Digital Rebellion Tutorials Blog Category

Making relative Adobe asset paths work in Post Haste templates

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 05:18:48 +0000

If you're using Post Haste to create templates for your Adobe project files, you may have run into an issue where the project file still points to assets in their original location on disk, not relative to the template path.

Here's how to get relative paths working:

Create a new folder to temporarily store the files.
Recreate the relevant folders from your template. So if you store video in a Media folder and the project file in a Projects folder, create those folders inside the new directory.
Copy (not move) the assets and project files into the folders you created, exactly the way they are setup in the template.
Open up the project in your Adobe app and relink to the assets inside the temporary folder, then save the project and close it.
Â Move the project folder from the temporary directory back into your Post Haste template, overwriting the project file if it's already there.
Delete the temporary folder.

Post Haste is a free app for Mac and PC that makes it easy to create new projects from templated folder structures. To find out more, check out the feature list, read the user manual or download the app for Mac or PC.

How to import sequences into Premiere Pro from XML without duplicating media

Wed, 14 Dec 2016 07:34:57 +0000

Premiere Pro stores metadata that helps it determine which files exist in a project, however when roundtripping via XML through a non-Adobe app this metadata can get lost, resulting in Premiere duplicating all of the existing media in the project upon import.

Here's how to prevent that:

Create a new, temporary Premiere project. Because Premiere can only open one project at once, your current project will close.
Import the XML file into the temporary project and save it. Relink any files that need it.
Reopen your main project.
Click the Media Browser tab at the bottom left and browse to the location of the temporary project on your hard drive.Â Select it and after Dynamic Link has loaded, the contents of the temporary project will appear in the Media Browser.
Navigate to your imported sequence and double-click it to load it in the Source Monitor in the top left.
Drag the video from the Source Monitor into your project / bin to import it into the project. Premiere may reimport certain things like titles but your media files will not be duplicated.

ARRI Alexa dailies workflow with DaVinci Resolve 12

Mon, 1 Feb 2016 05:27:44 +0000

I've been working on a feature film shot on the ARRI Alexa and Alexa Mini and had to come up with a workflow for syncing and rendering out dailies. DaVinci Resolve 12 proved useful because all of the prep work could be done in one application all at once, with the added bonus of being able to roundtrip again after picture lock.

Step 1: Offloading

I used our very own Auto Transfer tool to offload the memory cards to two hard drives at once with checksum authentication to ensure the copies were identical to the source files. The media files were then backed up to LTO tape at the end of the day.

Step 2: Organize and sync clips

In Resolve 12, create a new project, then go to File > Project Settings and switch off Use local version for new clips in timeline from the Color page. This will be important later on.

Then bring the video and audio files into your Media Pool and organize them in whatever manner makes sense to you. I chose to create bins for each scene (be careful what names you choose for the bins).

On this particular movie no audio was shot in-camera so the only way to automatically sync audio and video is by timecode. Select the video and audio files in your bin, right-click and choose Auto-sync Audio Based on Timecode.

In theory this is all you should need to do to get perfect sync, but in practice timecode can drift or it may be set incorrectly (or not at all) in the camera or sound recorder.

An additional reason for splitting things into bins is because if you are shooting time-of-day timecode, you may have multiple clips with the same timecode that could confuse Resolve and cause it to sync clips up to audio from a different scene.

In the event that the audio is not synced correctly, open the video in the viewer, scrub to the exact frame that the slate hits on and write down the timecode for that frame. Then open up the audio file and stop it on the exact frame that you hear the clap of the slate (in a lot of cases this will be an obvious short spike in the waveform towards the beginning of the file). Then right-click the audio file in the Media Pool and select Clip Attributes. In the Timecode pane, enter the timecode from the video you noted down earlier. Then repeat the earlier step of selecting the video and audio files, right-clicking and choosing Auto-sync Audio Based On Timecode again.

(If you can't hear the slate, go to the Audio pane of Clip Attributes and make sure your extra audio channels aren't muted.)

This will modify the timecode of the audio file so it can then be matched up automatically. You may be wondering why automatic matching is so important when you could just manually sync clips in a sequence. There is an important reason for this that will be clear later on.

Now select all the video clips then right-click and select Create Timeline Using Selected Clips.

Step 3: Grading

Open the timeline then switch to the Color tab and grade the clips as you normally would.

Step 4: Render

In the Deliver tab, choose the Individual source clips option under Render timeline as and Use source filename under Save as. This will export each clip in the sequence as an individual movie file with the sameÂ filename as its original source file - this is important to make it easy to reconnect back to the high-res source files later. Because these are offline clips we're rendering as ProRes Proxy to keep file sizes small but keeping the resolution the same as the source files.

This is why it was necessary to auto-sync the clips in the earlier step. I could find no way to manually sync audio clips and then link the audio back to the original source file. That synchronization will only exist in the sequence itself and is ignored if you choose the Individual Source Clips option.

Mark in and out points on the timeline at the bottom of the Deliver page to make sure it's going to render out all of the clips, then click Add to Queue. It's easiest to queue up lots of sequences and render them all out in one go.

Step 5: Edit

Import the rendered proxy files into the NLE of your choice and edit.

Step 6: Roundtripping back to Resolve

After editorial, export an XML from your NLE and reimport back into your Resolve project.Â (With Avid you need to export an AAF and things become a bit more complicated but this is covered in the user manual.)

On the Load XML dialog, deselect Automatically import clips into media pool (because they already exist in the media pool) and deselect Use color information if you edited in FCPX. Then click Ok.

Resolve should present you with a timeline from your NLE, however often things will not translate fully and need to be fixed. A great way to do this is to render out the full sequence from your NLE and then navigate to it in the media pool's browser. Right-click the file and select Add as Offline Reference Clip. Then right-click the timeline in the media pool window and select Timelines > Link Offline Reference Clip and choose the clip you just added.

Switch to the Edit pane and click the icon that looks like a filmstrip underneath the left-hand viewer. Choose Offline and Resolve will show the file you rendered from your NLE. You can then scrub through or play your timeline and it will show the reference clip alongside the corresponding frame of your timeline so you can compare them.

If any clips are offline you can right-click the timeline in the browser and select Timelines > Reconform from Bin(s), then select the bins with your source media. If the clips still won't reconnect, select the relevant clip in the media pool then right-click the offline clip in the timeline and choose Force Conform with Selected Media Pool Clip.

(At this point you may want to media-manage the timeline onto another drive to save disk space but I opted not to.)

Now go to the Color tab. If you don't see the grades you did previously, select all of the clips (you may need to click the Clips button at the top to see them) then right-click and choose Use Remote Grades (you may need to right-click again and choose Update All Thumbnails to see the changes).

Because you switched off local grades by default at the start of the project your grades were remote, which means they will stick across different timelines and if you adjust the grade of a clip, any other copies of it on your timeline (and throughout the project) will also be updated. In some cases this may not be desired, so you can right-click and choose Copy Remote Grades to Local so that your changes only apply to that specific instance of the clip.

