Thoughts

TrackX Review For Final Cut Pro / SliceX Review For Final Cut Pro

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

(Can you spot where an object was removed in the frame grab above? And no, I would never use this for a documentary project, but it could be useful otherwise!)

 

The creators of TrackX and SliceX recently sent me copies for review, and they seem like quite useful products. Developed by Mocha, the TrackX/SliceX combo of plugins for Final Cut Pro X offer some great effects without ever having to leave FCPX. The bundle runs $149 or $99 each. Normally, to achieve some of these tricks, you might have to open another program like After Effects, which also happens to require a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. With this TrackX review and SliceX review, you can learn a bit from my experience testing the two products out and see if they are right for you.

SliceX Review

First off, SliceX has a lot of features, which is nice. In the video below, you can see a little demo of the Object Remover function. In the first clip, try to see if you can notice anything missing. The removed object will return later in the clip.
 

 

SliceX tools include: Blur Shape Mask, Color Correct Shape Mask, Depth of Field Shape Mask, Object Remover, Pixelate Shape Mask, Shape Mask Layer, Skinfix Shape Mask, and Vignette Shape Mask.

The tools in this plugin are quite easy to use, as it only took me about two minutes to install the plugin and start removing objects with the Object Remover function. They probably aren’t going to be as robust as After Effects and other competing stand-alone visual effects programs, but they are still nice and worth the $99 price of SliceX. I’m pretty excited to use some of these tools in upcoming and current video projects. I had a great time learning how to use Slice X; review it for yourself though and let me know if you think it’s right for you.

(Below: The SliceX Official Tutorial)

 

TrackX Review

TrackX is pretty awesome and straight forward. I’ve been wanting to do this for some time, and now I have a simple plugin that lets me track text to a moving object in the frame. It’s great.

Another effect that I’ll mention in this TrackX review is that, using the same technology, you can track a video clip to the surface of a screen. Imagine you have a computer screen or an iPad in one of your clips, and you want to make it look like a certain clip is playing on that screen. TrackX makes it easy to add any clip onto that screen. See below for an example in a video provided by the TrackX creators:
 

All in all, I have to say that these plugins are a good deal at $149 as a bundle. They accomplish very targeted goals, which means that a more robust stand-alone program might be a better choice for general visual effects creation; however, for a couple of quick solutions, TrackX and SliceX work great for quickly elevating your productions to a high level.

Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review

Gear, Lighting, Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts

Is the Glow 71″ Grand Softbox on your Christmas list? Should it be? Did you get a smaller softbox for Hanukkah and want to upgrade? Read this Grand Softbox review and learn if it’s the right product for you.

(Disclaimer: Adorama recently sent me the 71″ Grand Softbox for review.)

The Grand Softbox currently retails for about $350.

 

My right soccer boot illuminated by the Glow 71″ Grand Softbox. The light produced is beautiful and comes with very subtle, soft shadows.

 

First off, this thing is huge. I can normally test products without issue in my living room, but this was a tight squeeze! The size is great though because the light is very soft, without losing efficiency from your strobe.

 

My second impression: it’s a little tough to assemble for the first time. Granted, I didn’t look for instructions (as usual), and I ended up breaking one of the 16 metal rods because I began putting together the softbox incorrectly. Oops!

 

You’ll notice that the speedring in the center has 16 holes, which means there will be a lot of tension from all angles when every rod is inserted. This does create a strong, sturdy final product.

 

I tried to insert the rods beginning at the top and moving clockwise until they were all in. Do not do this, as it creates too much tension on one side. With a little foresight, and following the obviously labeled numbers on the speedring, you can insert the rods across from each other, instead of clockwise around the speedring, if that makes sense. The first four looked like a plus sign when they were all in, with the tension evenly distributed around the Grand Softbox. This will prevent you from breaking anything!

 

Now we are rolling and ready to shoot. You’ll notice the reinforced velcro closures, which are a nice touch for securing the end of each rod.

