With 4K and mirrorless cameras it is no longer a question of if you will get a dust spot, it is when. Here is how to mask them out with Dust & Scratches in Premiere Pro, and the faster After Effects method for when a clip is really filthy.
Continue readingYou are my miracle | A fairy tale wedding in Austin, Texas (Groom Cries)
Lily and Sergio met in geometry class in 2005. Eleven years, thousands of miles, and a lot of long distance later, they got married in Austin.
Continue readingHere’s a free watermark for your Adobe Premiere Pro CC Proxy Files
Since last November, I’ve been filming weddings exclusively with the Sony A7Sii in 4K. Due to the large file sizes this produces, I often end up with hundreds of gigabytes of footage from a single wedding. As I edit these weddings, I’ve realized that I will soon need to either buy a new computer to help handle the high-resolution footage, or implement a proxy based workflow where I edit lower quality video clips, then re-link the high-quality clips for final rendering.
That is why I was incredibly excited to see that the 2015.3 update of Premiere Pro added a built-in proxy workflow. Instead of having to watch as my computer bogs down from playing back the native 4K files of the A7Sii, or having to implement a round-trip through Da Vinci Resolve to create proxies, Premiere now lets me create them in Adobe Media Encoder and automatically links them to my existing footage. Once linked, it is a simple button press to switch between the native file and the proxy.
As I was working through implementing the update, I realized that it was a little TOO good. Due to the high quality proxies I was generating in Premiere Pro, it was impossible to at-a-glance tell whether I was working with the native file or the proxy file. I needed an immediate way to tell, and after a bit of research, I hit upon this a solution.
By adding a PNG file I created to the proxy export settings in Adobe Media Encoder, all my proxy files now include a transparent “Adobe Proxy” logo on the final rendered video. This makes telling the difference between native and proxy incredibly fast and easy.
To save you the work of creating your own transparent PNG logo, I’ve included a download link below. Simply download this file and follow the steps below to incorporate it into your Adobe Premiere Pro CC proxy workflow.
Follow these steps to add the adobe PNG logo to your Adobe Premiere Pro proxy workflow.
1. Open Adobe Media Encoder and in the “Preset Browser”, select the “Plus” sign and select “Create Encoding Preset.”
2. Create your proxy preset. In my case, I use GoPro Cineform at 720p.
3. Open the “Effects” tab, and check the “Image Overlay” box. Click the drop down menu next to “Applied” and browse to the Watermark PNG file. Make sure you put the PNG file in a place where it will be consistent between video projects. For “Position” select “Bottom Right” or wherever you would like it to appear over your proxy video. Select “OK” and your Encoding Preset will be saved.
4. Select the “Plus” sign again in the “Preset Browser”, and this time select “Create Ingest Preset.”
5. Name your Preset. I named mine the same as my Encoding Preset but added the word “Ingest” at the end. Check the “Transcode files to Destination” box.
6. For “Destination” navigate to your current video project. Note: It really doesn’t matter where you tell it to navigate to, because when generating Proxies, Premiere will ignore this location and by default put the proxy files generated in the same folder as the native files. For “Format” and “Preset” select the Format and Preset you created as your encoding preset. In my case, it was “Quicktime” and “GoPro Cineform.” Click “Ok” and your Ingest Preset will be saved.
9. Right click on your Ingest Preset in the “Preset Browser” box and select “Reveal Preset File.” Make a note of where the file is in your computer’s file system.
10. Open Premiere CC 2015.3, import your native video files, and in the “Project” window, select your video clips, right-click, and select “Proxy > Create Proxies…”
11. In the “Create Proxies” window, select “Add Ingest Preset” and browse through your file system to the Ingest Preset that you created. Select it and click “Open.”
12. The “Format” and “Preset” should now match your ingest preset you created in Adobe Media Encoder. Under “Destination,” select “Next to original media, in Proxy” folder, which will cause Premiere to ignore the destination you set in step 10.
13. Click OK and sit back as Adobe Media Encoder opens up and renders all your proxy clips with the settings AND watermark that you added.
That’s it! Now all it takes is a quick glance to see if you are editing the native video files, or their proxies.
If this video has been helpful to you, you may also enjoy my wedding filmmaking training videos and tutorials. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to leave one below, or get in touch.
The Fearless Man Project
Yesterday episode 011 of The Fearless Man Project was released on iTunes with the title “Matt Johnson: God is cultivating us to be great!”. I would encourage you to give it a listen, write a review, and share your story with Shawn on The Fearless Man Project’s site. Shawn is making something great, and I think everyone should be a part of it.
Continue readingMy Exodus, and Return, to the iPhone
In 2013, I left the iPhone for Android. Now I’m coming back.
