For those who are still having problems syncing videos to their ipod. "Why can't I transfer videos to my iPod?"

Apple has some info for those who are having trouble syncing videos to their ipod. I say the biggest problem is that the vlog you are subscribed to are not supporting the iPod's format. The iPod has specific format requirements based on mpeg-4 technology. Here is the posting below:

Why can't I transfer videos to my iPod?:
If you see the error message below, iTunes has detected that one or more of the videos being synced from your iTunes Library are not in the correct format to be played on iPod.



iTunes can play a wide variety of video formats; however the Fifth Generation iPod only plays videos that are created in specific formats. Any music video, TV show, or movie purchased from the iTunes Music Store is designed to be playable on the iPod and can be easily synced with iTunes 6 or later.

BBC offers 80% subsidised conversion training to Final Cut Pro for freelance craft editors

Apparently the BBC Training & Development is offering an awesome offer to London based freelance editors; an 80% subsidised conversion course to professional editing system Final Cut Pro (version 5.0).
The period is limited so if you're in London and you want to get certified, www.bbctraining.com/esf.asp

Final Cut Pro, Motion, DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack will no longer be available as seperate apps from Apple

Apple as of March will no longer be selling Soundtrack Pro, Motion, Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro as seperate Apps. They will only be available as a package in the Fianl Cut Suite. Earlier this week Apple told it's resellers about the change.

"The individual applications in Final Cut Studio will only be available as part of the suite," Apple told them.

So if you want to just get those apps seperatlet you better get it soon. Another point to think about is the point that if Apple does come out with a Pro Apps upgrade, the next version will be made to work with the new pentium processors Apple is incoprating into all their new computers.

Apple - Final Cut Studio

Vlogging "Apple's Video Podcasting" with iLife

Yesterday Apple annouced an new application in their iLife Suite. It's called iWeb. It makes it very easy for mac users to make blogs, podcasts, something they are calling photo casting, and even vlogs or what they call "video podcasting". What do I think about this.

Pro's: EXTREMELY EASY to make your vlogs, podcasts and blogs using Apple's new software. This is great for those of you who are trying to get into it, but haven't figured it all out with RSS enclosers and the like.

Con's:
1. It isn't remote. That means you have to have the program running on one computer all the time. If you re moving around and you want to update your podcast or blog from diffrent machines, ie.e school or office or home. Sorry not gonna work.
2. You HAVE to have a .Mac account to use this software. I can't publish this stuff to my own webserrver. Now if you are doing vlogs and podcasts, thet first 100mb with .Mac is gonna go fast.
3. Apple users only can use this. Sorry windows users.

Summary, if you wanna get started with vlogging and podcasting, this is a great solution, but if you want to continue, I don't see this as a viable option for you.

Apple's demo on video podcasing wit iWeb

Appe Relseases Final Cut Pro 5 Updates

It's a 85mb download. And there is littlee documentation on what improves other than the usual "improved relability" code Apple always uses. My advice, wait until that project you're working on now is done, see what people are saying about the update on the Apple support forum, then update.

Apple Final Cut Pro 5 Update download page

Shooting DV: Underwater page 1

If you're like me, you are already planning your summer vacation. I'm off to Thailand this summer. You bet your ass I'm gonna be doing some vlogging and filming underwater. So how do you go about this? Check out this great article on Shooting DV underwater.
Shooting DV: Underwater page 1

Looking forward to 2006

In 2004, the LA FCP User Group had a Feature Request Ballot of what they felt needed to be changed or added in FCP. You will see a number of functions such as Background Rendering and Multicamera track editing are in the FCP Studio. But not everything made it. There hasn't been a new ballot for 2005, and I wonder if there will be one for 2006. Time will tell.

Top Ten results 2004

CatDV FCP logging software update

CatDV 4.1 ($80) is a major update to the media asset database and video logging tools. Version 4.1 adds support for importing and exporting Final Cut Pro XML files, which permits seamless exchange of clip logging information and sequences between the CatDV database and Final Cut Pro browser window (complete with links to the media files). The update also adds support for importing and exporting Avid ALE log files, simplifying the exchange of clip data in mixed editing environments.

Get Your 2006 Vlogger Calendar Now!!

Right now! Go to the XOLO.TV cafe press store and buy a 2006 Vlogger Calendar. All the proceeds we get from what we sell on the store is going to charity. See if you can spot all the vloggers. Have a great 2006, it will be dubbed "Year of the Vlog"!

Click here to go to the store.

Tags: video+podcast vlog xolotv gabemac vlogcalendar

Final Cut Pro QuickTip Exporting video for iPod

Final Cut Pro QuickTip #54

Here is a tutorial of how to export the video you just edited to a format which is optimized for the video iPod. Please take note, this video may not work on PSP, PC's, or older macs.