 

Just to add an element of scale, you can see how large this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox is compared to my Canon 5D mark II.

 

The Glow series of products by Flashpoint is proving to be a consistently reliable and quality resource for professional photographers. I had some trouble with the initial set up today, but overall, this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review is a positive one. I would recommend the Grand Softbox and I will continue to use it for portraits and product shoots.

The Grand Softbox can be used without the white diffuser/baffle in order to get more of a crisp look, since the light will reflect off the silver lining of the Grand Softbox. With the diffuser, the light more resembles a large soft window, which I really like.

It ships with a bag for everything to neatly fit into once folded and taken down. If you want something versatile, efficient, and large for your studio strobes, the Grand Softbox is a great choice.

 

 

A bear wearing a reindeer costume thanks you for reading this Glow 71″ Grand Softbox Review. Happy holidays.

 

FxFactory Pro 4 Review

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Noise Industries was kind enough to send me a copy of the new FxFactory Pro 4.0 for review, and it’s a great toolkit for the  video editor looking for relatively easy-to-use and affordable plugins that will make a video project stand out. In this brief FxFactory 4 Review, I’ll tell you a little bit about the platform, what it has to offer, and how to use it. It is a free update for current owners of previous versions of FxFactory Pro.

(FxFactory’s introduction video is below)

 

First off, it is packed full of features. FxFactory 4 contains a variety of plugins boasting more than 170 filters, transitions, and generators. New features with this update include support for Adobe Premiere, and of course it still works with Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion, as well as Adobe After Effects.

Using FxFactory Pro 4 is a breeze, as were previous versions, at least in my experience using Final Cut Pro X with FxFactory Pro. Once you install FxFactory Pro, simply open Final Cut Pro X and find the plugins automatically installed in the Effects Browser (Command + 5 will also open the Effects Browser). See below.

 

 

All of your new plugins will be categorized by the type of effect, so if you want to find a pattern or a sun flare image, just click the Generators icon in the Effects Browser and scroll through the multitude of options. Or if you want to experiment with some new transitions, just browse through the Transitions tab, etc.

Without going into detail about every single feature, I’ll highlight what’s new with this most recent update to FxFactory Pro 4.0. Photo Montage is a quick, slick way to animate photos for a slide show with various animation style choices. Motype 1.3 by Yanobox offers some cool title effects. Callouts 1.3 has a lot of nice animations for explaining ideas with text and clean line and dot animations. PHYX Cleaner 2.0 repairs footage to make it look crisp and clean. Split Animator 1.1 has several updates for its split screen features.

 

 

Overall, I think if you read this FxFactory 4 review you’ll know that I’m quite happy with the software. I think FxFactory is a great addition to Final Cut Pro X’s built-in features, and FxFactory 4 brings a lot of easy-to-use plugin features that will keep your projects looking sharp.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

 

 

Final Cup Pro X Plug-in Review: Rolling Credits

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Rolling Credits by SUGARfx is a Final Cut Pro X plug-in that generates some really nice credits to add at the end of your film projects. In full disclosure, I recently tried out this plug-in for a new project I’m working on thanks to a free license from SUGARfx. In this Final Cut Pro X plug-in review, I’ll be telling you a few of the quick pros and cons about the plug-in so that you can decide whether or not you’d like to drop the $49 on a new FCPX plug-in, or just continue to create credits with the built-in generators that come with FCPX. (Read more Final Cut Pro X reviews here).

First off, I like Rolling Credits because the credits look sharp. Aside from price, user interface, etc., the credits simply look good. See below for more detailed pros and cons:

Pros:

  • 12 layouts offer a diversity of visual options.
  • Each layout is highly customizable, allowing for changes to motion, color, gradient, motion blur, etc.
  • As I mentioned, these Final Cut Pro X credits just look good.

