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Free Royalty Free Music
Most music that are royalty free on the internet actually have to be paid for. Searching for “free music” on google does nobody any good since the word “free” is already in Royalty Free, so usually the search engines take you to a royalty free music site where the music has to be paid for. It becomes very difficult to come by good free music sites that allow you to use their music royalty free.
Well I stumbled upon a great site. All the music here is free. You may donate to the creator if you wish, but you don’t have to pay him if you can’t afford to, and if you still wish to use his music. Check out the site and thank this dude and donate if you can.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
Enjoy listening to the music. There are some awesome tunes. If you know of any other such site with free royalty free music, please post a comment with the link and I’ll update this blog page.
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Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 – Keyboard Shortcuts
14 April 2011
I was looking for a keyboard shortcuts page for Adobe Premiere. Couldn’t find one that was simple enough for a beginner editor or filmmaker. So I made this table. Hope it’s useful.
If I’ve missed anything useful, let me know and I’ll include it.
| Category | Shortcut | Function | ||
| Edit | S | Snap feature – turn on or off | ||
| Edit | Alt / Option | Unlink Audio / Video [Holding down Alt Key while clicking on a linked clip will unlink the audio and video portion of it] | ||
| Edit | Alt + [ | Set begin workarea marker | ||
| Edit | Alt +] | Set End workarea marker | ||
| Edit | V | Selection Tool | ||
| Edit | C | Razor or Cut tool | ||
| Edit | ALT + Right / Left Arrow | Move SELECTED clip, one frame at a time | ||
| Edit | SHIFT + Delete | Ripple Delete | ||
| Playback | Spacebar | Toggle Play Forward / Stop | ||
| Playback | J | Play reverse | ||
| Playback | L | Play forward | ||
| Playback | K | Stop Play | ||
| Playback | K+L | Play forward in slow motion. [Hold down K first and then Hold down L | ||
| Playback | K+J | Play reverse in slow motion [Hold down K first and then hold down J] | ||
| Playback | K+(L) | Play forward one frame at a time [Hold down K, then press L for each frame to move forward] | ||
| Playback | K+(J) | plary reverse one frame at a time [Hold down K, then press J for each frame to move back] | ||
| Timeline | \ (backslash) | Resizes timeline to display entire project | ||
| Timeline | HOME | Move to the beginning of the timeline | ||
| Timeline | END | Move to the End of the timeline | ||
| Timeline | Page Up | Move to the beginning of current clip or earlier edit point | ||
| Timeline | Page Down | Move to the end of the current clip or next edit point | ||
| Timeline | I | Set Inpoint | ||
| Timeline | O | Set Outpoint | ||
| Timeline | Q | Go To Inpoint | ||
| Timeline | W | Go To Outpoint | ||
| Timeline | * [Keypad] | Adds Marker [Has to be asterisk key on numeric keypad and not shift + 8] | ||
| Timeline | Z | Zoom Tool |
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Film Festivals in Canada
4 April 2011
Here is a list of Canadian Festivals. If I’ve missed yours, just send me an email and I’ll include it. The list is sorted by Submission Deadline month. I was looking for a such a list myself and so thought I’d make one. Hope it helps.
LED vs LCD Monitor
19 March 2011
I was going to write a glowing review of LED monitors. Everything I read about LED monitors seem to suggest that they provide more accurate color information. As a result, indie filmmakers, editors and color correctors would probaby prefer LED monitors over LCD ones. Supposedly LED monitors show a truer black and LCD monitor blacks are somehow grey, etc.
I am planning to buy a monitor right now. So I was doing a little bit more in-depth research. Upon further review, and after reading about people who have a two monitor setup, it appears that some LED monitors can be more harmful to the filmmaking process than good, for some people. Some filmmakers with the two monitor setup complain that they’ve had trouble with LED monitors because the colors seem to change depending on the angle that one is looking at the monitor. So if someone has a multiple monitor setup, the same image will look different on different monitors, even if you try to angle things right and keep your head right in the middle.
Some people even have problems with their vision from the brightness levels and refresh rates. If you get one that has a refresh rate of 60hz, you may strain your eyes. If you’re going to get an LED monitor, get one that is 120hz.
Also, regardless of how much you may be enticed by low prices, for LED monitors, get one that has a resolution higher than 1080.
The most important thing I came away with, I think, is that if you are considering the bottom level prices for LED monitors, you are better off spending that money on LCD screens. The lower priced LED monitors are more likely to have issues than LCD monitors at the same price levels. That was really my takeaway.
So I think I’m going to be buying an LCD monitor after all. My conclusion and general feeling after all this reading is this: If your budget is under $300 (in March, 2011), then go for an LCD monitor. No need for a cheap backlit LED.
UPDATE:
I ended up buying this 27″ LCD Viewsonic monitor. I’m just absolutely loving the screen.
Best Render Settings for After Effects CS5 for YouTube
5 March 2011
Follow these step by step:
1. Hold down the SHIFT KEY and go to EDIT>PREFERENCES>GENERAL
Hold down Shift Key when you do this (IMPORTANT)
2. If you did hold the shift key above you will see the “secret” option here.
3. Click the “Secret” option and then change settings to what you see below. Press Ok.
4. Once you’re done editing your composition, go to COMPOSITION>MAKE MOVIE, as you normally do and then go to the render queue. Go to Best Settings as seen on the bottom arrow. Then make sure that the frame rate is set to the comp’s frame rate. Make sure of course that the quality is set to “Best” and the resolution is set to “Full.” Press OK.
