• Get ready for what’s coming!

      0 comments


    A new colleague I met in San Francisco (Kevan, who just happens to be a two time Oscar winner) is working on this amazing new capability between NVIDIA and Adobe. Keep your eye on this one, it seems to be foretelling where the next leap in editing is heading.

    GET READY FOR WHAT’S COMING! <--Click to see the video demos!
    What are you waiting for? Ensure your system is ready for the Adobe® Mercury Playback Engine and the highly anticipated future release of Adobe® Premiere® Pro. With this breakthrough CUDA™-based technology, get an amazingly fluid, real-time video editing experience. Upgrade today to a required NVIDIA® Quadro® solution to get an immediate boost in performance with your Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 and be ready for what’s coming next.

    • Experience real-time results when applying multiple color corrections and effects across more than three video layers – but only if the system has Quadro
    • Enjoy smooth scrubbing and playback of complex projects with real-time effects
    • Refine effects-rich HD and higher-resolution sequences in real-time
    • Work in real-time on complex timelines and large projects with thousands of clips – whether your source is SD, HD, 2K, 4K or beyond

    Enjoy being one of the first to hear about it here at DCFCPUG!


    Rodney – DCFCPUG Leader

  • VIDEO MADE ON A MAC – TAKE 2 – FEBRUARY 2010

      0 comments

    On a Mac, the sky’s the limit for creating professional video. With all the tools available though, it can be a daunting task to decide which ones offer the best solutions for combined efficiency and high-level results.

    • How can you effectively communicate your vision to clients and crew?
    • How should you calibrate your camera for multi-camera and green screen shoots?
    • Is it better to do your keying in After Effects, Motion, or Final Cut?
    • How should you set up your edit suite for efficiency and accuracy?
    • How do you manage large amounts of media and a multitude of formats for multiple software applications?

    In Video Made on a Mac, you’ll learn the answers and much more. Chocked full of practical advice and step-by-step instructions, each chapter provides insight on the critical components of production and postproduction that can make all the difference when you’re up against a tight budget and schedule. The accompanying DVD supplies you with project files and high-definition footage so you can follow along with the examples, as well as 50 training videos. Whether you’re an advanced Mac user or just beginning to incorporate Adobe Creative Suite into your Final Cut Studio workflow, you’ll learn to apply best-practice techniques to all your video projects.


    In this edition of VIDEO MADE ON A MAC: Production and Postproduction using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite, the authors cover:

    Budget Template (p. 28-30)
    For the exercise in this chapter, click HERE for the Budget spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet version) and click HERE for Apple Numbers spreadsheet Template.


    Excerpted from Video Made on a Mac: Production and Postproduction Using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite by Richard Harrington and Robbie Carman. Copyright © 2010. Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and Peachpit Press.



  • Time to RSVP for the January DCFCPUG meeting!!!

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    Buy some raffle tickets and come on out on the 26th January for our monthly meeting featuring a presentation of the new KiPro from AJA!

    Registered members need to be LOGGED IN to see the MEMBER’S ONLY discount code/link on this page ## Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content. ## for entry and event registration for the upcoming January 26 meeting! Non members can become members for FREE.

    NOTE: REGISTERED MEMBERS USING THE CODE WILL NOT BE CHARGED ANY FEES ($0 x fee still = $0) ;-)

    Events

    Don’t delay, REGISTER NOW!

  • Studio Kinate makes the The Washington Post!

      0 comments

    One of our members, Charlotte (“Char”) Rinderknecht and her business partner/husband, Bill own and operate the entertainment production studio, STUDIO KINATE in Northern Virginia. We were invited to share their special day today, at one of this area’s most authentic Irish Pub and Restaurant, The Auld Shebeen, in Old Town Fairfax, VA.

    A few weeks ago, Char was interviewed by The Washington Post. The article was published today (1/24/2010), (online 1/23/2010) so today was a celebration of getting recognition from The Post on her achievements to date. Read the article linked above and congratulate her when she comes to visit us this summer as our featured guest speaker for July 2010.


    Studio Kinate recently won some top Animation Awards for their animated short,”Pete’s Odydessy”.  A sample clip from the short is below with other editons also available on YouTube. YouTube Preview Image

    Pete’s Odydessy was produced with a team of artists, led by former Director of the Disney Institute, Larry Lauria. Larry currently runs the Larry’s Toon Institute.


    On the back of Char Rinderknecht’s business cards is the Walt Disney quote:

    “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

    Today’s lunch meeting demonstrated again that this region is rich with talent, vision and kindred spirits. Rekindling DCFCPUG, some would say, is a similar challenge (doing the impossible…) but with a focused approach to build a working community of digital artists, we can all ride on the successes of each others’ endeavors and give back to one another so we grow as a family. For example, Char and DCFCPUG intersected at our first CDIA Georgetown Screenwriter’s Event in April 2009, featuring Jim Mercurio.  Char and I have been leveraging the social media technologies to stay in touch and help each other.  At today’s meeting, I shared how DCFCPUG partners with our corporate sponsors which now will allow her to maximize her resources and create a shared benefit to create a win-win scenario.