Cons:

  • The interface is a little bit more complicated than it needs to be.
  • Importing your credits text also seems more complicated than it needs to be, although this may be the fault of Final Cut Pro X and its limitations. I have to type [TTL] before the title, for instance, which isn’t a huge pain, but seems a little bit old school for a 2012 version of a Final Cut Pro X plug-in.
  • For what you get as a user, I think a $29 price point would be a little better than the $49 sticker price.

 

 

 

Below is the video tutorial for the plug-in, produced by SUGARfx themselves:

XEffects Tech Transitions Review for FCP X

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

XEffects is another plugin for Final Cut Pro X (FCP X) that I have found useful for adding more of that polished look to my video projects. The plugin offers 10 or 12 distinctly different transition animations. These transitions are pretty sophisticated and so when you watch them, they feel professional. Not cheesy. They are intense enough for upbeat videos, but with enough options for toning down the mood more a more serious commercial project. I would highly recommend the plugin.

XEffects Tech Transitions is available from idustrual revolution for a reasonable $49.

Here is a video in which I used a couple of XEffecets transitions near the beginning:

 

Here is the company’s official tutorial:

FCP X Punchline Review

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Punchline is a plugin for Final Cut Pro X (FCP X) that offers some slick titles and transitions to spruce up your project and save some time with editing. I wanted to write a quick FCP X Punchline review so that editors out there like me can decide if they want to spend the money on yet another new plugin for FCP X. Personally, I enjoy editing and telling a story with visuals (since I’m a photojournalist), but I don’t usually want to spend a lot of time on animation, titling, etc. I’m also not ready to spend the money to outsource this work to a third party. Plugins are a great compromise here.

Punchline is available for $49 from SUGARfx. You get a set of about 10 or 12 different styles, all of which are highly customizable.

Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:

Easy to use

Quality transitions

High energy, which is good for sports and entertainment videos

Cons:

Variety – I might like to see a few more styles of transitions.

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You can watch the official FCP X Punchline plugin tutorial below:

PluralEyes FCP X Review

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Today I’m doing a PluralEyes FCP X review because there is now a new version of the popular PluralEyes software for Final Cut Pro X that might help speed up your editing process, especially for DSLR shooters. Singular Software’s popular synching tool for Final Cut Pro 7 is sure to be a hit with video editors using Apple’s new FCP X, but I’ll break down a couple of the reasons why you may or may not want to buy this plugin. Here are a few pros and cons:

Pros:

  • PluralEyes FCP X is more reliable than the built-in sync function in FCP X. At times the built-in sync gets confused.
  • PluralEyes FCP X can handle tons of clips and sync them with ease. It is basically impossible to sync more than two clips in FCP X without PluralEyes
  • PluralEyes FCP X can sync multiple video clips with the same audio clip. This is something crucial for me and other DSLR shooters. We often shoot with continuous audio on a recorder like a Zoom H4n, but we stop and start the video because cameras like the Canon 5D mark II and even the mark III cannot shoot longer than 12 minutes and 30 minutes respectively. So if I film an interview that has two or three video clips of, say, 10 minutes each and an audio track of 30 minutes, I can only sync one of those video clips to the audio in FCP X. Unless I have PluralEyes. Otherwise I have to sync the other two video clips by hand, or I have to cut the audio during the interview into multiple clips, which just makes things even more complicated and is a bad idea.

 

Cons:

  • It does take a few more clicks to sync clips using PluralEyes, whereas with the built-in FCP sync function, you can right click and select “synchronize” and you’re done. PluralEyes takes a minute to process, and to export to PluralEyes from FCP X you have to leave the timeline and view the entire list of projects, which takes a moment as well.
  • As usual, I’m going to complain about the price here. If you’re like me and independent, it’s tough to budget for anything more than essential gear. If you are spending $150 on a plugin for use on a piece of software that costs $300 total, then you better get a lot of use out of it. PluralEyes for FCP 7 was a comparable price, but it was a fraction of the total price of FCP 7, and now that FCP X is much, much cheaper, it’s hard to justify spending 50% of the cost of the original software on a plugin.

