If you're familiar with Lightroom, you know what Split Toning is: pushing the shadows and highlights of a shot towards different hues.Who said it can't be done in Media Composer? No one? I didn't think so.SHOW NOTESCheck out the blog ent

ASC #52: Let It Snow!

Dec 23rd, 2010 11m 57s

It's almost Christmas and I did the Santa last year. What's left? Snow!So this week, we're going to add snow to an image and we'll use a couple of advanced options to make it look ab bit more real (or a bit less fake, depending on your perspe

Special Announcement

Dec 21st, 2010 2m 49s

Starting January 1st, I'll have a new job. While that's a good thing, it also means a lot more work.So more work plus wanting to spend time with my family now and again means less time for the podcast. Right now, I'm doing a show a week, and

ASC #51: Animated Video Playbar with Marquee - Part II

Dec 16th, 2010 9m 57s

This week, we'll continue creating a semi-transparent video progress bar as you know them from Youtube et. al.Last week, we created the background elements in Marquee, this week, we'll create the remaining elements and then animate them in Me

ASC #50: Animated Video Playbar with Marquee - Part I

Dec 9th, 2010 12m 22s

This week and next, we'll create a semi-transparent video progress bar as you know them from Youtube et. al.We'll create the elements in Marquee, then (next week) animate in Media Composer. The cool thing about this approach is that you'll be

ASC #49: Sports Trailer Look

Dec 2nd, 2010 13m 58s

This week, another viewer suggestion: We'll create the high-contrast, saturated look that is common to many sports trailers.We'll also play around with BCC's Glow and add some flicker to the shots.SHOW NOTESVlad Video: The Stars (Original

ASC #48: Surveillance Camera Effect

Nov 25th, 2010 11m 43s

This week, we'll make footage look like it has been shot with a surveillance camera by distorting and degrading it. Plus, when we switch "cameras", we'll make the image break up for just a fraction of a second.SHOW NOTESIf you want to mani

ASC #47: Audio Basics VII - Audio Effects

Nov 19th, 2010 9m 18s

In this last episode in the audio series, I'll show you how to apply audio effects in Media Composer and a couple of neat real-world tips (like limiting you master output) that will hopefully help you out one day or another. SHOW NOTESYou

ASC #46: Audio Basics VI - Equalizer

Nov 11th, 2010 11m 4s

This week, we'll look into Avid's EQ Tool. It's pretty basic (look for more powerful EQs in the AudioSuite), so'll we'll cover what it can and can't do.Also: Build your own EQ preset into the Presets of the EQ's fast menu.SHOW NOTESThese

ASC #45: Audio Basics V - Audio Keyframes

Oct 28th, 2010 14m 31s

There's more than one way to manipulate audio in Media Composer (no surprise there, there's more than one way to do pretty much anything in MC).So this week, we'll explore Automation Gain, more often referred to as Audio Keyframes. You'll lea

ASC #44: Audio Basics IV - Audio Mixer

Oct 21st, 2010 10m 22s

In the fourth installment on our series on audio, we'll take an in-depth look at the audio mixer, going through all options that are available to you to adjust multiple segments at a time.SHOW NOTESCheck out the blog entry for this week's e

ASC #43: Audio Basics III - Very Basic Editing

Oct 14th, 2010 8m 50s

This week, we'll make some very simple audio edits, create transitions, check out waveforms and get rid of those horrid pops that are sometimes created by audio edits.This is actually the first part of a show that was to include the audio mix

ASC #38: BCC Pan & Zoom

Oct 13th, 2010 12m 22s

After last week's look into Avid's Pan & Zoom effect, this week we check out the Pan & Zoom effect that is included in Boris Continuum Complete 5 and later.It's a great effect that is incredibly easy to use, and we'll create a simple zoom in

ASC #42: Audio Basics II - Stereo Tracks

Oct 7th, 2010 8m 29s

This week's episode is all about stereo tracks: How to create them, how to get stuff into them, how to get rid of them again when the ugly beast named Compatibility rears its ugly head.Plus: Find out how to make me rich!SHOW NOTESCheck o

ASC #41: Audio Basics I - Settings, Settings, Settings

Oct 1st, 2010 17m 2s

I was asked by a lot of people to do tutorials on audio editing, so this week I'll start a series on exactly that.This first episode deals with the various audio settings in Media Composer - it's a bit dry, but it lays the foundation for the

ASC #40: Garbage Matte for Secondary Color Correction

Sep 23rd, 2010 10m 53s

So you want to change the skin tones in a shot by doing a secondary color correction. You're using the methods outlined in ASC #16 (and of course, they work incredibly well!), but there's that nasty balloon in the shot that has a skin-tone-like

ASC #39: Nesting Effects

Sep 16th, 2010 8m 35s

The way Media Composer processes effects has some weird side-effects: Sometimes an effect applied to an upper video track also affects the video tracks below -- whether you intended that or not.So this week we'll take control over that issue

Summer Hiatus till September 9th!

Jul 28th, 2010

Everyone needs a summer break, right? (Did you notice how I didn’t use the word “deserve”?)So the Avid Screencast will be on summer hiatus until September 9th, while I will enjoy a nice vacation with my girlfriend and the the two kids in Gree

ASC #37: Avid Pan & Zoom

Jul 16th, 2010 15m 14s

I've had several requests for tutorials on Pan and Zoom, so this week and next, this will be out topic.This week, we'll look into Avid's own Pan & Zoom effect. It is used to, well, pan and zoom into images that are larger than your sequence d

ASC #36: AMA with Red and Quicktime Files

Jul 8th, 2010 13m 45s

With Media Composer 5, you can access Quicktime and R3D files natively using AMA (provided you have the horsepower).In this episode, I'll show you how to link to AMA volumes, change the R3D source settings (such as ISO, color temperature etc.

ASC #35: Media Composer 5 Introduction

Jul 1st, 2010 13m 43s

I'm finally on Media Composer 5, so in this week's episode, I'll introduce you to the most obvious new features such as the Smart Tools, Realtime Audio Effects, the new Interface and some new Keyboard Shortcuts.There are a lot of different tu

ASC #34: Film Flash

Jun 24th, 2010 6m 58s

I was asked if it was possible to get the Glow Effect without Boris Continuum Complete. Had I been a smart-ass, I would have replied: "Sure, buy Sapphire!"But I'm trying not to be, so I came up with something that looks kinda similar, and I c

ASC #33: Safe Color Limiter

Jun 18th, 2010 9m 9s

Nothing fancy, but a solid workhorse: Want to make sure that your sequence is complying with technical broadcast standards? The Safe Color Limiter Effect is your friend.SHOW NOTESCheck out the blog enry for this week's episode:http://avid

ASC #32: Blurring into / out of a Title

Jun 10th, 2010 10m 59s

In this episode, we'll transition into a title by starting with a blur and then slowly letting it focus.To do this we'll have to look into how titles actually work, redoing it as a simple Matte Key and then manipulating Key and Fill to achiev

ASC #31: Curtain Transition

Jun 3rd, 2010 13m 32s

This week's episode features a request from Youtube user Instantslugger, who wanted to know how to do a curtain transition within Media Composer.Turns out it's not that hard. We'll do it using Avid's Paint effect and a Matte Key, plus I'll sh