Step 7: Sending back to the NLE

After grading you'll probably need to send it back to your NLE again for titling and syncing with the finished audio. You can do this one of two ways: export each clip individually like in Step 4 and then reconnect in your NLE (media managing before doing so will help a lot) or render out a single QuickTime file of the entire timeline. If you don't expect many editorial changes at this point the latter is simpler, which is what I opted for.

Rewrapping MP4 to MOV with CinePlay

Wed, 27 May 2015 06:24:29 +0000

I recently had a need to rewrap an MP4 to MOV without transcoding the existing H.264 video when it occurred to me that CinePlay for Mac makes an excellent rewrapping tool, despite this purpose not actually occurring to us during development.

Here's how to do it:

1. Open up the MP4 you wish to convert in CinePlay.

2. Go to File > Export.

3. Under both Video and Audio, select Don't Transcode (pass-through) and click Save.

The movie will be rewrapped to a separate MOV extremely quickly. Depending on how much video data needs to be copied over to the new file, it could be as short as a few seconds.

Fixing offline files in media managed XML

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 03:54:25 +0000

When you media manage a project in Final Cut Pro 7 and then export to XML for importing into a third-party application like Davinci Resolve*, you may get an error message from that application saying it cannot reconnect to the files.

The reason for this is that when FCP 7 creates a new media file (which it does if it trims unused content) it gets created without a .mov extension which can confuse other applications into thinking it is not a media file.

Here's how to fix it:

1. Use a batch renaming tool to find and replace -v with -v.mov (note the dash at the beginning) for the files in your media managed folder.

2. Open up the XML file in a text editor like TextWrangler and find and replace

-v</pathurl>

with -v.mov</pathurl>
.

3. Save the XML file then try the import again.

* The "ignore file extensions" option in Davinci Resolve is supposed to prevent issues like this but this problem still occurs when that box is checked.

Understanding render options in Adobe Premiere Pro

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 19:10:42 +0000

Adobe Premiere Pro's export dialog features several rendering options that are not widely understood. All of them are switched off by default because they either degrade quality or increase rendering times, however they can all be useful in particular situations.

Render at Maximum Depth

This renders content at 32-bit color depth. Very few output formats actually support 32-bit color but processing at this depth can produce better quality for compositing and effects operations before being scaled back to the output format's bit depth. It can reduce or eliminate artifacts and banding in your video but that benefit comes at the cost of an increase in processing time, so only use it when completely necessary.

You may benefit from this option in the following situations:

Your source media has a higher bit depth than the format you are outputting to
Your sequence contains heavy compositing or lots of layered effects (particularly 32-bit color effects)
Your sequence contains very high contrast or very low contrast images (for example subtle gradients)

You can read more about Premiere's color processing here.

Maximum Render Quality

This is a high-quality resize operation that should be used when outputting to a different frame size from your sequence. It can reduce aliasing (jagged edges) when resizing images but is of no use when outputting to the same frame size. This operation significantly increases render times so only use it when resizing.

Frame Blending

This option smooths out juddery motion when exporting to a different frame rate than your sequence. While it may improve motion quality compared to not having it switched on, it's not considered a high quality option. You will probably get better results from exporting with the sequence frame rate and then converting in Adobe Media Encoder, Apple Compressor, a standards-conversion tool like JES Deinterlacer or a hardware conversion device like Teranex.

Use Previews

This results in reduced export times because your sequence render files are used instead of having to re-render the sequence. This is of course assuming that you have a significant amount of your timeline already rendered, which may not be the case if you have a fast computer or your sequence is simple enough to be played back without rendering.

Generally you should not use this option because it is likely to result in reduced image quality, particularly when outputting to a different format from your sequence and also because it will bypass the quality options detailed above. It should only be used where processing time is more important than image quality, such as previews or rough cuts for example, although these are likely to be simple enough that this option doesn't significantly affect processing times.

How to protect your video content

Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:35:48 +0000

Sometimes it is necessary to protect video content against unauthorized redistribution. Here's an overview of the main ways of doing this.

Visible Watermarking

This involves placing text or a logo over the video to show the name of the company owning the content.

Pros

Simple and free
Doesn't require specialist software to create or view
Its obvious visibility provides a deterrent
Difficult to remove if placed in an area that cannot be cropped out

Cons

Disrupts the movie
Does not provide any physical protection mechanisms
No feasible way to tie a movie to a particular person
May increase movie encoding times

Invisible Watermarking

Some companies offer invisible watermarking by tagging content with a fingerprint. One such example would be Digimarc Guardian.

You would tag the movie and give it to the end user, then if it appears on a file-sharing website you can download it and read the tag to find out which user shared it.

Pros

Quick to apply to an existing movie without re-encoding
Can be tied to a specific user
Does not disrupt the movie

Cons

Requires specialist software to create and view
Does not provide any physical protection mechanisms

Content Protection Plugins

Browser plugins like Flash and Silverlight offer their own Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection systems.

Pros

A lot of control over exactly what the user can and cannot do. For example, you can make a movie unplayable after a certain time period.
Offers a physical protection mechanism

Cons

Requires a plugin, which may cause problems with less tech-savvy users
May not be playable on mobile devices
May be too expensive for smaller publishers (Adobe does not publish Adobe Access pricing)

HTML5 Content Protection (Encrypted Media Extensions)

This uses web technologies to allow content protection without the need for a plugin. It is frequently misunderstood as a protection mechanism in itself, but in actuality it is just a means of linking HTML5 web video with existing third-party protection systems, so a lot of the pros and cons of plugins still apply.

Pros

No plugins needed
A lot of control over exactly what the user can and cannot do. For example, you can make a movie unplayable after a certain time period.
Offers a physical protection mechanism

Cons

Currently very little browser support
Needs to be integrated with an existing DRM system
Expensive

Streaming

Streaming a file can make it difficult for users to download it, and for someone people this is all that is needed. This can be achieved with proprietary technologies like Adobe Media Server or HTML5 technologies like HTTP Live Streaming.

Pros

Difficult to download files
Fast playback times
Additional features can be added like automatically changing playback quality to match the user's connection

Cons

Requires preparation of the files in advance
Can still be downloaded by tech-savvy users with specific software
Some technologies require a streaming server

So which is best? That entirely depends on the content you are trying to protect.

If you are trying to prevent a paying viewer from sharing a movie, DRM is the best way to go.
If you are trying to prevent clients from using work in progress media without paying you, visible watermarking and/or streaming may be best.
If you are trying to prevent a movie being leaked before its release, a combination of physical preventions, user tracking and deterrents may be required.

Useful Avid Console Commands

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:14:03 +0000

Avid Media Composer features a little-known Console window that allows you to enter commands to tune performance, improve debugging and enable hidden features. Many of the commands are aimed at plugin developers but here is a list of several that are generally useful.

To access the Console, go to Tools > Console. Note that many commands will need to be re-applied the next time you launch Media Composer.

Allow editing over network drives

By default Avid will only recognize locally-attached hard disks. You can switch off this limitation to enable editing over a network share. Note: do not let others access the project at the same time.

