film production – WalterBiscardi.com http://walterbiscardi.net Creative Director, Branding, Original Content Sun, 18 Feb 2018 15:54:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.20 eLearning Project Underway http://walterbiscardi.net/elearning-project-underway/ Sun, 18 Jun 2017 12:29:20 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4839 BCM has started production on the largest eLearning project we’ve been a part of.  We’re working with Interactive Advantage Corporation to bring this training course to life.  Focused on safety, BCM is producing over 20 video elements featuring over 1 hour of video content to be part of the interactive eLearning product.  Walter Biscardi, Jr. is leading the video production team with field producer Ann Kellan and DP Marion Laney overseeing the location filming.  Filming started in June 2017 and is expected to be completed by August 2017.   We can’t share any details at this time, but once the job is finished we’ll follow up with more details and hopefully some images. ————– In a progressive career with renowned creative agencies as well as up-and-coming and well-established brands, Walter Biscardi Jr. has conceived and implemented numerous successful and often award-winning creative campaigns. Guiding all aspects from media, video, print, and animation, he consistently delivered premiere, revenue-generating solutions that surpassed result forecasts.  He is known as a leader who bridges the gap between creative and operational processes, ensuring on-time and within budget delivery for clients and organizations such as Food Network, PING, CNN and Georgia-Pacific. Creative Strategy & Implementation / […]

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BCM has started production on the largest eLearning project we’ve been a part of.  We’re working with Interactive Advantage Corporation to bring this training course to life.  Focused on safety, BCM is producing over 20 video elements featuring over 1 hour of video content to be part of the interactive eLearning product.  Walter Biscardi, Jr. is leading the video production team with field producer Ann Kellan and DP Marion Laney overseeing the location filming.  Filming started in June 2017 and is expected to be completed by August 2017.   We can’t share any details at this time, but once the job is finished we’ll follow up with more details and hopefully some images.

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In a progressive career with renowned creative agencies as well as up-and-coming and well-established brands, Walter Biscardi Jr. has conceived and implemented numerous successful and often award-winning creative campaigns. Guiding all aspects from media, video, print, and animation, he consistently delivered premiere, revenue-generating solutions that surpassed result forecasts.  He is known as a leader who bridges the gap between creative and operational processes, ensuring on-time and within budget delivery for clients and organizations such as Food Network, PING, CNN and Georgia-Pacific.
Creative Strategy & Implementation / Concurrent Project Management / Branding / Communications / Operations / Budget Creation / PR / Animation / Art Direction / Video Production

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Day Three: Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 http://walterbiscardi.net/day-three-editing-on-davinci-resolve-12-5/ http://walterbiscardi.net/day-three-editing-on-davinci-resolve-12-5/#comments Sun, 01 May 2016 19:19:50 +0000 http://walterbiscardi.com/?p=4483 [av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”] [av_image src=’http://walterbiscardi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-27-at-7.50.32-PM-1-1324×430.jpg’ attachment=’4434′ attachment_size=’featured’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’][/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] It’s Day Three of my “real world” editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 and this is going to be the longest blog yet as I want to show you guys a lot of the “little things” that are making editing in Resolve a pleasure.   I know there are a lot of questions still out there whether this is really a professional editor.  For me it’s the small things that separate the applications making life efficient and fun for the the editor.   I also had a pleasant surprise today.  Alexis Van Hurkman, the man who literally wrote the manual on Resolve, called to point out some of the editing specific features that I might not be aware were there. Day Three Editing. Today I realized that DaVinci Resolve as an NLE is really the sum of all of its parts.  The Edit Panel alone is NOT the editor.  It’s the entire application working together.  So if all you do is look at the Edit […]

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It’s Day Three of my “real world” editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 and this is going to be the longest blog yet as I want to show you guys a lot of the “little things” that are making editing in Resolve a pleasure.   I know there are a lot of questions still out there whether this is really a professional editor.  For me it’s the small things that separate the applications making life efficient and fun for the the editor.   I also had a pleasant surprise today.  Alexis Van Hurkman, the man who literally wrote the manual on Resolve, called to point out some of the editing specific features that I might not be aware were there.

Day Three Editing.

Today I realized that DaVinci Resolve as an NLE is really the sum of all of its parts.  The Edit Panel alone is NOT the editor.  It’s the entire application working together.  So if all you do is look at the Edit Panel and say “well this is missing a lot of stuff” (like I initially did), you’re missing out on so much more that’s available, particularly in the Color Panel.   I looked at the Color Panel as what comes AFTER editing, but in reality, it’s part of the editing process.  Now that I realize that some of the elements I thought Resolve needed are actually in the app, they’re just in a different place.  Of course having Alexis walk me through a bunch of features for 30 minutes REALLY opened my eyes to a bunch of stuff I didn’t realize was there.   More on that soon.

Exporting

In the edit I started putting a bit more polish on the project, getting it to the point where we should be about ready to move to finish next Monday.  The biggest thing I had to figure out was the round trip to / from After Effects to create a few animated graphics.   Time being of the essence and me being new to Resolve, I reverted to my old FCP workflow.   Export audio guides (clips) from Resolve and use those to build the AE comps.  Very simple.

Resolve does NOT have your standard File > Export command like most NLEs out there.  The Deliver Panel is primarily set up to deliver finished files at the end of the process, but you can also use that panel to export individual clips and selections for approvals and sending to other apps like AE.

First thing I discovered is that In / Out points set in the Edit Panel do NOT transfer over to Deliver Panel.   I set them first in the Edit Panel and when I went over to the Deliver Panel, they were gone.  Alexis explained the reasoning why and it has to do with the fact that the Deliver Panel can output many variations from the same timeline including different combinations of In/Out points.  So the Deliver Panel controls its own set of In/Out points.  Sounds a little confusing to read I know, but in practice it makes sense.   Setting up the video to export is pretty straight forward.    Here  you can see the controls are what you’d expect.  At the top you see you can render a single clip or if you have multiple clips selected, export them as individual clips.  In the File tab, you can either use the name of the timeline or set a custom file name.
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Deliver Panel: Video Format Settings
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And below is one of my guides in After Effects on the bottom most layer (Layer 4).  No fuss, no muss, super easy and then I just rendered a ProRes out of After Effects to send back to Resolve.   If I have to make changes I’ll render them as the same name and let Resolve reconnect to the new file.  Yes, Blackmagic has Fusion, but one application at a time……
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Resolve exported guide files on Layer 4 in After Effects
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Window Burns

Yesterday I could not figure out to get a window burn on my Approval copies.  That’s because I was looking in the wrong place.  Turns out window burn controls in the Color Panel under the Data Burn controls.  See what I mean about the ENTIRE application being the editor?  BMD is not cramming every feature into an “editor” and then having the “color grading” act like a separate app.  It’s all designed to work together.
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Data Burn panel in the Color Panel
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As you can see the options available in Data (Window) Burn go WAY beyond most NLE’s in what you can have displayed on screen.  In fact, most EVERY field of Metadata is available to be displayed on screen via the Custom Text options.  You can see that I have Codec_Scene_Take in my custom text as contextual items.  Every clip that has metadata information in the Codec, Source and Take fields will automatically be displayed as a burned in window on my output as you can see below.
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Data Burn panel in the Color Panel
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Very very slick.  So you set up you Data Burn info in the Color Panel and then you go over to the Deliver Panel to output.  After I did this one time, it was second nature.   For the purposes of this project I just output the Timeline name and the timecode.  This is one example of how the entire application is the editor, not just the Edit Panel.

