcast monitoring - Apple's description is vague about which devices are supported but today AJA released new drivers that support FCPX output from SDI. There is no word yet from Black Magic Design or Matrox but I would assume new drivers are coming soon. It's worth noting that broadcast monitoring is only supported on Lion.

That doesn't make it a perfect tool for the professional broadcast / film industries of course. I really can't see EDL support ever being added, nor support for broadcast tape capture. But over time I think this will matter less and less. Case in point: I'm working on a feature right now and was very surprised when the post house asked me to deliver the Final Cut Pro 7 project for grading / mixing instead of EDLs and OMF.

I think Apple is very much gambling on the future here and I am definitely considering looking into it for short form work.

Update: Larry Jordan offers more info on the differences between FCP7 and FCPX's multicam implementation. Thanks Larry!

FCP 7 would LINK up to 128 cameras in a multicam clip, however you could only view 16 of them. FCP X links and allows you to view up to 64 clips at once, by switching between up to four banks of 16 cameras each. Also, edits can be made in real-time or by positioning the playhead.

Changes to email support

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:23:53 MST

Due to excessive spam levels, we have shut down our mail@digitalrebellion.com email address and now encourage customers to contact us using the contact form on our site.

This won't impact the majority of our customers, but anyone who has registration difficulties with an old license should ignore what it says on the registration email and use the contact form instead (after first looking at our support page on common registration problems).

We apologize if these changes inconvenience anyone.

Update: There was a little bit of confusion so just to clarify - the only account that has been taken down is mail@digitalrebellion.com. All others remain active.

Introducing Video Space for iOS

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:25:59 MST

We've just released our latest iPhone / iPad app, Video Space. Video Space allows you to calculate the disk space taken up by various codecs at different resolutions and frame rates.

It supports a wide range of codecs including ARRIRAW, AVCHD, Cineform, DNxHD, DPX, ProRes, REDCODE and XDCAM.

The interface is very simple - enter the total duration of the video, then select a codec, frame size and frame rate at the bottom and the total space will be reported at the top.

Video Space works natively on iPhones, iPods and iPads running iOS 4.2 or higher and can be downloaded directly from the App Store. We also have several other iOS post production tools available here.

We're always keen to hear feedback on our products so feel free to use the feedback link within the app or contact us directly.

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.5 and Pro Admin 1.5.3 released

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:49:36 MST

Last week we released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.5 and Pro Admin 1.5.3, which are minor updates to our troubleshooting tools for video professionals.

These updates fix several issues with Plugin Manager, update Crash Analyzer definitions and improve Pro Admin stability.

You can read the full list of changes in the Pro Maintenance Tools changelog and Pro Admin changelog.

The full list of error messages now supported by Crash Analyzer's lookup function is here.

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for video editors that allows them to maintain, optimize and troubleshoot their editing systems. Pro Admin extends Pro Maintenance Tools to allow you to remotely manage and troubleshoot over a network.

To find out more, see the Pro Maintenance Tools and Pro Admin pages, where you can view screenshots, user manuals, videos and much more.

Pro Media Tools 1.1.1 released - major Video Check improvements, QT Edit bug fixes and more

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:34:33 MST

Last week we released Pro Media Tools 1.1.1, a minor update to our suite of tools for improving media management.

The most significant changes in this version were made to Video Check, our tool for checking a video file is broadcast-safe.

In response to user feedback, instead of just showing the maximum value that's out of range, the latest version now also shows the percentage of pixels within the entire image that are outside broadcast range. This allows you to see how large an error is.

We've also added support for detecting long frames. These are frames that play for an extended amount of time, which is usually an indication that frames were dropped when capturing from tape.

If your company has a policy that requires content to begin at a certain timecode, Video Check can now be used to flag up movies that don't match.

We've greatly extended the Video Check section of the user manual so it's worth looking at if you need more details on how to interpret the results of a scan.

In Pro Media Tools 1.1.1 we've also fixed a couple of issues with QT Edit and added the option to create timecode tracks from the date embedded in the metadata or the creation date of the file on disk. I've found that the two dates don't match on several of my test files, with some having the correct date in the metadata and some having the correct date in the Finder, so it seemed best to provide both options to choose from.

The full list of changes in Pro Media Tools 1.1.1 is available here.

Pro Media Tools is an essential toolset for video professionals that can save a significant amount of time in post production. To find out more, visit the Pro Media Tools site, browse the features list, watch the video overview or download the 15-day trial.

Post Haste 2.0.5 released - new List parameter type and more

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:59:27 MST

We've just released Post Haste 2.0.5, a minor update to our tool for organizing your creative projects.

There's a new List parameter type that allows you to specify a fixed list of values for the user to choose from. You can specify these in the Default Value field in preferences, with each individual value separated by commas (e.g. Alpha,Beta,Gamma).

The user will be forced to choose one of these values and cannot type their own.

We've also added a new option allowing you to specify that a parameter is not allowed to be left blank. If selected, Post Haste will not let the user create a new project unless this parameter is filled in.

For more details on the new options, please see the user manual. Post Haste is a free download available here.

Introducing our new support section

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:05:27 MST

We've just launched a brand new section of our site dedicated to support. Here you can find user manuals, uninstallers, answers to common questions and more information about Digital Rebellion software.

On our feeds page there are various RSS feeds you can subscribe to for certain applications or categories you may be interested in. You can subscribe to these in your browser or a third party feed reader and you'll be notified when a new support article is posted or updated.

We've added some of the most common support questions so far and we're planning to build up the knowledgebase over time. If there are any specific questions you'd like to see answered or you feel that one of the existing support articles doesn't go far enough to help, please let us know.

Note: it may take a couple of days for the new section to be indexed by Google so right now the search function is only searching inside user manuals.

