Tag: Final Cut

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We rollin’ and they hatin’!

This is my boy’s first pass at shooting and editing his own skate video. He wants to get sponsored as an amateur skater and he figures that creating a promotional video is a great start. I had already given him a copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Suite, the video editing software that I recommend to people starting out. So he took a few of my low profile cameras and captured video of his skating runs around different parts of the city.

It had been a few months since I last saw him skate and it was shocking to see how much better he had become in such a short amount of time. My knees hurt just looking at most of the jumps and tricks he is now rocking. However what really impressed me was how good I the video was for a first timer. His use of wide angle shots and effective movement really added to the overall production value.

Now if he can just keep from breaking his @$$ again I will be happy.

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I might need to hit lotto

2013_mac_pro

Apple finally got around to offering pricing and purchasing options for the new MacPro on their web site. Unfortunately the listing is just before the Christmas holiday and a tiny bit too late for me to ask Santa, or my wife, to put one of them under the tree for me this year. This is probably a good thing since the fully maxed out version of the MacPro with a 12 core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 64 GB of ram, Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs,  and a 1 TB internal flash base hard drive clocks in at Continue reading “I might need to hit lotto”

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Finally, new Mac Pros

2013_mac_pro

Apple finally is going to release an update to the Mac Pro desktop, and for the first time since they started producing these top of the line towers, I am NOT planning on getting one. This is because I have migrated away from Final Cut Pro to Adobe Premiere Pro, thus eliminating the one reason why I would need a mac this powerful. So without a specific mac application to drive a purchase of this magnitude, I cannot see dropping this much money on the new system.

All of my other software, primarily the Adobe Suite, is cross platform and can run quite well on cheaper PC based equipment. Plus Premiere Pro already integrates much better with After Effects and Photoshop than Final Cut. And according to my research I am not alone in this belief either. It seems that many professional videographers have made the switch away from Final Cut to other platforms because of the debacle that was the initial release of Final Cut X.

All of the other mac specific applications that I use now, like xCode and iBook, can be easily be handled by lower end systems like my Mac Mini and my aging mac laptops. And while I will concede that the cylindrical design of the new Mac Pro looks cool as hell, the price, good gracious, the price is going to be astronomical. As a person more than willing to spend money on cool stuff, I just don’t see a single mac application that would necessitate getting this system. However the challenge for those intrepid people that do decide to get one will be in figuring a way of keeping this monster under 6 or 7 grand if they go with an 8 or 12 core option.

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Visual Effects Course Development

On April 3, the New York City Investment Fund invited a group of educators and business people from the visual effects industry to a conference on changes within the entertainment sector. Over the past year the LaGuardia Media and Technology programs have been participating in discussions with the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) to develop a Visual Effects program. NYCIF has been working with local visual effects firms to help them to meet the current demand for VFX artists in New York City.  All of the firms have cited the shortage of skilled labor as a key restriction to growth and are interested in working with CUNY on developing training and internships opportunities for the next generation of NYC visual effects artists. It is my intention to research this opportunity to see if a viable VFX program at LaGuardia is possible. In order to make that determination there are key questions that will need to be answered  concerning funding, software/hardware, the structure of the program or option, and how to either attract or develop faculty to teach such highly specialized classes. We will see how this all plays out. But just in case I have been getting reacquainted with After Effects.

The audio recording from the meeting can be found below in mp3 format.

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Affordable Mini HD Camera setup

Kodak Zi8 mini hd rig

I frequently get a good deal of questions from students and educators on what type of video camera should they buy if they have limited money and they still want great quality. In order to answer these questions I have been looking around for the cheapest rig possible that can still offer decent image and sound quality to recommend to these budget conscious videographers. I did a little research and set aside a maximum budget of 400 bucks for the entire project. The basic criteria for the video Continue reading “Affordable Mini HD Camera setup”

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My new article on student motivation – HETS Online Journal

HETS Online JournalI wanted to share with you a recently published article on the topic of the student motivation that I authored. The title of the piece is “Motivating at Risk African Americans and Hispanics Through the Study of New Media Technology“. The peer-reviewed article was based on many of the interactions that I have had over the years with my amazing students. The primary focus of the research was on how to inspire African American and Hispanic students by using digital media. However, the principles and techniques described can be applied to students of all races and cultures. The article was published in the second edition of the Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) Online Journal. The digital copy of the journal can be found here in pdf format.

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Final Cut Pro Training – Basic edit reel

Final Cut class

This summer I am taking courses at a variety of design schools in the area. Here is my most recent video editing reel that I completed at the School of Visual Arts in their weekend Final Cut Pro class. While I am experienced with Final Cut (been using it since version 1.0), I figured it is a good idea to brush up on Final Cut since I have been focusing more on web design topics lately. Plus I plan on Continue reading “Final Cut Pro Training – Basic edit reel”

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I just knew it…… soon as I go high def….

The JVC Everio GZ-HD6

JVC announces their brand new High Definition camcorder, the Everio GZ-HD6. The GZ-HD6 is a 3CCD hard drive based camera priced at just over a $1,000. If you been reading some of my previous posts then you already know that I recently purchased a high def camcorder, the Canon HV20. At the time the HV20 was the best deal on the market. Much to my irritation, that my have just changed. Continue reading “I just knew it…… soon as I go high def….”

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Microsoft IT Tech Trends Speech

The footage above is the actual video of the speech that I gave to a group of High School juniors and seniors during the Microsoft sponsored IT Tech Trends seminar earlier this month. The purpose of the seminar was to get high school students interested in IT careers. While it wasn’t my finest speech (I rambled a little bit), overall I think I did okay. The students seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.