Keyframing & Curves

One thing that’s not available yet is initiating key framing in the timeline.   You have to start the first keyframe up in the Inspector and then once that’s set, you can alter the settings in the timeline and keyframes are added as you would expect.  I’ve filed a feature request to allow for key framing to start in the timeline such as with a pen tool like so many other NLEs.  However, the Keyframe viewer in the timeline is awesome.
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Keyframe Viewer in the Edit Panel Timeline
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Just like how easy it is to see the labeling of the clips themselves, it’s very easy to see and edit keyframes in the Keyframe Viewer.  This is very nicely done.  Click that little half circle on the right side of the clip or the keyframe viewer and you now have access to the Curves where you can add bezier curves to the keyframes.
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Keyframe Curves controls
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You can see in the dropdown on the left some of the parameters I can add keyframes and curves to.   At the top of the screen you can see there are four curve options giving me a ton of control over the actions of the keyframes.

Composite Controls

Composite controls are located in the Inspector panel and they’re what you would expect to find in a professional NLE.
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Composite Controls in the Inspector
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I use a LOT of Rampant Design Tools in my day to day work so I’m using compositing all the time to overlay these elements on my work.  One thing I’ve requested as a future feature request is the ability to have the composite mode available via right click in the timeline.  That would be a little faster than going up to the Inspector.

Crop, Lens Distortion and More in the Inspector

Speaking of the Inspector, I love how many controls are at our fingertips without the need to add additional filters or effects.
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Additional controls in the Inspector Panel
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I have missed having the Crop controls right there along with the ability to feather the crop.  It always felt like a needless stop to grab a crop filter in other NLEs because it’s something I seem to use ALL the time.  It’s one less thing I have to go get and adds to the efficiency of an edit.

The addition of a Lens Distortion control right in the Inspector is a nice touch.  Obviously a nod to all the GoPro and small cameras that use wide angle lenses.  No need to grab a filter, you can make adjustments to the image right there in the inspector.  There’s also Retiming Controls right there as well.  I have NOT played with these yet, so I can’t comment on how and how well they work.

Transform, Crop and Dynamic Zoom Directly in Monitors

If you’re like me and you like to just want to make quick adjustments in the Source and Record Monitors, changes to scale, position and crop, this is easily done in Resolve, you just have to activate the controls in the lower left of the monitors.
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Transform, Crop and Dynamic Zoom activation control in the Source and Program Monitors
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With the those controls active, you’ll now see you have options to make changes right in the monitors.  Change the scale, crop, position and you can play with the dynamic zoom.  Dynamic zoom is especially great for you FCPX users who like the Ken Burns effects.  Dynamic zoom interprets those movements correctly and allow you to make adjustments to them.
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Transform controls active, moving the video in the monitor.
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Crop Controls active in the monitor, can now make changes within the monitor.
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The ability to just grab and make quick adjustments in the Source / Record monitor is something I’ve missed since switching to Premiere Pro.  It’s in that app, just not as easy to use.  I’ve really missed this from FCP and it just one of those little things that make editing so much faster and efficient.

Drag and Drop Editing

If you’re a Drag and Drop Editor who likes to edit by dragging your clips from the Source to the Record Monitor, you’ll find all your usual overwrite and insert options along with some new ones when you drag your Source clip into the Record monitor.
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Editing options for drag and drop editing.
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I like the Place On Top option so it lays the video on a layer above where the playhead is sitting which is handy when I’m laying in all my Rampant Design effects.  Or if I want to stage multiple takes one above the other, Place On Top means I don’t have to go making track selections with each edit.  You also see the Append to End which is handy if your playhead isn’t at the end of the timeline.  Ripple Overwrite I’ll explain in detail towards the end.  It’s awesome.

Transition Options in the Timeline

Transitions have some nice ‘little things’ that make for an efficient edit.  Right clicking at the head, tail, or between clips not only brings up a transition dialogue, but OPTIONS for those transitions lengths
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Audio Cross Fade Controls
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Video Cross Dissolve Controls
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You can see there’s four options for both Video and Audio transitions right there from 6 to 48 frames.  How convenient is this?   I usually have a default transition set up to 1 second for my projects, but there’s always particular dissolves or cross fades I want to be faster / slower.  No need for that extra step to change the transition duration, I have four choices right there.  Done.  This ‘little thing’ I REALLY like a lot.

As you would expect, you can slide the transitions forward and back in the timeline to make them start, split and a end on the edit or you can make the adjustments in the Inspector.  Feathers and Ease controls can be added to wipes easily in the Inspector.  

Change the Transition Type In the Inspector

Changing the Transition can be done quickly in the Inspector.  
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Transition Controls in the Inspector Panel
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You can see the in drop down box, all the Resolve transition are available so I can just flip through them and adjust on the fly rather than having to drag them one by one to pick the one I want.

For additional filters and effects beyond what Resolve has natively, the application supports Open FX effects but again, the entire application works together as the editor.  Transition effects are found in the Edit Panel while filters are found in the Color Panel.  Both under the Open FX tab.
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Red Giant Universe Transitions in the Open FX tab in the Edit Panel
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Filters and Effects in the Open FX tab in the Color Panel
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I installed the Red Giant Universe filter package which gave me transitions and filters to play with.  I have not gotten the point of applying any filters yet in the Color Panel.  But at first I thought I was missing all the filters and effects, but Alexis pointed me to the Open FX tab in the Color Panel.

I should note that the New Blue FX filters crashed Resolve 12.5.  I honestly don’t use those filters at the moment and forgot they were installed, they installed as part of my Avid installation.  But after uninstalling the New Blue FX everything started working correctly.    Hopefully New Blue FX is updating their products to keep working with Resolve.

Switch To Timeline After Edit controls

Here’s a neat little setting that Alexis pointed me towards.  In the Edit Menu, there is a Switch to Timeline After Edit option that can be disabled.
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Switch to Timeline Option
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When the control is enabled, which is a default for any editing system, when you make an edit from the Source Window, your keyboard control automatically follow the edit to the Timeline.   The assumption is you just made an edit, so now you want to control the Timeline.