5. We’ll now take on formatting from bottom to the top in the picture below. Go to where it says “Lossless” at the very bottom to open up the Format dialog box. Choose audio if you have audio. 48000khz should be great. Go to the very top and under “Format” choose “H.264″ and then click on the “Format Options” on the right.
6. Under Format Options, make sure you’re in the “Video” tab. Profile should be set to “High,” Level to “5.1,” and Bitrate encoding should be set to “CBR.” Set “Bitrate MBPS” to around 8. Press Ok, and Ok again to get out of the “Format”
7. Hit Render. That’s it.
Additional Tip: Rendering will be faster if you have the CAPS LOCK on. CAPS LOCK blocks the preview and spares up a lot of ram for the actual rendering
Happy Rendering!!!
Top Film Schools in Canada
2 March 2011
A list of the top 10 film schools in Canada
Centre for Arts and Technology – Kelowna, BC
Columbia Academy – Video and Film Production – Vancouver, BC
Humber College – Film & Television Production – Toronto, ON
Pacific Film & New Media Academy – Vancouver Island, BC
Queen’s University Department of Film Studies – Kingston, ON
Ryerson University – School of Image Arts – Toronto, ON
Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, School of Animation,Arts & Design – Oakville, ON
Toronto Film School – Toronto, ON
Vancouver Film School – Vancouver, BC
York University, Department of Film – Toronto, ON
This above list is by no means conclusive. It is not in the order of ranking, just alphabetical. It was not arrived at after the application of any scientific method. The truth is that Canada seems to have few film schools worth mentioning, and after that they kind of drop off the charts, and one almost wonders if they will remain on the “chart” the following year (Film schools in Canada seem to have a penchant for going bankrupt and closing).
Anyway, after a process of elimination after doing some exhaustive reading on 17 schools, I picked the above 10 as they seem the most viable 10. I hope this list is useful.
If you have any specific questions you would like an answer to, please post it on the film school discussion forum.
Free Loopable Background – Fireflies
23 February 2011
What you see below is an example of a title scene made with a 15 second background loop, obviously looping again and again.
If you like what you see above and wish to use the loop and or the music file associated with it, you can download them and use them in your independent film production or any other kind of for-profit or non-profit production. You just have to credit True Indie Project somewhere in your masterpiece.
15 Second Video Loop – Fireflies (265 MB): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LYRHFJEA
Approx 3min track – Fireflies ( 32 MB): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BCL686CU
Please leave a comment if you like it or use it and please share with your filmmaker friends.
Best Book on Independent Filmmaking
20 February 2011
Book Review: How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) by Bret Stern
If you are on a limited budget and don’t have the money to spend on every single book on independent film there is out there, grab this before you run out of cash. Seriously.
I’ll outline the reasons to buy this book below:
Pros: This book will give you real life examples of situations you will actually find yourself in on your set and prepare you on how to manoeuvre through those intractable situations.
Cons: This book was written in 2002.
Even though it is quite an old book and deals with dv guerrilla equipment, it is still an excellent read primarily because this is the only book you will find that will give you real life examples and solutions on how to work your way out of them.
I’ll give you a simple example. The book assumes that since you are an aspiring independent filmmaker, you are probably an artist type, not necessarily a type A marine corps type. So you are probably not predisposed to leadership skills that will allow you to easily command an army of helpers who are UNPAID. So the trick is to make sure that your troupe is always confident about your leadership. One way to do that is to make sure that you always know the answer, even when you don’t. So for instance, if someone asks you, “should I light him from above or below?” even when you don’t know the answer, just pick one. If you say “let me think about it,” you will lose the confidence of your unpaid labourer. So just pick one and then go think about it. So let’s say you picked “lighting from above,” and then you go think about it and you decide you want to light him from below, then come back and tell your people that you want to light from below. If they ask you why from below and not from above as you had mentioned before, just tell them that you changed your bloody mind. But never, whatever you do, never, ever say, “let me think about it.”
This was one of the most important things I learned from this book. You will realize as you are shooting your film and not paying anybody, how important all these little tips are. It keeps your group intact and avoids a mutiny (which can happen at any moment as nobody feels obligated to work towards your vision when they are not paid). People, specially artist types like you and me, find it extremely convenient to discover hidden ‘principles,’ when money is not involved. “Principles” can destroy all your well made plans to finish your feature. The trick is to keep all your people believing in you during the production process. This book makes your job easier.
In any event, Stern is quite a witty writer, so even if you know all the filmmaking principles there is to know, the book is at worst, a hilarious read.
Crowdsourcing for Canadians
11 February 2011
Currently there are several options for filmmakers in the US when it comes to funding one’s independent film through crowdsourcing. Kickstarter.com and indiegogo.com are the two major online resources for such filmmakers. They have different funding mechanisms and it may be worthwile to go to to the websites to check out their specific requirements for funding. What is exciting for Canadians is that indiegogo.com now allows us to use their platform for funding Canadian ideas. It wasn’t possible before, but now it is.
Can’t wait for Canucks to take advantage of it. Or will we?
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15 April 2011
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