AllDrives 1 - Switches it on
AllDrives 2 - Switches it off

List installed AMA plugins

Displays a list of installed AMA plugins and their version numbers. Plugins can also be enabled, disabled and removed through our Plugin Manager app.

AMA_ListPlugins

Cache audio before playback

Specifies how many seconds of audio to cache before starting playback. If you are getting ADM_COREAUDIO_UNDERRUN or similar errors, you may benefit from increasing this number. You can also decrease it on a fast computer to reduce the time taken to begin playback.

audiopreread [number in seconds]

Set still image default frame duration

When importing an image via the Import dialog the length can only be specified in seconds. This command allows you to specify it down to a frame.

Cmd_setimportslidelength [number in frames]

Conform imported QuickTimes to current sequence frame rate

This applies a rudimentary conform feature by overriding a movie's frame rate with the rate of the project. This can also be done with QT Edit.

IgnoreQTRate 1 - Switches it on
IgnoreQTRate 0 - Switches it off

Cache multicam frames

Multicam playback is very taxing on a computer because it requires the playback of multiple video and audio streams at once. To help improve this you can increase the number of frames Avid caches before playback starts.

multicampreload [number of frames]

Load precomputes into a monitor

Allows precomputes (render files) to be loaded into a monitor for playback and editing. You'll need to make precomputes visible in the bin before you can do this, by going to Bin > Set Bin Display and ticking Rendered Effects.

subsys monpane debug

Set timecode break threshold

This sets the interval at which to detect timecode breaks, in frames. Setting it to a high number might miss some timecode breaks; setting it to a low number might cause false positives. The default is 6.

TCBreakTolerance [a number between 2 and 12]

Toggle between PSF and progressive

Outputs video as Progressive Segmented Frames (PSF) instead of pure Progressive. Useful for compatibility with certain displays that don't support Progressive at higher resolutions or frame rates.

TogglePSF 1 - Switches PSF on
TogglePSF 0 - Switches Progressive on

Managing frame sequences in Batch Renamer

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:57:59 +0000

There are many tools for batch renaming, including Finder in OS X 10.10 Yosemite, however most of these tools are not built with film and TV workflows in mind and therefore don't understand or operate well with image sequences.

Batch Renamer in Pro Media Tools has several features that make it invaluable for image sequence workflows.

Detect frame gaps

Did you render the correct portion of the clip? Did you copy every file you intended to? Batch Renamer allows you to check for missing frame numbers to help spot such issues.

Edit sequences

If you need to remove a shot, delete its frames and then use the Close Number Gaps option to renumber the other frames to fill in the gap.

Offset / reorder frame numbers

Did you render out with the wrong start frame? Choose Offset Frame Numbers to add or subtract a number of frames from each file. Alternatively, drag the files in the window to get them in the desired order manually then choose Reorder Frames.

Pad frame numbers

If you rendered out with the wrong frame padding (leading zeroes) it's easy to change this in Batch Renamer.

Reverse sequences

Need a VFX shot to play backwards without re-rendering it? Choose the Reverse Frame Numbers option.

Batch Renamer is just one tool in the Pro Media Tools suite. Other popular tools include QT Edit, for batch-editing the properties of QuickTime movies (changing metadata, timecode, managing tracks) and Video Check, for locating faults in a video (flash frames, long frames, audio peaks).

To find out more about Pro Media Tools, check out the features page, watch the overview video, read the user manual or download the free 15-day trial.

Fixing missing database errors in DaVinci Resolve

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:09:35 +0000

Upon launching DaVinci Resolve you may see the following error:

"Resolve did not locate a compatible or upgradable database."

Clicking past it shows an empty project view.

There are several possible causes including database corruption but a common one is caused by your PostgreSQL database being too large. This can cause PostgreSQL to request more shared memory than is allowed by OS X or Linux.

To determine the exact error on OS X, you can launch the Start Server app in your /Applications/PostgreSQL folder. If it fails to launch it will show an error message after about a minute or so. On Ubuntu the equivalent command would be sudo service postgresql start.

The error may not have the exact wording shown above but will be labeled "could not created shared memory segment".

There are two ways to fix this problem - either permanently or temporarily until your next reboot. I'd recommend trying the temporary option first because if something goes wrong you can just restart to fix it.

Temporary Fix

1. Enter the following command into the Terminal located in /Applications/Utilities:

sudo sysctl -w kern.sysv.shmmax=41943040

You'll need to enter your admin password after typing this.

2. Launch the Start Server app or type sudo service postgresql start on Ubuntu. If all went well, it should not report an error and Resolve should be able to see the database when you relaunch it.

3. If you still get an error, try the command again with a higher value then repeat Step 2. The memory limit is specified in bytes so multiply the number of megabytes by 1024 twice. PostgreSQL documentation recommends you use 1/4 of the available memory for this, although I was able to get it working with much less.

Permanent Fix

1. Back up the file /etc/sysctl.conf.

2. Use the following command to edit the file:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

3. Add the following line (or edit it if it already exists):

kern.sysv.shmmax=41943040

4. Press Ctrl + O to save the file, then reboot.

5. Resolve should now be able to see the database. If it can't, try increasing the memory limit further and reboot.

If you get into problems and your system refuses to boot, either boot into safe mode or use target disk mode to copy the backup file and then reboot.

Using Preference Manager with Final Cut Pro 10.1

Wed, 8 Jan 2014 19:14:14 +0000

Final Cut Pro 10.1 includes some major changes to the inner workings of the app, including the addition of libraries for managing projects and events.

The locations of your libraries are stored in the preference files, so after trashing preferences with Preference Manager you may not see any projects or events after relaunching FCPX. This will also occur after using other tools that rely on Preference Manager such as QuickFix.

To get them back, go to File > Open Library > Other > Locate in FCPX and browse for the library files on disk.

Our recommended workflow for all applications is not to trash preferences, but to instead preemptively backup the preferences when they are stable and then restore the backup when things go wrong.

How to sync metadata between QuickTime movies

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:17:32 +0000

It's common nowadays for videos to be processed through one or more applications prior to editorial. Unfortunately that can result in camera metadata being stripped from the processed files. This can cause lots of problems later on if you need to relink back to the original files for grading.

QT Edit solves this by letting you import metadata from another QuickTime movie. Here's how to do it:

1. Open up the destination movie.

2. Go to File > Import > Metadata. Browse for the camera original source file.

3. Select the metadata items you'd like to import or just import all metadata from the source file.

4. Save the destination file.

Being able to choose the metadata that is imported allows you to copy metadata fields between files even if the source file isn't the camera original version. Metadata can be added, removed or edited after import.

Pro Media Tools helps studios, production companies and freelancers alike forge new workflows every day. To find out more view the feature list, read the user manual, watch the overview video or download the free trial.

How to locate corrupt clips in your timeline

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 17:31:56 +0000

Does your editing application crash when you scrub to a particular point in the timeline? Does it crash or fail at the same point each time you export or render? It's likely that you have a corrupt clip or render file in your timeline.