But in the case of long rolls with multiple takes, interviews or just longer files that we want to string out, we can turn OFF the automatic switching and the controls will remain with the Source Window.   Mark In / Out, Insert the clip, scroll in the Source, Mark In / Out, Insert the Clip, etc…. without the need to keep re-selecting the Source Window.  That’s actually pretty cool and Alexis was saying this was developed primarily for keyboard editors.

One less click, one less motion to make as you’re editing.  Another ‘little thing.’

Ok, let’s talk about the Ripple Overwrite.

I saw this when I tested the Drag and Drop editing and honestly ignored it.  Then Alexis called and this is the one feature he really wanted to show me because it’s super SUPER amazing and efficient.  Basically what Ripple Overwrite does is allow you to replace a shot in your timeline with one of a different length, and Resolve will automatically ripple your entire timeline keeping all of your edit points and edit timing intact.  Your shot can be longer or shorter and Ripple Overwrite will re-assemble your timeline.   Here it is in action.

I have an edited timeline, music is timed to fade out where I want it, SFX are timed to the action on the screen, Rampant style effects are located at each edit point and even titles are in the timeline.  This is a 4:30 timeline and the 17 second shot highlighted has to be replaced.
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Ripple Overwrite Step One – 17 second clip needs to be replaced with a shorter one.
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If you look up there at the previous image, note especially how I have my music fading out exactly where we want it as the SFX comes in.  Now the replacement clip is only 7:16.  About a 10 second difference.
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Ripple Overwrite Step Two – Replacement shot is 7:16. 10 seconds shorter than the original clip.
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Now, I simply drag the 7:16 clip over to the Record Monitor, lay it onto Ripple Overwrite and…..
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Ripple Overwrite Step Three – Edit is completed and the entire timeline is rippled holding all my timing points automatically.
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The 17 second clip is replaced by the 7:16 clip and all of my timing remains completely intact.  Note the music fade is still precisely lined up with the SFX.   The Rampant Design overlays are still exactly lined up.   In fact my entire timeline is still perfectly and all it took was one click.  This works both for shorter clips and longer clips, the integrity of your timeline and your edit points are held.

Now I will point out that Resolve made a cut edit in my music in order to shorten it up and keep the fade out lined up.  So I have to go back in and make some adjustments to that to ensure that the music remains on the beat.  I’m going to be asking if there’s any way to make the edits more intelligent whereby that fade in the music can be rolled back or forward to accommodate the ripple, instead of cutting it.   BUT one click, ripple my entire timeline and all I have to do is slip my music a bit.   That’s efficiency and something I wish I’ve had for a long time.

Relative Adjustments to Multiple Clips

Here’s another neat feature Alexis pointed out, Relative Adjustments to Multiple Clips.  So if I have clips in the timeline that are Scaled 70%, 80% and 50%.   I can select all three of them and make a Scale reduction of 10% and Resolve will make that change relative to their original sizes.  Making the three clips 60%, 70% and 40% scale.  I can do an absolute change to make them all 10% scale, but this relative changing of multiple clips, is pretty neat.

My Impressions and Next Steps

Well I think if you’ve read all three of these blogs you can tell I’m pretty darn impressed with DaVinci Resolve 12.5.  I have barely scratched the surface and continue to review Alexis’ tutorial on the features.   Is Resolve 12.5 a professional non-linear editing platform?   I would honestly say “Yes” with this release.  I’ve gotten pushback on forums from folks who have tried 12.0 and didn’t feel it could edit well.  I totally agree, it was a step in the right direction, but wasn’t there yet.  I suppose the .5 moniker makes folks thing it’s just an update.   12.5 is an entirely new release that probably should have been called Resolve 13.   This is a solid editing tool that I have enjoyed cutting in and again, I have barely figured this thing out yet.  It’s very feature rich and each time I use it, I’m discovering another one of “those things I wish Resolve had.”

I’ll be finishing the corporate piece this week and I’ve now committed a reality television pilot to Resolve 12.5 next.  I think it’s up to the task.  We have seven episodes of this series shot and one of those will become the pilot.   I’m running the entire series through Resolve.   One thing I’ve been advised on is to keep the project sizes manageable.  HUGE projects with thousands upon thousands of clips can get unwieldy. So I’ll employ the same workflow we used for Good Eats and This American Land where each episode is its own project.

As far as video editing for narrative, corporate, commercial, etc….  Resolve 12.5 is a great tool.  Very efficiently designed and all of the features I’ve found so far are the “little things” that make life easier.   I found myself having fun again in the edit suite.

Look this entire blog series isn’t about “My NLE is better than Your NLE” and the other NLEs suck.   This blog series is about DaVinci Resolve being another option for video editors.  It is a tool that can do the job today.  Whether you choose to use it, well that’s entirely up to you.  I’ll still be using Adobe Premiere Pro for projects because it’s a solid system and Resolve works well with it.  But Resolve is something that is now going to take a bigger place in the toolbox.  Kudos to Peter, Rohit, Alexis, Paul and of course Grant Petty for having a vision to make Resolve more than just one of the best color grading tools on the planet.  And for doing it right, making this a useful tool.

With that, these “Day” blogs on Resolve are done.   I’ll definitely chime back in when we get rolling on the reality series.   Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
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Day Two – Editing on DaVinci Resolve 12.5 http://walterbiscardi.net/day-two-editing-on-davinci-resolve-12-5/ http://walterbiscardi.net/day-two-editing-on-davinci-resolve-12-5/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2016 01:36:42 +0000 http://walterbiscardi.com/?p=4443 Ok, if I’m being honest about this, Day Two was really a continuation of a very LONG day one.  See I finished working last night about 6:30, then wrote the Day One blog, and then was preparing to go to bed around 11pm when I heard my phone chime that I had a text.   A Producer on the west coast needed me to do a quick turnaround of a national broadcast spot today for Friday delivery.   Well, I couldn’t let that project interfere with the corporate project I’m cutting on Resolve, so instead of getting some sleep, I went back to the office and continued editing about 11:30pm – 4:30am.  Didn’t really sleep and went back to the office at 7:30am this morning, finishing up the master candidate of the commercial spot at 6:30pm tonight.  Ok, so there’s the backstory and I’m surprised I’m even still awake enough to type this, but here goes….. Some updates on the issues from Day One. The need to Transcode to ProRes.  Paul Saccone from Blackmagic Design reached out to me and told me I didn’t need to transcode the 4k H264 to ProRes to get better performance.  I can use “Generate Optimized […]

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Ok, if I’m being honest about this, Day Two was really a continuation of a very LONG day one.  See I finished working last night about 6:30, then wrote the Day One blog, and then was preparing to go to bed around 11pm when I heard my phone chime that I had a text.   A Producer on the west coast needed me to do a quick turnaround of a national broadcast spot today for Friday delivery.   Well, I couldn’t let that project interfere with the corporate project I’m cutting on Resolve, so instead of getting some sleep, I went back to the office and continued editing about 11:30pm – 4:30am.  Didn’t really sleep and went back to the office at 7:30am this morning, finishing up the master candidate of the commercial spot at 6:30pm tonight.  Ok, so there’s the backstory and I’m surprised I’m even still awake enough to type this, but here goes…..