 

Thanks for looking and I hope this PluralEyes FCP X review was helpful to you …

 

Canon 5D Mark III Review

Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts

 

Alright folks, the day has finally come in which Canon has announced its successor to the much lauded Canon 5D mark II. We had an official announcement today that the Canon 5D mark III has arrived and will be available for purchase in stores sometime around the end of march. Read the official press release here.

This Canon 5D mark III review is of course a little premature, since I haven’t got my hands on it yet but I wanted to outline the basic pros and cons as to why you may or may not want to upgrade. First off, I will start with why I personally am not yet going to buy a Canon 5D mark III. Review what I say and make a decision for yourself!

 

CONS:

  • Price. The Canon 5D mark III has a hefty price tag right now because Canon seems to now how badly everyone has been waiting for this! For $3,500, photographers and filmmakers are going to wonder what is wrong with using a plain old Canon 5D mark II, a camera that has always been wildly popular.
  • Weather sealing. To me, spending over $3K on a camera should mean that I can shoot with that thing in the pouring rain and in dust storms, much like with a Canon 1D X or Canon 1D mark IV. It looks like this is not really going to be the case with the Canon 5D mark III.

PROS:

  • It’s awesome. And you know it. Where to begin? First, we can consider the Canon 5D mark III confidently, knowing that Canon has had time to work out all the kinks from earlier models unlike with the 5D mark II, which was still a bit of an experiment.
  • Low-light shooting. You’ll be able to shoot basically in pitch black situations. ISO 6400 on the Canon 5D mark III will now look like what ISO 1600 looks like on the Canon 5D mark II. Wow. ISO on the Canon 5D mark III will go up to 25,600 (expandable to 102,400)!!
  • 30-minute video clips. The Canon 5D mark II was limited to about 12 minute clips and the Canon 5D mark III can now shoot for about a half hour!
  • 60p for video. A lot of cameras these days can shoot in 60p, which is a higher frame rate that allows for nice slow motion effects and the ability to film fast moving subjects. The Canon 5D mark III finally contains this upgrade while the 5D mark II has been left without it for so long.
  • Headphone jack. That’s nice to have. It’s been glaringly absent from a camera that has become so popular with filmmakers.
  • 100% viewfinder coverage. What you see is what you get. With the Canon 5D mark II, you only supposedly saw about 98% of what was in the actual framed image you were shooting.
  • Dual memory card slots. It can take CF and SD cards now. Those SD cards are cheap! And so small. Don’t lose ’em though.
  • 61 point AF system. Finally, one more thing in this list for still photographers. I realize a lot of these are benefits for video, but here we have an improvement in the autofocus system in which there are now 61 focus points, which is great.

Other thoughts – People will tell you that the improved megapixel count is great but who really cares about that? It’s a small improvement and the image files were already large enough with the 5D mark II. People will also say that the Canon 5D mark III can shoot faster, at about 6 frames per second now. But again, who cares about that when they’re shopping for a Canon 5D mark III? You are probably an independent filmmaker, documentary photographer, or perhaps a wedding photographer. You’re not shooting sports. But I guess if you already have spent all this money on a new camera, it wouldn’t hurt to be able to use the camera as a second (or third) body while you shoot some sports.

OK, that’s enough for now; hope this Canon 5D mark III review was helpful for you. Now go sell that kidney on the black market so you can afford this ridiculously pricey Canon 5D mark III. And then sell me your used 5D mark II for now! But like I said, I am not quite 100% sold on the Canon 5D mark III just yet.

Below is a nice little video from Engadget showing the camera:

Yanobox Moods Review – Final Cut Pro X Plug-in for Color Manipulation

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Yanobox provided me with their new color manipulation plug-in for Final Cut Pro X, called Moods. In this post I will review Yanobox Moods and tell you a bit about its pros and cons and why you might want to try it on your next Final Cut Pro X project.