    DCFCPUG and Studio Kinate are now exploring ways to grow an ANIMATION TBUG (ToomBoom)  microsite in Northern Virginia, leveraging our relationship we are building with ToomBoom.  Thanks to the generosity of  the VP, Marketing and Communications, Karina Bessoudo at ToomBoom for the interest in DCFCPUG.  ToomBoom is a sponsor of the DCFCPUG and are fans of their Storyboard Pro and Animate Pro software applications. Char and I both agree, that the art of storytelling is at the heart of what we do, whether it be on Apple’s Final Cut Studio, or ToomBoom’s Storyboard Pro and Animate Pro.  We all use the right tool for the job to get the story told .  Char is a fan of DCFCPUG and we appreciate her telling everyone in her circle of influence about the world of Final Cut Studio and its tie in with the creative 2D animation world.


    I  appreciate Char and Bill’s contributions to putting American animators to work and her involvement in the Tyson Animation Program at the Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, New Jersey. I personally am looking forward to the continued collaboration with Char, Bill, and Larry.  We (DCFCPUG) will get a shot at assisting her toward her dream, while giving DCFCPUG members opportunities to get involved in the production workflow.  If you are interested in participating, let me know, as I will be discussing an upcoming project where we will be potentially given an opportunity to shoot, edit, produce training videos for Larry Lauria.  Leave a comment or email me if you are interested in getting involved.

    Here’s to a successful 2010!


    Warm regards,

    Rodney Mitchell
    President, Final Cut Pro Leader and Apple Ambassador

    DCFCPUG

    http://www.dcfcpug.org

  • VIDEO MADE ON A MAC – TAKE 1 – JANUARY 2010

      0 comments

    On a Mac, the sky’s the limit for creating professional video. With all the tools available though, it can be a daunting task to decide which ones offer the best solutions for combined efficiency and high-level results.

    • How can you effectively communicate your vision to clients and crew?
    • How should you calibrate your camera for multi-camera and green screen shoots?
    • Is it better to do your keying in After Effects, Motion, or Final Cut?
    • How should you set up your edit suite for efficiency and accuracy?
    • How do you manage large amounts of media and a multitude of formats for multiple software applications?

    In Video Made on a Mac, you’ll learn the answers and much more. Chocked full of practical advice and step-by-step instructions, each chapter provides insight on the critical components of production and postproduction that can make all the difference when you’re up against a tight budget and schedule. The accompanying DVD supplies you with project files and high-definition footage so you can follow along with the examples, as well as 50 training videos. Whether you’re an advanced Mac user or just beginning to incorporate Adobe Creative Suite into your Final Cut Studio workflow, you’ll learn to apply best-practice techniques to all your video projects. Check out the Enhancing Storyboards with Photoshop excerpt below! Each month, we will bring you an excerpt from the book and a quick video tutorial.


    In this edition of VIDEO MADE ON A MAC: Production and Postproduction using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite, the authors cover:

    Enhancing Storyboards with Photoshop (p. 10-13)
    For the exercise in this chapter, click HERE for the Storyboard_Cleanup TIFF image.


    Excerpted from Video Made on a Mac: Production and Postproduction Using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite by Richard Harrington and Robbie Carman. Copyright © 2010. Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and Peachpit Press.



  • Twixtor v. FCP Speed

      1 comment

    A brief comparison of how Twixtor FxPlug and FCP’s own Speed tool handle extreme slow-motion.

  • Hitchcock iPhone App

      3 comments

    Click here for a recent review of Cinemek’s Hitchcock iPhone application, which offers “mobile storyboarding” for filmmakers.

    Is anyone using this application?  What do you think of it?

  • Snow Leopard Compatibility Listing – A TIME SAVER!

      0 comments

    SL
    Save yourself some time and review this list BEFORE migrating to Snow Leopard.

    If anyone tests FCP 7, update the list accordingly…

    This site just might make your day…

    Rodney – DCFCPUG

  • MacVoices #995 – SuperMeet takes on Amsterdam!

      0 comments

    The Talk of the MacCommunity with Chuck Joiner podcast

    Podcast Released 1 Sept 2009

    Listen up DCFCPUG… this is why we exist and why I do the things I do for DCFCPUG. One day you will find us at the “top of the hill” with LAFCPUG, BOSFCPUG, SFCutters. I’m currently in discussion with Dan on the remake of FCPUGnetwork!

    Be inspired, support your local FCPUG, it really does pay to be a member and you really do get back 10 times what you put into it.  The Washington Metro area has some very talented folks out there…. take a day for yourself to recharge with us at DCFCPUG and you just might win a tool for your next project and you can take THAT to the bank!

    Rodney Mitchell - DCFCPUG
    Rodney Mitchell
    DCFCPUG
    Michael Horton LAFCPUG
    Michael Horton
    LAFCPUG

    Daniel Berube - BOSTON FCPUG
    Daniel Berube
    BOSFCPUG

    The latest iteration of the Final Cut Pro User Group SuperMeet is coming up, this time in Amsterdam. Event organizers Michael Horton and Dan Berube can’t help but display their enthusiasm for both the event and for their mission of bringing the power of digital storytelling to the world. They discuss some of the new features of this SuperMeet, such as turning part of the event over to the audience, the newest edition of their SuperMag and the expansion of the Final Cut Pro user group community. Their plans for the future, why it is so important to them, and why they refuse to make the SuperMeets “dog and pony shows” are all part of a look at one of the fastest-growing conference series going.

    Rodney – DCFCPUG