Align script and spoken dialogue in Premiere Pro
September 2, 2010
Speech Search can align related spoken dialogue clips and Story scripts so they match exactly. Select the clip in Premiere Pro and choose Analyze from the Metadata panel. Select Speech and specify the Story script to use. Media Encoder analyses the clip, then Premiere displays the transcript in the Metadata panel, highlighting each spoken word.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Extend clips with keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
September 1, 2010
Within Premiere Pro, there are two new keyboard shortcuts that allow you to roll back or extend the length of clips on a timeline to the position of the Current Time Indicator. Use Option-Shift-R to roll back, or Option-Shift-T to extend. You can customise the shortcuts in Edit > Keyboard Customization.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to create duplicate placeholders in OnLocation
August 31, 2010
After importing a script you can break out each scene in OnLocation. In the Shot List, right-click on one of the shot placeholders and choose Break Out Scene. In the resulting dialog box, click on one of the shot size choices, then type the number of duplicate placeholders you’d like to create.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to align elements in After Effects CS5
August 30, 2010
After Effects CS5 offers new align-to-composition options for arranging graphic elements inside a comp. To use, choose Window > Align. This brings up a new Align panel, which lists buttons for various horizontal, vertical and central alignments and results in a neater arrangement than having to move each element by hand.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to click to point
August 27, 2010
After Effects CS5 includes a new keyboard shortcut to point the camera. Select the Unified Camera tool from the Tools panel (Press C to cycle through camera tools). Pressing F will make the camera look at selected layers, while holding down C-Shift and pressing F causes the camera to look at all layers.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to auto-orient After Effects 3D text
August 26, 2010
Select a text layer with its Per-character 3D option enabled. Add a 3D camera. Right-click on the text layer and choose Transform > Auto-Orient. Select the options Orient Toward Camera and Orient Each Character Independently. Click OK and see each character pivot independently on its local axis to face the camera.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Analyse footage imported into OnLocation
August 25, 2010
Tapeless clips imported into OnLocation can be analysed for image and audio problems via Project > Generate Alerts And Audio Peaks For Selected Clips. After analysis, video alerts appear as broad white bands in the waveform. Sound alerts appear as red tick marks above and below the audio waveform centre line.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Sync offline scripts in Story
August 24, 2010
If you modify a Story script offline, it can be synced with the online version by using Adobe AIR, a separate web application. Access it by choosing Projects > Install Desktop Application in the Projects view. Once you have logged into Story, you can switch between the online and offline modes.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Search Resource Central
August 23, 2010
Soundbooth offers more than 10,000 sound effects, but the Resource Central panel can only display a certain number at once.
You can use the Category pull-down menu and the page buttons to locate a sound effect. Or you can use the Search window, located at the top of the Resource Central panel.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Customise the Score Parameters in Adobe Soundbooth CS5
August 20, 2010
You can configure and adjust Soundbooth Scores in several ways to make the music match the mood of your visuals. Located in the title bar of the score clip, the Soundbooth Score Parameter pull-down menu lets you select which parameters, such as Volume and Intensity, to display and then to edit.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to find clips using face detection in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
August 19, 2010
Select clips in the Premiere Pro Project panel, right-click and choose Analyze Content. Check Face Detection in the Analyze Content box, and click OK. Adobe Media Encoder opens and analyses the selected clips in its encoding queue. Close Media Encoder. Choose Edit > Find Faces. The Project panel now displays only clips containing faces. Handy for searching interview clips.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to tag scripts for production in Adobe Story CS5
August 18, 2010
Colour-coded tags in Story allow you to identify individual elements and production elements. Open the Tagging Panel and select the word or phrase in the script that you want to tag. Select a tag from the Tag List in the Tagging panel. Click the colour palette icon, and choose a colour for the tag. All phrases with the tag appear in the specified colour.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to customise scene/shot durations in Adobe Story
August 17, 2010
Customise how Story determines the duration of a shot in your script. Select Production > Manage Scene/Shot Durations. Ensure that Assign Scene/Shot Durations is selected. Select Customize Formula To Auto Calculate Duration, and adjust the entries in the ‘In One Page Equals’ section for the page duration and number of lines per page.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Customise video playback in Adobe Flash CS5
August 16, 2010
Choose File > Import > Import Video. Click Browse in the Import Video dialog box to choose a video file. Select Load External Video… and press Continue. In the Skinning dialog choose a look for the play controls by selecting from the Skin menu. Click Finish to place your video player on the stage.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Use the Content Grabber in Adobe InDesign CS5
August 13, 2010
In InDesign, you can adjust the position of an image within its frame without having to select it. Just position your cursor over the image with the Selection tool and drag the Content Grabber in the centre of the image. The image is moved, but not the frame, making cropping simple.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
New effects of double-clicking in Adobe InDesign CS5
August 12, 2010
Double-clicking on an image with InDesign’s Selection Tool now toggles the selection between the object frame and its content.
When the image is selected, you can transform it without affecting the frame itself. Similarly, double-clicking the image or frame with the Direct Selection tool also now has a toggle effect.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Super Step and Repeat in Adobe InDesign
August 11, 2010
InDesign’s Option-drag object duplication method is enhanced by grid mode. Just release the Option key and use the arrow keys to create multiple and equally-spaced duplicates in columns and/or rows. Remember to keep the mouse button down as you drag and change from Option to the arrow keys.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Create grids using keyboard shortcuts in Adobe InDesign CS5
August 10, 2010
In InDesign, if you press the arrow keys while dragging out any of the frame tools, you can automatically split the frame into a grid of smaller frames. Each tap of the Up or Down arrow key adds or removes a grid column, while Right or Left arrows add or remove grid rows.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Learn how to make smarter dashes in Illustrator
August 9, 2010
Select an object path and open the Stroke panel. Select one of the new Dashed line boxes. The one on the left maintains the dash length and gap you specify. Click the one on the right to see the dashes align to an object’s corners and path ends, adjusting dash length and spacing to fit.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
Convert images to coloured mono using Adobe Photoshop CS5
August 6, 2010
In the Photoshop Actions panel, click on the contextual menu to select LAB - Black & White Technique. Select the resulting Photo Toner technique action. Click the Play Selection button and your colour image converts to black and white. Press continue to access a Hue/Saturation box for applying tint options.
Tip of the Day | Michael Burns | Read more...
