And some more...

Large still pictures are likely the culprit here.

Uh, oh... More Adobe weirdness

So I had this upgrading problem with Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App:
http://humanuser.blogspot.com/2016/09/adobe-creative-cloud-desktop-app-does.html

Since then, all was fine. And then tonight, out of the blue:

MacKeeper has hijacked my Safari browser

I don't know how this page from MacKeeper got opened in my Safari browser on the first place, but now these weasels are feeding some code that block from leaving the page or closing the tab or window in Safari. They are trying to force you to install their sorry ass software.

I found this solution in order to leave this crap page without having to quit Safari:
- Go to Safari / Preferences, turn Enable Javascript OFF.
- Type something in stuck the address bar, like http://www.apple.com
- Go back to Safari / Preferences, turn Enable Javascript ON.

Adobe Premiere love

Adobe Premiere showing some love. Yeah!

To Adobe's credit, the recovered project was spot on where I left it.  That said I manually saved right before the crash.  Had I not...

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App does not update (Error code: 86)

I'm trying to update Adobe CC Desktop App to v. 3.8.0.310 from the App itself, but NO GO!

That's the third time I try, and the third time it quits in the middle and nothing gets installed.

The App disappears from the Menu bar, when I restart, I'm where I was before: CC App calls for an update...

I when online to Adobe.com and downloaded the stand alone Adobe CC installer:
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html

Ran the installer, which initiates a download of CC Desktop as well, in the middle of the download I get an error message:

"We've encountered the following issues:
Another version of Creative Cloud desktop is currently running. To Continue, please quit that instance and click retry. (Error code: 86)"

What the hell? Clicking "Retry" brings the same error message over and over.

- SOLUTION -
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

This is what worked for me:
Download and run the Adobe uninstaller:
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

After this goes through, run the Adobe installer:
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html

There! This time it worked. Ahh!  The bliss.

My favorite stock music sites

My favorite stock music sites are Premiumbeat and Musicbed.

Why? Because they have a VOLUME setting.  Ahhh!... The luxury.

Take that Audiojungle, Pond5 and others. I can't stand having the music blast my ears off each time I listen to something.

Plus we all listen to online preview while playing our cut in the NLE, and damn it we need some adjustment control here!

Music sites, you MUST have volume adjustment on your previews!

FCPX Auditions are driving me nuts!

It's a great idea, similar to what ProTools does, but man it is lame in its implementation.

For one only when I create an Audition in the Browser does FCPX take it into account as far as being able to list Auditions in the Browser - like making a Smart Collection: Type = Audition.  If I create an Audition in the Timeline, NO-GO! The Smart Collection is EMPTY!  Why is that Apple?

Second, I have a bunch of Favorites, all part of a gigantic single audio with multiple passes and multiple takes. Hey I can't create subclips remember? (Don't tell me I can work with Compound clips instead, NO, not with audio only, they suck!)  Anyway, I'm fine with creating Favorites out of Selections, so far so good. Now I want to create Auditions from all the different reads of each sentence, but FCPX is being finicky stupid in creating gigantic Auditions, or Auditions with the WRONG in and out points for some entries.

When I select say 5 different entries and Command+Y... It screws it up!  All these entries are fine, more or less 7 some seconds in duration, but NOOO, Final Cut creates an Audition that's the length of the WHOLE damn audio file. And worse, it makes five different Auditions... What?? I note that the Audition Duration is correct though. What is going on???

Well OBVIOUSLY Apple these Selections are all from the same gigantic audio file, but with proper Start and End points that are NOT the Start and End point of the whole file, I quadruple checked. Of course one cannot create an Audition by selecting Favorites, it has to be clip entries.

To go around this I have to expand each entry and show the Favorite, and then drag each of the Favorites into an Audition in the Timeline. This way it works properly: the Audition is as it should at 7 some seconds long. But it is slow as hell to drag ten different Favorites one by one inside an Audition compared to selecting a bunch of clips/entries and Command+Y them.  And at the end of the day, I still cannot have them listed under my Type = Audition Smart Collection.  Damn it!  

Why when I right+click on an Audition in the Timeline does FCP ask me if I want to rename the Clip??? Nope, I want to rename the AUDITION. All the entries have the same clip name under the audition by the way, not very useful is it? How about letting the user select what name to be listed in there? How about being able to list the Favorite name instead?  There has to be a way to differentiate two or more selections within a larger media file, so if we cannot make subclips what will it be?

Then I can Break Apart Clip Items of an Audition clip, GREAT!  But when I want to bring them back together as an Audition, what do I do? I cannot Command+Y them, WHY??? I cannot drag a clip over another clip to do it by hand either... WHY? Instead I have to use Match Frame (Shift+F) , find the Favorite, and drag that inside the first clip to create an Audition. It does not help that FCPX seem to list Favorite names and Keywords in no particular order, once it's above, next it's below, where is the logic? Makes it hard to find what one is looking for.

So interesting how both Apple and Adobe have screwed up with audio related functionalities, it's not working people, it has VERY LIMITED functionality, please fully implement the functionality, I feel like I have a giant tease if front of me.

-- And why can't we adjust the in/out/duration of a Favorite after the facts? 