Corrupt render files are easy to resolve. Most NLEs offer a way to clear out render files, so it's best to try this first to see if it fixes the problem.

If that fails, you'll need to figure out the exact clip that is corrupt. The manual method is to divide and conquer - split the timeline in half, then half again, and so on until you narrow down the offending clip. This can be very time consuming so an easier way is to use Corrupt Clip Finder to scan the project and test each file it finds.

It will scan the project files from most NLEs (FCP 7, FCPX, Adobe Premiere and other apps) but you can scan an entire media directory for applications not supported. In fact, for large projects it can be quicker to scan the media directory than the project file.

Not every file it flags up will be corrupt, as it will also flag up files that could potentially cause problems, such as CMYK image files or video larger than 4K in FCP 7. You can see the reason it flagged up a file by hovering over the filename in the list.

Once the files are identified, you can choose to quarantine them by moving them to another folder, delete them or attempt a repair. You can also color code them in Finder, which can be useful for highlighting files that appear to work fine but may potentially cause an issue for future reference.

Avid Codec Guide

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:38:01 +0000

Avid Media Composer and Symphony ship with a wide range of old and modern codecs. They can also be downloaded free of charge for systems without Avid products installed.

SD codecs

Avid DV - SD codec used when exporting DV material
Avid MPEG2 50 - SD codec for MPEG 30, 40 or 50 material
Avid Meridien Compressed - SD codec for compressed material
Avid Meridien Uncompressed - SD codec used for 1:1 OMF outputs

Meridien Compressed has various compression ratios ranging from 2:1 (36 Mbps) to 35:1 (12 Mbps).

SD / HD codecs

Avid 1:1x * - 8-bit lossless 4:2:2 codec that produces very large file sizes
Avid Packed - Essentially the same as 1:1x except it supports 10-bit media
Avid RGBPacked - RGB version of the Packed codec
Avid DV100 - HD codec used for exporting DV100 media

* x normally refers to 10-bit codecs but in the case of Avid 1:1x it was used to designate MXF during the transition away from OMF

DNxHD Codecs

DNxHD is the most likely codec to be used in Media Composer. Each variant is named according to bitrate and bit depth, so for example DNxHD 120 means it's a 120 Mb/s 8-bit codec and DNxHD 185x means it's a 185 Mb/s 10-bit codec (the x indicates 10-bit).

Offline Codecs

DNxHD 36
DNxHD 60
DNxHD 80
DNxHD 90

Medium Quality Codecs

DNxHD 100
DNxHD 115
DNxHD 120

Mastering Codecs

DNxHD 145
DNxHD 175
DNxHD 185
DNxHD 185x
DNxHD 220
DNxHD 220x
DNxHD 440
DNxHD 440x

Similar Bitrate Codecs

Try to choose a codec that matches the bitrate of your acquisition format. All codec bitrates are calculated at 23.98 fps.

DNxHD 36 - DV, IMX40, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD
DNxHD 60 - DV50, IMX50, Apple Intermediate @ 1080, XDCAM HD422
DNxHD 100 - AVC Intra 100, Cineform 444 @ 720, Digibeta
DNxHD 115 - Cineform 422 @ 1080
DNxHD 120 - DVCPRO HD, Motion JPEG @ 1080
DNxHD 145 - HDCAM
DNxHD 220 - Sony SR Lite
DNxHD 440 - Uncompressed 422 10-bit @ 720, Sony SR SQ, HDCAM SR

Approximate ProRes equivalents

All codec bitrates are calculated at 1080p 23.98 fps.

ProRes Proxy - DNxHD 36
ProRes LT - DNxHD 80
ProRes 422 - DNxHD 115
ProRes HQ - DNxHD 175x
ProRes 4444 - DNxHD 440x (444) (although ProRes 444 is actually closer in bandwidth to DNxHD 220)

Other variants

Avid Media Composer 6 and higher can also wrap ProRes in an MXF wrapper. This is only available on the Mac version of Media Composer.

Calculating storage space

Our online calculator will calculate storage space for some of these but our Mac and iOS calculators have more options and codecs.

Syncing Cut Notes to Adobe Premiere CC

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:31:07 +0000

Adobe Premiere Pro CC now supports control surfaces, allowing us to significantly improve integration with Cut Notes. Plugins are no longer needed (although we will keep the plugin on our site for CS 6 users) and you can now control playback directly from the iPad.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Launch Audio MIDI Setup (in /Applications/Utilities) and double-click Network to open the MIDI Network Setup window (you may need to go to Window > Show MIDI Window first to see this).

2. Under My Sessions, click the + button and name your new session Cut Notes.

3. In Cut Notes, setup your project and then tap the cut to go to the note-taking view. Tap the sync button next to the timecode and choose MIDI.

4. The iPad will now appear in the Directory section of the MIDI Network Setup window. Select it and click Connect. (Make sure the rest of the options look like the screenshot too.)

5. In Premiere CC, go to Premiere Pro > Preferences > Control Surfaces. Click Add, then select Mackie.

6. Click Settings, select Mackie Control and click Edit (or Add if the window is empty). Then set Device Type to Mackie Control and the MIDI input and output devices to Network Cut Notes.

7. Close preferences and scrub or play your timeline. The timecode should appear in the Cut Notes window and you should be able to control playback with the buttons on the device.

5 hidden features in Adobe Premiere CS6

Mon, 27 May 2013 19:33:42 +0000

Adobe Premiere Pro has a little-known Console window that provides access to hidden functions. To access it, press Cmd+F12 on the Mac or Ctrl+F12 on the PC. You may have to also hold down Fn on a laptop.

A blank window will appear. Click the dropdown button in the top right and select Debug Database View.

A list of various hidden options will appear. Here are five useful things you can do with it.

Enable the Time Warp filter

Adobe disabled the Time Warp filter in CS5 and subsequent versions. If you still want to use it, change TimeWarpFilterEnabled to true then relaunch Premiere.

Suppress peak file generation

Peak files allow Premiere to cache waveform information so that it doesn't need to be regenerated every time the project opens. However, these files take up space on disk and the peak file generation process can take time for certain formats. If you'd like to disable peak file generation, change SuppressPeakFileGeneration to true.

Display out of sync indicators

When you unlink video and audio and then adjust it, Premiere does not show that the clips are out of sync. You can enable that by setting TL.SupportsUnlikedSyncIndicators to true.

Note: this only appears to work on video clips that were imported with audio attached, rather than clips where the audio was manually linked.

Apply QuickTime gamma level

This respects the gamma level of the QuickTime movie as specified in its gama atom (you can add this in QT Edit). To switch it on, set QTUseSourceGammaLevel to true.

Hide Adobe Media Encoder presets

You can hide the list of AME presets that appear in the Export dialog by setting AME.EnablePresetDB to true (yes, this is counter-intuitive).

Final Cut Pro X hangs when loading a project

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:17:54 +0000

Some of you may have experienced the beachball of death when FCPX tries to load a project and eventually resorted to force-quitting the app.