2011 - Year in Review

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:33:56 MST

2012 is here and as is customary at this time, here's a look back at the past twelve months.

It was a big year for us in which we made significant changes including a brand new website and expanding our applications to support Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro.

We launched six new products - Pro Media Tools, Post Haste, Cut Notes, Editmote, Aspect Ratio Calc and EditCodes. (Those last two are iTunes Store links.)

We shipped five major updates - Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0, Pro Media Tools 1.1, Pro Admin 1.5, Preference Manager 3.0 and Cut Notes 1.1. We also shipped 36 minor updates for our applications.

Our most popular application was FCS Remover and our most popular paid application was Pro Maintenance Tools.

We doubled our customer base in 2011 and welcomed large broadcasters, small production companies and freelancers alike.

The number of unique visitors to this site grew by a quarter and visitors collectively viewed nearly 1 million more pages than in 2010.

The following 2011 blog posts were most popular:
Final Cut Pro X Frequently Asked Questions
Final Cut Pro X: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Final Cut Pro X Bug List

The following posts were the most popular overall:
Final Cut Pro X Frequently Asked Questions
How to banish the Final Cut Pro registration screen forever
Final Cut Pro X: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
How to reinstall Compressor and Qmaster
Using Compressor with Multiple Cores

Things you may have missed:

FCS Maintenance Pack has been replaced with Pro Maintenance Tools, which is a paid upgrade that offers many new features as well as support for Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac.
FCS Maintenance Pack Network Admin has been replaced by Pro Admin 1.5. This is a free upgrade and you can use your existing Network Admin product key. Note that you must use Pro Admin if you have upgraded to Pro Maintenance Tools.
Preference Manager has been completely rewritten and now supports Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer and Adobe After Effects.
Project Repair in Pro Maintenance Tools can now repair Adobe Premiere project files.
Cut Notes can now sync directly to your Final Cut Pro 6 or 7 timeline.
You can now add support for any application or custom keyboard layout in Editmote.
We've taken over development of Post Haste and have released a completely rewritten version that offers many of the things you asked for in version 1.x: multiple templates, greater customization, better support for corporate environments, a built-in template editor and much more.
QT Edit in Pro Media Tools now has a batch processing mode.
Auto Transfer in Pro Media Tools now has metadata support, allowing you to set fields such as Day, Camera Number, etc and save that data to a spreadsheet. You can also setup dynamic destination paths using metadata variables.
The majority of our applications are now 64-bit.
We now have a podcast (iTunes link).
We have a Facebook page and Twitter feed, as well as pages and feeds for Cut Notes, Editmote and Post Haste.

2011 was a time of great growth and we delivered many solutions to improve our customers' workflows. 2012 will be no different. We receive a lot of feedback about our applications, all of which we read, and 2012 will see a lot of your requests answered. We also plan to continue our push into mobile development. Stay tuned for some updates very soon.

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.4 released - support for repairing Adobe Premiere projects and more

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:19:10 MST

Last week we released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.4, which adds several new features to our suite of tools for maintaining, optimizing and troubleshooting your editing system.

Repair Adobe Premiere projects

You can now repair corrupt Adobe Premiere Pro projects in Project Repair. This removes invalid characters from the file that can prevent it being loaded.

Improved Final Cut Pro X / Compressor 4 support

We've improved Final Cut Pro X support in Housekeeper, adding the ability to trash several new caches, and also improved Compressor 4 support in Compressor Repair, Housekeeper and Path Manager.

Avid Media Composer 6 support

We're now supporting the latest version of Avid Media Composer in all applications including Housekeeper and Preference Manager.

The full list of changes is here.

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for video editors and is used by studios, broadcasters, production companies and freelancers worldwide. To find out more about Pro Maintenance Tools, see our features page, read the user manual, watch the overview video or download the 15-day trial.

We have many more useful tools for video professionals; see our Products page for more details.

Pro Media Tools 1.1 released - 64-bit, QT Edit batches, Auto Transfer metadata and more

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:45:46 MST

Today we released Pro Media Tools 1.1, a major new update to our suite of workflow and media management tools. There are over 300 changes in this version, which is a free update for registered users.

Here are some of the biggest changes in 1.1:

64-bit

The applications in the suite are now 64-bit. This means that they're better able to deal with large amounts of data, which is especially useful when scanning long videos in Edit Detector and Video Check.

Post Haste

Post Haste is now being bundled with Pro Media Tools. We have several exciting features planned to increase integration between Post Haste and the other tools in the suite in future versions.

Auto Transfer metadata

You can now add custom metadata fields to the transfer window to tag each volume with extra information such as the camera number, shooting day, camera operator, etc.

You can set the destination path for transferred media according to the metadata you enter into the main window. This allows you to organize copied files on disk according to their camera, reel, the current date or any other useful information.

When the volume is transferred successfully, Auto Transfer can add the metadata to a spreadsheet (CSV) to help you organize your project.

QT Edit Batch Processing

QT Edit can now perform operations on batches of files. Go to File > New Batch and select all of the files you wish to process. Select the tasks you wish to perform (you can perform more than one at a time) and when you're done, click Process.

A new window will appear asking you how you want to save the files. If you select Update existing files, the existing files on disk will be overwritten. This is a very quick process to perform. The other options create duplicates of the files, either in the same directory or in a new one.

Edit Detector overhaul

Edit Detector has been given a major overhaul. It is now significantly faster and more accurate. It is more than twice as fast on my test machine at scanning SD media. We've also implemented a caching system so that it only needs to scan the frames once. Reopening an already-scanned file is instant.

