Brandon Li reviews a pre-released demo version of the Moza AirCross Gimbal by walking through the city of Hong Kong. He goes through the paces of covering the technical aspects, but what I am most interested in, and what he's best at, is showcasing his style of shooting and his way of moving through the city and getting the shots he's known for.
We’ve noticed the trend. Video is becoming the way most people communicate online these days. How can you as photographer use video as a tool to influence the personal brand you are constantly building, and how can you expand your product offering to clients? There are various types of videos you can focus on to produce, and the aim should be to make videos that you would like to make for a client. Therefore, it needs to be professional, and something clients might actually use as their marketing and advertising materials.
Editing is crucial. Whether it be editing the maternity shoot you just shot in a field, or the classic “Star Wars” films (no, I haven't seen “The Last Jedi,” no spoilers please), it can make or break your project. RocketJump breaks down the differences between the first and final screenings of "Star Wars: A New Hope."
I’ve always been skeptical about the 10-bit mode on the GH5. Panasonic designed an incredible camera, but squeezing high color depth footage in a highly-compressed h.264 codec seems contradictory. Dave Dugdale from Learning Video did a quick comparison between the 10-bit mode of the GH5 and the Sony a6500 8-bit video.
With Apple’s iMac Pro shipping this week, it’s only right that their video editing suite gets a much anticipated update today. Final Cut Pro X is growing up, and it’s ready for the future.
Adobe has called the new additional Effects menu category "Immersive Video." They've made it easier to apply transitions and to add text or logos that look natural to the viewer. I'm a regular screen viewing type of person, and I can't imagine buying some head gear so I can walk around in a virtual space, but in an industry that moves as fast as the video and photography industry, I think we should know what the latest developments are and how the software we use enable us to edit great videos. Clients are going to start asking for 360-degree videos, and you will either be able to do it or not. This video shows what you'll be able to do in Premiere Pro when editing "Immersive Videos."
How many movies did you watch that came out this year? After laying your eyes on this captivating reel, you just might want to make a list of films to check out when they become available for home viewing.
With the advent of digital photography, more shutterbugs than ever have taken to calling themselves photographers and many have even gone into business for themselves. Now, with those same digital camera manufacturers offering better and better video options embedded into each iteration of their flagship still cameras, more and more photographers have added the word “filmmaker” to our business cards and taken aim at everything from short films to features. But being a real filmmaker requires more than the ability to just produce stunning images.
Stories are dominating the internet and from the content creators’ perspective, there are still some features missing on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The online video resizer tool Kapwing offers a solution for those who hates posting vertical videos on social media.
Lately, LUTs have become very popular with many people talking about them, why is that? It’s essentially a color preset that you can use in any of your work that easily changes the overall look. You can create your own LUTs or find one of the several premade ones to download from several sources online. If you are looking for a fast and easy way to get a more cinematic color grading in your next video project but not sure how to apply LUTs in your work stay tuned.
It's pretty hard to overstate the importance of the relationship between music and imagery in video work. When the music isn't firing on all cylinders, it can ruin what's being shown on screen and severely detract from the overall experience. This helpful video will show you how to find and match music for your video work.
Eric Flores Garnelo has made a short film using mainly cinemagraphs to create the scenes. The audio is well produced, and the production of the scenes are done with craftsmanship. Watching each of these shots with only one item moving opens up the capacity to contemplate. Being a photographer, the first phase was to think how he did it and what it must have taken to actually get the shot. Secondly, it takes you deeper, into the human condition and the small moments during the day that can seem insignificant, but holds so much beauty if we just opened our eyes.
Sound and image go together like chocolate and peanut butter, so if one is a little off, the whole concoction is spoiled. This helpful video will give you some very practical tips and tricks for creating realistic and effective sound design for your video work.