In most cases, the app hasn't hung at all but is just taking a really long time to open the project. If you leave it long enough (8-12 hours) it should eventually open. We recommend running our Project Repair tool to optimize the project file before doing this, as the optimization process lowers the file size and can shave off some loading time.

The reason it is taking so long is that the project has become too complex. A common cause of this is over-use of compound clips, especially compound clips inside multiclips. I have seen this lead to multi-gigabyte project files, even though the timeline was only a few minutes long.

Once the project opens successfully, begin the process of removing the compound clips. FCPX will hang for a short while whenever you try to do anything, but as you reduce the number of compound clips it will become more and more responsive.

How to quickly replace an audio track in a QuickTime movie

Tue, 4 Dec 2012 21:11:39 +0000

Sometimes you need to swap out an audio track if there's a problem or you need to provide multiple languages or different soundtracks.

Instead of compressing the video again, QT Edit makes it really easy to do this in just a few steps.

1. Open up the movie file in QT Edit.

2. Select the existing audio track and press the - button to delete it.

3. Click the + button and select Audio. Browse for the new audio, which can be an AIFF, WAV or another movie file.

Important: QT Edit inserts the track at the current playhead position so make sure the playhead is at the beginning. If you make a mistake, manually set the start point of the new track to 00:00:00:00.

4. Double-check sync in the preview window and then hit Save.

5. You will be asked if you want to flatten the movie. This makes the movie self-contained. In most cases you will want to flatten, but if you want to create a reference movie select Don't Flatten.

QT Edit is just one of many useful utilities in the Pro Media Tools suite. To find out more, check out the feature list, watch the overview video, read the user manual or download the 15-day trial.

Fixing Adobe Encore project corruption

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:40:41 +0000

This past weekend I used Adobe Encore for the first time to create a Blu-ray for an important screening. I'd previously tested the workflow and everything had worked well, but this was my first time using it on a project.

I initially had some issues encoding the Premiere Pro sequence to H.264 because Adobe Media Encoder told me it would take 42 hours, and after leaving it for a few hours it seemed to be making good on that promise. I eventually narrowed the problem down to a corrupt Dynamic Link cache which I trashed with CS Repair and got the more respectable prediction of 10 hours (it was a 90 minute feature with 10-bit RGB source files).

I then used Compressor to create a 5.1 AC3 file and brought both into Encore. I created the menus and timelines and then used the Preview function to check it. It went well until about three quarters of the way through the movie one of the character's lines started repeating over and over and over again for about ten minutes.

I checked the original source files and they were fine. I checked the AC3 and it was fine. I restarted Encore and the problem was still there. I cleared the media cache from within the preferences menu; no change. I thought it might just be the preview but the problem existed on a test disc that I burned.

I eventually traced it to project corruption. There is a file in your project directory called ProjectMedia.acx. This is what the end of the file looked like:

The file should end with the closing XML tag </EncoreProject> (and there should only be one) but extra data has been added at the end. To fix this, close Encore, open up the file in TextEdit and delete everything beyond the first </EncoreProject> tag.

Then trash your media cache. For some reason the button in preferences doesn't remove everything so I'd recommend removing all files from the media cache directories at ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common or by using Housekeeper.

I relaunched Encore, everything worked properly and I was able to create the disc and breathe a sigh of relief. I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on ProjectMedia.acx though because I just checked it again and more corruption has crept in.

How to import projects and events into Final Cut Pro X

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:32:01 +0000

Need to restore a backup or import a project from another system into FCPX? It's not as simple as it seems at first glance. You would think that you could just double-click the project file but that produces the following error:

Final Cut Pro X is expecting projects to be contained in a folder inside your Final Cut Projects directory (or Final Cut Events if you are importing an event). The default locations of these folders are in ~/Movies.

To successfully import these files, you must create a new directory inside your Final Cut Projects or Final Cut Events folder and then copy the project to this new directory. FCPX will determine the project name from the name of the directory but the project file does not need to have the same name.

It's also worth noting that there is a difference between double-clicking an XML file and importing it via File > Import > XML.

Double-clicking seems to import the file without modifying it, so you will get errors if a project already exists with this ID or the event is not in the exact location as specified in the XML file. However, if you import it via File > Import > XML, it is more intelligent and will assign a new ID if necessary and find the new location of the event if it has changed.

Avid AMA Best Practices

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:17:19 +0000

Avid Media Composer traditionally required all media files to be converted to its DNxHD Op-Atom MXF format but recent versions have allowed you to skip this process and import tapeless media instantly. This feature is called Avid Media Access (AMA). Media Composer ships with very few AMA plugins so to support additional camera formats you may need to download and install extra AMA plugins.

Using AMA is not without its pitfalls so here are some ways of reducing problems.

The first thing to determine is if AMA is a viable workflow for your project. It's useful for short projects with a fast turnaround but Avid can get bogged down with longer and more complex sequences, especially where multicam is involved. AMA can be very useful at importing additional metadata so a common workflow is to mount the AMA volume or link to the AMA files and then transcode.
It is recommended that you copy the camera media to another drive before importing. When doing so, make sure to keep the same folder structure and filenames as the original card or Avid may be unable to locate the media files or associated metadata. Auto Transfer is a useful tool for achieving this.
Some AMA plugins may use the same file types, which can cause a conflict if Media Composer doesn't know which plugin to use for a particular file. For example, the ARRI Alexa MXF plugin can conflict with the Avid MXF plugin. When linking to AMA files it is therefore important to specify the exact plugin in the Enable dropdown of the Link to AMA File(s) dialog.
Remember to unmount AMA volumes in Media Composer before unmounting them in the operating system.
AMA uses the Source field to identify the files. Beware of third-party applications that use the Tape Name field instead as they will not be able to relink in Media Composer 5.5 and below. A common workaround is to export an EDL of your sequence and then reimport it and relink. If you are using MC 6, be sure to select Allow relinking between tape and file based media in the Relink dialog.
If you change the tape name or other metadata after transcoding / consolidating, you may be unable to reconnect to the AMA linked clips. Either don't modify the tape name or modify it before transcoding / consolidating.
Using AMA will limit your options when exporting. If you want to export an AAF you will need to transcode to DNxHD. To do this, right-click on your sequence and select Transcode / Consolidate, select the desired DNxHD flavor and tick Create New Sequence. You will now be able to AAF export the new sequence.

Adobe Dynamic Link troubleshooting

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:54:14 +0000

Dynamic Link is a key selling point of the Adobe suite that many people rely on for their workflows. Here's what to do if it doesn't work as expected. This article is mainly aimed to dynamic linking between After Effects and Premiere but many of the suggestions will apply to the other applications in the suite.

Make sure your compositions have unique names

If you have multiple After Effects projects dynamically-linked in your timeline, Premiere can get confused if the same comp names exist in multiple projects. It's important to name your comps something unique rather than choosing the default "Comp 1" name.

Don't add trailing numbers

Adding trailing numbers to a filename such as "01" or "v02" can interfere with After Effects' Increment and Save function. This can result in the wrong project appearing in your Premiere timeline.

