Bringing Reality TV to life means cutting hours of raw footage into clear conflicts and character beats. We went to Emmy Award-winning editor Katherine Griffin for insight. In narrative screenplays, conflict is king. However, crafting compelling, layered, truthful characters is key to the au

Adobe After Effects is an exceptionally versatile piece of software. If you’re just starting out with it in 2020, here are five things to learn ASAP. Whether you’re looking to create high-quality motion graphics or develop jaw-dropping VFX, Adobe After Effects is more than up to

Editors on interview projects face an overwhelming task: reducing hours of footage into just minutes for the final cut. Eliminate that stress with these six steps. Video editors, how many times have you encountered the following scenario? A director has just returned from a shoot with a hard

Final Cut Pro X has a robust set of color tools that have vastly improved over the years. Here’s how to use them to give your video cinematic colors. Making your palette really pop is an easy way to add production value in an instant. In this video tutorial, we’re going to look at how

A secondary monitor can speed up your editing workflow and increase productivity. Here’s how to choose a secondary monitor for your editing suite. From selecting footage, to cutting it together, to adding motion graphics — video editing requires long hours of staring at the same screen

Start editing right now! Let’s look at how to edit an entire video — from the moment you import footage until the moment you start the exporting process. Editing a video isn’t that hard. It might seem like an extremely intricate task to take on, but when you break it down step by

Let’s get to the basics. In this first episode of the FCPX Essentials, we are covering the ways of importing and exporting footage in Final Cut Pro. For our FCPX Essentials series, we’re going to take a look at some of the basic, and most essential, features of FCPX. Whether you

If you’re lucky enough to have audio pros on your team, then make sure to keep them happy. Here’s how to prep your files and communicate clearly.There are plenty of video producers out there accustomed to doing it all — from videography to editing to mixing and mastering. And whi

Explore the pros and cons of three common approaches to on-screen text message exchanges. Now that our phones are full of robocalls, text messages are one of the main ways people communicate. And, as art imitates life, text messages have made their way into films and TV, which presents a pro

In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at one of the most common VFX techniques — the screen replacement. Let’s see how it’s done in After Effects. If you’ve ever attempted to shoot a screen with your video camera, then you’ve probably encountered one of many possible issues.

It’s a total breeze to sync separate audio and video files in Final Cut Pro X. Here’s how to do it in 5 easy steps. You just wrapped your shoot. Your footage looks beautifully cinematic. Your audio was recorded separately — by a dedicated sound person wielding high-quality gear —

Wrap your head around this easy-to-follow guide to rendering and exporting your After Effects projects. Navigating the After Effects learning curve can be a brutal experience. There are still moments when I find myself sitting in front of my computer, just staring into the monitor in a confu

Let’s dive into one of the fundamentals of Final Cut Pro X — how to add and modify video transitions in the FCPX timeline. Over the years, Final Cut Pro X has established itself as an editing powerhouse, and one of the things it does best is transitions. Whether they’re smooth an

System memory — aka RAM — can seriously impact video editing software, and it’s one of the easiest, most affordable upgrades you can make. Here’s why. Video editors rely on their computers as much as they do on their cameras and lenses, and, like knowing the difference between a

Want to get more repeat video editing business from directors you respect? These tips will help.  So many of us aspire to be the go-to video editor for the best directors. But, we rarely stop and quiz them about what they look for in their chosen video editors. I caught up with award-winning

Follow these simple steps to create your own custom lower thirds in Final Cut Pro X. Utilizing lower thirds is an easy way to add production value to your video project and a super-effective way to unobtrusively share vital information with your audience. Here’s the fast five-step proc

In this step-by-step video tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of looping a live stream video on YouTube using OBS Studio. If you’re making live-streaming content, you’ll likely encounter situations that call for looped video. Obviously, this presents a problem if

Are your clips giving you motion sickness? Stabilizing shaky footage is a breeze in Final Cut Pro X. In this video tutorial, we’ll walk through the fastest, easiest steps you can take to stabilize clips in FCPX. Let’s explore the differences between SmoothCam and InertiaCam to find the

Creative color grading can change the storyline and create a clear visual juxtaposition between good and bad, rich and poor, and success and failure. Many viewers are oblivious to the fact that colorists play a pivotal role in helping develop the story of a television series. They help draw

Need to have a crowd in a scene? Here’s a tutorial on how you can duplicate small groups of people to create a crowd in Premiere Pro and other NLEs. Whether it’s an angry mob or a gaggle of adoring fans, large crowds are a necessary part of many films — even small ones. Watch the