New Stuff - Cool Stuff
August 18, 2014
In This Issue
Become a Member
All Kinds of Cool Stuff
Video Compression Speed Test
Review: ThunderTape 2 from 1 Beyond
Review: mTape from mLogic
Commentary: Sales vs. Subscriptions
FCP X: Still Images and Frame Rates
Premiere Pro: Manually Sync Double-System Sound
FCP X (v.10.1.2): Complete!
Top 3 Lists
Compressor 4.1 Training
Larry's New Subscription Service


I am delighted to introduce our  Subscription Membership for all my video training, webinars, and tutorials.

* Low-cost.
* Wide variety.
* Instantly available.
* Over 700 movies!
* Over 200 hours!

Click here to learn more. Access your membership by clicking the "Member Login" button in the left sidebar of the Home Page of my website.
Quick Links...
Join Our Mailing List
Popular Webinars

- - - 

Up-Coming
Events

WELCOME BACK!

Larry Jordan Writing this newsletter is an interesting exercise. You can probably read through this in a few minutes. But creating these articles takes a varying amount of work. For example, the article on "Still Image Frame Rates" took an hour to write. "Video Compression Speed Test" took a day. My two product reviews on the mLogic and 1 Beyond LTO tape drives took two weeks because there was so much I needed to learn before I could write about them. And I've been thinking about my commentary on subscriptions for a couple of months.

I was struck by how much time is involved "behind the scenes."  It's like any production or editing project - the more seamless the viewing experience, the more work required behind the scenes to make it so. Six new articles for you this week!

I want to call special attention to my two product reviews this week: mTape from mLogic and ThunderTape 2 from 1 Beyond. I've written a lot about LTO tape over the years, but this was the first time I got to work with not one, but two units!  And, boy, did I have a LOT! to learn. Even if you aren't planning on purchasing an LTO system immediately, take some time to read these two articles. They will bring you up to speed on the status of backup and archiving and set your expectations on what's possible. (Special thanks to Roger Mabon at mLogic and Rony Sebok and Terry Curren at 1 Beyond for helping me understand more about this technology. I'm very grateful for their assistance.)

Also, thinking about 1 Beyond, they are launching their new ThunderTape 2 tape drive in concert with this newsletter. This is the first time anyone has announced a new product specifically in this newsletter. Cool.

But, before we check out the latest in technology, here's "Something Completely Different.".

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...

Generic newsletter bullet My wife is reading "Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Kearns Goodwin. There was a passage in it that struck me as surprisingly relevant to us today:

"Look into the morning trains," Ralph Waldo Emerson marveled, which "carry the business men into the city to their shops, counting-rooms, workyards and warehouses." Into every car the newsboy "unfolds his magical sheets, -- twopence a head his bread of knowledge costs -- and instantly the entire rectangular assembly, fresh from their breakfast, are bending as one man to their second breakfast." A European tourist was amazed at the central role newspapers played in the life of the new nation. "You meet newspaper readers everywhere; and in the evening the whole city knows what lay twenty-four hours ago on newswriters' desks.... The few who cannot read can hear news discussed or read aloud in ale-and-oyster houses."

Substitute "mobile device" for "newspaper" and you've pretty much captured today's society as well. We have always loved news.

LAST WEEK'S WEBINAR:
DOUBLE-SYSTEM SOUND

Generic newsletter bullet I tried something different last week. Rather than look at a specific feature within a single piece of software, I looked at how the same task is done in different software.

Double-system sound means that we are recording the image on the camera, while recording the audio on a separate device, like a digital audio recorder.

In last week's webinar, I showed how this works in:
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CC
  • Apple Final Cut Pro X
  • Red Giant PluralEyes
  • Intelligent Assistance Sync N Link
It was an interesting session - and well worth watching. Click here to download your copy.

THIS WEEK'S WEBINAR: FINAL CUT PRO X
FREEZE FRAMES AND SPEED CHANGES  

Generic newsletter bullet Thinking of webinars, this week we are taking a look at how to change the speed of clips in Final Cut Pro X.

I plan to cover: 
  • Freeze frames and Hold frames
  • Constant speed changes
  • Replace edits
  • Variable speed changes

Changing the speed of a clip is done in a lot of projects - and the latest version of FCP X added some new options for us to consider.

Register here -- it's FREE!

There's a limit of 100 seats for each webinar and the last several shows were sold out. So, sign up before seats are gone this week, too. I present this twice: 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM - Los Angeles time.

Anyone can attend the live presentations FREE. Subscribers can watch webinars at any time, as part of their membership!  Become a subscriber today. 


FEATURED BUZZ INTERVIEW

Buzz newsletter bullet This week's featured Buzz interview is with a guest and company we haven't met before: Dr. Arie Stavchansky from DataClay.

They've invented a new After Effects plug-in that allows you to create customized comps that are driven from a database. If you create the same thing over and over - just customizing it for different markets or customers - you need to listen to our conversation.

Listen to Arie's interview here.

Listen to the entire show here.

Thanks to the folks at Take1 Transcriptions, you can read, as well as listen to each show. Read this week's show transcript here. (You'll also find show transcripts on each Buzz show page.)

SIX NEW ARTICLES THIS WEEK!