Check your firewall

Your firewall may be preventing the dynamic link process from communicating with the other applications. Make sure your firewall is set to allow all Adobe applications and also the dynamiclinkmanager application located at /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/dynamiclink/[CS suite version]/dynamiclinkmanager.

Disable simultaneous frame rendering

Dynamically linked projects do not support the Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously option. If you run into problems with it switched on, switch it off in the Memory and Multiprocessing tab of the preferences window in After Effects (it is off by default).

Clear caches and render files

If you find that the wrong project or composition is showing in your timeline, you may need to trash render files or your media cache in order to get it to display correctly. You can trash the render files by going to Sequence > Delete Render Files and the media cache by going to the Media tab in preferences or by using Pro Maintenance Tools.

Render as a movie file

If you still have problems after trying the steps above, render out the comp to a movie, import into Premiere Pro and replace the linked composition. This will of course remove the dynamic link and the advantages it offers, however you can right-click and choose Edit Original to relaunch the After Effects project if you need to re-render any changes.

Preference Manager best practices

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 19:41:30 +0000

Preference Manager is a useful tool for trashing preferences for a range of video editing applications including Avid, Premiere and all versions of Final Cut Pro. This wipes the user settings for your editing application and can fix a wide range of problems.

However, having to set everything up again can be a chore. With a little bit of preparation in advance, you can ensure you never have to trash them again.

1. Start with a stable foundation. We recommend trashing preferences in Preference Manager and then setting them up again from scratch in your NLE, but you can skip this step if you are confident that your settings are stable.

2. Backup the settings. You can choose to backup additional items such as keyboard layouts if you desire.

3. Optionally, lock your preference files to prevent them from becoming corrupt. Some apps don't work correctly with locked preference files, so for these apps the lock option will be greyed out.

4. When a problem occurs, instead of trashing preferences, restore the backup. This will restore the settings you backed up previously to enable you to get back to work quickly.

Additional tips:

You can right-click on a backup in the Restore pane and set it as the default backup. This means that it will be automatically restored when running a Quick Fix and you can set it up to fix problems simply by pressing a button on your keyboard.
If you make changes to your editing software preferences later on, right-click on the backup in the Restore pane and select Update All Files to replace the preferences in the backup with the current versions on disk.
By default Preference Manager will autosave your preferences every 7 days. This allows you to go back to previously working settings if you did not make a backup beforehand

Preference Manager is a free and useful tool for editors and post production professionals. See the user manual for more workflow tips.

Making Lion and Mountain Lion more like Snow Leopard

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 19:47:38 +0000

Until recently, most of our users were still using Snow Leopard. Then suddenly a massive switch occurred and a majority upgraded to Lion. This may have been because applications like Adobe Premiere and Avid Media Composer now require Lion or it may have been because the MobileMe shutdown forced people onto iCloud.

Whatever the reason, here are some tips for making 10.7 or 10.8 more welcoming for a 10.6 user.

Reverse scrolling

In Lion, Apple inverted the scroll direction so that up scrolls down and down scrolls up. Some people prefer this but you can switch it off by going to the Trackpad preference pane and deselecting Scroll direction: natural in the Scroll and Zoom tab.

Works on: 10.7+

Show Finder status bar

By default, the Finder's status bar at the bottom is hidden. To switch it back on, go to View > Show Status Bar.

Works on: 10.7+

Show scroll bars

By default, scroll bars appear briefly in Lion and then disappear. This can be annoying because they briefly obscure the bottom file in a Finder window when in List mode. To make scroll bars always appear, go to the General preference pane and change Show scroll bars to Always.

Works on: 10.7+

Hide All My Files

In Lion every Finder window opens into a section called All My Files, which shows every file in your user directory in one place. I much preferred the old way of showing the Home folder, so you can hide All My Files by going to Finder preferences and then deselecting All My Files in the Sidebar tab.

You can also set it to default to the home folder by going to the General tab and choosing your home folder in the "New Finder windows show" popup.

You may also like to show your hard drives and DVDs on the Desktop, which can be set from the General tab.

Works on: 10.7+

Stop restoring windows

Lion restores your previous windows when you restart an application. Apple provides an option in the General preference pane that allows you to deselect Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps. In Mountain Lion the option is called Close windows when quitting an application and should be ticked.

However, in practice, these options have never worked reliably for me and applications will often try to restore old windows regardless. I therefore close windows manually before quitting an application and this fixes the problem.

Works on: 10.7+

Restore classic Expose grouping

Mountain Lion provides a new option in the Mission Control preference pane called Group windows by application. Deselecting this restores the 10.5 and 10.6 behavior of showing every window on the screen, regardless of which application it belonged to.

Works on: 10.8+

Dictation

Dictation is activated by pressing the Fn (function) key twice. Everything you say is sent to Apple's servers so businesses may wish to steer clear of this feature. To switch it off, go to the Dictation & Speech preference pane and set the radio button to Off.

Works on: 10.8+

Notification Center

Mountain Lion includes a new iOS-style Notification Center. To switch it off for 24 hours, Option-click the icon in the far right of the menu bar.

Here is a tip for removing the icon completely but you should do it at your own risk.

Works on: 10.8+

Turn off autosave

Mountain Lion provides a new option in the General preference pane called Ask to keep changes when closing documents. This essentially turns off the autosave feature added in Lion.

Works on: 10.8+

How to fix hasplmd crashes

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:05:47 +0000

If you run Avid Media Composer 6 on Lion you may have experienced an issue where a process called hasplmd crashes literally every 10 seconds. This fills up your Console logs very quickly and causes the crash reporter to be constantly running and writing to the hard drive.

Here's a an example of my Console log (abridged):

7/15/12 8:18:10.906 PM ReportCrash: Saved crash report for hasplmd[70958] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2012-07-15-201810_localhost.crash
7/15/12 8:18:21.040 PM ReportCrash: Saved crash report for hasplmd[70968] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2012-07-15-201821_localhost.crash
7/15/12 8:18:31.208 PM ReportCrash: Saved crash report for hasplmd[70969] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2012-07-15-201831_localhost.crash
7/15/12 8:18:41.378 PM ReportCrash: Saved crash report for hasplmd[70974] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2012-07-15-201841_localhost.crash
7/15/12 8:18:51.620 PM ReportCrash: Saved crash report for hasplmd[70986] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/hasplmd_2012-07-15-201851_localhost.crash

hasplmd is used for dongle verification, although it took me a while to notice because I use Avid with a dongle and it worked just fine in spite of the crashes.

To fix this, download the newer 6.23 version of the drivers here (I chose the GUI version).

Alternatively, to disable hasplmd completely, type the following command in the Terminal:

sudo launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.aladdin.hasplmd.plist

You'll need to type your password after doing this.

How to create timecode tracks for H.264 movies in Compressor

Mon, 9 Jul 2012 18:43:02 +0000

I had this question asked to me the other day so I thought I'd write a quick article on it. You may have noticed that Compressor does not create H.264 files with timecode tracks when using the Apple Devices presets.

