Here’s a little preview that keeps their secret safe.

However, I struggle with spending my time behind the camera instead of engaging in the moment.

During the Christmas holiday this year, I made a conscious effort to let that photo or video clip I wanted fall to the wayside if it came between me enjoying my family. That also meant spending less time editing the photos/video as well. My family got my attention.

What was the cost? Well, for the price of enjoying my family and giving them the love and attention they deserve, I didn’t have all the shots I wanted or a well edited piece from the holidays. BUT, I have some great memories shared with people I love. And that’s worth it!

Sound is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of a video project for those learning and getting started in film. And one thing that kills a moment is a big “Uhh…” in the middle of the monologue or speech.

Larry Jordan posted a great quick tip for using Soundtrack Pro to replace sections of audio with ambient noise. It’s definitely worth the read if you’ve never used it before!

LINK: Replace Ambient Noise in Soundtrack Pro

This year, I’ve done two things that have helped me not get lost in the busyness as much.

The first thing we did was take my 15 month old daughter to the mall and pick up a tag to get a child in need a Christmas gift. There was something special about explaining to my daughter that we are helping someone just because we can and it would be special for them, even though we will never meet this person.

The other thing that helped me focus on the Christmas season was shooting a short piece with preschool kids talking about Christmas. It was kinda a last minute project that I rushed through. After it was done, I watched it through and remembered the magic of the season as the kids told the Christmas story.

Check out what the kids had to say!

And don’t forget the reason for this crazy season!

Over the past couple months, I’ve been kept really busy with projects and my family. I mean, a 15 month old darling daughter comes before sharing with you. Sorry! But in all seriousness, I love writing and sharing with you.

However, I have shot and edited two weddings over the last few months as well; and both with Final Cut Pro X. I learned a ton about how it works and it’s quirks. It’s definitely not the right tool for every project, but great for some.

For the second wedding, I just completed the montage. I had a ton of fun and learned a ton from this one. I’d say it’s not too bad for the second wedding I’ve done with a DSLR!

Check it out and tell me what you think!

I’d suggest finding a community online that focuses on your craft. Reading books can be an excellent way to learn. This week, grab a new book or find some great articles online that add to your knowledge.

Online DSLR/Video Community Suggestions

• Planet5D
• Cinema5D
• NoFilmSchool
• Philip Bloom’s Blog

Books: My Current Reading List

• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
• Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know
• The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition
• Documentary Storytelling: Creative Nonfiction on Screen

However, I figure it’s time I share my experience. I bought Final Cut Pro X the week it came out—I think a couple days after the release. I had a corporate interview project to do, so I decided to take FCPX for a spin.

First off, the ability to import footage from my Canon T2i/550D and start working without transcoding or rendering was phenomenal! Also, I was able to apply a little color correction and played it back smoothly without rendering. The rendering and transcode time alone saved me almost the cost of the software. Seriously. I know… You could already do that with Premiere Pro. But that’s not in my price range.

The second time-saving feature that I loved was the synchronization feature. It basically analyzes the waveforms and syncs the files (here’s a tutorial to sync audio in FCPX). Super nice when you are using a dual audio system (in camera and external recorder) and have a ton of takes to sync. Before, I’ve used Singular Software’s DualEyes to sync files, but I never wanted to pay $150 for that feature. Now, that’s half the price of Final Cut.

There are quite a few other nice features, but a whole lot of weird & things to get used to. The magnetic timeline takes some getting used to. The color correction tool is both powerful, but not your traditional 3-way color corrector wheel (a website with a 15-part set of free FCPX color grading tutorials). The inability to “save” projects unless you duplicate the project feels really dumb. And I really miss the ability to send projects to Soundtrack Pro to clean up the audio.

And it’s really buggy. There have been several times that a title I added to the project lost the text I had input. It would replace it with “Title.” Which is just annoying. Also, moving or adjusting the in-points on audio tracks would cause the in-point to jump all over the place. But it would only happen occasionally.

So… what does this mean? Will I continue to use Final Cut Pro X?

Sometimes. Since I have simple workflow needs, most of the time FCPX will be fine. For projects that don’t need much audio help or complicated color correcting, I’ll probably use X. However, if it needs the extra help and care, I’ll take the extra time to transcode/render and make sure I get it right.

There are a ton of great tutorials and information out there, so in the next few weeks I’ll post a roundup of some that I find particularly useful (like the links post above).

My wife and I scouted the location before the family arrived and we were able to get some pretty decent pictures. By the end of the relatively short shoot, I was extremely exhausted and learned a few lessons.

LESSONS LEARNED

1. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS. I need to take extra care to hit the focus right on. That may mean stopping down a bit to help. Especially when shooting a 2.5 year old.
2. Don’t forget to pay attention to exposure AND composition. At a certain point in the shoot, I forgot to double check my exposure settings when I was worried about getting my composition right. Both are equally important.
3. Posing people is hard. And I need to learn how to pose subjects and clearly communicate to subjects what to do.
4. Eat before a shoot. I should have had dinner before, but got too busy. Having a better blood sugar level would have helped calm me down and have a clearer head about me.

All in all, it was a fun to experience my first family photo session. Here is a little peak at a few of the photos.

This is what I did this week and how I worked with what I had available (Note: Click on the thumbnail image for a look at my setup).

I had a couple interviews this week and I was a one man, one camera outfit. To make it easier, I wanted to have an external monitor set up so I could sit in a spot to better engage with the interviewee while still keeping my eye on what I was recording. I could have complained about not having an HDMI monitor (~$400). Instead, I used a small HDMI cable out of the camera connected to an old DVI computer with an adapter (costs less than $3.00 from Monoprice.com). It accomplished the purpose and I used what I had around.

Photo: A screen grab from a b roll clip.

At the same shoot, I was really wishing I had a daylight-balanced light kit so I could use a little bit of the natural light coming in. Instead, I made it work with my 7-10 year old tungsten kit.

I had some daylight coming in to the scene that I couldn’t get rid of. I used a small reflector to block the light from hitting the interviewees’ heads. And the reflector was held up by one of the unused lights.

Anyway, I guess I started to put together that with a little creativity and what you’ve got at your disposal, you can create something decent. And you can learn a bit too.