The Loupedeck CT (as in Creative Tool) is around for a while now but if you think this device is a one-trick-pony, only serving a bunch of carefully assorted apps, think again! Loupedeck (the company) just issued a software update which increases the capabilities of the CT, big times. The buzzword here is Loupedeck Profile Creator. This opens up the console for literally every app out there. Sounds creative? It is! Loupedeck came a long way. With their first console, which was purpose-build for Adobe Lightroom, a second, plus-labeled iteration, which expanded the support across several NLEs and now the third and most versatile version yet: the Loupedeck CT. This device has one purpose: making it easier and more intuitive for you, the user, to interact with certain applications. Rather than relying on good ol’ keyboard and mouse, the Loupedeck CT offers dials, a wheel, virtual buttons with touchscreen capabilities and haptic feedback and, still mandatory, lots of clicky buttons. Since we’re talking a very well-made product, it certainly deserves a nice packaging as well and the packaging is, again, very well-made indeed! Not that this is overly important but it is a nice touch, no question about it. The Loupedeck CT The whole device is a treat to look at. Its upper surface is made out of aluminum while the bottom shell is made out of plastic (for a reason, we’ll come to that later). The whole thing isn’t huge, 15cm x 16cm, but this feels about the right size for it to live next to a keyboard/mouse setup on your desk. It is connected via USB-C to your computer and it comes with a nice 90°-angled fabric cable. So what does it have to offer? For starters, 12 regular buttons with a decent late 90’s feel to them. I don’t mean this in a bad way, I really like the 2mm travel of the keys, they seem to be build for years of constant use. Moving on, you get 8 round buttons. These offer way less travel but still a solid ‘click’ once pressed. They are more like pressing a button on, say, a CD player (if that’s still a thing). All of these ‘hard’ keys are backlit and the color changes depending on the state they’re in. And you get dedicated buttons for undo and save, very useful! The more advanced buttons are further up on the panel: An array of 12 virtual buttons, little touchscreens to be exact, offers any function you want which is mapped to that button depending on the app you’re using. Furthermore, the whole array double-acts as a touchscreen, too. You can scroll through different sets of 12-key layouts with a swipe of your finger, just as you would swipe your different screens full of apps on your smartphone. And, this is really cool, since these buttons are no real buttons but tiny touchscreens, the Loupedeck offers haptic feedback every time you press one of these. If you don’t like it, you can disable this feature but I think it’s really useful. However, if you’re pressing (touching) one of the buttons with just your fingertip, you most likely won’t feel the haptic feedback since some parts of your hand need to have physical contact to the housing in order to do so. You’ll find a so-called touch strip on each side of the aforementioned 12-key grid. These vertical touch strips display the functions which are mapped to their associated dials, six in total. Again, you can flick through different functions by swiping, only this time you have to swipe vertically. The six dials can be turned infinitely but you feel tiny steps while turning so it feels very accurate operating them. These dials also can be clicked, for resetting a value for example. The real star of the Loupedeck CT is reserved for this last paragraph of the tour: The huge wheel, which is also a touchscreen. The wheel itself, that’s the outer ring, does feel very satisfying and solid. It turns quietly, smoothly and with very little resistance to it, so you can give it a spin with your fingers and it will turn for just a little bit longer. In contrast to the dials it is not a stepped wheel, it’s more a flywheel of some sorts. The entire center of the wheel is, again, a fully-fledged touchscreen. And it is, again, highly customizable. Of course, color grading springs to mind immediately. Working With the Loupedeck CT I was lucky enough to work with this panel over the course of a few weeks now and I must say, I’m impressed of the build quality and the overall look’n’feel of the Loupedeck CT. It really is a step up from their older decks as well as many other solutions out there. What Loupedeck wanted to achieve is to create one universal device for many creative applications and purposes. So it offers everything you’d need: dials, buttons, touchscreens, even a giant wheel. The question is: Is a universal control surface capable of satisfying all the needs one might have for a specific application? Well, since this a video-centric news outlet, I only tested the Loupedeck CT with certain applications. Premiere Pro, a bit of After Effects and Photoshop. The current list of supported apps goes like this: Adobe Lightroom Classic Adobe Photoshop CC / Camera RAW Adobe Premiere Pro CC Apple Final Cut Pro X Adobe Illustrator Ableton Live Adobe After Effects Adobe Auditioon System (volume up/down, play/pause, brightness up/down, …) The list will be expanded over time. And to make things clear: These are not just mappings for a bunch of hotkeys, these are deep integrations