DMC Final Cut Videos

Throughout the year, I have made several videos using Final Cut Pro X. Besides learning how to use this software (very helpful!!), I also have some videos under my belt. The following include a Hopper Video, made from Hopper crops with a voiceover and story line, and my final project, which included translating and editing French Fairy Tales. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/cadillachan?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/ZeCUe0RiF7Q

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/cadillachan?feature=mhee#p/a/u/2/kLBfAJPuJZI

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/cadillachan?feature=mhee#p/u/3/YtjMuPL9pMw

 

 

Final Cut Pro Tips

Like I mentioned before, I still have a lot to learn about Final Cut Pro. Luckily, Youtube is great with providing all sorts of videos to help me out. This video I happened to stumble upon when looking through other Final Cut videos. There is no specific skill taught here, but references helpful things like keystrokes, which can make editing go much faster and smoother!

Layer Masks in Photoshop

This video, which is an excerpt from lynda.com (mentioned in a previous post), shows you how to use and make layer masks in photoshop. This is something we spent a lot of time on in class, but I never really mastered. When I needed to use layer masks for my multicultural poster, this video helped me out a lot in figuring out how they worked. Remembering “black conceals, white reveals” also helps!

Subtitles in Final Cut Pro

As you will see in upcoming posts, I needed to learn how to make subtitles using Final Cut Pro. This was especially necessary when I was editing videos in French that needed an English translation. It took me a while to figure out how exactly to make the subtitle, but this video helped a lot–even though it’s a different version of Final Cut.

Web Links

I was instructed to post at least 3 links that I found either helpful or interesting for my digital media class. There are a ton of pages that I go to for help with photoshop or final cut pro, but for now, I think I will just post the links of the sites I most often use–either for help with my projects or inspiration.

http://1x.com/

I like to use 1x for photo projects when I have absolutely no idea where to start. It was especially helpful for my night photo assignment. Even if I don’t have a specific project, the site has amazing pictures to look at.

http://615music.com/

You have to be a member, but it’s free to join. I use this site for literally all of my final cut movie music. They have everything and it’s all free!

http://www.lynda.com/MyTraining

Obviously, I don’t know everything about the programs I’m using. Again, you have to be a member, but luckily, my school automatically made me a member. Great for learning how to use things like Photoshop and Final Cut!

Multi-cultural Project

We were instructed to use Photoshop and create a 10×10 image representing our culture. Being from North Carolina, I used the James Taylor song about it for inspiration. This project was just about the death of me trying to blend the three  pictures and this is what I came out with. Feel free to leave comments–I would love some feedback.

 

Night Photography

Night photography.

Portraits

Our last assignment was to take  portraits. I promised my professor I would redeem myself, and some of these I’m really proud of. The first two are my favorite (Diane and Anna). I took them at the “golden hours” and used a Canon G11. The other three were taken with an Olympus. All were on manual settings, but you can really tell what a difference the camera makes. I made reservations for a camera, but apparently my swipe card doesn’t work for the comm building so I wasn’t able to check out a camera for the weekend. Luckily, I secured one and took a few shots. Here they are–and yes they have all been photoshopped for levels.

Anna

Diane

Katie

Michele

Jordan

Makin’ Biscuits

I tried to document several events (a dance being choreographed and a sorority’s chapter meeting), but neither turned out how I wanted. So, short for ideas, I asked my room mates to make biscuits! The pictures actually turned out pretty well (I think). Anyways, I don’t have photoshop on my computer so I used Aviary to edit the levels on most of them. If there is no logo, I thought it looked best with the levels as is. Additionally, I couldn’t figure out how to reduce red-eye on Aviary, so I apologize for that as well.

Overall

Close-up

Portrait

Interaction

Signature

Sequence

Sequence

Sequence

Clincher

I had to redeem myself.

These photos aren’t for any purpose other than to prove to myself (and whoever reads this blog) that I don’t actually suck at photography (contrary to popular belief). I checked out a fancy camera from media services and messed around for a couple hours last night and took a couple hundred pictures. So, here they are. Most are edited just with levels in photoshop, but a few aren’t. Enjoy!