Some updates on the issues from Day One.

The need to Transcode to ProRes.  Paul Saccone from Blackmagic Design reached out to me and told me I didn’t need to transcode the 4k H264 to ProRes to get better performance.  I can use “Generate Optimized Media” instead.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.48.25 PM

This basically makes a proxy file that’s easy on the playback and editing but then I can simply switch back to the original H264 files for color grading at the end of the process.   Yes, I still have to generate another set of files, but these go pretty darn quickly and are much much smaller than the ProRes files I generated yesterday.   I thought the Generate Optimized Media was really for use with large files like RAW, but it looks like it’s just as useful with the DSLR stuff too.

Not Automatically Scaling my 4k to 1080 HD

I knew this was a setting that I wasn’t finding and thanks to Dmitry Kitsov’s response on Twitter, I now know where the “magic button” is.   It’s in Project Settings > Image Scaling Preset.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.51.00 PM

The default was Scale Entire Image to Fit but what I really wanted was Center Crop with No Resizing.  Seems like a long mouthful but as you can see there are four different options for mismatched resolution files so I guess that’s the easiest way to describe it.

So on to Day Two.

Everything so far has been very intuitive, even in my sleep deprived state last night, I was finding new functions simply by doing what I always do with certain keystrokes.

Duplicate a clip is simply Option+drag which I used a LOT last night because I was duplicating the heck out of comedic sound effects.  You can see 09829_SFX down below duplicated 5 times to coincide with the action.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.50.05 PM

Speaking of those clips, see how CLEARLY labeled the audio clips are?  There’s a delineation between the clip name and user controls that’s fabulous.   With Premiere Pro, the audio labeling frequently disappears with the audio clips so I have to double click them back up into the Source Monitor to confirm the clip name.  The labelling is also plenty large and easy to read.  Really nicely done.

I mentioned last night how the volume / level control in the timeline is super useful because you have full control of the amount of level rather than being limited to just 6db +/- like in Premiere Pro.  Below you see an audio clip that clearly has low audio, it’s a manufacturing floor with audio from the camera mic.  What Resolve does is shrink and enlarge the audio waveforms giving you a really good representation of the amount of volume in a clip at a quick glance.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.47.34 PM

And here’s that same clip with the clip volume raised.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.47.40 PM

You can see visually how much louder the clip is now vs. the original picture above.   At first I thought this was gimmicky when I saw it in the online demos, but actually it’s really handy to be able to just look at the timeline and without even seeing the volume control settings, I can tell what’s full volume and what’s not.

I finally played with the Text Tool and it’s quite good and useful.  Is it as feature rich as Adobe’s?  Not by a long shot, but can you create titles with it?  Absolutely.   You actually find the titles in the same place as the effects.     They have them laid out to be pre-positioned for ease of use, but I generally just start with Text.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.49.01 PM

You drag a title out onto the timeline and then the Title Panel becomes active.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.49.25 PM

As you can see, all the basic controls you’d expect and all the fonts on my Mac loaded up.   I’ve only used it for placeholders so far, but will create some titles for the final.

I mentioned yesterday the ease of video and audio track assignments.  Here’s a look at that.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.47.08 PM

Just a single control to turn the track on and off.  Renaming the tracks is as simple as double-clicking the name and naming it as you can see I did with the audio tracks.  It’s intuitive and easy.

The Wacom Tablet Works!!!

I had to bold that one because if you’re a user of Adobe Premiere Pro and you use a Wacom tablet, then you know the joy of the “jittery pen.”   Basically any adjustment you make with a Wacom tablet in Premiere Pro results in the keyframe / parameter changing when you release the pen.   Completely maddening to say the least, so many of us resort to using a mouse when doing fine tuning such as audio mixing.  But in Resolve, I’ve found the pen to be very accurate and stable.  It’s little things like this that really make a long long day in the edit suite pleasant.

A  little thing that’s functional but could be more efficient.  Right now the only way to send out a burned in timecode copy to a client is via the Color Panel.   I couldn’t even find this last night (this morning) so I went out of Resolve and into Adobe Media Encoder.  But if you open the timeline in the Color panel, you’ll find options for timecode and other things to burn into the media.  I made a request to the Resolve team to consider either making a filter for TC Window or simply adding the option to the Delivery panel.   When editing, I definitely don’t think much about Color and I never even thought to look at the Color panel just to find TC burn-in.   So it’s there, but I’m hopeful it might be a bit more intuitive for editors who have no interest in using the Color panel.

One other thing that’s not working quite as it should is the ability to double click a parameter in the Inspector Panel and change it.   If you go back up at look at that Title Panel and I want to double click the Size to change it from 74 to 50.   If I try to double click it, the numbers simply change say up to 80 or down to 63 and they keep changing every time I double click.  Or the last number will be selected but not all of them.  So I have to manually backspace, backspace then type.   Most likely a Beta issue and remember this IS beta software right now.  Remarkably STABLE beta software too I might add.   Had to restart the machine twice last night because the system got a little wonky but the software is not crashing, it’s not disappearing, just gets a little “tired” from time to time so I just reboot and keep going.

Here’s a look at my timeline so far.  Nothing remarkable as you can see, just your good old fashioned basic timeline but sitting inside one of the most powerful color grading tools on the planet.   It’s been super easy and quite pleasant cutting.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 7.46.59 PM

What’s continued to impress me is how efficiently the workspace is laid out and how intuitive all of the necessary panels are.  I’m editing on a SINGLE monitor.  I HATE editing on a single monitor, I love having all that extra real estate for all those windows I need open.   But here I am, editing away in Resolve and when I need to access a panel, it’s there.  Panels move and replace themselves as you set about doing different functions while editing.  It’s so well thought out and I’m not searching for windows, or dragging more windows out, or losing windows under windows.  Granted I have a 5k Retina iMac, but the interface is so efficient I have no need for the second window.   It’s absolutely remarkable so far.   Keep in mind I am doing a pretty simple project right now, but this does give me an insight as to how the app will work for larger projects.   The interface seems to have really been thought out from the editor’s perspective first and not from an engineering / coding standpoint.   It’s a very light and nimble application.

Somebody asked me today “why does editing in Resolve interest you?”   Well it is my color grading tool of choice.  It’s completely free, and by the way, I’m cutting this project using the free version of Resolve.  My Studio version sits on another machine.

So if I find the Resolve can handle the bulk of our editorial load and especially if I get my new Contemporary Living Network funded, we can have every editor, no matter where they are, no matter which NLE they currently cut with editing on Resolve.  Why?  We can completely eliminate XMLs and any issues that arise with moving projects between NLEs and Resolve.  Now we’re simply passing project files back and forth and staying inside the same application.