into the given app, using api (application programming interface) protocols. DaVinci Resolve ? This deep integration is why, for example, Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve is not on this list. They simply don’t offer any third-party integration since they want to sell their own control surfaces. That’s of course fair enough but still a proper integration would be nice to see. If you’re wondering why Tangent devices or old Avid Artist panels are being supported by Blackmagic Design, these integrations come from a time before they were offering their own panels. They decided to not drop the support fo these existing devices but you can’t tweak the hard-coded mapping anymore. And sadly, new devices coming to market, like the Loupedeck CT, don’t get any love from DaVinci. So you see, Loupedeck can’t be blamed here, and neither can Blackmagic be blamed, they’re giving away an amazing piece of software for free basically. So it’s only fair to let them make some money with their own hardware (even though a low end version would be much appreciated). Loupedeck Profile Creator BUT, and here we come full circle to the very top of this review: Loupedeck just added a new feature to their configuration software called the Loupedeck Profile Creator. This is not a fully-fledged api-driven deep integration but it’s the next best thing they actually could pull of without any help from Blackmagic Design (or any other company for their applications). With the Loupedeck Profile Creator you can build your own profile for any app you like. Just use the Loupedeck software to drag’n’drop custom hotkey, makros (a sequence of multiple hotkey or combinations of them) and other functions directly to a button or dial or the touch wheel of the Loupedeck CT. Sure, you can do most of this with your existing keyboard but since the Loupedeck CT offers 1) dials, 2) that touch wheel and 3) virtual buttons with custom labels since they’re tiny screens, your mapping will be much more intuitive and pleasant to work with. However, as stated above, the level of integration is not as deep as with the pre-configured profiles the Loupedeck CT comes with. For example you can’t map the touch wheel to manipulate the gamma control in primary wheels within DaVinci Resolve since there’s simply no shortcut for it you could map. You can place your mouse on a certain control and fine-tune it with a mouse-vertical or mouse-horizontal mapping to the touch wheel and it does improve the accuracy big times over just using the mouse but you still have to grab the mouse and drag it over to that control. You also can use the mouse: vertical and mouse: horizontal tools mapped to dials fo maneuvering the mouse on the screen. Once you hit a control on the screen, the mouse will dock to it and you now can control it with the given dial. However, this is a bit fiddly, indeed and I think using the real mouse here is the way to go. The good thing is that we’re solely talking software here, so everything could potentially be improved over time. We’ll see but the folks over at Loupedeck are certainly hard at work to deliver the best possible experience with the Loupedeck CT and the hardware is already absolutely well-made. Check out this 10-minute walkthrough of the new Loupedeck Profile Creator: The Software Talking about software, the heart of the Loupedeck is of course its software. No piece of computer hardware is worth anything without proper, well thought out software. Loupedeck offers the same app for all their devices and once you’ve selected your given panel you’ll be presented with the according UI. I’d say the Loupedeck software has a certain learning curve to it but once you know how it works, it just works. For novices, there’s a quick guide build right into the software with lots of illustrations and explanations. Neat! The main concept circles around Workspaces. You can flick through workspaces by clicking the round buttons labeled 1 to 8. Each workspace maps different functions to the touch buttons, touch strips (via the dials) and the touch wheel. Each of these elements can have multiple Pages whose can be accessed by swiping through them. The whole UX approach involves a consistent color scheme: Workspaces are green, Pages are indicated by a blue color and Actions come in purple. You also can map different pages to the touch buttons rather than just swiping through them. Same goes for workspaces, you can map these to either the round buttons, a touch button, or both. Pressing a key with an action (or a set of pre-recorded actions) assigned to it will execute that action. Same goes for rotating a dial, touching the center of the wheel and so on. The centering screen on the wheel can be configured in various ways, split in four pieces (think of a cake), split in two or three rows, map it to a play/pause button, whatever you want. Within Premiere’s color tab you can lift or lower the shadows/mid tones/highlights by rotating the wheel and manipulate the color by moving your finger around the center touchscreen. And because you don’t want to accidentally flick trough various pages while doing so, both Fn keys light up red by default in that mode in order to lock page-swiping. Again, very neat! Customizing Your Setup Of course the Loupedeck CT (or its software that is) is limited to whatever the api of a given app has to offer. While working