Eric Maierson – Page 6 – Latest News from MediaStorm

Rest in Peace, Benny

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:October 30, 2014

Benny Villanova, the subject of our workshop story The American-Made Benny, passed away on Sunday, October 26th, 2014. He was 65. A resident of Woodhaven, Queens, he was born in Sicily and immigrated to this country as young boy. He began working at the New York Sanitation Department in 1979 and later worked out of his garage, selling discarded goods as a self-styled “garbologist.” Benny was a Vietnam veteran, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. Benny was a complicated man and we at MediaStorm hope that he has found peace. We share our condolences with the Villanova family.

Tom Bihn Brain Bag

Eric’s Travel Bag for Presentations

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:October 28, 2014

Last week, I traveled to Norway to discuss the MediaStorm workflow and methodology. Here’s what I brought:

BAGS

Tom Bihn Brain Bag – A really large and comfortable backpack with two main compartments and lots of outside room. I love this bag and can’t say enough good things about it.

Vertical Freudian Slip – This is an insert for the Tom Bihn bag that has 12 pockets and compartments. Great for cables.

Cargo Works 11″ MacBook Air + iPad Sleeve – A small pouch that snugly holds my Air and iPad inside the Tom Bihn and keeps them from rattling around.

HARDWARE

11’’ MacBook Air – My Air is the second generation so it lacks USB 3 and thunderbolt connectivity. Still, the size is perfect for traveling.

iPad Air – I don’t really need to bring an iPad, but what the hell, the screen is great for watching movies on the plane or in the hotel.

G-Technology Portable Drive – I feel safer traveling with a backup of my Keynote presentations and G-Tech makes durable, reliable drives.

mophine Juice Pack Powerstation Duo External Battery – External battery power to recharge an iPhone or iPad up to four times. (more…)

MediaStorm Guide to Automatic File Renaming with Mac Yosemite (10.10)

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:October 27, 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.

The new free release of the Mac operating system, Yosemite (10.10) offers an easy way to automate file renaming straight from the Finder.

Previously, you needed to write an Automator script or purchase an additional application.

To begin, simply right-click the Finder files you’d like to rename and then select Rename [x] Items… from the contextual menu. X represents the number of files you have selected.

(more…)

MediaStorm Guide to Premiere Pro Search Bins

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:October 16, 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.

A great new feature in the most recent update to Premiere Pro (2014.1) is the ability to create search bins.

Search bins act like smart folders, allowing you to filter your assets for specific criterion. This is enormously helpful for locating similar items that are otherwise scattered across your project.

There are three ways to create a smart bin:

Click the search bin icon at the top of a Project Window

Right-Click in the Project window and select New Search Bin…

Select the menu File > Search Bin

You will then be presented with the Edit Search Bin window where you can enter your search criterion.
(more…)

Talkin’ Rough Cut Blues

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:October 7, 2014

Currently, I’m smack in the middle of a long and complex rough cut. And that fills me with unease. I struggle to embrace the uncertainty of it all, even though I’ve been here before, literally a hundred times. This is what I tell myself: A rough cut is a sketch. It’s an early attempt to conceive the future. As such, it's clunky, inelegant and mechanical. The weakness of a rough cut is perhaps most evident in scene transitions: how you connect one section to the next. If you’re like me, you feel a great urge to immediately fix these problems. One could spend hours trying to make them seamless. God knows, I want to. Intellectually, I know that there’s no need to finesse these details when soon I'll be rearranging whole sections. Or even deleting them altogether. It’s more important at this stage to just keep moving. Emotionally, it’s much harder to…