#448 – Treasures old and new...

Do you know how to get the most out of Cut/daily?

In this Issue I'll give you:

• A guided tour of the Archive
• Point you in the direction of a few special features
• Share one simple trick that will elevate your weekly reading experience

However, if you really want to get the most out of Cut/daily, all you need to do is hit Reply and ask a question, share a recent learning or whisper an insider secret from a cool project you just worked on.

I love to hear from you, and I respond to every email.

The Archive

While signing up to Cut/daily is totally free and gives you access to over 150 concise post-production insights, for a one-off investment of $49, you can secure lifetime access to all 450 previous issues.

That way, you can take your time to comb through the archive, discovering treasures new and old from the past four years of research, learning, and sharing, and apply this knowledge to your day-to-day editing at your own pace.

450 post-production insights sounds like a lot (it is); what's actually in there?

I'm glad you asked!

What follows is a smash-and-grab selection to give you a small taste of what's available. There are about 35 links below, which represent less than 10% of the entire Cut/daily archive.

So this is only scratching the surface! Explore the entire archive here.

Or start with #001 - A Free App that Gives Back and work your way through from beginning to end.

Treasures from the Archive

• Cut/daily Meets... 60+ interviews with Post-Production professionals including:
  • Joe Walker (Dune Part 1&2, The Creator, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049)
  • Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir (John Wick, The Fall Guy, Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde)
  • Nick Emerson (Conclave, Eileen, Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang)
  • Simon Smith (Chernobyl, Andor, 3 Body Problem, The Last of Us)
  • Wendy Hallam Martin (The Handmaid's Tale, American Gods, Dark Matter)

How Other Editors Do It

• #288 - How to Edit Under Pressure – Inside the insane editing of Saturday Night Live.
• #411 - Eddie Hamilton edits $180 million movies with this? – How Eddie Hamilton cuts these massive Mission: Impossible movies.
• #419 - Read 10 free chapters of Art of The Cut Vol. 2 – Read 10 free bonus chapters online, then read the whole book.
• #311 - Annoying Things Editors Do – I am consistently guilty of #5.
• #235 - Cut It Down: 3 Lessons from Walter Murch – Make it shorter.
• #140 - Five Things Editors Should Watch (Not what you think!) – I often fail to do #3.
• #261 - Documentary Story Structure – Strategies and tactics for storytelling.

Workflow Tips

• #154 - Using Visual Effects to Solve Story Problems – Lessons from Tom Cross (La La Land, First Man, Whiplash)
• #391 - A Quick Guide to Creating a DCP – We've all had to make one for the first time, may as well get it right!
• #306 - Do you even batch (sync), bro? – Tips and tricks for batch syncing audio.
• #211 - Better Colour Grading in Black and White – Why zero saturation won't cut it.
• #217 - Best Practices for VFX Workflows – Insights from a free training series on handling VFX shots correctly. See also #231 - How to be a VFX Editor
• #234 - Extract Useful Data From Your Timeline – Spreadsheets baby!
• #161 - Mapping a Complete Feature Film (remote) Post Workflow – A detailed map for cutting a Netflix feature film.
• #145 - Free Online Tools for Post Pros – If you've not used EditingTools.io you're missing a trick.
• #135 - The Five Most Important Keyboard Shortcuts on the Internet – I use these all the time, especially when watching movie trailers.
• #076 - Before It Is Too Late, A Personal Back-Up Solution – How to never lose anything.
• #100 - How To Find All Your Missing Media – Offline.

Career Advice

• #392 - Smart Advice from a Savvy Assistant – Solid advice for anyone starting out as an assistant editor, or looking to put their best foot forward in the door.
• #195 - How to Finance a Creative Career – Make art make money.
• #204 - Append this sentence to every invoice – “Please confirm receipt.”
• #181 - Why Comedy Editors Get Paid More... – Insights from Cut to the Monkey.
• #187 - Can you answer this 7-word career-changing question?

Test Screenings

• #323 - In Praise of Test Screenings – The real purpose of test screenings
• #441 – You have to see this – A totally new approach to micro-test screenings
• #184 - The one about Test Screenings – Why it's different for horror than comedy.

AI is here to stay, so are you

• #447 – Workflow Tips for AI-Generated Video – It's not as easy as it looks, but there are ways to get better results.
• #436 – Why the future belongs to storytellers – One skill that will never go out of fashion.
• #433 – How to become great in the age of AI – Possibly the best thing I've written on Cut/daily?

Cut/daily Special Features

When I moved into my garden edit suite, a couple of (disturbingly young) lads came to wire up the aircon unit.

They pointed to my substantial shelves of DVDs and Blu-rays and commented, “You don't see many of them these days, do ya?”

This observation only widened our generational divide (DVDs hit the mainstream towards the turn of the millennium – a shocking 25 years ago.)

I feebly retorted that many are collector's items*...

Anyway, all this to say that special features are some of the best bits about physical media, and (segue, please), in much the same way, Cut/daily also has its own set of special features.

#069 - (Probably) The Greatest Editor Audio Commentary Track of All Time?

Discount Codes – Fifteen discount codes for some of the best post-production apps and services are waiting for you on the Benefits page, including:

• Hedge
• FilmConvert
• Artlist
• Riverside
• DCP Transfer

You can also earn rewards for referring your friends and find the Cut/daily FAQ.

Training — Email-based micro-training courses are coming, I promise. The first, Adding Audio Polish, is almost complete. Vote on the next course and stay notified of developments on the Training page.

It will be worth the wait!

Consultation — Book in 20 minutes to hit a topic of your choice 1–1 with yours truly. I'll do my best to dispense helpful advice.

*my wife would raise an incredulous eyebrow at this suggestion.

One Simple Trick

The one simple trick for getting the most out of Cut/daily each week?

Click on the links.

Click on all the links.

You'll find something informative, inspiring, or maybe just irreverent.

But it's the best way to follow every rabbit hole, further resource, and amusing* reference and thereby squeeze every last drop from Cut/daily.

So remember, the best is yet to come, and Cut/daily.

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