in Premiere for example I created a new page for the touch wheel and I chose the 4-way split. The wheel now is mapped to jog 5 frames back and forth which I find is a sufficient speed for rushing through your timeline, the left and right of the touchscreen is for marking in and out and the bottom is for play/pause. That way I can flick through my timeline, perform quick ins and outs, press one of the touch buttons to perform a ripple delete and work my way through the entire timeline without ever touching the keyboard or mouse. The new custom profile creator offers presets for the following apps but you can of course create a profile for whatever app you want, just select the given app from a list and off you got. Every time you open up that app, the Loupedeck CT will auto-switch to the desired profile. Chrome Browser (Windows) Firefox Browser Microsoft Excel Microsoft Outlook Logic Pro X Cubase Pro/Elements 10.5 Avid ProTools 12.7 (Mac) iZotope RX7 DaVinci Resolve 16 Capture One Camera Bits PhotoMechanic Pixologic ZBrush Serato DJ Pro Spotify Of course you can tweak each of these profiles any way you want, just like the rest of the (deeper) integrated profiles. I’d say customizing your given setup takes time. But once you’re done it is a treat to use, really. Furthermore, Loupedeck has announced native (as in pre-configured through apis) integration with Streamlabs, a software used extensively by gamers and YouTubers around the globe. Since this is not exactly what cinema5D is all about I haven’t explored all the details of this new integration but it certainly sounds interesting. These are the main features of this latest deep integration: Control your stream easily by switching between your scenes Hide and unhide any unwanted sources or skip/mute events at any time Control the audio levels of your sources easily with the dials. Use the CT as a live video mixer in Streamlabs’ studio mode when broadcasting Competition There are a lot of panels out there. Some are meant to be used with just a single application (Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel for example), some are more flexible (Tangent Devices, Palette -now called Monogram-), some are not even meant to be used for controlling video related software (APC40 MK2 DaVinci Resolve Edition, MIDIGrade) but all of these devices try to help you improving your workflow with certain creative apps. Blackmagic Resolve Micro Panel I can’t test them all but I do have some experience with the DaVinci Panels and I also own an Elgato Stream Deck, which is just a tiny device with 15 customizable LCD buttons, very handy for often-used shortcuts and it even auto-switches between apps, just like the Loupedeck CT. Stream Deck vs. Stream Deck Mini. To be honest, the biggest downside of the DaVinci line of grading panels is also their biggest advantage: They are custom-build for just that one app. And they are perfect companions in that regard. But this perfect integration comes at a price: Outside of DaVinci Resolve they are useless and you can’t customize them at all. Miss a certain button? Buy the bigger panel! Enter stage the Loupedeck CT (and all the others multi-app controllers): They are much more versatile but they need to somehow balance between very different use-cases and applications. How to do that? In my opinion, the extensive use of highly customizable buttons with LCD screens (and touch capabilities) are the way to go. And the Loupedeck CT offers a good balance between moderate desk real estate and flexible layout with loads of possibilities. There’s one catch, though. I find that a device which aims to maybe not replace but extend the classic keyboard/mouse setup should offer features that the keyboard simply doesn’t have: Dials, faders, wheels. And more of them! A Few Downsides For my taste the Loupedeck could have even more dials, maybe a second (or third?) touch wheel and a few (maybe touch based) faders. But that’s just me trying to improve my color grading workflow with it. For somebody else the setup might just be perfect and to make it clear: This is the best multi-app hardware controller I’ve ever had the chance working with. Another slightly annoying thing are the arrow keys, they are not in a reversed T shape but in a plain square. Up/down in the upper row, left/right one row down. It fits the overall aesthetics of the panel, sure, but a normal reversed T would be much more intuitive I guess. I had some issues with the pre-mapped Shuttle layout for the touch wheel within Premiere Pro. In order to scroll through the timeline I needed to really creep the playhead through, once I turned the wheel just a tad too fast, the playhead would jump to the very end (or start) immediately. This is probably something that could be easily fixed in software, so not a big deal I think. Another minor wiggle is (at least for me) the absence of some more deep-level settings. For instance I can map ‘Mouse move: vertical’ to the touch wheel but I can’t reverse it. Turning the wheel counter-clockwise always translates to down, clockwise is always up. I’d like to be able to change that. In fact, it might be a good idea to redo the underlying software a little bit: As it is now you can choose from a (sometimes very) long list of actions and drag one of them to a certain button or dial or whatever you choose. But that’s it then, you can’t tweak that setting