There are several different ways to change scenes in your videos, cutscenes can work great but a well-placed transition can give off a more professional cinematic vibe in your work. I believe that there are certain transitions work well under very particular circumstances, and the Luma Fade transition is one of them. Within a few minutes, you can apply the Luma Fade transition pretty easily.
When grading videos, it’s not rare that we have to transition grades between different sequences or within one single shot. Using DaVinci Resolve 14, it’s quite easy to achieve a perfect transition from one grade to another. In this three-minute long tutorial, Casey Faris shows us just how to do this.
"Mindhunter" is one of the recent Netflix releases that has me hooked. It has psychology, mystery, analysis, and how the FBI and police went about training for the serial killers who didn't have a motive. It's based on true events, and because the series is set in in 1977, which has different cars and fewer people and buildings than we have now. In this video, you'll be able to see how these shots were altered in postproduction to give the story the 1977 setting. Buildings and trees are added, marks on roads replaced and colors changed to give the series its moody, raw film look.
The color grade is one of the most essential aspects of any bit of video work. Not only does it help provide the finishing touch that makes your work look professional, it's a chance for you to really add your style to your work to develop a signature look that's more memorable. This helpful video details five mistakes to be wary of when you're working on a color grade.
Everyone's favorite nostalgic sci-fi series debuted its second season on Netflix just a few weeks ago, but if you're like me, you took just a few days to watch all nine episodes. Among the many compelling things the Duffer Brothers pull off in their show, using clever scene transitions is something any video editor will notice. This video pulls together 25 of the most creative edits from Season Two of Stranger Things.
Whether you are a full-time video editor or just occasionally edit some of your own projects like me, you have probably found yourself on Youtube at some point trying to learn. Tutorials are an amazing tool at our disposal and we share and create some great tutorials here on Fstoppers all the time. However, sometimes I just want to see how someone does what they do from start to finish. That's where Taran Van Hemert comes in with his newest editing video. It's not a tutorial at all. It is 4 hours and 20 minutes of a standard video editing job for the Youtube channel Linus Tech Tips from start to finish.
When you get in the video world, you soon realize that editing can go pretty far, but it’s not as easy as Photoshop. It tends to take more time to get to a decent result, and a tremendous patience to achieve perfection. In this short tutorial, Steve from MiesnerMedia shows us how to smooth out skin in our videos using DaVinci Resolve 14.
Every video project is different. You can have a client looking over your shoulder at every instance, or you can have a client not giving you any direction of what they want, which leads to multiple re-edits to produce a video they like and need. This means that where you can save time, you should. And one of the areas you can cut down is to know your NLE (non-linear editing system) and optimize it to suit you and the project you are busy with. In this video, Pond5 shows how you can streamline your editing and speed up your workflow.
Whether you are a photographer looking to get into video or a professional video editor, these small changes can change the time you spend editing in Adobe Premiere. I enjoy editing, don't get me wrong, it's just that I would like to speed up the mundane parts that make sense when you want to focus on the creative storytelling aspect of your video.
Color grading is one of the important parts of the editing process, as it can give your video footage a very personal look that differentiates it from your peers. This awesome video will show you not only how to color grade your footage, but how to create and save your own looks to apply down the road.
Creative pursuits these days often seem to be a tightrope act of being true to yourself and creating content that is marketable to a wide audience, especially if your financial well-being is tied to those pursuits. It's important, however, to never lose sight of who you are as a creative. Else, why are you doing this?
When creating videos, sometimes finding that perfect song, music score, or track takes a while. Then when you place it together and the music isn’t long enough, manually cutting and extending the track can take some time. What if I told you there’s an easy and automated way to extend your selected track to any length.
Photo editing, retouching, and removing something from the shot isn't easy to do especially if it's a complex part of the hair, but it's common practice for a professional photographer to be able to do it if the shot and client requires it. It involves masking the new hair refining tool brush over and selecting the best feathering to make this selection as true as possible. Have you ever thought about removing something from a video? This is what Adobe is working on and this video shows a sneak peek of what Cloak will be able to do.