First off, as always, this is an honest Yanobox Moods review for Final Cut Pro X, but I did want to make sure and mention that yes, Yanobox sent the Moods software to me for free. That said, I will still try to be objective in this review. Second, right off the bat, I like Moods because it is simple, easy, and user-friendly. The software does not necessarily go far beyond what is already built into Final Cut Pro X, but it is still useful, intuitive, and comes with some great color-correction/manipulation presets. I tested out Moods in FCP X on my new project, The Tallest Hurdle, which is about the surprisingly common trend of child burn injuries caused by accidents with cooking fires in Nepal.

What’s great about Yanobox Moods is that you can preview a preset by simply moving your mouse over the preset. You will see the visual effect on your selected clip without even having to click. That is slick. There are several options for presets in Yanobox Moods and Final Cut Pro X makes integration with the plug-in a breeze. Click on “Effects” while in FCP X and review the Moods preset options. Select a preset or start from scratch using the array of sliders and wheels that control everything from shadow color tones to gamma, exposure, and more.

What’s not so great about Yanobox Moods is that it seems to draw much more energy from the computer in order to render changes as compared to say, using the built-in color and exposure controls in FCP X. Other than that drawback, I can’t really find a reason not to use Moods, unless you are tight on money. Otherwise, for $50, it’s really not a bad deal at all.

If you liked this Yanobox Moods review for Final Cut Pro X, you want to see more reviews, or just want to disagree, go right ahead! Let me know what you think or send me a question. I will be reviewing another software plug-in for Final Cut Pro X soon – Singular Software PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X – so stay tuned. Thanks for viewing.

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Here is the Moods tutorial video, which is just an introduction by Yanobox that they put on YouTube for beginners:

 

The Story Behind the Photo | Quechua Women | Seattle Photographer David Ryder

My work, Nature, photojournalism, Still photography, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Travel

I thought it would be interesting or useful for some of my readers to hear the story behind one of my photos, so I decided to explain how the above image was made and what led up to it. It is one of my favorite images from a recent trip to Peru, where I shot a story, Legacy of War, about the decades-long internal conflict that saw approximately 70,000 lives lost. I traveled to Ayacucho, a city in the Andes, to investigate a tumultuous period in Peru’s history, which began in this town. After meeting and photographing many people directly affected by the violence of the 80’s and 90’s, I took a taxi into the hills above Ayacucho in order to make some photographs of the entire city – I needing something with more of a sense of place. I shot landscapes and wide shots of the city from above and I told our taxi driver in Spanish that I’d like to stop once or twice on the way back in order to chat with people in the fields and/or make photos. After a minute or two, I spotted two women sitting together in a beautiful pastoral scene. I told the driver to stop and I got out of the car with my girlfriend, Karlie, and we approached the women.

From across a large ditch, I yelled to them in Spanish, telling them that I am a journalist, I came from the U.S., I’m interested in the daily life of Ayacuchanos, and I want to chat with them and take their photo. They nodded as we climbed through the ditch and slipped and slid on the dry earth. Standing next to the ladies, the first thing that struck me was the size of their cheeks. Like chipmunks, they each had a giant wad of something stuffed into one cheek, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it must of course be coca leaves. As a Seattle photographer, this obviously isn’t something I get to see or photograph often. They smiled as I talked to them in Spanish and I noticed just a few teeth in those smiles. One woman was spinning yarn while we sat, and I’m not quite sure if it was llama or alpaca or neither. I listened to a few very thick and difficult Spanish words that the woman spoke to me, saying to me that she understood some Spanish but spoke only Quechua. We laughed as she asked me a few things in Quechua, to which I could only reply “no sé,” … “I don’t know” in Spanish.