any further. My idea would be to map a given setting (for example: mouse drag) onto the touch wheel and then tweak it further from there, like mouse drag (with left key pressed), vertical. I think this would tidy things up a little bit within the configuration software. Again, once it’s done you never have to look at it again. So it’s a minor thing, really but it still might be helpful for setting the Loupedeck CT up. In order to mimic some of the deep integrations from within Premiere Pro I tried to map certain functions to the Loupedeck CT DaVinci Resolve custom profile. My goal was to label the six dials to settings like contrast, color temp, midtone detail, saturation etc. from the primaries wheels panel within the color room. This can be done via mouse drag (left) horizontal (move the mouse horizontally while click and hold the left button). But you first need to move the mouse over the given adjustment which defeats the purpose of using a dedicated panel a little bit of course. This is not Loupedeck’s fault, Blackmagic simply doesn’t offer that kind of control for third-parties but it’s still a bit of a disappointment. The Good Stuff This thing is highly customizable so even if your workflow is not 100% perfect yet, you probably can tweak the layout further. And I must say it’s really fun to fiddle around with the settings, layouts and mappings. Once you’re done it’s a setup once and forget operation. In regards of the custom profile creator you can even click on “get profiles..” in order to search online for existing profiles by the community (or by Loupedeck themselves). And of course you can tweak these presets to taste once you’ve downloaded them. Another neat feature is that you can import and export your custom mappings and profiles (this is especially important for the new custom profiles). The Loupedeck doubles as a USB thumb drive with 8GB worth of storage. That doesn’t seem much but it’s more than efficient for carrying around all the profiles you like without the need of carrying (and potentially forgetting) an extra USB drive. The USB-C cable is detachable. Since the lower casing of the Loupedeck CT is made out of plastic it opens up the possibility to let it communicate with your computer via Bluetooth. And that is a feature that seems to be coming to the Loupedeck CT soon, since it’s already enabled in the setting s but it still says that it will be available via software update soon. The implication here is it also has a build in battery I assume. And again, the addition of the custom profile creator the Loupedeck CT really has upped its game. Now you’re not reliant upon deep integrations offered by Loupedeck (and allowed by the software publisher) but you can create any profile you like. Sure, these custom profile don’t offer the same level of deep integration but we’ll see, maybe that changes over time. Since we’re talking software here everything goes. The hardware itself is very nicely done and I think it’s good for many years of extended use. Wrap Up I really enjoy working with the Loupedeck CT. It is pricey, yes, but it offers a lot of features and the new custom profile creator really pushes open the door for many new possibilities. Personally, I’d like to see even more dials and wheels but we’re looking at a solid piece of hardware here which is not only very potent feature-wise but also offers an elegant and well-made addition to your desk. The industrial design is well thought out and beautiful and the amount of possible setups is kind of endless. The best thing is that the Loupedeck CT is driven by software which can (and will) be improved over time. Other panels like the DaVinci control surfaces for example, are purpose-build devices and they can’t be improved via software update but maybe they don’t need to be updated because they are purpose build for one piece of software. Whether that’s a good thing or not is not for me to be judged, I think both approaches have their right to exist. You don’t want to ditch your keyboard or mouse while working with the Loupedeck CT, look at it as a (very capable) addition for your setup. You still have to move the mouse around the screen and you still have to type on your keyboard. As Loupedeck’s own user guide states: CT is not designed to eliminate all mouse usage. Moreover, with some functions, CT works best when it gets a little help from your mouse (e.g., selecting a clip with the mouse and then working with the clip with CT). With some actions, CT nicely takes the workload off the mouse, though – e.g., navigating through the timeline, moving clips, adjusting color, tuning transitions etc. I think that quote nails it quite well. The deeper the integration for a given app is, the better the CT works standalone but for some tasks you still need the mouse and/or the keyboard and that is fine I guess. It’s simply impossible to offer full standalone control with a single multi-app device like the Loupedeck CT. For what it is, it gets the job done and it’s really good at it! Full disclosure: Loupedeck sent me a Loupedeck CT at no cost. However, they did not ask for a particular opinion or anything other than my own thoughts about it, nor did they pay any money for this review. link: Homepage What do you think? Do you already use some kind of control surface your your given software? Which one? Share your experience in the comments below!