Generic newsletter bullet We start with a video compression speed test,  comparing Adobe Media Encoder with Apple Compressor. The results are surprising. Next, 1 Beyond launches a brand new product with this newsletter -- I have reviews of the brand new ThunderTape 2 from 1 Beyond followed by a review of the new mTape from mLogic.

Next, I've been thinking about the benefits of software subscriptions versus sales and wrote up my thoughts in a new Commentary.

Then, I wrap up with two "How-to" articles: one on setting frame rates for still images and the other on syncing double-system audio manually in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  TONS of cool stuff this week!

Plus, as always, I've updated our Top 3 lists.
ARTICLE: VIDEO COMPRESSION SPEED TEST
Adobe Media Encoder vs. Apple Compressor 
 
Until recently, Adobe Media Encoder was always an "also-ran" in any video compression competition.

It was nice, but not adequate.

Adobe finally gave the product a lot of love and the results are surprising.

In this article, I compare Adobe Media Encoder CC (2014) with Apple Compressor 4.1.2 in compressing files for YouTube and the web.

PRODUCT REVIEW:
ThunderTape 2 from 1 Beyond   
 
With the release of this newsletter, 1 Beyond is launching a new LTO-6 tape drive.

LTO is something I've written about for years, but never been able to afford. Now, two new affordable units just hit the market.

I review ThunderTape 2 in this article, and mTape in the next.

Even if you aren't thinking about buying LTO systems quite yet, be sure to read one of these articles, because working with tape is a totally different experience - and I wrote both of these articles to help you understand what is going on.

PRODUCT REVIEW
mTape from mLogic  
 
mLogic was founded by Roger Mabon, who also founded G-Technology.

I've followed with great interest their newest product - mTape - an affordable LTO-6 tape drive for Macintosh media folks.

The mTape brings a different perspective on the media market compared to ThunderTape 2.  This review explains what LTO is, what makes it different and why you need to care.  There's a lot to learn - and lots to be careful about, as this article explains.

COMMENTARY        
Software Sales vs. Subscriptions 
 
With Adobe's shift to subscription pricing, there's been a lot of talk about the pros and cons.

However, in thinking about this, there's a subject I haven't seen written about, which is that selling software by subscription will result in creating different software than we've seen in the past.

Personally, for many developers, I think subscriptions are a good thing, even if, currently, the Mac Store doesn't allow them. I'm interested in your comments.

ARTICLE: FINAL CUT PRO X
Still Images and Frame Rates 
 
I was wondering what to write earlier today when Charlie Silverlock sent me a question about still images and frame rates.

In looking into it, I realized that the answer is neither obvious nor easy to find.

So, I wrote an article about it. If you are importing stills into your projects, or animating them using keyframes, take a look at this article to learn what's going on.

VIDEO: ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CC
Manually Sync Double-System Sound 
 
This is an excerpt from this week's webinar looking at working with double-system sound.

In this demo, I show you how to manually sync separate audio and video files using Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  (Though this technique also works for Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.)

ALL-NEW AND UPDATED!! 
FINAL CUT PRO X 10.1.2: COMPLETE 
              
This title contains everything you need to learn Apple's
Final Cut Pro X v.10.1!
 
This title includes both:

* FCP X: Workflow & Editing

* FCP X: Effects

 

All in one place, for one great price!

 

Start with initial setup and media management to editing, effects, and output, there's no finer training on the market.

* Need to get started in a hurry? We condensed everything you need into one chapter.

* Need to learn just the new features? We've got you covered.

* Need in-depth training on everything you need to know to become a video editing pro? Start at the beginning and work your way to the end.

You'll be amazed at how much you learn!

THIS TRAINING INCLUDES ALL THE NEW FEATURES IN THE FCP X 10.1.2 UPDATE.

Over 200 movies, more than 22 hours of training! Each movie is laser-focused to get you the information you need exactly when you need it. (The average movie length is about seven minutes.)

One title - everything you need - available right now.

TOP THREE + 1 LISTS 
   
Here are the most popular articles, webinars, and audio interviews for the past seven days across all my websites.

Articles

This list expanded to the Top 4 to add some variety:
For an index of all our articles, visit here.

 

Webinars

This list is based on the webinars watched most often by our monthly subscribers. For a list of all our webinars, visit here.

 

Digital Production Buzz Audio Interviews 

For a list of all Buzz audio interviews, click here. 

BRAND-NEW TRAINING
Learn Apple Compressor 4.1
   
Apple continues to update Compressor with an all new interface, improved compression settings and better monitoring. This application has some much new stuff inside that we went back and re-did all our training for the new version.
  • Better organized
  • More informative
  • Tighter focus on making your images look great.
NEW TRAINING NOW SUPPORTS
COMPRESSOR 4.1.2

These days, everything we do ends up on the web.
Which means that if we don't know how to compress our video to make it look good, all our work during production and post is wasted.

In this in-depth video training, Larry Jordan shows you how to make the most of Apple Compressor 4.1.x.

Whether you are a new or experienced, this training will help you make your media look and sound great!
We are committed to providing the highest quality training at the lowest possible price and distributing it as widely as possible.

From subscriptions to individual downloads to free techniques and articles -- we've got your back.  And there's lots more to come.

Thanks!

Larry Jordan
Larry Jordan & Associates
P.S. I always love hearing from you. Feel free to write.