The reason for this is that MP4 and M4V files do not support timecode. However, the MP4 specification is based on the QuickTime file format so it's easy to create a QuickTime movie (.mov) instead of an MP4 and the file will still be recognized by iOS devices and the Apple TV.

To do this, simply add an Apple Devices preset to a file and then change the file extension to mov in the Encoder tab of the Settings window. Compressor will then create an iOS and Apple TV-compatible H.264 with a timecode track.

Using folder breaks to create folder hierarchies in Post Haste

Thu, 5 Apr 2012 16:19:44 +0000

Post Haste is a Mac and Windows app to organize your projects from customizable templates. You can setup various parameters to include in the folder name such as project name, client, date, etc.

In the recent rewrite of Post Haste we added a new feature called folder breaks. Folder breaks can be set on a per-parameter basis and tell Post Haste to create a new folder at the start of that parameter. This allows you to create folder hierarchies and is best explained through example.

Folder breaks can be added by ticking the relevant checkbox next to a parameter in the preferences window.

Here are some examples of how folder breaks affect the destination path of the project, using the parameter values shown in the screenshot below.

If all folder breaks are switched off, Post Haste will create a single folder with each parameter separated by an underscore (or whatever separator character you have chosen).

If a folder break is added for the Project parameter, Post Haste will create a new folder and all subsequent parameters will be appended to the project name with an underscore.

If a folder break is added for the Project parameter but the parameter value is left blank, Post Haste is smart enough to apply the folder break to the next valid parameter value.

If a folder break is added for Project and Editor, Date is appended to Project and Editor becomes a new folder.

If a folder break is added to all of the parameters, it looks like the following:

Post Haste allows filename conventions and project organization to be largely invisible to the end-user. Folder breaks make it easier to fit the app into existing naming conventions and are very useful for corporate environments.

Post Haste is a free app for Mac and Windows and is available here.

How to create installers for your plugins and effects

Tue, 3 Apr 2012 20:34:20 +0000

If you are a plugin developer, Plugin Manager in Pro Maintenance Tools can be used to create installers. These provide an easy way for end-users to install plugins quickly and easily with very little setup required from the developer. Installers are completely self-contained so end-users do not need Pro Maintenance Tools installed.

To create an installer:

1. In the main plugin view, select the plugins or groups that you would like to add to the installer. You can have more than one plugin in an installer.

2. Go to Tools > Create Plugin Installer.

3. In the window that appears, specify a name for the plugin or group or plugins, the version number and author.

4. The code signing pane allows you to sign the installer to show that it hasn't been modified by an unscrupulous third party. This is necessary for running the installer on OS X 10.8 or higher.

Signing is optional for users on OS X 10.7 and below but it is recommended if you have access to a valid certificate. Visit Apple's developer site for more details on creating and installing a Developer ID certificate.

Once the certificate is installed, select it from the list in the Code Signing tab.

5. Click Create Installer and you will be prompted for a location.

6. Test the installer by moving the plugins you added to the installer to another location such as the Desktop, running the installer and then checking in Plugin Manager to see if the plugins were installed correctly.

7. Users can choose the Install button to install plugins to their default location or they can click Send to Plugin Manager to import with more options.

Plugin Manager is a comprehensive tool for managing your plugins. It is available as part of Pro Maintenance Tools.

What does that error message mean?

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 22:40:00 +0000

Sometimes your NLE will throw up a cryptic error while you are editing, such as "General Error 41" (Final Cut Pro) or "BAD_MAGIC" (Avid). Such errors are often meaningful to the application's developers but not its users.

Luckily Crash Analyzer in Pro Maintenance Tools has a comprehensive error database. Click the Error Lookup button in the toolbar and you will be presented with a searchable list of all supported errors (over 200 at the current time of writing).

Selecting an error presents an explanation of the cause with suggestions on how to overcome it. This can be a real timesaver when a cryptic message pops up on a deadline.

A full list of supported errors is available here and we add new ones in every software update. If you receive an error message that is not supported by Crash Analyzer, you can submit it for inclusion in a future version from the Actions menu.

Crash Analyzer is available as part of Pro Maintenance Tools. We also have an iOS app called EditCodes that uses the same database.

Improving tapeless media management with Auto Transfer

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:04:14 +0000

Working with tapeless media requires a robust organization and backup policy to ensure your footage remains safe.

One key area of concern is memory cards and readers, as cheaper ones can sometimes behave erratically when they get hot, causing data corruption. Worse still, OS X's Finder will not always show an indication that footage is corrupt when you copy it to your hard drive.

If your camera shoots to QuickTime movies, you should at the very least browse to the copied location and scroll through the directory to spot movie clips without thumbnails, as this may indicate files that are unreadable.

Another potential issue is directory structure. While it may be tempting to copy just the movie clips to your hard drive, some applications and Log and Transfer plugins are expecting the files to exist in a particular place within the directory hierarchy. Not maintaining this structure can lead to files being imported without metadata and timecode or sometimes not importing at all, depending on the application or plugin.

Auto Transfer is a tool for simplifying these problems. It can automatically copy the contents of your memory cards to multiple locations for safety. It also performs checksums on the copied files to ensure they are exactly the same as those on the card.

If a file fails the verification check, Auto Transfer allows you to try copying the file again. The Info pane keeps a record of how many times a failure occurs when copying from a particular card, which is a very useful indicator of a card that's potentially faulty.

Auto Transfer copies the full directory structure from a card, which ensures that it will be able to be read correctly by your NLE and companion apps. It can copy multiple cards simultaneously.

You can also specify additional metadata which can be used to create a custom directory structure, similar to our project management app Post Haste. For example, you could instruct Auto Transfer to create a new folder for each shooting day and put the relevant day's card contents in that folder. Alternatively you could create a directory structure based on the reel, project name and date. It's very customizable and is great for businesses that wish to have a consistent naming convention.

The metadata can also be added to a spreadsheet. There is one spreadsheet per project and each card is added to a new row at the end of the sheet. This allows you to have a printable record of any data you wish to track such as the reel number, scene information, description and more. The columns are customizable.

Various actions are available upon a successful transfer including Growl notifications (see our tutorial for sending Growl notifications to an iOS device), playing a sound effect, ejecting the drive, showing the files in Finder and much more.

Auto Transfer is an essential tool for DITs and anyone who deals with tapeless media. It is available as part of Pro Media Tools and there is a 15-day trial available here.

How to restore a trimmed QuickTime movie

Mon, 5 Mar 2012 15:07:43 +0000

QuickTime Player 7 can be very useful for quickly trimming a clip or outputting different sections of a movie to separate files. This can be accomplished by setting the in and out points, going to Edit > Trim to Selection and then exporting the file or doing a Save As.

However, if you accidentally hit Save instead of Save As and then close the movie (this happens more often than you'd think), the movie will be permanently trimmed.