Frame.io, the popular multi-platform post-production collaboration service, has massively expanded its free service to help filmmakers trapped in their homes. Read on to take advantage of the Frame.io Coronavirus response.   In these unpredictable and upsetting times, people the world over are learning how to conduct their personal and professional lives online. This can be a struggle for everyone, but it is especially filmmakers, who may be separated from the rest of their crew or creative team. Frame.io sees this need and has stepped up its free offerings to try to support the community. If you have never used their services before, this is the time to learn. Frame.io is a plug-in that allows real-time post-production collaboration across almost any platform or device. You can learn more from our previous coverage of them by clicking here. Frame.io Coronavirus Statement On their blog, CEO and co-founder Emery Wells said: Frame.io was really built for this moment. For the past 5 years we have enabled teams to work together seamlessly from across the hall or across the globe. Like many businesses that have been trying to lend a hand during this time of crisis, we too want to do our part. As a product that enables distributed work, we know we’re in a position to help. How to Claim Your 2 TB for Your Paid Account Frame.io integrates with Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro X, Davinci Resolve, and Avid Media Composer. If that sounds like you, email [email protected] to have an extra 2 TB of storage credited to your paid account for 90 days. If you work in an educational institution, a non-profit, or a healthcare organization, you’re eligible for a free enterprise plan. Reach out to that same email address for 90 days of their enterprise plan for free. What is your Coronavirus workflow? How are you making things work from home? Let us know in the comments, and keep checking in for more Covid-19 news, tips, and deals.  

If you’re a student or educator and your school is currently closed due to COVID-19, Adobe is helping to facilitate distance learning. Indeed, until May 31st, higher education and K-12 institutional customers can request an “at-home” access for their students and educators, at no additional cost. Let’s take a closer look at it! Image credit: Adobe Adobe Creative Cloud “At-Home” Access Schools and universities are closing all over the world due to COVID-19. Students and educators have to stay home. To help in this particular situation, Adobe has announced that it will extend the access to all its Adobe Creative Cloud desktop applications. Higher education and K-12 institutional customers can request an Adobe Creative Cloud “at-home” access for their students and educators, at no additional cost. This Adobe Creative Cloud “at-home” access applies worldwide and is valid until May 31st, 2020. Of course, if your school/university opens its doors sooner, you’ll no longer have access to it. So how does it work? First, your institution must be an Adobe customer with an active Device, Shared Device License, or Serial Number plan. Second, the school’s IT administrators have to complete a form which is available on Adobe’s website here to request an Adobe Creative Cloud “at-home” access. Image credit: Adobe Adobe Connect Following the Adobe Creative Cloud “at-home” access, the company claims that: We also know that delivering engaging experiences through distance learning is a new paradigm for many teachers and faculty. Through our community, we’ve curated resources to help educators and school leaders discover inspiring projects, best practices, and new ideas so they can continue to drive valuable learning in virtual environments. Adobe also has a vital role to play in schools, businesses, and government agencies. Earlier this week we began to offer free 90-day access to Adobe Connect, our web conferencing solution, until July 1, 2020. This offer gives users the ability to join meetings, trainings, and virtual classrooms from the safety of their homes. To learn more, please check out the Adobe Connect blog here. Even if you are not an Adobe customer, you can still enjoy Adobe Connect with up to 25 participants. It is free for up to 90 days if you sign-up for a trial license between now and July 1st. Both of these initiatives show that Adobe is committed to helping people going in this COVID-19 pandemic time. Is your school closed due to COVID-19? What do you think about this Adobe Creative Cloud “at-home” access? Is your school using Adobe software? Let us know in the comments below!