Michael Shainblum, Fstoppers' Photographer of the Month for August, has been creating epic time-lapses for years now and he’s just released a new YouTube video tutorial. In this new video, Shainblum goes through his editing process detailing an Adobe-centric workflow for time-lapses.
When it comes to filmmaking, a really popular look is the cinematic look. This is something that can be really difficult to perfect especially when you're first starting out in the industry. Fortunately, Armando Ferreira, a YouTuber and filmmaker has provided some techniques that are relatively easy to implement. The great thing about the techniques outlined in this video is that they're either completely free to do or may only cost a small amount, making them very viable. Personally, what I love about the techniques Ferreira discusses is that they're so simple to do and even a complete beginner shouldn't find them too difficult.
As a YouTuber, I’m always looking at new ways and new techniques to improve my video quality. I’m very passionate about the content I create, and Peter McKinnon has been a huge influence on my channel. There are a number of reasons as to why he’s become such a massive presence on YouTube in a very short period of time, and a previous article on Fstoppers outlines it more effectively. The most obvious reasons are because of his entertainment value, but more importantly it’s the incredibly useful information he provides to his audience. In his latest video, McKinnon describes and demonstrates three subtle techniques that can give some much needed spice to your videos.
There aren’t many monitors that can record footage onto an SSD. There aren’t many monitors that can work on set as well as in post production. There is one monitor that claims to do it all though. The Atomos Sumo is not just jam-packed with features, but I think it represents the future of video production. Does it live up to the hype?
The current trend for color grading videos is the orange and teal look. It’s not rocket science to understand why it works so well and why everyone uses it. Complementary colors are an easy choice when it comes to color grading and using orange for brighter tones allows keeping the skin tones look quite natural. In this nine-minute-long tutorial, Theo from MiesnerMedia shows us how we can achieve that trendy look using DaVinci Resolve 14.
Since Stories have been added to Instagram, every social influence has tried to differentiate himself from the crowd. From filming with a camera like a vlog to editing images in Photoshop before adding them to a story, I’ve seen just about everything. The trend lately has been to integrate text on pictures to make it more attractive. Matti Haapoja from TravelFeels has come with an app to go one step further and tracked text to his content.
If you record audio separately from your video, which most likely you do, then part of your postproduction process will include synchronizing. This process doesn’t have to take a lot of time or require plugins or software. Premiere Pro has built-in tools that allow you to quickly and easily get your video and audio in sync. Let’s have a closer look at how to accomplish this.
You’ve just finished shooting a beautiful wedding video and your edits are being finalized. But wait — you still need to find the music to go behind each scene. Use these five insightful tips to find the perfect music that will enhance your next wedding video.
Have you ever color graded your videos in Photoshop? Although Adobe’s video editing software or Final Cut X is mostly preferred by video editors, some good results can still be achieved by using Photoshop’s video editing feature. Aaron Nace of Phlearn explains these techniques in this 14-minute video.
Instead of fearing the future where AI takes over and leaves us with nothing else to do other than oiling their machines, Nigel Standford made a music video and used this "man against machine" concept. It's a DJ, who also plays guitar. The machines take over. Who's making the music? If I had to take it one step further, was the camera filming on an electronic camera rig or was it held and controlled by a DOP?
Coming this fall you’ll be able to create and collaborate faster than ever with Adobe’s latest version of Premiere Pro CC. New updates to the program will allow you to open multiple projects at the same time, collaborate with multiple editors on the same project, and work with new graphics tools in the Essential Graphics panel. Let's have a closer look.
Since I discovered movies made by Edgar Wright and movies such as Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope," Alejandro Iñárritu's "Birdman" and "The Watchtower of Turkey" by Leonardo Dalessandri, I've always been fascinated by the way the footage just seems to flow into one another, and no usual cuts are visible. It has a way of keeping the viewer's full attention and keeps them intrigued as to what might happen next. It's a great way of keeping a good pace in your production, whether it be a full feature film or a music video.