The workflow to / from Photoshop and After Effects will be different and not as elegant as the Adobe Suite for sure, but then we had a really good workflow between the old FCP and After Effects in the past and I can draw upon that knowledge to create a simple workflow as needed.  BUT completely eliminating XMLs from our editorial to editorial workflow and from our editorial to color workflow makes the idea of cutting inside Resolve very appealing.   Now when I want to work with my colleague who is an AMAZING 30 years (and counting) colorist it’s as simple as hand him the project file.

Does Resolve have the rich feature set of Adobe Premiere Pro or Avid?   No, not even close.  Does Resolve have a very good, useful feature set that any editor can cut a narrative story and is easy to adapt you muscle memory to?  So far, from what I see, the answer is yes.  Especially with the latest additions with Resolve 12.5.

I really like that Blackmagic Design has spent a lot of time under the hood ensuring that the basic operation of editing is smooth and easy.  That’s the most any editor can ask for.   As for what comes next, well that all depends on what the editors ask for.  From what I’ve been told, Blackmagic Design is listening quite well to their editing base just like Adobe.

Two days in, call me impressed.

Read Day Three here:

 

 

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“Dark Forest Black Fly” Documentary set to air on PBS, Interview with EP Walter Biscardi http://walterbiscardi.net/pbs-documentary-airing-dark-forest-black-fly-executive-producer-interview/ http://walterbiscardi.net/pbs-documentary-airing-dark-forest-black-fly-executive-producer-interview/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:42:45 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/blog/?p=3103 The second documentary in the Global Health Frontier Series, Dark Forest Black Fly aired Monday, September 9 on Georgia Public Broadcasting at 7:00pm EST. DARK FOREST, BLACK FLY describes how dedicated scientists and health workers have joined together to achieve remarkable success against river blindness on two continents. WHAT IS RIVER BLINDNESS? River blindness is caused by microscopic worms that migrate under the skin, leading to intense itching and eventual loss of sight. The disease is transmitted by small black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. Millions were effected in Africa, the Middle East and South America for decades. Nearly 25 years ago researchers discovered a drug, ivermectin, that kills the worms, but the threat of its return still exists and there are areas that have yet to eradicate it. Learn more about the documentary and view trailer at http://cieloproductions.org/feature-films/dark-forest-black-fly The Global Health Frontier series is distributed by American Public Television nationally and Internationally. So if you aren’t in the State of Georgia stay tuned for upcoming air dates. An Interview with one of the Executive Producers: Walter Biscardi, Jr. Question: What is the documentary Dark Forest Black Fly (DFBF) about? Walter: The documentary looks at the efforts […]

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The second documentary in the Global Health Frontier Series, Dark Forest Black Fly aired Monday, September 9 on Georgia Public Broadcasting at 7:00pm EST.Screen-Shot-2013-09-06-at-1.42.11-PM

DARK FOREST, BLACK FLY describes how dedicated scientists and health workers have joined together to achieve remarkable success against river blindness on two continents.

WHAT IS RIVER BLINDNESS? River blindness is caused by microscopic worms that migrate under the skin, leading to intense itching and eventual loss of sight. The disease is transmitted by small black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. Millions were effected in Africa, the Middle East and South America for decades.

Nearly 25 years ago researchers discovered a drug, ivermectin, that kills the worms, but the threat of its return still exists and there are areas that have yet to eradicate it.

Learn more about the documentary and view trailer at http://cieloproductions.org/feature-films/dark-forest-black-fly

The Global Health Frontier series is distributed by American Public Television nationally and Internationally. So if you aren’t in the State of Georgia stay tuned for upcoming air dates.

An Interview with one of the Executive Producers: Walter Biscardi, Jr.

Question: What is the documentary Dark Forest Black Fly (DFBF) about?
Walter: The documentary looks at the efforts to control and possibly eradicate River Blindness disease. This project has been 4 years in the making!

Question: Where did the filming take place?
Walter: Dozens of trips were made by the production team to Africa and Latin America. On-site filming was led by Executive Producer Gary Streiker. Around 200 hours of raw footage was collected to create the one-hour documentary.

Question: What role did your company, Biscardi Creative Media play in the creation of DFBF?
Walter: Biscardi Creative Media oversaw the entire post production and digital asset management for this documentary. That work included Editorial, Sound Design, Color Grading, Logging and Archival Storage.

Question: What did you enjoy about this project?
Walter: At Biscardi Creative Media we pride ourselves on being storytellers and we were once again recognized for that in this project. We were given an outline, no script, just raw footage because Gary knew we could and would craft the most compelling story within it. It’s more rare these days for a producer to hand over the materials and simply say “go” to an editor. I believe that speaks volumes of the trust, creativity and professionalism of our team.

Question: For the post production techies, what tools did you use to complete DFBF?
Walter: The documentary was started and finished in Final Cut Pro, ultimately ending up on FCP 7. The project was so large that we decided it was still better not to move it to newer NLE platforms as this would have caused more headaches than help.
Color grading was completed using DaVinci Resolve. This was a bit of a challenge because the documentary was shot over 4 years in a myriad of formats and shading. But we managed it well. Audio and sound mix was done by Patrick Belden. He has a great ear for blending natural sound and music which was essential for this project.

Question: Any parting words?
Walter: I am very happy to have been involved in this project. I have been an editor for over 20 years and now I am an Executive Producer of my 2nd documentary with Cielo Productions. I’m truly thankful for the opportunity.

Additional information:
Produced by Cielo Productions.
Executive Producers: Gary Strieker, Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Airing on GPB, Monday September 9 at 7:00pm (EST).
Airing nationally on PBS stations and via the PBS World channel which encompasses the top 50 stations in America.

Questions or Inquiries? Contact Biscardi Creative Media |  770.271.3427

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.