For more info on how to export for the iPod check out the following link:
The Complete Guide to Converting Video to iPod Format (Mac)

Tags: finalcutpro final+cut+pro ipod video+ipod h.264 mpeg

Autodesk Cleaner 6.5 announced

San Rafael, Calif., November 16, 2005—Autodesk, Inc.(NASDAQ: ADSK), today announced Autodesk Cleaner 6.5 for Macintosh and Autodesk Cleaner XL 1.5 for Windows, the newest updates to its professional desktop media mastering and encoding software. Autodesk Cleaner is an industry standard application for encoding and optimizing video content for delivery formats ranging from the Internet and DVD to handheld mobile devices. New to Autodesk Cleaner software is encoding support for DivX version 5.2 player for Cleaner XL 1.5 and DivX 6.0 player for Cleaner 6.5 for Macintosh. Also added is the Flix exporter from On2 Technologies—that allows compressionists to publish video in .FLV and .SWF formats—the internet video formats supported by Macromedia Flash, the most widely distributed content player over the Internet.

Price? US$599; upgrades start at $125.

New Cleaner features include:
New output formats:

• Flash video support (.flv and .swf) with On2 Flix Exporter
• DivX Pro encoder
• DivX 5.2 for Cleaner XL 1.5 for Windows
• DivX 6.0 for Cleaner 6.5 for Macintosh

Updated codecs:

• Updated Kinoma version 3 exporter
• H.264 encoding through QuickTime 7 and support for Real 10.

Cleaner XL only new features:

• Support for Autodesk Backburner
• Command line script support for pipeline automation
• New Input formats:
• DPX, Cineon, OpenEXR
• Wiretap support on input

Well it's about time. I really enjoy using cleaner. It just does certain things better than compressor, espically for web. MPEG-2 encoding, I'll stick with compressor.

Tags: cleaner autodesk divx cleaner+6.5 flash apple windows video

Boris announces new visual effects suite for Final Cut Pro "Continuum Complete Version 4"

Boris announced Continuum Complete Version 4 Integrated visual effects. BCC is a comprehensive suite of native filters and transitions for Final Cut Pro and Motion amoung others.

Among the new features of version 4 is the Motion Key filter that isolates and removes moving foreground objects based on motion vector field of the source footage. This filter, along with the new Optical Stabilizer, continues the Optical Flow development first introduced in the version 3 Optical Flow and Motion Blur filters. Also new is the OGL-based Image Shatter, which takes advantage of modern graphics cards to accelerate 3D rendering. I really can't wait to tey the Motion key filter.

New Features include:
- Improved Motion Tracker provides increased accuracy with four-point tracking.
- New filters include Color Match, Halftone, Median, Motion Key, Corner Pin Tracker, Optical Stabilizer and an OpenGL-based 3D Extruded Image Shatter.
- Updated host support includes Apple Final Cut Pro 5, Apple Motion 2.01, Autodesk Combustion 4, and Eyeon Fusion version 5; Adobe After Effects version 7.0 will be supported once it is released.
- Support for Macintosh OS X Tiger.
- New Motion Key technology removes moving foreground objects based on motion estimation.
- Hundreds of new presets are included.
- Settings remain fully compatible with the version 3.0 release.
- Easy-to-use licensing includes Electronic Software Download (ESD) and a 14-day trial version.

Download the trial version here.

Tags: boris video+filters video+effects final+cut+pro motion apple+motion

On2 adds flash 8 export to Final cut Pro and DVD studio Pro

On2 is a company that supplies QuickTime plug-ins for export to different file formats. They have just released software to allow for direct export of Flash 8 files (.flv) from Final Cut Pro and DVD studio pro.


There are two things to realize about this exporter though:

1. Not everyone has Flash 8 video installed. Better to use Flash 7 exports at the moment.
2. You always need to place these flash video files into a .swf file to be able to play.
3. It has a hefty price tag of $149 for regular and $249 for a pro version.
   

Tags: flash macromedia apple final+cut+pro dvd+studio+pro quicktime+flash+export flash+export quicktime on2

Final Cut Pro Quick Tip #53 Soundtrack Pro Round Trip By Stephen Schleicher

Stephen Schleicher shows us how to incorporate Sound track Pro into our Final Cut workflow. Have a look at Stephen's tip #53.

Tags: soundtrack+pro final+cut+pro+workflow

Final Cut Pro News and tips

This is my own blog about the latest news and tips on Apple's Final Cut Pro suite. Keep looking for more news.