Video Check overhaul

Video Check now has a multithreaded 64-bit architecture that gives it a significant speed boost. The improvements in OS X 10.7 allow us to offer additional features to Lion users such as 10-bit codec support, so consequently Lion is now our recommended operating system for Video Check.

Better collapsing in Timeline Tricks

Timeline Tricks can now collapse opaque clips that are obscured by a clip on a higher track. This means that a timeline that looked like this in the previous version:

Now looks like this:

You can still collapse the old way if you prefer. Third-party transparent clips can be added to a blacklist in preferences so that they will not be collapsed.
We've also added support for stripping markers and effects from Final Cut Pro X projects.

New apps in Render Watcher

We're now supporting Adobe Media Encoder and Compressor 4 in Render Watcher.

There are many more changes listed in the changelog.

Pro Media Tools is an essential toolkit for assistants, editors and video professionals alike. To find out more, see our features page, flip through the user manual or check out the video overview.

Preference Manager 3.1 released with Adobe After Effects and Avid Media Composer 6 support

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:38:46 MST

Earlier this week we released Preference Manager 3.1, which adds some exciting and long-requested features to the application.

After Effects support

We've had a lot of requests for this. You can now trash and lock After Effects preferences and backup and restore AE preferences and workspaces.

Improved Avid support

Preference Manager 3.1 supports Avid Media Composer 6 and you can now trash Avid preferences for a particular user instead of having to trash them for all users at the same time.

We've also improved the stability and speed of the software. You should notice a speed boost when trashing and restoring preferences. The full changelog is here.

Preference Manager is an essential tool for managing the preferences of your editing software. To find out more, see our video overview and download Preference Manager free of charge.

Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 3 released - QT Edit batches, better Timeline Tricks collapsing and more

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:35:31 MST

Yesterday we released Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 3, adding many significant new features to the suite. It includes all of the big changes in the previous betas and also the following major additions:

Dynamic Paths in Auto Transfer

You can now set the destination path for transferred media according to the metadata you enter into the main window. For instance, you could setup the destination path to be Day > Camera > Reel and then enter the relevant metadata values before transferring.

The interface for customizing metadata is very similar to Post Haste.

New Batch Renamer Tasks

Several more tasks have been added to Batch Renamer including Insert Characters at Position and Replace Characters in Range. You can now also optionally Find and Replace file extensions too.

QT Edit Batch Processing

QT Edit can now perform operations on batches of files. Go to File > New Batch and select all of the files you wish to process. Select the tasks you wish to perform (you can perform more than one at a time) and when you're done, click Process.

A new window will appear asking you how you want to save the files. If you select Update existing files, the existing files on disk will be overwritten. This is a very quick process to perform. The other options create duplicates of the files, either in the same directory or in a new one.

Not every function is supported in batch mode and we're keen to hear requests for additional functions users would like to see in the batch window.

Better collapsing in Timeline Tricks

Timeline Tricks can now collapse opaque clips that are obscured by a clip on a higher track. This means that a timeline that looked like this in the previous version:

Now looks like this:

You can still collapse the old way if you prefer. Third-party transparent clips can be added to a blacklist in preferences so that they will not be collapsed.

Video Check progress bug fix

We also fixed the Video Check known issue from the previous beta where progress would happen in big lumps on Lion instead of being smooth, giving the impression that the application had hung if it was a large file. Lion is now our recommended operating system for Video Check and it is the only platform we are offering 10-bit processing support for.

The full list of changes is as follows:

Auto Transfer - Option to only copy QuickTime movies if they exist on a volume
Auto Transfer - Ability to set destination path from metadata
Auto Transfer - Improved user interface responsiveness while copying and verifying
Auto Transfer - Fixed an issue where you were unable to edit metadata after canceling verification
Auto Transfer - Added the ability to disable checksums without disabling file size verification
Batch Renamer - Insert Characters at Position task added
Batch Renamer - Replace Characters in Range task added
Batch Renamer - Suffixes can now be added after a frame number
Batch Renamer - Added an option to search the file extension when performing Find and Replace
Batch Renamer - The filename no longer appears blank when removing frame numbers from certain filenames
Batch Renamer - Auto-recalculates when dragging items if the currently selected task is Reorder Frames
Edit Detector - Fixed an issue where progress happens in big lumps on Lion
Project Overview - Fixed an issue where marker colors may not display correctly
QT Edit - Batch processing
Render Watcher - Fixed an issue where Avid, Premiere or FCP renders may not correctly notify
Timeline Tricks - Final Cut Pro X support
Timeline Tricks - Uncomposited clips can now be collapsed
Timeline Tricks - Transparent third-party filters can be added to a blacklist in preferences to prevent Timeline Tricks collapsing these clips
Video Check - Filtering
Video Check - Support for multi-channel audio
Video Check - Fixed an issue where progress happens in big lumps on Lion
Improved general stability and reliability
Fixed an issue where Pro Media Tools may ask you to re-enter your registration information unnecessarily

This is a beta release designed for evaluation purposes. It is not intended for use in a production environment. If you require stability please use version 1.0.5 instead.

You can download the 1.1 beta here. The final release of 1.1 will be a free update for all existing customers.

Post Haste 2.0.2 released - parameter locking and more

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:23:26 MST

Last week we released Post Haste 2.0.2 which adds several new features to our project organization tool.

Folder structure importing

You can now import the structure of an existing project folder. Just click the + button in the Template Editor, select Import Folder Structure and choose a folder to import. Post Haste will import the folder and all subfolders into the project but will not import any files. This is a very quick way of setting up a new template.

Parameter locking

Parameters can now be locked to prevent user modification. The parameter will appear grey in the list and cannot be edited in the Project pane. Use the Default Value field in preferences to set a value before locking.

The full list of changes is available here.