Luckily QT Repair in Pro Maintenance Tools can fix this. The repair assumes that the trimmed data still exists in the file and that the movie is capable of being opened in QuickTime Player and played back, albeit at a shorter length.

1. First of all, check that the trimmed data is still in the file. Open the file in QuickTime Player and press Cmd+I to view the Info window. Compare the Data Size section to the size listed by the Finder - if the size on disk is significantly larger, that means the data is still within the file.

(Note that the size listed in the Info window will never exactly match that of the Finder because it does not include extra data like the QuickTime structure and Finder is using a slightly different method to calculate file sizes as of OS X 10.6.)

2. Launch QT Repair and open the movie clip.

3. In the Quick Start dialog, choose the option to restore trimmed edits.

4. QT Repair will now create a copy so that the original file is safe. This can take a while depending on how big the file is. You can disable this in preferences if you already have a backup of the file elsewhere.

Once the backup is complete, processing should be very quick.

5. When QT Repair says it has finished processing, click OK and it will launch the restored movie in QuickTime Player. The movie should now be its full length. Look at the Data Size field in the Info window and scrub the playhead to check that everything has been restored correctly.

As you can see from the screenshot, QT Repair successfully restored the length of the video and the Data Size field is much closer to the value in the Finder now.

How to get render notifications on your iPhone

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:46:58 +0000

Editors spend a lot of time rendering and exporting, and it's very useful to know when a render is complete if you are not currently at your computer.

Render Watcher in Pro Media Tools can watch for renders and then perform various tasks when a render is complete. It supports Final Cut Pro 7, Compressor 3 and 4, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder.

Render notifications are not supported for Final Cut Pro X because it has background rendering and the alerts would be going off constantly, however you can get export notifications via Compressor or by adding your export folder to the Watch Folder pane. This also works for other apps not natively supported by Render Watcher.

There are three ways to get render notifications from Render Watcher on your iOS device - text message, email and push alert. (Compressor has email support already, however it is impractical for most users because it requires you to run an SMTP server on your computer.)

Push alerts are the most flexible option because you can customize them independently to make sure render notifications don't get lost in your regular email and SMS alerts.

Here's how to setup render and export notifications on your iPhone / iPad:

1. Download and install Pro Media Tools.

2. Launch the Render Watcher application and tick the boxes for all of the render notifications you wish to watch. If desired, add watch folders for applications not natively supported.

3. Go to the Actions tab and select all of the actions you wish to perform when a render is detected. There are lots of options here including playing a sound effect and showing the exported file in the Finder.

4. If you want to send an email or text message, tick the relevant checkbox and enter the destination email address or phone number (selected carriers only).

If you want to only setup push alerts, skip to step 5.

4a. Go to Preferences and enter the details for the account you wish to send email from. Presets have been included for common email providers but you will be able to get the relevant SMTP server information from your email provider's website. In most cases you should leave the Port field blank.

Note: Your email address and password are not sent to our servers and are stored on your computer in encrypted form.

4b. Click Send Test Email and if your settings are correct you should receive an email from Render Watcher in your inbox.

If you don't wish to setup push alerts, skip to Step 13.

5. To setup push alerts, make sure Display Growl notification is ticked in preferences and then download Growl from the Mac App Store for $1.99. If you don't want to pay for it or are running OS X 10.6 or lower, older versions are available here free of charge.

6. Download Boxcar for iOS. We favor Boxcar because it is free (with ads) but this feature should work with any push notification service that supports Growl, such as Prowl.

7. Sign up for a Boxcar account here.

8. In the Boxcar iOS app, sign in and tap the icon in the top left corner that looks like a grid of nine squares. Then tap Add Service.

9. Scroll down the list (it's not alphabetically-ordered) and tap the entry marked Growl. Setup the notification settings as desired and then click Save.

10. Download the Boxcar plugin for Growl. Unzip the .growlView file and double-click it to install. When prompted, select Yes to open the Growl preference pane or alternatively launch System Preferences and open it manually. If you are running the Mac App Store version of Growl on Lion, the preferences dialog is accessed via the menu bar icon.

11. Go the the Display Options tab in the Growl preference pane (called Displays in the Mac App Store version) and set Default Style to Boxcar. This will send all Growl alerts to your iOS device.

Alternatively, if you only want Render Watcher notifications sent to your device, go to the Applications tab, select RenderWatcherHelper, click the Configure button and then set Application's Display Style to Boxcar. RenderWatcherHelper will only appear in the list when it has displayed a Growl alert at least once.

12. In the Display Options tab, select Boxcar in the Display Styles list on the left and select the option to display notifications using Smoke (or whichever theme you prefer).

13. Enter your Boxcar login information below this and click Verify Login. If your login is accepted, click Preview and you should see a Growl alert on your desktop and iOS device.

14. Start a short render and wait for it to finish. If everything is setup correctly, you should see a Render Watcher alert on your computer and then your iOS device. If you don't see this, double-check that you followed the above steps correctly and that the name of the application is ticked in the Applications tab in Render Watcher or that you are exporting to a directory listed in the Watch Folders tab.

Render Watcher is just one of ten useful tools for editors, assistant editors and post production professionals in the Pro Media Tools suite. To find out more, see the features page, watch the overview video or download the free trial.

How to export chapter markers from Final Cut Pro X

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 21:26:19 +0000

Much has been written about the missing features in Final Cut Pro X when compared with FCP 7. One particular missing feature that has been causing workflow problems for some people is the inability to add chapter markers to an exported QuickTime movie for displaying on an iOS device or Apple TV.

There are several workarounds, such as adding chapter markers in Compressor, but these can be quite tedious as you need to create them manually. Luckily QT Edit in Pro Media Tools can automatically create chapter markers directly from the markers in your Final Cut Pro X timeline.

Here's how to do it:

1. Add markers to your FCPX timeline where you would like the chapters to occur.

2. Share your timeline to Compressor and use one of the Apple Device presets to create an m4v file.

3. Click on the filmstrip icon in FCPX to go back to the Project Browser and then highlight the project name in the list.

4. Go to File > Export XML to create an XML copy of your timeline.

5. Open up the exported movie with QT Edit.

6. Go to File > Import > Chapters.

7. Select "Final Cut Pro X XML (.fcpxml)" in the file type dropdown and browse for the XML file you created earlier. Click Open.

8. The markers will be imported and automatically added as chapters which can be viewed in the Chapters tab. You can edit the chapter positions and modify their names in this tab. Click on a chapter in the list to jump to that point in the movie.

Important: You must have a chapter on frame 1 in order for iOS to detect the chapter list. If your imported markers do not already have a chapter marker on this frame, set the playhead to the start in QT Edit and click the + button in the Chapters tab.

9. Save the movie in QT Edit and sync it to your device.

You can now play the movie on an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Apple TV and the markers will be recognized. QT Edit can also import Final Cut Pro 7 marker lists, Avid locator lists, DVD Studio Pro chapter lists, CSV files, text files and chapters from other QuickTime movies.

Update: Chapter markers will now also be recognized by iDVD, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro in QT Edit 1.1.6 and higher.