New blog about travel!

Editor is not sitting all the time behind the computer. For better ideas and inspiration one need vacations! I introduce a new page on my blog editorvacation.blogspot.com  (link is always on the right)  - Editor on vacation! Here I will share some useful travel tips and experiences, which maybe will answer the questions you're usually have before the trip, but can't find the answers. The first series of posts will be about Poros island in Greece, where I am happy to be currently:)  

Codecs and containers explained

Really great animation in a very simple way explains the essential information about codecs and containers. By Florian Fahrenberger

Avid: how to list all effects in timeline + source and clip inforamtion

To display all effects/source information/clip information open Console (Tools ->Console) and run scripts below:
1. dumpfxsummary  - shows all effects, effect plug-ins and how many times it was used
2. dumpclipsummary - shows all clips used in sequence
3. dumpsourcesummary  - show all import paths for your media. No information on media if it was consolidated.

Examples (what you will get in reports):

Credits roll in Avid: how to add logos

There are 2 ways you can get logos in your credits roll:
1. Creating roll in Avid Marquee
You find great tutorial below. There is only one important note to this: resize your logos to the size you need before import to Avid!. Especially it's important if you want to add several logos to your roll.

2. Creating roll in Photoshop and then importing in Marquee. This tutorial shows clever workaround:

Color Tutorial: Skin Softening

Simple tutorial on skin softening in Color.

Color Correction for Editors - great tutorial from Editor's Lounge

If you are unfamiliar with vectroscope, RGB parade and color correction basics this tutorial is for you. Simple, clear and very practical

Audio and video sync workflow for FCP7

Source materials:
Video: Sony FS 700, Canon Mark III. Video materials has their own audio track.
Sound: recordered separately
Tools: 
FCP 7, Plural Eyes 3.5

How to:  

How to send large files - free file transfer services I personally like

I usually use "WeTransfer" to send large files - I like the design, no need to register, unlimited number of files, automated email to a friend or client with a link and download confirmation. The only "but" of wetransfer is the 2gb limit. I've made my own research to see what are the wetransfer alternatives and the best file transfer sites with greater file size limit. Here I post my own list  - free services only, no registration needed, automated emails with links.

MyAirBridge

Size per file: 20 gb
Design:  clean and look much like wetransfer, but requiers few more steps to upload file.  
Download confirmation: YES
How long file is on the server:  3 days
Nice feature: while you're entering all information (email addresses, subject, text) it already uploads the files
Apps: Android and AppStore  - allow to upload up to 5gb with internet reconnect when using wifi

    FileMail

Size per file: 50gb
Design: everything is clear, but no beautiful background images

Download confirmation: YES
How long file is on the server: you can choose the number of days, but up to 7
+ multi-language interface, confirmation email is sent in language you've used during upload
Nice feature: you can have password protected page with your file (paid)
Apps: AppStore, Desktop (mac & pc) + Outlook addon, API

If you know more good resources please post in comments

Top 10 Most Effective Editing Moments of All Time

Check this great video by CineFix - great review on best editing moments

Editing: styles, cuts and matches

This article at Yale university site for Film studies course on Editing covers all principal editing styles, cut and matches you need to know with images and video examples

Editing at Yale University site

Prestashop: change user password via phpmyadmin

I've found this great article on how to change user / admin /  employee password via phpmyadmin if you can't login to your dashboard in Prestashop. It works both for 1.5 and 1.6 version.

308: How to change your admin password by database in PrestaShop 1.5

The short overview:
1. Open ps_employee data row in your database
2. Click Edit near user you want to change, find "Password"
3. Choose MD5 in "Function" column.
4. From your settings.inc.php file (config folder in prestashop folder) copy COOKIE_KEY value (usually, line 10) to "Value" column. At the end of it add new password (with no spaces!).

If you need more detailed instructions with images, click link above:) 

Short AVID tip - how to scale frame more than 400

To scale frames we usually use 3DWarp effect or Resize effect. But the limit for scaling is only 400. So what to do if you want more?
My simple solution was to add the same effect 2 times. After adding it for the first time Step In and add it again. And it works!

Few steps to make your wordpress site more secure

1. Username

NEVER use "admin" as your administator user name. Choose something different!

2. Database prefix. 

Dont use wp_! Choose something different

3. Salt

Connecting Sony Z-1 (SONY HVRZ1E) to AVID or any other system

Sony HVR-Z1E (HVRZ1E) (or just Sony Z-1) is an old camcoder which was kind of popular some time ago. I haven't expected I'm going to capture from it again but it happened. And my Avid didn't want to see it at all. I searched the internet how to understand if the camera is connected but with no result. In my case it was bad cable. Here are some tips how to understand if Sony Z-1 is properly connected to your computer.



If camera is connected you should see "'HDV/DV in" on the screen:

Subtitles in Avid - How to prepare and import

Step 1. Create subtitles. For me the best soft to create subtitles is Subtitle Workshop, v. 2.51 or the new one: v.6 (you could find it on Sound Forge here). It is easy to use and has many export options. After creating subtitle file, export it is as SubRip (.srt extenstion). Subtitle Workshop can't export the format Avid needs.