Post Haste is an essential tool to help creative professionals organize their projects. To find out more, download the software free of charge and check out the video overview and user manual.

Critical problems with QuickTime 7.7 and QuickTime 7.6.6 build 1787

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:51:07 MST

There are widespread reports of problems with the latest version of QuickTime (QuickTime 7.7 on Leopard and QuickTime 7.6.6 build 1787 on Snow Leopard and Lion). This update is installed as part of Security Update 2011-006 for Snow Leopard and OS X 10.7.2 for Lion.

(The security update is the most likely culprit but it may alternatively have been caused by the iTunes 10.5 update that was released at the same time.)

The problems include:

Unable to play certain movies

Several people have been getting the message "An invalid public movie atom was found in the movie" when playing back in QuickTime Player. Final Cut Pro will either crash or display a white screen.

This seems to especially affect HDV files created by Focus Enhancements storage products. Focus has acknowledged the issue here (PDF).

The recommended solution is to downgrade QuickTime or restore an earlier version of your system from a backup or clone.

Update 2011-11-09:
Matt Geller of Meta Media Creative came up with another way of solving the problem. Replace the following files with the versions from a computer without Security Update 2011-006 installed (or alternatively extract them using Pacifist):

/System/Library/QuickTime/ApplePixletVideo.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/AppleVAH264HW.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTime3GPP.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeFireWireDV.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeH264.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeIIDCDigitizer.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeImporters.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeMPEG.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeMPEG4.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeStreaming.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeVR.component

Reboot your computer and the problem should be solved. Remember to make a backup of the files you replace, just in case.

QuickTime-based applications crashing at startup

Some people have had problems with Compressor, Cinema Tools, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime Player crashing at startup.

The crash log says:

Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: _ValidateAudioChannelLayout
Referenced from: /Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component/Contents/MacOS/QuickTimeComponents
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickTime.framework/Versions/A/QuickTime

To fix this, copy /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component to ~/Library/QuickTime, overwriting the existing file in that location. Backup the file before you do this.

If you are using Lion, your user Library directory will be hidden by default. Use System Toolkit to make it visible.

Because of these issues, I would recommend steering clear of the latest security and iTunes updates on your editing machine, especially if you're using Focus Enhancements products. Anyone with this issue should notify Apple so they understand how widespread the problem is.

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.3 released - improved Premiere support, FCPX trial support and more

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:06:31 MDT

Last week we released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.3, a minor update to our suite of tools to repair, optimize and troubleshoot Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac.

Improved Premiere Pro support

We've improved Premiere Pro support in this version, with extra cache options in Housekeeper and support for backing up Premiere Pro sequence presets, styles and column settings in Preference Manager.

We also fixed an issue where only Premiere Pro 5.0 caches were being trashed for some items in Housekeeper, and not earlier or later versions.

Enhanced Plugin Manager performance

Plugin Manager is now significantly faster at loading and filtering. The more plugins you have, the more of an improvement you will notice.

Final Cut Pro X trial support

The Final Cut Pro X trial is now supported by Crash Analyzer, Housekeeper and Preference Manager.

The full list of changes is as follows:

Support for the Final Cut Pro X trial
Crash Analyzer - Color coded logs now appear colored in the Finder
Crash Analyzer - Color coding is now preserved when updating Pro Maintenance Tools or trashing caches
Crash Analyzer - Error message search box is more forgiving if your search query doesn't exactly match the error message
Housekeeper - Support for trashing Premiere Pro plugin cache and column settings
Housekeeper - Fixed an issue where some files would only be trashed for Premiere Pro 5.0 and not earlier or later versions
Housekeeper - Fixed a Leopard crash when trashing waveform and thumbnail caches
MC Repair - Fixed a crash when performing a repair
Plugin Manager - Improved startup times
Plugin Manager - Improved performance when filtering plugins
Plugin Manager - Fixed a crash when adjusting the host application filter before the plugin list had loaded
Preference Manager - Added an option to replace all files in a backup with the current versions on disk
Preference Manager - Support for backing up Premiere Pro sequence presets, styles and column settings
Preference Manager - Fixed a crash when performing a backup
Project Repair - Support for repairing FCPX project database headers
System Toolkit - Support for trashing Mac App Store caches
Updated Crash Analyzer definitions
General bug fixes, tweaks and improvements

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for post production professionals. To find out more, check out our detailed features page, our video overview and download the 15-day trial.

For more useful post production tools, see our Products page.

Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 2 released - Video Check overhaul, Auto Transfer metadata, QT Edit summaries and more

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:32:25 MDT

Today we released Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 2. This includes all of the significant changes in the previous beta and also the following major additions:

Auto Transfer metadata

You can now add custom metadata fields to the transfer window to tag each volume with extra information such as the camera number, shooting day, camera operator, etc.

When the volume is transferred successfully, Auto Transfer can add the metadata to a spreadsheet (CSV) to help you organize your project.

We're planning to expand metadata support in future versions so we're very keen to hear how our customers are using metadata in their workflows.

Individual destinations in Auto Transfer

You can now select a destination on a per-volume or per-directory basis. This is useful if you want video from different cameras to go to different locations.

QT Edit summaries

QT Edit now shows a summary of each track in the Info tab. This allows you to easily see important information such as the codec, frame rate, aspect ratio and duration at a glance.

QT Edit anamorphic Quick Tasks

Final Cut Pro X doesn't respect the anamorphic flag on QuickTime movies, causing them to look stretched in your timeline. A workaround for this is to modify the pixel aspect ratio of the file to make it look correct in FCPX. By popular demand, we've now added Quick Task presets to set the pixel aspect ratio for NTSC and PAL anamorphic video.