Premiere vs. FCPX - Part2

The way FCPX handles separate audio is better.  Actually PP Merge clips is useless, even though PP actually auto sync to audio pretty well. I was trying to drag subclass into a bin and I discovered to my horror that the I/O points are all fucked up. Googling about this shit... Match frame does not work with Merge clips, what??!  I'm looking for trouble, forget Merge clips, let's make Multi-Camera clips instead. These seem to work fine according to users.

All right, I'm using Multicam, PP like FCPX allows user to look "inside" a Multicam Clip by Right+Click a particular Multicam clip and "Open in Timeline". There you can adjust sync, turn audio tracks on or off, mute, pan, level them, etc. That's just fine.

PP is superior to FCPX in the mixing department thanks to Submix and Master tracks in the timeline. Yeah! I am a classically trained sound recordist, editor, mixer as well, so I know audio. Adding a Submix track for my dialog, insert EQ, insert some Compression, bang! I'm in business. FCPX has yet to offer the same mixing / sending / inserting capabilities. Although I have to say I like the surround panner and the roles assignments in FCPX, it's just not powerful enough at the moment. We sorely need something that acts like busses and submixes Apple!

Premiere vs. FCPX - Part1 Introduction

Since I am working on a project using Premiere Pro after months of using FCPX, I thought I could just write down my experience as am cutting, and sort of adjusting on the fly to Premiere.

- I'm comparing Premiere pro CC 2015.4 and FCPX 10.2.3.

- Note that I am on a Mac Pro 5,1 and a Mac Mini 2013 systems, both with OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite and 16GB of Ram.

- The Mac pro has a Sapphire Radeon 7950 card with 3GB VRam, the Mini has the built-in Intel graphics with 1GB VRam.

- I write these remarks as things come to my attention. The list will grow as I progress through this project, and they will likely be several posts on the subject. With that in mind, let's roll!


Man, do I miss FCPX Magnetic Timeline!  Thinking that I was angry about it when FCPX first came out!  It is an AWESOME feature. I still have to figure how to "Select from here" in Premiere. Oh boy... It's "A" tool for all tracks, Shift modifier for single track, all right. 

I'm finding out I still like to create bins and organize the footage the way I want in PP. Interestingly enough, when I work in FCPX I don't miss that. Is it just an old reflex? Oh boy! Clips just move from bin to bin instead of being duplicated. Got to Copy and Paste then.

FCPX is so much more RESPONSIVE and FLUID!  PP feels like yesterday's tech.  It constantly has to redraw thumbnails, looses random media for a few seconds before automatically relinking, it is slow to start playing the timeline, slow to move the cursor around, it sometimes misses a particular selection (think selecting a transition vs. selecting a clip), it stops doing whatever task it's doing to respond to a command, and on and on.

On the other hand, it's TOO responsive (as in not in a good way) to any zooming, resizing, moving around the tracks or the Timeline. The tweaks are too abrupt, too rough, it's annoying.

IBC 2016 Avid feel the b(md)urn!

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/20160909-02

So now BMD has the whole apps deal:
- A NLE (which need more work for sure) and a robust image finishing solution in an all-in-one platform: Resolve,
- A robust GFX solution: Fusion,
- The seeds for a robust audio finishing solution: Fairlight.

Are you feeling the burn Avid? Yes obviously you are! Good!
http://www.avid.com/pro-tools-hd/pricing

Get ready to lower your prices though, because I don't think BMD will offer Fairlight "Studio" software-only at $999, no, no, I think more like $450ish, but I might be wrong.

Think for a second, we''ll get a free version as well, just so it matches the rest of BMD software offering. Eh, eh, and I bet it will have 5.1 capabilities. Maybe if it does not, you can kill this sorry ProTools FirstFree of yours Avid.

Difference between Fairlight "Studio" and free? More than 48 I/O, beyond 256 tracks, 256 busses, 256 inserts; beyond 5.1 (7.1, Dolby Atmos, etc.)

Then you'll be able to buy some crazy modular Fairlight hardware: tactile mixer, I/O boxes, DSP galore, and more starting at a few thousand $.

If I were BMD, I would split Resolve and the NLE. Ala FCP "legacy" + Apple Color. But FCPX, Premiere and Avid are still big players and competitors. And after all, Apple Color got killed eventually, so... What do I know.

What to make of all this? Well, I expect Avid to do the right move and up its offering all the while lowering their prices. It won't take long for BMD to set foot into the ProTools sandbox, and if PT is not significantly more attractive it will perish. As I said you can forget ProTools First, and ProTools vanilla will quickly start to look pretty limited.

Avid has really made huge progresses with Media Composer, thanks to the pressure exercised by Adobe and Apple, maybe they will continue to push ProTools to keep competing.  I say it's good news for us users in the long run. Of course all manufacturers keep their promises more or less loosely... Right?

OK, who's next? Apple, something to announce maybe?

My favorite Premiere screen... Not!

Coffee time...

Merged clips are still unreliable in Premiere Pro CC 2015.4

This is an ongoing issue, since Merge Clips feature has been added, since CS5.5, what the hell is Adobe doing?

Merge a video file with a separate sound file, great, auto syncing to audio waveform works just fine.

Then slice this long merged clip into subclips in the Timeline, all is good.

But then try to Option or Command+Drag select clips to a bin, everything goes to hell!

Premiere looses the video, looses the in/out points, creates a subclip that has nothing to do with the selected clip.  It's all wrong.

It's an issue - (and many more related to Merged clips) that's been documented since 2014, CS5.5...  Hello Adobe?  When is a fix coming?

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1263571