If you want to recreate Netflix’s “The Witcher” look inside Adobe Premiere Pro quickly, Colorist Factory has released a video tutorial as well as some free LUTs to help you. This tutorial covers three different moods and scenes, including day exterior, morning, and interior look. Let’s take a closer look at it! The Witcher Look In this video tutorial by Jay from Colorist Factory, he walks you through an easy way to quickly recreate the look of “The Witcher.” The successful Netflix show has been top-rated, and features a very distinctive color grading look. Indeed, the “film look” of The Witcher relies heavily on muted colors, with cool tones and blue-greenish shadows. The Witcher. Image credit: Netflix If you want to recreate this kind of looks inside specialized color grading tools like DaVinci Resolve, Baselight, or Scratch, it’s pretty easy. Yet, doing the same thing directly inside Adobe Premiere Pro can seem much trickier. To help with that, Colorist Factory has released an entire set of free LUTs that you can download here. The Witcher LUT pack includes one preset and 10 LUT variations. The Witcher looks into 3 time-based LUTs: Day LUT, Morning LUT, and Indoor/Night LUT. Image credit: Colorist Factory Once you have all the files and some footage to play with, the approach is straightforward: color correct your images, apply the creative LUT that fits your scene, isolate your skin tones, and you’re done. Color Correction – Color Grading and LUTs In the color correction and color grading world, two types of LUT exist: conversion LUTs/Camera LUTs and Creative LUTs. Conversion LUTs, Camera LUTs, or Technical LUTs are part of color correction. Indeed, these are made to convert LOG footage to Rec. 709 by adding some contrast and saturation, but they don’t change the hue/colors. On the other hand, Creative LUTs are part of color grading. They are made to stylize your footage and give it a specific look, by mapping one color to another. A 3D LUT maps one color to another. The results you get when applying a LUT depend on your original footage, its color depth, color profile, camera, white balance, lighting, and so on. For example, you buy a LUT made for ARRI Alexa cameras shooting in Log C. If you then apply that to Panasonic GH5 footage shot in a CineD color profile, it probably won’t look as expected. If you want to learn more about all this, you can read our in-depth article about what a LUT is. Image credit: Colorist Factory Colorist Factory Colorist Factory is a “new” LUT company, founded in 2019 by Jay. The idea behind the company and products is simple: you can’t buy a random set of LUTs and expect it to work by just applying it to your footage. Indeed, most of the ads you see all over the Internet are promising you that their product will get you from point A to point B, in just one click. To me, it’s false advertising. Image credit: Colorist Factory Colorist Factory does sell creative LUTs, but they also include conversion LUTs in their package for nearly all cameras, shooting in any flavor of LOG. Also, several versions of their creative LUTs are available depending on your footage and lighting conditions, including separate LUTs for day shot, evening shot, nighttime shot, and shots with artificial lighting. This is pretty clever and something you don’t see quite often. For more information, you can visit Colorist Factory’s website here. What do you think about a tutorial to recreate The Witcher’s look? Do you watch the show and are waiting for season 3? Let us know in the comments below!

Quick heads up for anybody who’s working with Blackmagic Design’s range of capture and playback devices such as UltraStudio or  DeckLink. Version 11.5 of Blackmagic’s own Desktop Video software adds support for HDR for Premiere Pro and fixes a bunch of issues related to those devices. image credit: Blackmagic Design In today’s world, a given piece of hardware is only half the story. The other, sometimes even more significant part lies in its software. And since software, in contrast to most hardware, can be updated by the user some fresh lines of code can extend the lifespan of your given hardware significantly. In the case of Blackmagic Design’s Desktop Video software, we’re talking HDR. Desktop Video Software 11.5 If your workflow involves HDR and your weapon of choice is Adobe Premiere Pro this update is for you. Desktop Video software ver. 11.5 adds HDR functionality to the following hardware: UltraStudio 4K Mini UltraStudio 4K Extreme 3 DeckLink 8K Pro DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G Avid Artist DNxIQ and Avid Artist DNxID Desktop Video Software install screen. Image credit: Blackmagic Design Furthermore ver. 11.5 fixes some nagging issues with prior versions: Fix issue in Adobe Premiere Pro that might cause timeline to flash. Fix issue with analog audio level sliders in admin utility on UltraStudio 4K Extreme 3. Improve compatibility with UHD RGB formats on DeckLink Mini Recorder 4K. Fix audio muting issue in Adobe Premiere Pro after moving clips on the timeline during playback. Add ability to recover from failed firmware update for DeckLink PCIe devices. General performance and stability improvements for all models. One more thing: Please note that, since Windows 7 has been branded EOL (end of life), this is the last version of Desktop Video to support Windows 7. Time to upgrade, people! Range of UltraStudio capture/playback devices. Image credit: Blackmagic Design Make sure to read the full change log as well as certain notes on minimum system requirements found in Blackmagic Design’s Support document here. A full manual can be downloaded here. If you’re a developer you also can code your own software in order to interact with the above hardware devices with an all new SDK, which can be found (and downloaded) here. Range of DeckLink capture/playback devices. Image credit: Blackmagic Design Links: UltraStudio | DeckLink Do you use one of the above devices? Is this a update you’ve been waiting for? Let us know in the comments below!