Video Check overhaul

The full changelog is as follows:

Auto Transfer - 64-bit
Auto Transfer - Ability to set a destination individually for each volume
Auto Transfer - Folders can now be copied
Auto Transfer - Metadata columns such as day and reel can be added. Metadata entered into these columns can be output to a CSV file in the project directory
Auto Transfer - Fixed an issue where "total remaining space" can calculate the same drive twice
QT Edit - Added an Info tab that shows a summary of each track in the movie
QT Edit - Improved performance when scrolling through chapter thumbnails
QT Edit - Added Quick Task presets for setting pixel aspect ratios for NTSC and PAL anamorphic material
QT Edit - Improved the reliability of saving files to network volumes or volumes with incorrect permissions
Video Check - 64-bit
Video Check - Multithreading
Video Check - Support for 10-bit movie files (Lion only)

This is a beta release designed for evaluation purposes. It is not intended for use in a production environment. If you require stability please use version 1.0.5 instead.

You can download the 1.1 beta here. The final release of 1.1 will be a free update for all existing customers.

Podcast Episode 7 - Cut Notes FCP Sync Tutorial

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:22:07 MDT

Episode 7 of the Digital Rebellion Podcast just came out and it covers how to sync your Final Cut Pro 6 or 7 timeline to Cut Notes, our iPad app for taking timecode-accurate notes during a screening.

You can subscribe in iTunes or via the direct feed. The Episode 7 video is available for direct download here. The podcast is free and is optimized for iPhone 4 / 4S, iPad and Apple TV.

You can also watch the video on the Cut Notes video page.

We're open to requests for future tutorials so please let us know if there is something you'd specifically like to see.

Cut Notes 1.1 released - FCP sync, iOS 5 compatibility and more

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:30:43 MDT

Today we released Cut Notes 1.1, a significant update to our note-taking app for the iPad.

The biggest change in this version is Final Cut Pro synchronization. You can now sync your Final Cut Pro 6 or 7 timeline over wi-fi and have the timecode display in Cut Notes automatically update as you play or scrub in FCP. You can even use the play button in Cut Notes to remotely control playback.

We've also qualified it for iOS 5 compatibility, so we recommend updating before using it on the new operating system due tomorrow.

A notable change from previous versions is that the Hold button has been removed. Holding is now achieved by tapping the timecode as it is playing, causing it to freeze and turn blue. Tap it once again to unhold.

Final Cut Pro sync requires a wi-fi connection to your Mac. Here's how to set it up:

1. Go to Audio MIDI Setup in the Utilities folder under Applications. Go to Window > Show MIDI Window and then double-click the icon marked Network.

2. Click the + button under My Sessions and name the new session Cut Notes. Tick the box next to it to enable it. Under "Who may connect to me" at the bottom, set it to Anyone. In the Bonjour Name field, enter the name of your computer if it is not already set.

3. Now launch Cut Notes on your iPad and click the Sync button. The name of your iPad should appear in the Audio MIDI Setup window on your Mac in the Directory list. Select it and click Connect. It should then appear under Participants on the right-hand side.

4. In Final Cut Pro, go to Tools > Control Surfaces. Set the "Use" field to Mackie and click the + button. Set both input and output connections to Network - Cut Notes and click Ok.

5. Now open the Audio Mixer from the Tools menu. This MUST be open at all times in order for Cut Notes to receive timecode. If you find it gets in the way, drag it off screen or position it behind other windows but do not close it.

6. Now drag the playhead or press play and Cut Notes will update with the timecode of your Final Cut Pro sequence. You can even start and stop playback within Cut Notes itself.

If you have problems setting it up, make sure that you are connected to the same network as the Mac via wi-fi. This will not work over Bluetooth or cellular networks. If your Mac isn't connected to a wi-fi network, you can create a Computer-to-Computer network by going to Airport and then Create Network. You can then connect directly to your Mac from the iPad.

We've listened to the feedback of our users and this is just one of many updates we are planning in the near future. Stay tuned.

Introducing EditCodes for iPhone and iPad

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:58:14 MDT

We're pleased to announce our newest app - EditCodes for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

EditCodes is a reference application that provides a searchable database of common error messages for Final Cut Studio, FCPX, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac.

When you receive a cryptic error message in your editing application, fire up EditCodes and type all or part of the message into the list. EditCodes will then display the errors in its database that match your search terms. Tapping one of these errors will show a description of the problem and steps to resolve it.

If an error is not found in the list, you can use the Action button to submit it to us and we will add support for it in a future version.

EditCodes is available for $1.99 on the App Store.

(Note: if you're looking for a desktop solution rather than an iOS app, Crash Analyzer in Pro Maintenance Tools has an error lookup function that uses the same database.)

Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 1 released - 64-bit, Edit Detector overhaul and more

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:39:05 MDT

We've just released Pro Media Tools 1.1 Beta 1, a public beta of a major update to our suite of tools for simplifying media management.

This is the first of several planned betas that we are using to help gather feedback about the future direction of the suite.

The major changes in this version include:

64-bit

The majority of the applications in the suite are now 64-bit. This means that they're better able to deal with large amounts of data, which is especially useful for Edit Detector.

Post Haste

Post Haste is now being bundled with Pro Media Tools. We plan to better integrate it with the tools in the suite in a future beta.

Edit Detector overhaul

The full changelog is as follows:

64-bit support
New application: Post Haste
Edit Detector - Significant speed boost
Edit Detector - Greater accuracy
Edit Detector - Now shows edit points in timecode values instead of frames
Edit Detector - Frame information is now cached so you don't need to rescan when opening a file for the second time
Batch Renamer - Support for regular expressions
Batch Renamer - Flags up conflicting filenames with a warning icon
Batch Renamer - Folders can now be renamed
Render Watcher - UI overhaul
Render Watcher - Support for Adobe Media Encoder
QT Edit - Thumbnails in chapter view
QT Edit - Support for importing markers from an FCPX XML project
General bug fixes, tweaks and improvements

This is a beta release designed for evaluation purposes. It is not intended for use in a production environment. If you require stability please use version 1.0.5 instead.