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Metro-Atlanta Production Studio, Biscardi Creative Media Celebrates Airing of New PBS Documentary http://walterbiscardi.net/metro-atlanta-production-studio-biscardi-creative-media-celebrates-airing-of-new-pbs-documentary/ Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:53:04 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=1859 Press Release Issued, September 9, 2013 Dark Forest Black Fly, second documentary in the Global Health Frontier Series, completed Atlanta, Ga. — Biscardi Creative Media celebrates with Cielo Productions the completion and airing of the second documentary in the PBS Global Health Frontier Series, Dark Forest Black Fly. The documentary describes how dedicated scientists and health workers have joined together to achieve remarkable success against river blindness on two continents.  River blindness is caused by microscopic worms that migrate under the skin, leading to intense itching and eventual loss of sight. The disease is transmitted by small black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. Millions were effected in Africa, the Middle East and South America for decades.  Nearly 25 years ago researchers discovered a drug, ivermectin, that kills the worms, but the threat of its return still exists and there are areas that have yet to eradicate it. Gary Strieker of Cielo Productions and Walter Biscardi, Jr. of Biscardi Creative Media served as the film’s Executive Producers. “This film was four years in the making” commented Walter. “Dozens of trips were made by the production team to Africa and Latin America. Around 200 hours of raw footage was collected […]

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Press Release Issued, September 9, 2013

Dark Forest Black Fly, second documentary in the Global Health Frontier Series, completed

Atlanta, Ga. — Biscardi Creative Media celebrates with Cielo Productions the completion and airing of the second documentary in the PBS Global Health Frontier Series, Dark Forest Black Fly. The documentary describes how dedicated scientists and health workers have joined together to achieve remarkable success against river blindness on two continents.  River blindness is caused by microscopic worms that migrate under the skin, leading to intense itching and eventual loss of sight. The disease is transmitted by small black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. Millions were effected in Africa, the Middle East and South America for decades.  Nearly 25 years ago researchers discovered a drug, ivermectin, that kills the worms, but the threat of its return still exists and there are areas that have yet to eradicate it.

Gary Strieker of Cielo Productions and Walter Biscardi, Jr. of Biscardi Creative Media served as the film’s Executive Producers. “This film was four years in the making” commented Walter. “Dozens of trips were made by the production team to Africa and Latin America. Around 200 hours of raw footage was collected to create the one-hour documentary.”

Biscardi Creative Media oversaw the entire post production and digital asset management for this documentary. That work included Editorial, Sound Design, Color Grading, Logging and Archival Storage. The final film also includes a 90-second animation produced by students in the Center for Design and Technology program at Lanier High School in Buford, Georgia. “We believe in being involved with our community and helping to cultivate the next generation of creative workforce” said Walter. “With our guidance the students put together a truly professional animation and now have a real production credit to their name.”

Dark Forest, Black Fly precedes the series’ first documentary Foul Water Fiery Serpent which focused on the 23-year eradication campaign of the Guinea worm parasite led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Atlanta-based Carter Center. Released in 2010, that film went on to win 10 national and international film festival awards. “I am very happy to have been involved in this project.” said Walter. “I have been an editor for over 20 years and now the Executive Producer of my second documentary with Cielo Productions. I’m truly thankful for the opportunity and look forward to this project being as educational and impactful as Foul Water.”

The Global Health Frontier series is distributed by American Public Television nationally and Internationally. Dark Forest Black Fly airs in the State of Georgia on Georgia Public Broadcasting, Monday, September 9 at 7:00pm EST.

ABOUT BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.

For more information about the documentary and to view trailer visit http://cieloproductions.org/feature-films/dark-forest-black-fly

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Media Contact

Walter Biscardi, Jr. 770.271.3427 walter@biscardicreative.com

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Know When to Hold and When To Fold Clients http://walterbiscardi.net/know-when-to-hold-and-when-to-fold-clients/ http://walterbiscardi.net/know-when-to-hold-and-when-to-fold-clients/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2013 14:29:05 +0000 http://walterbiscardi.com/?p=1736 Measuring the Reward vs. Risk with your clients to grow your business. Most of us have clients for which we love the work but there comes a time when the reward (creative enjoyment) and the risk (low pay) force us to make what is a very tough decision.   Do you keep working for this client because you LOVE the work you’re doing or do you let them go because the time investment and low pay scale hurt you in going after / accepting new clients? The use of the word “risk” is not a misnomer.  There is a very real risk to your business & livelihood by dedicating too much time to clients who monopolize your time for projects at less than your scale.   These are often projects for which you feel a particular passion for and are willing to do the work for much less because you feel good about the project and/or message.   This is great for small projects and I do a couple of small pro-bono projects per year because I like to do my part for the local community. But when these passion project clients turn in to ongoing, long term commitments vs. taking on new clients […]

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Measuring the Reward vs. Risk with your clients
to grow your business.

Most of us have clients for which we love the work but there comes a time when the reward (creative enjoyment) and the risk (low pay) force us to make what is a very tough decision.   Do you keep working for this client because you LOVE the work you’re doing or do you let them go because the time investment and low pay scale hurt you in going after / accepting new clients?

The use of the word “risk” is not a misnomer.  There is a very real risk to your business & livelihood by dedicating too much time to clients who monopolize your time for projects at less than your scale.   These are often projects for which you feel a particular passion for and are willing to do the work for much less because you feel good about the project and/or message.   This is great for small projects and I do a couple of small pro-bono projects per year because I like to do my part for the local community.

But when these passion project clients turn in to ongoing, long term commitments vs. taking on new clients and potentially higher scale jobs, that’s when you risk hurting your business. The risk is two-fold.  Obviously you’re taking on work for less than you’d like to make. The second risk is relying too much on a single client for too much of your business.

All clients go away.  Let me repeat that.  ALL clients go away at some point in time for a myriad of reasons.  It’s vitally important to keep networking, keep your name in front of people and most of all, be ready to accept jobs from as many new clients as possible.

Keep a log somewhere of projects you had to turn away or lost and save a short description of the reason why / project you were working on / client you were servicing.   From that you can see if you’ve lost any meaningful work due to a particular passion project or particular client that might be standing in the way of your business growth.  It’s very hard to see a pattern or know that something is happening “in the moment” but if you have a 6 or 12 month log, it becomes much clearer.  I’m not saying drop a client altogether, but if you see you’re losing out on some great potentials at least consider scaling back the amount of work you do for the “passion” client(s).

This is an individual decision you have to make for yourself.  I have to make these decisions continually as I’ve grown both personally and professionally with my company. I can tell you these are not easy choices and something you really need to think about before making a decision.  But it’s something that you SHOULD be thinking about on a regular basis as you grow your career and business.

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Oscar Winner Ed Novick joins Southeast Creative Summit! http://walterbiscardi.net/oscar-winner-ed-novick-joins-southeast-creative-summit/ http://walterbiscardi.net/oscar-winner-ed-novick-joins-southeast-creative-summit/#respond Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:25:32 +0000 http://walterbiscardi.com/?p=1733 So you guys know I’m a co-Founder of the Atlanta Cutters Post Production User Group and one of the leading coordinators of the Southeast Creative Summit.  Cannot believe we now not only have an Academy Award winner coming, he’s been nominated FOUR times!  You’ve heard Ed’s work on “Inception,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and many MANY more project including one of my favorites, “Butter.”  You want to make your field recordings sound better?  Make better mic choices?  How about asking an Academy Award winner for advice. My whole concept for WalterBiscardi.com is all about creatives teaching / helping other creatives and the Summit is going to be the epitome of that, live, for three days.  I sincerely hope some of you can make the trip because as the event is unlike anything else that’s come before it.  Not my words, that’s what folks are telling me when they see the lineup of workshops, presenters and especially the price.  Smaller events with limited workshops start at $600 and I’ve seen well over $1200 for a single day of workshops.  The SCS is currently $495 for the three days using my discount code wb2013. How many opportunities do you get to […]

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Presenter_Ed_Novick

So you guys know I’m a co-Founder of the Atlanta Cutters Post Production User Group and one of the leading coordinators of the Southeast Creative Summit.  Cannot believe we now not only have an Academy Award winner coming, he’s been nominated FOUR times!  You’ve heard Ed’s work on “Inception,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and many MANY more project including one of my favorites, “Butter.”  You want to make your field recordings sound better?  Make better mic choices?  How about asking an Academy Award winner for advice.

