Final Cut Pro X & Motion 5 Available Now

This week Apple released brand new versions of it leading editing system and motion graphics applications. Final Cut Pro X has been long anticipated and now users are getting their hands on the first released version.

We will very soon be posting our initial thoughts, and would like to know your first impressions.

Free money for training

Don't forget, Skillset are there to help with funding for training in the TV and Film industry. Check out their web site:

www.skillset.org/freemoney

Freelancers - stay ahead of the competition and keep your skills relevant

Employee - Improve your employability by keeping up to date with the latest technology

Employer - Training can improve your business productivity

Go on, have a look now and improve your future in the industry!

Final Cut Pro X - Will it give you your 'Edit Zen'?

As most of you Final Cut Pro fans will have no doubt found out by now there is a new version around the corner FCP X (pronounced 10 - to match the OSX descriptions). Its a major upgrade that has lots of new and improved features including functions we've been screaming out to get for quite a while, including H264 support, 4K support for RED and Arri, background colour correction and sound fixes on ingestion and the most significant - 64 bit processing!

But what does this all mean in terms of the craft of editing? Well hopefully it'll mean things get quicker and easier! Remember the outcry in the 80's about how computers are going to make life easier, quicker, more efficient! Well I don't know about you but my life certainly hasn't become easier! What it has become is more interesting - more time and gadgets to allow me to try more things and experience more, cramming more into my life. Its still busy but in so many more ways now.

As an editor, you'll still be able to capture footage, cut it and get it back out to tape/DVD/Web - but hopefully the cutting part will be quicker, giving you more time to play and experiment. Thats what we're here for, to help you streamline! I remember a time before I was Apple Certified where I'd be editing right up to the last minute, late nights, early starts! I was confident in my end results but wasn't the most efficient editor in the world!

One project I had was to deliver a finished edit in 5 days made from footage being delivered while I was editing, the last piece of footage coming in the morning of my final day! I was stressed, rushing, fighting to get this edit complete for an evening ceremony of the 5th day. I did it but I'm sure it took a few years off my life that week!

Then I became certified! I took the 3 day introduction course for FCP6 and thought I'd just be there twiddling my thumbs - I'd been a user for almost 8 years at that point (since FCP 1.2) so I knew everything I needed to know! Or so I thought... What I actually learned was a workflow, organisation techniques, tools I'd glanced at but never thought of introducing into my day to day editing. The end result - I had a similar 5 day edit to do the following year and life was a breeze! Clips were catalogued and slipped into the timeline like water, simple and easy, no stress and I felt so much calmer during the whole process! I still took 5 days but most of that was having the ability to use that extra time saved to be able to craft my edit, actually play and have fun with the footage to make a smoother edit.

The finished piece went out on the evening of the 5th day but it was far more polished and I felt so much better about it!

What was also useful is that I've saved a number of days over the years following certification by streamlining my editing, becoming more efficient - the end result is the same but I'm far quicker and happier about my final pieces because I don't feel like I'm rushing anymore! The course payed for itself 10 times over easily.

Let us give you that 'Edit Zen' with our FCP 7 introduction course (we also run Adobe Premiere and Avid Media Composer courses too), or the FCP X introduction when the new version arrives! Why not let us know your thoughts on your 'Edit Zen', what makes you calmer during an edit?

SNOW101 course - 19th to 21st April DISCOUNT AVAILABLE!

To all of you out there who aren't lucky enough to be going over to Las Vegas for the NAB 2011 we have a little gift for you!

If you're looking to support Macs in any way then this is the course for you. Its the Desktop Support Essentials course and full details are listed HERE

And for our blog readers we have a special offer - this three day course is available for £699 + VAT instead of its usual price of £995 + VAT!

Drop us an email, click on our contact page or give us a buzz to find out more.

Premiere Pro playback problem - solved!

If any of you have had problems playing back video in Premiere Pro on OSX then you're likely to have fallen foul to the same issue as we had. Playback either stutters badly or stops after a second or two of playback. This can occur when you run incremental updates or big updates (from CS4 to CS5 for instance) but is easily fixed.
Here is a link to the Adobe support site but I'd add a little extra if I may - make sure you login as a root user before deleting the required preference.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/842/cpsid_84287.html

Also I suggest that you open Premiere while still logged in as root to make sure a nice fresh preference takes its place. Close Premiere then and go back to your normal user login account and all should be fine!

I did notice that on a fresh install we didn't actually have the troublesome preference (com.apple.audio.AggregateDevices.plist) until we open Premiere while logged in as root so thats something to be aware of too.

RESULT - not only do we have the best trainers but also the best support!

First of many - Premier Pro course

Today is the first day of our first Adobe Premiere Pro course and all is good. We're looking to develop our Digital Video courses over the next few months and Premiere is our first step to be followed by Avid in the new year.

For all you editors out there, we have a stable full of the best, most experienced trainers who use the software they deliver training for on a daily basis so they're full of real world tips and tricks to keep you on track so if you want the best training around then come to Digital Media Training!

New partnership with AT Computers

We are proud to announce our new partnership arrangement with AT Computers! This is very exciting news for both Digital Media Training as well as our clients. It now enables us to add an additional training centre to our map for the AT Computers training centre in Tewksbury.

It also means that we can now open up our training to include even more OSX and server based courses. AT Computers has a very large client base for installation and delivery of high quality, high end Apple Mac equipment for both industry and education and we are proud to be associated with such an esteemed Apple reseller

AT Computers have a number of stores in South Wales located in Cardiff, Treforest and Swansea. Please feel free to talk to staff at any of the stores about the training available or you could contact us directly by email or telephone.

Skillset Cymru announce new bursaries for Editors in Wales

Just in case you missed it, Skillset Cymru have recently announced a new round of burseries for Editors who are currently working or about to work in Welsh Television and film.
There are restrictions of course, you have to be able to demonstrate that you are either working in Welsh Television or that the training will enable you to secure a position in Welsh Television. There are full details on the Skillset web site (link below).

Courses that are eligible include Colour Correction, Audio Design, Compositing and Generating effective graphics as well as a few others but the emphasis is on expanding core knowledge of post production techniques.

In connection with this, Digital Media Training have a number of courses that would fit within these parameters:

Color 101 which covers Colour Grading using Final Cut Pro and Color

Soundtrack101which covers using Soundtrack Pro for sound sweetening and audio repairs

After Effects which comes in 2 levels of tuition to build your knowledge of the most widely used compositing and graphics software for video used in the industry

Motion101 which covers using Apple Motion 4 software for advanced graphics as well taking you into compositing and simple integration with Final Cut Pro

If you're interested in talking to someone about taking one of these courses then please give us a call or drop us an email!

Here is the quote form the Skillset website:

"Skillset Cymru Bursaries for Editors are grants of up to £800 for you to spend on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training within the field of editing. You must be working in the Welsh TV/post production sector or in the wider creative media industries in Wales on TV projects in a cross-platform context."

And here is the web link with full details http://www.skillset.org/funding/individuals/cymru_bursaries/article_7903_1.asp

First Apple Course Delivered

Last week we completed our first Apple Authorised training course. Final Cut Pro Level 2 was delivered at the beginning of the week and all delegates passed their exams. That qualifies as a roaring success. Next Final Cut Pro Course is Level 1 (16th - 18th August)

Just added course dates for all Apple training for Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, London and Glasgow. Think I have got double vision now, all the copy pasting plays havoc with your eyesight!
For anyone interesting in learning more about Apple training visit www.digitalmediatraining.co.uk

Just waiting to get the final green light and then we can announce to the world our new training centre. Watch this space.