You can download the 1.1 beta here. 1.1 will be a free update for all existing customers.

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.2 released - FCPXML, Avid RTAS, VST support and more

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:27:14 MDT

Last week we released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.2, which adds many new features and fixes some issues with our suite of tools for maintaining, optimizing and troubleshooting your editing system.

Here are some of the bigger features.

Final Cut Pro X XML support

Final Cut Pro X XML (FCPXML) files can now be scanned by Corrupt Clip Finder and repaired by XML Repair. You will need Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 in order to import and export FCPXML files.

Corrupt Clip Finder custom file extension support

By default, Corrupt Clip Finder will scan QuickTime movies, audio files and images. If you have installed third-party QuickTime components to allow QuickTime to read additional formats, you can add support for these formats in Corrupt Clip Finder by adding their file extensions to the list in preferences.

For example, if you installed the Panasonic AVCCAM Importer you can add the MTS file extension to the list to tell Corrupt Clip Finder to also scan MTS files.

Additional plugin formats in Plugin Manager

Plugin Manager now supports Avid RTAS plugins, Premiere VST effects and Motion 5 templates (for use in FCPX). Please note that when installing Motion Templates through Plugin Manager, it will copy the template to the Effects category by default but you can easily drag it to another group if you so wish.

If you have multiple NLEs installed, the long list of plugins may be daunting so you can now filter plugins based on their host application.

This is a small subset of the changes in this version. You can read the full changelog here.

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for maintaining your Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro system. To find out more, see our Pro Maintenance Tools page which includes a detailed feature list, gallery and video overview. A 15-day free trial is also available.

Introducing Post Haste

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:34:21 MDT

We're pleased to announce our newest product, Post Haste for Mac. Post Haste is a tool for organizing your projects. Everyone has their own way of structuring project folders on their hard disk. Post Haste simplifies this by allowing you to assign folder templates for different project types or scenarios, such as editing, visual effects and motion graphics.

When you start a new project, launch Post Haste and enter a few details about the project such as the project title, client name and the name of the editor. Choose a template and the directory you wish to place the new project folder into and click Create Project. Post Haste will copy the contents of your template into a new folder for that particular project. It's a big timesaver.

Post Haste was originally conceived and developed by Paul Conigliaro and we have now taken over the project, although Paul is still involved. Post Haste 2.0 is a complete rewrite of the application. You can read Paul's thoughts on the new version here.

We've completely overhauled the interface and provided the ability to setup an unlimited number of templates and filename parameters.

Templates can now be setup directly within the application through the built-in template editor. The location of templates can be customized, allowing you to store them in a shared location on your network to make them available to everyone.

One new and very useful feature is folder breaks. Folder breaks allow you to break parameters across folders, turning a project name like Client_Project_Current Date to Client > Project > Current Date. To get an idea of how this function works, watch the filename preview at the bottom of the window update as you toggle the Folder Break check boxes on and off in preferences. This is explained in more detail in the user manual.

To get a better idea of what Post Haste has to offer, take a look at our latest podcast episode that gives a general overview:

Post Haste is available as a free download from our site. Existing Post Haste 1.x users will need to download the software manually. It is also available on the Mac App Store, making it our first application on the store.

We're very interested in hearing feedback on Post Haste 2.0 from new and existing users alike. Use the links in the Help menu within the application or use the contact form to let us know what you think of the new version.

A quick note on the Final Cut Pro X XML format

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:35:59 MDT

Apple released a Final Cut Pro X update today which added several much-needed features, one of which was XML import and export. I've seen a lot of confusion on Twitter so I'm going to clarify some terminology.

XML is a format for ordering data within a file. XMEML is a subset that Final Cut Pro 7 and below uses for creating a plain-text version of a Final Cut Pro project or sequence that other applications can read. The data is ordered in much the same way as it is within the project file, with the browser contents at the top, followed by the sequences, tracks and the media within.

FCPXML is the new subset for Final Cut Pro X. It is organized in the way FCPX organizes its data internally, which is completely different from the Final Cut Pro 7 way. You have resources at the top (all files and generators within the project) followed by a single sequence with the storylines and clips inside. There are no tracks and each clip is organized into a parent-child relationship rather than chronological order. Timing information such as in and out points are expressed in time units rather than frame units.

So the two formats are completely different and there is no way to directly import FCP 7 XMEML into Final Cut Pro X or vice versa. Apple seems to be leaving this up to third-parties. DaVinci Resolve supports FCPXML and XMEML so it may be possible to convert one to the other (I haven't tested this). Some features will not translate back and forth because they don't exist in the other application.

Currently XML in and out exists only as a menu command. There is no way for applications to automatically communicate with FCPX at this time. Update: Apple just confirmed you can programatically send an XML file to FCPX but there is no way of receiving XML data yet. It is also not possible to update an existing project - importing or sending an XML file will create new projects and events.

Also note that for some reason, you can't export project-based XML when the project is loaded. You have to go back to the Project Library, select the project name and then export the XML.

As you may know, lack of XML in and out prevented us from granting feature parity with Final Cut Pro 7 users in Pro Media Tools and our other products. We're going to begin integrating support in stages, so expect updates very soon.

Update: It would appear that the XML export function in its current implementation doesn't preserve important information, which is a problem when roundtripping. We still aim to support it in our applications and hopefully these issues will be addressed by Apple very soon.