Continue readingMy Favorite Secret Spots To Eat In Aggieland
College Station has been my home for 8 years. In this time I have made a lot of friends and seen them move on to bigger cities with careers, spouses and kids (agh!). The time has finally come for me to move on too, and I am now calling Dallas, Texas home. So if you live there, let’s be friends and make videos and eat delicious food together.
Speaking of delicious food, for the time that I have been in College Station, I’ve been looking for the best places to go out to eat. Now, DO NOT confuse the term “best place” with any other terms such as “fine dining”, “accepts credit cards”, “expensive atmosphere”, or “english speaking required”, because that is not what I am referring to. When I say BEST PLACE, I mean the food is going to blow your mind and you’ll be willing to sacrifice comforts such as english and credit cards to get just a taste.
You may have heard of some of these places, and I may have even been the one to introduce you to some of them, but I can guarantee you that none of them will be heavily populated by sorority girls wanting Margaritas, or even other College Students for that matter. If you’re a local, you (probably) have been to these places and love them. If you’re an adventurous food lover, you’ve probably been to many of these restaurants before as well.
Some may say I’m breaking the rules by revealing all the good places College Station and Bryan offer to eat. But, I’m moving so I have no worry about crowded restaurants. And I have all of Dallas to explore now; so please, if you live in Dallas, let me know of some good places to chow.
On to the restaurants! These are in no particular order, but I have made an attempt to say what kind of food they offer, and which menu item you should order. There are in-depth reviews for each of these on my Yelp Profile. If I missed any, please let me know in the comments.
Flip & Peel (Burgers and Fries)
Location: Post Oak Mall Food Court
What to Order: The Bacon Double and New Republic Pork Fries
Stover Bros Cafe (Southern Comfort Food)
Location: Village Foods
What to Order: Slider Burgers, and Chicken and Dumplings (on Tuesdays)
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Shannon’s (Southern Comfort Food)
Location: On Highway 21 in Bryan
What to order: Beef Tips, Chicken and Waffles if you get there before 10am.
Taqueria El Tio (Mexican food)
Location: Past Downtown Bryan
What to Order: Quesadilla (the best one you’ll ever have in your life)
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Papa Perez (Mexican Food)
Location: Downtown Bryan
What to Order: Fried Stuffed Avocado
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
El Vale (Mexican Food)
Location: Deep Bryan
What to Order: Everything – it’s all fresh and delicious. Try the tacos and enchiladas
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
El Sol De Mexico
Location: Texas Ave. in Bryan
What to Order: The #4 – 2 Enchiladas, Rice, Beans, and a full order of Beef Fajitas for $8.
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Martins Place (BBQ)
Location: S College Avenue in Bryan
What To Order: The Ribs for $9 but if you’re wanting to save $ get the chopped beef sandwich for $2.
*Photo by Ed Y on Yelp
Polly’s Cocina (Mexican Food)
Location: Downtown Bryan on Hwy 21
What To Order: Enchiladas. Get extra salsa to put on everything, it’s so good you can drink it.
*Photo by Arrott S on Yelp
Sodolak’s Beefmasters Steakhouse
Location: Bryan on Hwy 21
What to Order: 14-16 ounce steak (medium rare) with Fried Okra and Mashed Potatoes), and get some Chicken Fried Bacon while you’re at it.
Jin’s Asian Cafe (Asian)
Location: Just off University Drive across from North Side Garage
What To Order: Orange Chicken
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Cenare (Italian)
Location: College Station on University Drive
What To Order: Lasagna
*Photo by Steve M on Yelp
Frittella (Italian)
Location: Bryan on Texas Ave
What To Order: The Frittella
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
La Union Tienda Y Restaurant (Salvadoran)
Location: Bryan
What to order: Pupusas
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Centro American Restaurant and Pupuseria (Salvadoran and Central American)
Location: College Station on Dominick
What to order: Pupusas
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Primo Pizza (Pizza)
Location: Texas Ave in College Station
What to Order: Anything – best pizza in town.
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Zand’s Persian Kebabs (Persian)
Location: Bryan on Texas Ave
What to order: The Lamb (Kubideh) or the Fish and Chips
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Proudest Monkey (Burgers and Tacos)
Location: Downtown Bryan
What to Order: Fried Plantains & Yucca, and a burger.
*Photo by Victor R on Yelp
Bayerische Brauhaus (German)
Location: Downtown Bryan
What to order: Jaegerschnizel
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
La Espiga Dorada (Mexican Bakery)
Location: Downtown Bryan
What to order: Tacos and Empanadas
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Lew’s BBQ (BBQ)
Location: College Station food truck usually in the lot behind the military surplus store and Primo Pizza
What to order: BBQ Tacos
*Photo by Greg D on Yelp
Leave me a comment if I forgot any good restaurants in town! And if you’re in Dallas, send me a message and let’s go get something to eat!



