Accusonus has just announced a time-limited sale on one of its single-knob audio plugin: the ERA 4 De-Esser. From the 4th of February until the 14th of February 2020, you can get access to this Valentine’s day sale for only $9 instead of the regular price of $59. Let’s take a look at it! Image credit: Accusonus ERA 4 De-Esser The Accusonus ERA 4 series are one-knob plugins made for content creators that want to improve or fix the audio of their projects quickly. ERA 4 plugins are compatible with every NLE and audio software on the market that accepts VSTs. Indeed, you can use these plugins with Adobe Premiere​ CC 2017 (or higher), Final Cut Pro​ X, DaVinci Resolve​ 15 (or higher), Avid Media Composer ​2018.12. So what does the ERA 4 De-Esser plugin do to your audio? Most of the time, “s/z/ch/sh” sounds are harsh to the ear. To fight these, you usually use what’s called a de-esser. A lot of de-esser plugins are available on the market, but the ERA de-esser is probably the most simple one to use to remove “s” sounds. All you have to do is turn one knob, and all these annoying sounds are gone. Also, there’s a DIFF button that allows you to listen to what is being removed from your recording during processing. All the ERA 4 plugins are part of my toolkit for the last year, and I can’t recommend them enough. Like every plugin on the market, to get great-sounding results, you have to be gentle and subtle when you play with the knob. Also, a plugin will never do any “magic” especially regarding audio, so the better your take is, the better the results. If you want to hear or learn more about the ERA 4 plugins, you can take a look at our review here. Price and Availability Currently, there is a special offer for the ERA 4 De-Esser plugin that lasts until the 14th of February. You can get the plugin for only $9 (instead of $59 regular price). At this price, it’s a no-brainer. If you are not quite sure yet if it can work for you, you can try it for free here. To get access to this offer, follow this link to the Accusonus website. Have you already tried ERA 4 plugins? What do you think of these easy to use audio tools? Let us know in the comments below!

When we’re talking about video editing, we’re talking about workflow and about keeping things organized. The upcoming Productions feature aims at exactly that: Making your assets available across multiple projects, syncing everything and enabling true collaborative workflows within Premiere Pro. Sounds good, right? image credit: Adobe Before we start with the new Productions Panel, we should clarify what a so-called collaborative workflow refers to in this context. Unlike review services like frame.io or wipster which offer an easy to use collaborative review workflow for clients and co-workers, Premiere Productions uses the term collaboration in a more classic way: To work on a given project together, at the same time. The unrivaled king of the hill in that respect is still Avid Media Composer. When properly set up, Avid offers a central media hub containing all assets on which multiple editors can work at the same time. One server, multiple clients, so to speak. Now, Premiere is entering that true real-time collaboration realm, too. Premiere Pro Productions The Productions Panel, which sits within Premiere maintains a 1:1 relationship to your OS folder structure. Changing a file in Windows Explorer or Finder will change that file in Premiere, too. Moving a file from one bin to another within the Productions Panel will move that file in your OS folder structure, too. The idea behind the new Productions feature is two-fold: Create a (local) central hub for a whole production, every project with all its assets within it can be used freely in any other project as long it is part of that central Productions hub. There’s no need for a dedicated asset server or remote storage location. Enable true collaboration across multiple client users. For this to work you’ll need a central storage location (server), every editor has access to (client). Sometimes it’s just a bit cumbersome to rebuild the same structure over and over again by copying and pasting everything if you’re working on a series of, say, YouTube videos or even on a whole Netflix season. With Productions, you can create one main storage hub for all clips/shooting days/episodes. With Productions, you can manage all your related projects in one place and share assets between them without having to copy or duplicating anything. All files remain clean and tidy, whether you modify the actual files directly within your OS or from within Premiere. Features There are a few problems to deal with when working on the same timeline with multiple clients simultaneously. To work around that, you can lock the timeline you’re working on, which