Editmote 1.0.2 released - Customizable keyboard layouts and more

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:26:30 MDT

We've just released Editmote 1.0.2 with some great new features. Editmote is an iOS application to remotely control your editing software. Add markers and control playback and volume levels - all without having to leave your chair.

Version 1.0.2 adds a much-requested feature: customizable keyboard layouts. If you have customized the default keyboard layout for your editing application, you can now go into the Editmote preference pane and change the default layout to match the changes that you made. You can also use this feature to map unused buttons to extra functions within your application.

Editmote supports Final Cut Pro 6 and above, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer 5 and above, QuickTime Player 7, QuickTime Player X, Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5 and above and Adobe After Effects CS 5 and above. However, you can use the Keyboard Layouts tab in the preference pane to add an unlimited number of additional applications.

The full list of changes is available here. When upgrading, remember to install both the new iOS application and the new preference pane otherwise you won't get all of the extra features in this version. The preference pane is available on the right-hand side of the Editmote page.

Editmote is a useful addition to an editor's toolkit. Find out more with our overview video and check it out on the App Store.

Cut Notes 1.0.4 released

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:10:46 MDT

Yesterday we released Cut Notes 1.0.4, a maintenance update for our iPad note-taking application. Cut Notes makes it easy to create timecode notes during a screening.

The changes in this version are as follows:

Fixed a crash when displaying a popover

Fixed an iOS 5 glitch with text field animations

Fixed an issue where timecode values for existing cuts would change when modifying the project's start timecode

Quick Start tutorial can now be viewed in portrait mode

Cut Notes makes a great addition to an editor's toolkit. Find out more in our overview video and check it out on the App Store.

Pro Media Tools 1.0.5 released

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:03:33 MDT

Last week we released Pro Media Tools 1.0.5, a small maintenance update for our suite of tools to streamline media management. It fixes some XML issues, reduces memory usage in Edit Detector and speeds up Quick Bins.

The changes are as follows:

Edit Detector - Option to export the first frame of each shot as a JPEG image

Edit Detector - Reduced memory usage

Gamma Shift Detector now remembers previously-opened files

Project Overview - Fixed an issue where a project could fail to import if invalid characters were in the XML data

Project Overview - Fixed an issue where the Position column may not sort correctly

Quick Bins - Speed boost when creating Smart Bins and Smart Bin Ranges

General bug fixes, tweaks and improvements

Pro Media Tools is an essential toolkit for post production professionals. Download the free 15-day trial to see how it can enhance your workflow.

18 features Adobe should borrow from Final Cut Pro 7

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:24:30 MDT

Apple's recent obsolescence of Final Cut Studio has forced a lot of us to reexamine which editing platform we want to use for future work. Ironically, Adobe Premiere Pro is a much easier transition for FCP 7 users than Final Cut Pro X due to its similar interface, support for old FCP projects and ability to use FCP's keyboard shortcuts.

The transition to Premiere is easier than any other NLE but there are lots of little things that I miss from Final Cut Pro. Here's a list of some of them, in no particular order.

1. Cutting on the fly

The Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut in Final Cut Pro can be used to make a cut on the timeline at the current playhead position. While Premiere also has a keyboard shortcut for cutting (Cmd+K), it pauses playback when it does so. There is no way to cut and continue playing.

2. Sixteen angles in a multiclip

Premiere Pro is limited only to four multicam angles.

3. Audio mixer affecting clip levels

Unlike Final Cut Pro, the audio mixer in Premiere doesn't work on a clip-by-clip basis. Every adjustment affects the entire track.

4. Multi-colored markers and marker lists

It took such a long time for colored markers to be introduced in Final Cut Pro 7 that I was sad to see them disappear in FCPX. Premiere needs this too.

Final Cut Pro can also export text-based marker lists, which is a great way of sending markers to another application. If Adobe were to implement this, I would also recommend they include a way of importing markers from a list, which Final Cut Pro unfortunately lacks.

5. Choosing attributes to paste

Like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere has a useful Paste Attributes command. However, unlike FCP, this function does not allow you to specify which attributes you would like to paste - it just pastes everything. This is often not what you want.

6. Close Gap command

Ctrl-G in FCP can be used to easily close a gap in your timeline. There is no equivalent keyboard shortcut in Premiere to do this in one step.

Update: This one seems to have been misunderstood by a lot of people so I'll repeat it with additional emphasis: there is no way to do this in one step. There are many ways to do this in more than one step.

7. Multiple open projects

Only one project can be open at a time in Premiere. There is no way to refer back to another project without closing the first one.

8. Partial renders

When you cancel a render halfway through, Premiere discards the entire render file, unlike Final Cut Pro where the portion you rendered remains valid.

9. Pitch correction when using JKL keys

Using the JKL keys to navigate through media in Premiere can sometimes be tricky because the audio becomes high-pitched and difficult to understand.

10. No way to scroll tracks vertically with the scroll wheel

Scrolling your mouse vertically scrolls the Premiere Pro timeline horizontally. This is useful if your mouse is only capable of vertical scrolling, but if you have a trackpad or a mouse with a scroll ball, there is no way to scroll vertically to see extra tracks. There should at least be a preference for this behavior.

(FCP tip: if you have a mouse with a vertical scroll wheel only, hold down Cmd when scrolling and it will scroll horizontally.)

11. No through edits

There is no indicator icon to show a through edit. A through edit is a cut within a clip where the frames on either side of the cut are adjacent to each other. It appears to the viewer as if there is no cut at all, and in most cases it is unnecessary and should be removed.

12. No ability to search for clips to reconnect

When media goes offline, you can browse to the location of the file if you know where it is but there is no way to search your entire hard drive.