My whole concept for WalterBiscardi.com is all about creatives teaching / helping other creatives and the Summit is going to be the epitome of that, live, for three days.  I sincerely hope some of you can make the trip because as the event is unlike anything else that’s come before it.  Not my words, that’s what folks are telling me when they see the lineup of workshops, presenters and especially the price.  Smaller events with limited workshops start at $600 and I’ve seen well over $1200 for a single day of workshops.  The SCS is currently $495 for the three days using my discount code wb2013.

How many opportunities do you get to not only learn from Academy and Emmy Award winning talent, but to also talk directly to them, hang out with them in a casual setting?  Yes, I’m pushing the Summit for a second newsletter in a row, but this entire event was designed by the Cutters as something we would LOVE to go to but could never afford.  It’s going to be amazing AND affordable!

So please check out the Southeast Creative Summit webpage, look at the roster of folks coming in AND the range of topics. And check out the Atlanta Creative Ball coming October 26th, already $27,000 in raffle prizes and growing!

I’ll be there and hope to meet you there too!

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Biscardi Creative Media Honored as a Top Small Business http://walterbiscardi.net/biscardi-creative-media-honored-as-a-top-small-business/ Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:54:49 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=1538 Gwinnett Chamber announces Biscardi Creative Media as winner in 1-9 employee category Atlanta, Ga. — Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) was recognized twice at the 2013 Pinnacle Small Business Awards hosted by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. BCM was first recognized as one of the top 25 small businesses in Gwinnett County. The top 25 winners were announced late-March and invited to attend the annual Pinnacle Awards Ceremony held Friday, April 26. At the award ceremony the overall top winners of three categories were announced. The three categories included businesses with 1-9, 10-99 and 100+ employees. Biscardi Creative Media was recognized and honored as the overall winner in the 1-9 employee category. “When I heard our name read by the MC, I was speechless, which as anyone who knows me can attest, that never happens!” said Walter Biscardi, Jr. “We’ve built Biscardi Creative Media from a simple idea, tell a good story and have fun doing it.  Through the wins and losses we’ve continued to grow and thrive in Gwinnett which culminated in our new facility that we opened last year. To have your community and its leaders recognize you for the work you’ve done and the positive impact that your […]

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Gwinnett Chamber announces Biscardi Creative Media as winner in 1-9 employee category

Atlanta, Ga. — Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) was recognized twice at the 2013 Pinnacle Small Business Awards hosted by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. BCM was first recognized as one of the top 25 small businesses in Gwinnett County. The top 25 winners were announced late-March and invited to attend the annual Pinnacle Awards Ceremony held Friday, April 26. At the award ceremony the overall top winners of three categories were announced. The three categories included businesses with 1-9, 10-99 and 100+ employees. Biscardi Creative Media was recognized and honored as the overall winner in the 1-9 employee category.

“When I heard our name read by the MC, I was speechless, which as anyone who knows me can attest, that never happens!” said Walter Biscardi, Jr. “We’ve built Biscardi Creative Media from a simple idea, tell a good story and have fun doing it.  Through the wins and losses we’ve continued to grow and thrive in Gwinnett which culminated in our new facility that we opened last year. To have your community and its leaders recognize you for the work you’ve done and the positive impact that your existence has had on the community is truly moving. Even though I was the one to go on stage to accept the award, this is all about my amazing team that excels everyday at what we pride ourselves on, telling our clients’ stories. So here’s to the storytellers!”

The Pinnacle Awards were created to celebrate and honor Gwinnett’s small business owners and entrepreneurs. These businesses were recognized for not only surviving but thriving and serving as integral and key participants in the nation’s economy. Companies were selected based on steady and above average growth and profitability, growth in number of employees, contributions to the community, overcoming adversity, and original entrepreneurship.

For more information about the Pinnacle Awards visit http://pinnaclesmallbusinessawards.com/

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Media Contact

Walter Biscardi, Jr. 770.271.3427 walter@biscardicreative.com

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

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Biscardi Creative Media Announces: Colorist Flight School – Live! http://walterbiscardi.net/biscardi-creative-media-announces-colorist-flight-school-live/ Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:39:09 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=1521 Biscardi Creative Media announces: Colorist Flight School – LIVE! Buford, GA — Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) welcomes world renowned Colorist and founder of TaoOfColor.com, Patrick Inhofer, for his Colorist Flight School, May 30 – June 1.  The three-day workshop is geared towards the craft of color grading.  Inhofer will teach attendees the craft of color grading while bringing them up-to-speed on DaVinci Resolve (and Resolve Lite).  Students in the workshop will also grade a short film along with Patrick. With a limit of 10 students, the workshop will be very interactive. What is Colorist Flight School?  Colorist Flight School is a systematic approach to teaching color grading technique using a real-life project. Students grade a short film in class—with immediate instructor feedback. There are three elements to Tao of Color’s Colorist Flight School training (both LIVE! and online): Learn your instrument panel – Currently, the instrument panel being taught in this workshop is DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Lite. Practice in a ‘Flight Simulator’ – Training is nearly 100% project-based. The key to becoming confident in color correction is by knowing you can match dozens of shots into a seamless continuous whole. And the only way to gain that confidence is to grade dozens of […]

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Biscardi Creative Media announces: Colorist Flight School – LIVE!

Buford, GA — Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) welcomes world renowned Colorist and founder of TaoOfColor.com, Patrick Inhofer, for his Colorist Flight School, May 30 – June 1.  The three-day workshop is geared towards the craft of color grading.  Inhofer will teach attendees the craft of color grading while bringing them up-to-speed on DaVinci Resolve (and Resolve Lite).  Students in the workshop will also grade a short film along with Patrick. With a limit of 10 students, the workshop will be very interactive.

What is Colorist Flight School?  Colorist Flight School is a systematic approach to teaching color grading technique using a real-life project. Students grade a short film in class—with immediate instructor feedback.

