It seems like forever that I’ve been searching for an app that will allow me to take a photo using an existing photo for alignment. Either through my show, or other things in life, it’s fun to take before and after photos without having to bust out a tripod and leave a camera in place the entire time.
While searching the Apple App Store again last week, I finally found ... (more)
Enable AirPlay printing from all your iOS devices with all of your current printers!
After researching AirPlay-compatible printers (or lack thereof), I stumbled upon a different solution that works with your existing printers. The software is called FingerPrint that runs on your Windows or Mac desktop to act as an AirPlay host, and it works great!
Free 7 day trial, just 10 bucks–far cheaper than buying a new printer, and ... (more)
One of my all time favorite movies, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy” starring Will Ferrell from 2004 is making a comeback! The sequel was announced today on the Conan show.
We shoot Motorz with a limited crew, and sometimes I’m even flying solo. Filming a 22-minute (half hour format) television series on a budget has its challenges, but they are so much fun to work around it’s part of the game. Take for example my recent challenge. I wanted to be able to ceiling-mount one of our three Canon 60D DSLRs so I could position a camera anywhere overhead (within ... (more)
It’s amazing what you can do these days with a limited production budget and some knowledge… including producing a national TV show.
Technology, within regard to video production, is an amazing thing. It’s constantly improving on a weekly basis on all fronts, including hardware and software. If you don’t stay in touch with the changes you are not doing yourself any favors. I can vouch for this with my own ... (more)
This is the latest episode of Motorz TV (our 64th!) and in this episode we walk through the entire process of machining a block (our Chevy 350 small block V8), from start to finish. There are also some fun segments in this episode (Partz and Letterz). Be sure to watch all the way to the end to catch the bloopers, too!
If a 61-point autofocus and an ISO range up to 204,800 doesn’t make you giddy, how about the fact that videographers can now record up to 30 minutes (actually 29 minutes and 59 seconds) in one 4GB file–and when that fills up, it automatically starts a new one?
Yes, continuous recording is now here with the introduction of the new Canon 1D X ($6800), Canon’s new top-of-the-line DSLR. What? You ... (more)
An article was published today online and in print by Kyle Oliver in one of my favorite magazines, EventDV. It is an extremely comprehensive look at the past and present Motorz TV and how I brought it to life. It includes a detailed list of equipment and software used to produce the show, and a whole lot more. Please check it out online, or in print!
Motorz Season 5 has just begun and the first episode went online today at Noon! Check it out and learn how to tear down a Chevy 350 V8 small block engine in order to get it ready for machining, then rebuild!
And for those playing along with my blog here, note that this was edited completely using Final Cut Pro X (version 10.0.0).
[Motorz TV]... (more)
New season of the hit car show “Motorz” premieres on national television later this month.
San Diego, CA, September 2, 2011 – Back on the air again for its fifth season, Motorz TV (www.motorz.tv), presented by the Sears Blue Tool Crew and AMP Research, is rolling up its sleeves and breaking out the Craftsman® tools, wheeling out the floor jacks, and airing more episodes for the gearhead in ... (more)
Ever since I changed my desktop computer from a Macbook Pro to a Mac Pro, my three Apple bluetooth input devices started encountering sporadic interference issues. My wireless keyboard would often lose connection or experienced slow or lost keystrokes. And both my Magic Mouse and my Magic Trackpad would exhibit “drunken” behavior including slow or jumpy cursor movement as well as connection issues.
It got to the point where even ... (more)
My comments about my post-production workflow have been covered recently in a few online magazines, specifically regarding the use of Final Cut Pro X and DLSRs. Check them out!
“In Defense of Final Cut Pro X” (StudioDaily)
Read the article
“TV Show Production on a Budget” (SHOOTonline)
Read the article... (more)
Final Cut Pro X finally has 64-bit background rendering. It’s fantastic, but it does have some issues which are painfully annoying. While active, here are a few things you can’t do. Hopefully Apple will fix this in a future release.
- You cannot delete an event when background tasks are running (even if tasks are paused).
- You cannot rename a folder in the Event or Project Library when background tasks are
After getting up to speed with Ripple Training’s awesome 37 video lessons on the new Final Cut Pro X, I set off to further evaluate FCP X for my needs. I will say that I’m thoroughly impressed with the product, despite the bugs and the frequent crashes. It’s definitely Beta. As I encounter difficult situations and work my way out of them, I’ll document them here on my blog when ... (more)
I spent the last few evenings learning the new Apple FCP X by way of Ripple Training‘s awesome video tutorials (I highly recommend them) and one thing I discovered is this: throw out everything you knew about editing with FCP 7 because if you try to edit the same way, you will become very frustrated.
If you’re coming from a traditional NLE, get a book or buy some video
Are you a current Apple Final Cut Studio (FCP7) user and thinking of making the jump to the new Final Cut Pro X that was released today? Then you might want to read this first.
Let me cut right to the chase. When relating it to the previous version, FCPX is quite revolutionary. It’s so revolutionary that it really is an entirely different product. You might as well consider other ... (more)