13. Tracks have to be selected when cutting clips onto the timeline

When inserting or overwriting a clip to the timeline in Final Cut Pro, the tracks that the video and audio will end up on are controlled by the buttons in the patch panel that are normally marked v1, a1 and a2. If you don't want to insert a track, click the button in the patch panel to disconnect it.

In Premiere things work differently. The patch panels AND the tracks need to be selected in order for this to work. If you want to insert video on video track 2 without any audio and have disconnected the A1 patch button, having an audio track selected will insert a blank space into that track. It seems redundant for patch buttons and audio tracks to need to be selected in order for this to work as expected when only patch buttons are needed in other NLEs.

Walter Biscardi gives a video overview of this problem here.

14. No timecode overlay

Final Cut Pro 7 finally brought us a long-requested timecode overlay window. While Premiere does show timecode in the Info window, this is not a direct equivalent.

15. No temporary snapping toggle

In Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 and higher, if you drag a clip and press the N key to toggle snapping, snapping will be switched on or off only for the duration of the drag. Once you let go of the clip, snapping reverts to its previous value. I found this feature very useful.

16. No function to mark audio peaks

Final Cut Pro can place markers on a clip whenever an audio peak occurs. There is no such function in Premiere.

17. No dupe detection

While you can view how many times an entire clip has been used, there is no way to see if a particular frame has been used more than once. This is crucial for film projects that will be having a negative cut.

18. Fewer options for clip markers than sequence markers

Sequence markers in Premiere Pro allow you to set a name, description, duration and various other options. Clip markers cannot be customized at all.

This is a list of things I think FCP does better than Premiere. In some cases, Premiere has no equivalent feature. In others, the feature exists but I feel it is lacking. None of these problems have prevented me from editing successfully with Premiere, but things would be smoother and certain workflows much easier if these features were present. I'm sure Adobe has been getting a lot of feedback from former FCP users and I have high hopes for CS6.

Sound off in the comments if you can think of any more things Adobe should borrow from Final Cut Pro.

Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.1 released - Avid AVX2 support, new System Toolkit options and more

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:23:44 MDT

Last week we released Pro Maintenance Tools 2.0.1, which adds several new features to our suite of tools for maintaining and optimizing your editing system.

System Toolkit has several new additions to make Lion behave more like Snow Leopard. You can disable window launch animations, prevent Lion restoring windows when relaunching apps, re-enable key repeating, disable automatic spellcheck and restore the old keyboard shortcuts for open and save dialogs.

You can also easily show or hide the current user's Library folder with a single click, which can be useful even if you have not yet upgraded to Lion.

Other new features include support for Avid AVX2 plugins in Plugin Manager and extra Housekeeper tasks. There are many new bug fixes too, including several for Pro Admin. The full list of changes is here.

Pro Maintenance Tools is an essential toolkit for editors and post production professionals on the Mac. Download the 15-day trial today to see how it can simplify troubleshooting and maintaining your system.

What features will you miss from Final Cut Studio?

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:03:03 MDT

What made Final Cut Studio great was the sheer number of tools you got for the price. The demise of Final Cut Studio has left a void in the market which the closest competitor, Adobe Creative Suite, does not yet fill completely.

We've had several people come to us in recent weeks with requests to replicate certain Final Cut Studio functions that they depended on because they wanted the piece of mind that these functions would still be available after they switched to another NLE.

We implemented two of these in the latest version of QT Edit in Pro Media Tools - Cinema Tools-style frame rate conforming and a replication of QuickTime Pro's export dialog. The latter is useful for people who don't want to purchase a separate QuickTime Pro license, which they used to get free of charge with their Final Cut Studio installation.

The frame rate conform function is an improvement upon the Cinema Tools equivalent because it allows you to specify a custom frame rate. The advantage of implementing these features into applications that have not been long-abandoned by their manufacturer is that these features will continue to be improved over time.

We're interested to hear of any other Final Cut Studio features you use that could feasibly be added to our software. We're not planning to create our own versions of Cinema Tools or Color, but are keen to hear of any small features from the suite that would fit well into our existing applications. Let us know in the comments below or via our contact form.

Pro Media Tools 1.0.4 released - significant performance improvements and more

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:16:10 MDT

Last week we released Pro Media Tools 1.0.4, which adds many new features and optimizations to our suite of tools for simplifying media management and streamlining workflows.

There have been several performance optimizations so many of the apps are now much faster than before, particularly Quick Bins and Project Overview.

We've added several new features to Auto Transfer based on your feedback, namely ARRI Alexa support, an option to bounce the Dock icon when the transfer is complete, the ability to choose a custom archival folder in Preferences and an option for SHA-1 checksums instead of MD5.

Project Overview saw a lot of changes too - markers now load significantly faster, it is much quicker to batch modify a large number of marker settings and there were lots of bug fixes including an issue where clip usage counts were set to zero.

Quick Bins is now significantly faster when saving to XML or sending data to Final Cut Pro. Export times from my test project went from around 15 seconds to less than 5.

QT Edit had two new additions, both of which were in response to customer feedback. The first is a frame rate conforming function, similar to the one in Cinema Tools, used to quickly convert from one frame rate to another without transcoding. It's actually more flexible than the one in Cinema Tools because you are not limited to common frame rates and can enter any rate you like into the box. This feature is located under the Settings tab when the movie is selected in the track view.

The second new feature is the ability to transcode to other codecs, just like QuickTime Pro. This feature is located under File > Export > QuickTime Conversion.

Both of these features were requested by customers because they were concerned with the obsolescence of Final Cut Studio and wanted piece of mind that such functions would continue to be available to them.

There were many other changes and features and you can read the full changelog here.

Pro Media Tools is an essential toolkit for post production professionals. Download the free 15-day trial to see how it can speed up your workflows.