I told them to just carry on as if I were not there, and then I walked behind them to capture the beautiful hills in the background behind them. The two cows in the left of the frame mirrored the two women spending the afternoon together, and the picture came out quite well. It felt calm and quiet, with just the right colors and tones. I wanted to shoot the image at f/1.4 to make the background blur significantly, but with the Canon 50mm lens that I have it can be a pain to keep the subject in focus. I snapped a few quick frames before saying goodbye, and only one of these frames was decently in focus. With a bit of luck, as usual, I was able to meet a couple of people in a really cool scene and make a photo out of it. Once I got home, I didn’t hardly do anything to the photo in Lightroom or Photoshop except perhaps bump the contrast and saturation up just a bit. Thanks a lot for looking and stay tuned for more.

PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X Released

Gear, Multimedia, Tech stuff, Thoughts, Video

Singular Software has just released PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X. PluralEyes was the go-to plugin of choice for video editors syncing audio using Final Cut Pro 7, and now the plugin is available: PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X. I will be reviewing the new plugin soon.

As DSLR shooters, we have to use external audio recorders because our cameras don’t record audio very well. And as you may know, to sync audio in Final Cut Pro X it is as easy as three clicks – just click the audio track, the video, and right click to select “synchronize clips.” This is great and a feature that was badly needed in Final Cut Pro 7, which is why PluralEyes was so great when it came out. So why would anyone ever need PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X?? Final Cut Pro X does not seem to be able to figure out how to sync multiple video clips with a single audio track. This is very frustrating, because often I will have one track for audio from an interview, and multiple video clips from the interview. This is because DSLR cameras like the Canon 5D mark II cannot film for longer than 12 minutes or so. You have to briefly stop and start the camera. I’m very much looking forward to testing out this new version of PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro X.

See below for the official press release:

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PLURALEYES FOR FINAL CUT PRO X NOW AVAILABLE

New release lets Final Cut Pro X editors better manage dual-system audio and multi-camera productions; sophisticated automation technology accurately syncs video and audio

Vancouver, British Columbia, January 25, 2012 — Singular Software™, a developer of workflow automation applications for video production, is pleased to announce the availability of PluralEyes® for Apple® Final Cut Pro® X (FCP X). The multi-award winning PluralEyes technology works alongside FCP X to quickly and accurately sync video and audio clips for dual-system audio and multi-camera productions, saving hours of tedious manual syncing during post-production.

“The auto sync function that is built into Final Cut Pro X is a start, but most professional editors will want more. They want to be able to sync many clips at once, see the results right away, and be confident that the sync will work across a broad range of real-world video projects,” says Bruce Sharpe, CEO, Singular Software. “PluralEyes for FCP X is built on the same technology that is used countless times every day to sync weddings, corporate videos, documentaries and a host of other video production types. With a time-tested, proven technology powering the automation, FCP X editors can confidently offload their entire sync task to PluralEyes and be hands off until the sync is complete, regardless of the type of project they are working on.”

PluralEyes for FCP X went through an extensive public beta before its release with thousands of editors putting the software through its paces. Photography Bay reviewed the PluralEyes for FCP X beta release, commenting on its ability to better handle real-world sync projects, “…syncing multiple takes to a single audio clip is a challenge in FCP X, but is something that the new PluralEyes beta shreds through easily.” The full Photography Bay review can be viewed at http://www.photographybay.com/2011/12/15/plural-eyes-now-available-for-fcp-x/

PluralEyes for FCP X Pricing and Upgrades
PluralEyes for FCP X is available today via http://www.singularsoftware.com/buy.html#fcp for 149.00 USD.

Existing PluralEyes for FCP customers can upgrade to PluralEyes for FCP X free of charge at http://www.singularsoftware.com/downloads.html#fcp.

FCP X editors can test-drive the new release by downloading a 30-day trial version from http://www.singularsoftware.com/downloads.html#fcp.