Many photographers I know have started making videos as well. It's a skill many clients and brands are looking for. Social networks have been developing the easiest way to watch a video on their platforms and if you look at the amount of time you spend browsing online, video takes a large percentage of that media you consume. If you want to start with video and don't want to make mistakes that can waste time or have you look like someone starting out, here is a video that lists the mistakes and how to prevent them so you are off to a good start.
When shooting fast-paced action or a scene with tons of movements, it can be interesting to add more drama by using speed ramping. The technique consists in having a scene that’s played at different speeds depending on what’s happening. It may not make sense for now, but if you want to make your videos more attractive or just add a new tool to your belt, be sure to watch this tutorial.
Working as a video editor can be a hectic and tedious experience. Spending some time to think about organizational tools and methods can help you out significantly when working with a lot of files, or in a large group of colleagues. Renaming files, creating proper folder structure, logging metadata, backing up files, and developing a workflow can make your life much, much easier. While some of the advice listed below is geared for Premiere Pro users, any video editor can take advantage of these tips.
For video editors and filmmakers alike, understanding the power of the cut is important for telling the most compelling, informative, and/or emotional story. In this video excerpt from MZed, professional editor Adam Epstein (known for SNL and Killing Gunther among other things) provides some thoughtful insight on six rules for cinematic editing, as referenced from award-winning film editor Walter Murch.
In many artistic disciplines and sports, people are told they should concentrate on one thing and one thing only. Being specialized seems to be the trend and what most industry leaders appear to believe in. However, there are exceptions to this. First, those industry leaders themselves that are more often than not great educators as well. But then, there are those people that truly shine in different domains such as Micayla Gatto. Watching her recent video where she rides her bike on mountains and her drawings is just an amazing experience, one you should see with your own eyes to believe it.
If you shoot photos on a professional level, there’s a chance you also shoot video. If you shoot video, there’s a chance you edit. And if you edit, there’s a good chance you have to work with audio at some point. But, it may not be something you know a lot about, especially if you are just getting started with editing video.
A great way to hone your videography skills is to get frustrated while editing video. As you may know, there are plenty of ways to get frustrated while editing. For example, let’s say you want to include a particular clip in your sequence. When you try to use the shot you realize that the videographer didn’t hold the shot for long enough, and now the clip is too short to use. Or maybe you want to use a shot that was completely ruined because a bug landed on the lens. These frustrations make you think about the shooting process. Below are a few of my favorite editor-friendly tips to consider while shooting.
The "Orange and Teal" look is immensely popular for videos of all shapes and sizes, from YouTube travel videos to Hollywood blockbusters. It not only adds depth and color contrast to a shot but also gives footage a pleasing, warm golden hour look and feel. In this video, PremiereGal demonstrates how you can easily add this color grade to your video in Adobe Premiere Pro without plugins or look up tables (LUTs).
It's all in the fine details. As you gradually learn tricks and tips as you grow as a video editor, you will or have eventually come across value and speed graphs. Now, what are value graphs? And how are they useful?
Modern wedding clients expect a lot out of the videographers they hire. No more can you simply be a person with a camera. As professional equipment gets more affordable, the quality standards that people expect have increased as well. This is especially true when you’re editing. To help you capitalize on this new reality, the folks over at Rocketstock have put together Unity Lite, a free pack of five wedding titles and sixteen bonus light leaks.
Dynamic range tends to be an important feature for any camera and something many photographers either boast or complain about. Canon cameras aren't really known for their dynamic range performance, but in this "two-minute video," Peter McKinnon explains how you can use the built in Canon picture profiles, to improve performance for video.
DaVinci Resolve is a fantastic tool and has everything most videographers need to create perfect looking videos. However, the playback can be a bit slow and thus make the whole workflow a pain. But there is a one-click solution that will make your life much better. When I found out about it, my editing process became much faster.