means that other editors still can access that given timeline and copy bits of it for their own work but they can’t alter your work until you’re done editing. image credit: Adobe Since Productions creates one central storage hub, everything is accessible for anyone. Even previously rendered preview files are available for other editors without the need to re-render. If you’re only working locally but still want to create one Productions hub for each client of yours, for example, you don’t need to upload anything to a cloud. All of your assets can stay local and therefore more secure but still benefit from the central organization Productions offers. Thoughts Personally, I like the approach Adobe takes here. The idea of having one central hub for each client for example without the need to recreate a pre-configured project, copying files back and forth and so on seems to be very appealing in terms of housekeeping. On the other hand, Adobe seems to keep adding features to Premiere without really fixing its base in terms of stability. The foundation lacks a bit of stability and that should be addressed, maybe even before adding more and more features. Although I have to admit, this new Productions panel seems to be very appealing, indeed. image credit: Adobe Whether Premiere can keep up with Avid’s collaborative features and true multi-client workflow is yet to be seen. but organizing heaps of assets in such a neat way is very much welcomed. The new Productions panel is “coming soon” to Adobe Premiere Pro. links: Adobe Blog What do you think? Is a streamlined workflow this new feature offers something you’ve been waiting for? Let us know in the comments below!

Pro Color Monitor is a Mac app designed to analyze footage, and that acts as a monitor false color tool for post-production. Let’s take a closer look at this one of its kind tool to see how it can help you white balancing your footage easily! Getting the Correct White Balance At cinema5D, we love it when one of our readers create a product and share it with us! Morten Carlsen, the creator behind Pro Color Monitor, shared with us a product he built to solve filmmakers’ headaches in post-production. Indeed, there are a lot of tools available to correct your footage and analyze it. The most common analyzing tools available in nearly every NLE are the waveform, vectorscope, histogram, and RGB parade. These tools can help you a lot to correct your shots while staying in the “ballpark” and limits of where your video signal should be. But, sometimes, adjusting an image that wasn’t shot at the correct white balance temperature can take some time with the tools at your disposal, especially if you are not shooting in RAW. Pro Color Monitor Features False-color tools are designed to help you judge your exposure on set, or in post-production if you have a high-end monitor. Pro Color Monitor is different because it doesn’t analyze your image based on its brightness but its color balance. Pro Color Monitor is not a plugin; it is a stand-alone app, which means it can work with any photo or video editing software. It is available on macOS only – the minimum version is High-Sierra 10.13 – and is Apple Metal optimized. The idea behind this tool is that you open your NLE, you launch Pro Color Monitor, and you select the area of your screen/frame that you want to analyze. Then, a false-color version of your footage appears in the Pro Color Monitor window. This monitor will display the image in a very special false color mode, which guides you in which direction to move your color wheels. The idea is that a white object should appear white in the Pro Color Monitor window. How It Works From my testings, the app is super intuitive. If an image has a warm color cast (if you shot at 5600K instead of 3200K for example), it will appear blue in Pro Color Monitor. All you have to do is move your controls towards blue until the color cast is gone. Once you nailed it, it appears white in the PCM monitor. Pro Color Monitor works with every NLE. Here with Final Cut Pro X in the top left corner. If you are starting in the color correction word, this tool can help you. In short, it is much more straightforward than the RGB parade or vectorscope, for example, to nail your white balance perfectly and quickly. Indeed, correcting your exposure and white balance should always be the first thing you do when you start grading a project. The Pro Color Monitor learning curve is quick, and it should save you tons of time in post-production once you understand how it works. Price and Availability Pro Color Monitor is available now in the Mac App Store for $39.99/39.99€. What do you think of Pro Color Monitor? What tools do you use to analyze and white balance your footage? Let us know in the comments below!