Join me and let’s go back to where it all began, 10 years ago in San Francisco!
Take a winter break, and let’s show California some DC metro spirit!
Tickets go on sale on 1 November 2010.

Details are here: SUPERMEET – One Decade Later

Join the FCPUG Network, including SF Cutters, lafcpug, BOSFCPUG and other FCPUG and digital video user groups around the Globe in San Francisco, CA for the largest gathering of FCP, Avid and Adobe editors, HDSLR filmmakers and digital content creators and Gurus on the Planet – SuperMeet Workshops during the day in tandem with the SuperMeet Digital Showcase and SuperMeet.

Final Cut Pro – The Secrets of the Right-Pointing Arrow

Right Pointing Arrow

A great deal of the look of the Timeline is controlled from an itty-bitty, teeny-tiny, right-pointing arrow at the bottom of the Timeline. It is certainly not obvious, so look closely just to the right of the four-column track height bar chart.

Click the arrow and look at all the choices you have. Each of these is a toggle. Select, or deselect, each one and watch what happens.

In case you missed the event… this video should help …

I read this feedback from Tim O’Reilly and thought it would be appropriate for our PUG:

“User Groups represent the spirit of the frontier, a community getting together to do things that no individual ought to have to do alone. The pioneers of the American West got together for barn raisings, cattle roundups, and the occassional party.  The pioneers of new technology get together for installfests, new user training, support, and just plain fun.

Being part of a user group is the best way to get more out of your computer, and lets you make friends while you’re at it!”

Peter Hurley is a true inspiration. Not only is he an amazing headshot photographer but he is also one of the most fun, energetic, and encouraging photographers… Let me tell you why.

First introduced to Peter’s work through Lee Morris a few years ago. As the story goes, Lee emailed a bunch of photographers while he was in college and one of the only ones to respond back was Peter Hurley. I’m sure Lee would have never thought five years later he would be shooting a behind the scenes video of Peter in his midtown studio in NYC.

If there is one thing that separates Peter Hurley’s approach to photography it is that he clearly knows exactly what he is doing at all times. He is completely in control during his photoshoots with both his lighting and his interaction with his clients. If you have ever had to get a particular emotion out of your subject during a portrait session you know it can be a tough task. Peter’s approach is to make his clients crack a smile by saying some of the most ridiculous comments I have ever heard during a photoshoot. Sometimes he will joke about taking yourself too seriously in front of the camera and other times he will poke fun at a funny mannerism you might accidentally express. Whatever it is he is saying, it is bound to get you smiling which he instantly captures in each frame. At first I thought a typical client might not open up so freely but after just 10 minutes of watching Peter shoot I realized he has mastered the art of making people feel comfortable in front of his camera.

Peter is also one of those guys who knows exactly what the final product is going to look like and how to achieve that perfect image. Many photographers approach their photoshoots with no real game plan, or they may treat it as an artistic experiment but hope in the back of their mind they can pull something off that looks great. Peter KNOWS that he is going to create something great. He told us so many stories about apprehensive clients or about actors he has worked with that lacked the confidence they needed to produce a solid headshot. In every case, Peter broke down the wall they initially had during the beginning of the photoshoot and they left with headshots they are still using today.

Some might say that his success can be attributed to his white backgrounds, or his soft lighting, or his talented clients but honestly it all boils down to his personality. Of course all of those other aspects help contribute to his style and images but it is truly his connection with his subjects that makes his images sing and allows him to feel 100% confident that by the end of his 2-3 hour session his clients will have a handful of headshots that will get them into the door of a casting agency.

We hope you guys enjoy this latest behind the scenes video and hope we can do Peter Hurley justice. I’m kind of kicking myself for not asking Peter to shoot a quick headshot of the fstoppers team; maybe next time. Check out more of his work at www.peterhurley.com and be careful of who you email, they may just email you back

Kathy Hollinger (DC Film Office) speaks on how she is working with the Mayor to bring film related work to the DC metro area.

PS: PATS is now online….

DC Metro Final Cut Pros welcomes the DC DSLR team to the family.

Stay tuned for more on this at the December GVExpo meeting.

Rodney – DCFCPUG Leader

DCDSLR organizer and fellow DCFCPUG member – George Kennedy!

http://www.meetup.com/DC-DSLR-Meet-Up/?a=socialmedia

Final Cut Pro – Visibility Lights and the Arrow Keys

Skips

Did you know that the visibility lights also have an effect on the behavior of the up/down arrow keys?

Normally, when the visibility lights are on, the video is visible, the audio is audible, and pressing the up/down arrow keys jumps to the next/previous edit point on every track.

However, when the visibility lights are off, the video on that track becomes invisible, the audio on that track becomes inaudible, and pressing the up/down arrow keys skips all edit points on the now-hidden track.

Final Cut Pro – Back to Square One

TIp Jar

Are you one of those editors who constantly rearranges their window layout while editing? I certainly do. I’m forever changing the size of the Viewer and Browser. Do you yearn for a quick way to resize your windows back into a layout that makes sense?

Shh… Here’s the secret: Press Control+U. This shortcut automatically resets all your windows to the default layout.

Isn’t that convenient?