Eric Maierson – Page 5 – Latest News from MediaStorm

MediaStorm Guide to Screencasting Hardware and Software

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:December 15, 2014

A number of readers have inquired about the equipment I use for screencasts. Software The best software I’ve found for screencasting is Telestream’s screenflow ($99.99). Screenflow records at higher resolution than your final output so that you can easily increase the size of specific onscreen elements. Screenflow also has a built in editor which allows for cutting and trimming from within the application. It’s far simpler to use than Premiere Pro so the learning curve is rather straightforward. Computer Interface About a year ago I purchased a Zoom H6 ($399) to replace my ailing Marantz PMD 660. The Zoom is lighter, sounds better, and has a USB interface that can connect directly to a computer. When I record screencasts, I plug my mic in to the Zoom and the Zoom in to my iMac so that the sound passes straight through, recording directly to my hard drive. The Zoom is also a great field…

MediaStorm Guide to Preparing for 4K Monitors

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:December 11, 2014

Currently at MediaStorm we’re testing out a couple of 4K monitors to get a jump start on the future.

The most startling difference between our battle-worn Apple 30-inch monitors and the new Samsung 32-inch 4K ones is the abundance of extra real estate.

The screenshot below shows the approximate full-screen size of Premiere Pro on our older monitors. You can see there’s about a third more space now.

The resolution, as you might expect, is spectacular. Fonts are crisp. Images are striking.

But this comes at a price. Text, to my aged eyes, is tiny. Minuscule even. There are, however, workarounds.

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MediaStorm Guide to Selecting Clips in Premiere Pro Without a Mouse

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:November 18, 2014

This article is part of a series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers' experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro CC after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post. Last week, a friend asked if there was a way in Premiere Pro to select more than one track at a time using only the keyboard. The answer is yes. The keyboard shortcut D will select all clips under the playhead, so long as the respective tracks are highlighted. In the example below, you’ll see that Video 3 is not highlighted, so when I press D, clips on that track are not selected. If you’d like the ability to toggle your audio and video tracks on and off without using the mouse, you can create a custom keyboard shortcut key for each. Open the Keyboard Shortcut window (Option-Command-K)…

MediaStorm Guide to Adjusting Output Volume in Premiere Pro

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:November 12, 2014

This article is part of a series of posts with tips and tricks from our producers’ experience working with Adobe Premiere Pro CC after years of working in Final Cut Pro. To read more about why we made the switch, check out this post.

Let’s say you’ve mixed your audio and for whatever reason it’s consistently a little too low or a bit hot. Sure, you could return to your timeline and remix again, but that’s time consuming.

Premiere Pro 2014 offers a quick and elegant solution.

First, open the Audio Track Mixer. (Note that this is different from the Audio Clip Mixer.)

Open the disclosure triangle on the top left side.

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50 Great Documentaries

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:November 5, 2014

People occasionally ask me what’s the best way to become a better editor. For a long time, my stock answer was to watch a lot of movies. I think now that a more precise answer is to understand how movies work: to dissect them the way Renaissance artists dissected cadavers in order to better understand the human form.

With that in mind, here’s a list of 50 documentaries that I particularly enjoyed. The list is not a best of. And it’s far from complete. Many were produced in America and most are from the last 20 years. What these films have in common is that they are all tell great stories.

Make sure to add your favorite documentaries to the list below.

Enjoy.

Animals

Movies about Movies

Music