There are three elements to Tao of Color’s Colorist Flight School training (both LIVE! and online):

  1. Learn your instrument panel – Currently, the instrument panel being taught in this workshop is DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Lite.
  2. Practice in a ‘Flight Simulator’ – Training is nearly 100% project-based. The key to becoming confident in color correction is by knowing you can match dozens of shots into a seamless continuous whole. And the only way to gain that confidence is to grade dozens of shots telling a single story. In the workshop students are provided a short film with notes from the Director—the ‘Flight Simulator’—encouraging the development of muscle memory and confidence for students to do it on their own.
  3. Feedback – The training (LIVE! or online) always provides attendees with actionable feedback of their work.

During the event students will grade a short film that the entire class color corrects together over 2-3 days!  Workshop facilitators will provide a USB 3 hard drive with the short film and project files—for students to take home and continue practicing.  Students will be licensed to use excerpts of the short film in their color grading demo reel and in private client demos!

“We’ve been working with Patrick for the past six months to develop this workshop,” said BCM Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr.  “I wanted this to be a very small class allowing more one on one interaction with the instructor.   The fact that attendees will not only be able to grade a short film with Patrick but will also be able take home the footage after the class is simply incredible. I’ve not seen anything like that offered before.”

 

Who should consider participating in Colorist Flight School?  Editors, Colorists, Assistant Editors and beginning Davinci Resolve Users.  Colorist Fight School is practical training designed to further the careers of industry professionals.   The three-day workshop will be hosted at Biscardi Creative Media’s production facility in Buford GA, May 30 – June 1.   This is the second training event to be held at BCM with more events in the planning stages.

“I’m fortunate to have a many talented friends in this industry and we’re developing more of these small, very high end training opportunities for folks who want to go beyond just learning how to push buttons,” said Biscardi.  “Between these live events and our newly launched WalterBiscardi.com website we aim to become that missing link resource that advances professionals’ careers through practical, useful knowledge of all aspects of our industry.”

For more information or to register for Colorist Flight School LIVE visit http://www.biscardicreative.com/events-and-trainings/colorist-flight-school-live/

For more information about WalterBiscardi.com visit http://walterbiscardi.com/

 

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Media Contact

Walter Biscardi, Jr. 770.271.3427 walter@biscardicreative.com

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

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World-Renowned Editor Walter Biscardi, Jr. Launches Industry Training & Website http://walterbiscardi.net/world-renowned-editor-walter-biscardi-jr-launches-industry-training-website/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:27:32 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=1518 WORLD-RENOWNED EDITOR WALTER BISCARDI, JR. LAUNCHES INDUSTRY TRAINING & WEBSITE A Production Website Focused on the Creativity and Business Behind the Technique Atlanta, Ga. — Millions of creatives the world over know editor & Post Production specialist Walter Biscardi, Jr. thanks to the CreativeCow.net website where he has shared knowledge and advice to countless people since 2000. Over 25,000 online posts later, Walter is sticking to his roots of helping to educate his production and entertainment peers. With the launch of WalterBiscardi.com, Biscardi will provide a robust platform of education and development to both budding professionals and veterans of the industry. “I wanted to create a medium where people could learn from others who earn their living “in the trenches” day in, day out, meeting deadlines and having to push creative limits on a regular basis. So WalterBiscardi.com is brought to you not by professional trainers, but what I call professionally certified artists” said Walter Biscardi, Jr.  “What you absolutely will not find on this site is a professional trainer who does little more than read a manual and then regurgitate back to you and call it training. The idea here is to look beyond just the technical and get […]

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WORLD-RENOWNED EDITOR WALTER BISCARDI, JR. LAUNCHES INDUSTRY TRAINING & WEBSITE

A Production Website Focused on the Creativity and Business Behind the Technique

WalterBiscardi_HeadShotAtlanta, Ga. — Millions of creatives the world over know editor & Post Production specialist Walter Biscardi, Jr. thanks to the CreativeCow.net website where he has shared knowledge and advice to countless people since 2000. Over 25,000 online posts later, Walter is sticking to his roots of helping to educate his production and entertainment peers. With the launch of WalterBiscardi.com, Biscardi will provide a robust platform of education and development to both budding professionals and veterans of the industry.

“I wanted to create a medium where people could learn from others who earn their living “in the trenches” day in, day out, meeting deadlines and having to push creative limits on a regular basis. So WalterBiscardi.com is brought to you not by professional trainers, but what I call professionally certified artists” said Walter Biscardi, Jr.  “What you absolutely will not find on this site is a professional trainer who does little more than read a manual and then regurgitate back to you and call it training. The idea here is to look beyond just the technical and get into the craft of what we do in all aspects of Production and Business.  Once you know how to push buttons, you need to know what to do next to have a successful career in this industry.  We plan to be that resource.”

WalterBiscardi.com expects to be an effective resource by not only offering webinars and on demand-based education, but live workshops in Atlanta, GA as well.  Such as the recent two day Blackmagic Cinema Camera workshop with Marco Solorio held at Biscardi Creative Media. Regardless of how participants learn best, online or in-person, Biscardi believes in making valuable knowledge accessible to everyone.

The site itself will house extended modules, tutorials and advice from creator Walter Biscardi, Jr. along with other hand-selected artists in the industry with varying focuses from Editorial, Sound Design, Color, Photography, Producer, Public Relations, Research & Development, and Business Development & Growth. One such contributor is colorist Ron Anderson whose impressive list of projects and credits span 30 years and range from the NASA Space Shuttle launches, to feature films, nationally syndicated television shows such as Tyler Perry’s “The House of Payne” and numerous commercial clients.

The caliber of knowledge visitors can expect is nothing short of the best. Said Walter of the site, “No one person can know and teach everything. The contributors that you will find on WalterBiscardi.com are the people I regularly look to learn from.  They understand not only the equipment and software, but how you need to operate in order to meet deadlines, specifications and manage time.  At the end of the day, this is a service based industry and to serve both yourself and your clients better, you need to better understand the craft and business side of our industry.   The team we’re assembling truly believes in quality and we all look forward to building a distinguished catalog over the next few months and years.”

WalterBiscardi.com is an initiative of Walter Biscardi, Jr. and Biscardi Creative Media. For more information visit www.walterbiscardi.com or www.biscardicreative.com

ABOUT WALTER BISCARDI, JR.

Walter’s career began with editing for a national and international audience at CNN. His experience grew as he took on new challenges over the years. In 2001 he started Biscardi Creative Media and in 2013 launched sister company, MTWD Entertainment to seek out and create original programming for all media. Biscardi has produced and edited programming that airs on The Food Network, NBC, The Weather Channel, Georgia Public Television, PBS, among others. A recognized industry leader, Walter has been recruited by companies such as Apple, Adobe, Autodesk, Panasonic, AJA Video Systems, ATTO  Technologies, and Small Tree Communications to test and find ways to improve hardware and software solutions for the film and video industry. He counts a national Emmy, Peabody, Regional Emmys, CableACE awards, Telly & Aurora awards among his many honors and credits.

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Media Contact

Walter Biscardi, Jr. 770.271.3427 walter@biscardicreative.com

 

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