From MacroSystem US News webpage - announced July 24, 2013 NOTE: the file size of this ISO image is 1.2 GB and can be downloaded from the MSUS website here, but due to the image size must be burned onto a DVD as it will not fit onto a CD. Along with the North American (NTSC) release of the new DVD Arabesk 6 software, the new Add On Software DVD includes several updates for other add on pieces of software. These include: 1. BlueBoxWorld 1.1a - An install script has changed that allows the version to be deleted completely from... Continue reading

From the Ask The Expert File: QUESTION: If i have an HDV movie and i want to use or create a Picture, to been used outside Casablanca, how can I do that? It must be in high quality! ANSWER: 1. On Smart Edit you would have to use Casablanca Photo Transfer (add-on software) to export a frame from a video in the Scene Bin to an external USB drive as a JPEG file. But then you would not likely be working with an HDV project. 2. On the Bogart OS systems we can still use Photo Transfer but there is... Continue reading

MacroSystem US today shared news of both a summer software sale and impending release of the two brand new Casablanca editors, the Casablanca Karat and the Casablanca Topaz. What follows is the text and links from the MSUS Announcement MacroSystem US Newsletter - June 21st, 2013 Casablanca Software Sale Beginning today (June 20, 2013) and through the 19th of July, the following sale prices will be in effect. For Club Members, 30% off retail pricing. For Non-Club folks, 20% off retail pricing. This offer is not to be combined with other discounts/specials. Two New Casablanca Editors: Topaz and Karat "We're... Continue reading

Thoroughly enjoyed presenting the Members Webinar this past Thursday (June 20th) where I shared resources (downloads from the internet) which provide you with free materials for your video projects! These resources were from four categories: stock video & motion graphics, audio, graphics/photos, and fonts. The recording of the lesson (1-hour, 20-minutes) along with links to the web resources and the Casablanca Expert tutorials that enable loading/use of these items into your Casablanca is available now - just visit this page: June 2013 Members Webinar Recording Continue reading

Had a website member ask today "if the video created in Arabesk is an MP2 or MP4 file." There is easy confusion with all the different acronyms and compression schemes available today. Here's a quick, over-simplified answer: DVD is by default (industry design) an MP2 compressed video file/s. MP4 is created when you export a video file (and you have MP4 as an option). This page explains in greater detail: Difference Between MPEG2 and MPEG4 Continue reading

Join Casablanca Expert as he provides a lesson to help you get the most from your Casablanca video editor. In this Members Session Casablanca Expert Chet Davis will share resources (mostly downloads from the internet) which provide you with free materials for your video projects! Included will be stock video & motion graphics, audio (music), graphics/photos, and fonts. This lesson will be of benefit to both Smart Edit & Bogart OS editors (actually all digital video editors) but importing all these files are easier using the Bogart V5 OS units. Chet will provide suggestions for converting/importing these resources into Casablanca... Continue reading

I have heard some of our Casablanca colleagues suggest or request that future developments in Casablanca software really should provide some more capable tools to help out with video color correction. This goes way beyond fixing bad white balance, but honestly I did not have a solid idea about this topic. I came across this blog post from Lynda.com and thought it would be helpful for others in our Casablanca community: Learn The Art of Color Correction with Simon Walker Continue reading

"I enjoyed presenting the Members Only session this past Thursday morning, sharing Commonly Asked Casablanca Questions (and answers)." said Chet Davis as he spent more than an hour with Casablanca colleagues across North America and the UK who learned tips and tricks in several of the Casablanca menu screens. The 74-minute video recording of the session along with 16 (yes, sixteen) links to articles/tutorial mentioned are now available to website members here: May 2013 Members Webinar: Common Casablanca Questions and Answers. Continue reading

A colleague of ours on the Casablanca Forum asked the following: "I have a client who wants his logo over his shoulder on a background I shot with green screen. He wants the logo to at least fade in or even better fly or wave in, he mentioned popping in like the old Pop Up Video on VH-1. I've used Pattern 2 to import the logo with no background (a .PNG with alpha channel) but I can only do a hard cut when bringing in the logo. Any ideas on how I can fade in or effect in the logo... Continue reading

A Casablanca Colleague asked this week what the maximum size is for a photo (JPEG) that is to be imported into your Casablanca editor using Photo Studio. Here is my reply - as I thought others might benefit from this info I do not believe the ideal size (for our JPEG images) were posted in any company resources (at least not that I am aware of) but colleagues have found an optimum size for images destined for Photo Studio 2 to be Photo Studio 2 is 2048 X 1536. I have no idea with the original Photo Studio (1) as... Continue reading

Your Weekend Casablanca Tutorial. Looking to add something useful to your Casablanca editing repertoire? Check out this tutorial. One of my favorite functions in the latter version of the Bogart OS is the ability to add a PNG image/graphic in my video projects. The great thing about this is that it recognizes the alpha- channel (transparency) of a logo or graphic. Click here to learn (or review) this technique: Importing & Placing PNG Graphics (images with transparency) Continue reading

San Francisco and Seattle will be locations for a special post-NAB 2013 tech expo by the folks at Key Code Media "Didn't make your way out to Las Vegas at NAB? Key Code Media invites you to join us in San Francisco (location to be announced) where our partners will be showcasing new products released at NAB for editorial, post production and live production workflows. Here's your chance to test drive new products, have your workflow questions answered by manufacture technology experts as well as mix and mingle with your fellow industry peers. Get a hands on demonstration from new... Continue reading

Macro Motion has released a new update version of the BogartSE Operating System for users in the PAL Color Standard. Bogart SE version 5.5 includes a number of fixes and items that are listed on the Macrosystem website in the German language. You can read this list via the link below) which takes you to the Google translation from German into English language: Macrosystem Releases Bogart V5.5 OS in PAL One of the most exciting things I see in this new update of the Bogart V5 OS is the ability once again to export scenes longer than 10-minutes via the... Continue reading

MacroSystem US has released two software products for NTSC users (North America). These two software products are compatible only with the Bogart OS series of editors. The first is a brand new piece of software, in the style of the previous AnimX software/effects product. The 2nd is a software update, a free update for those customers who already own the Twixtor software. This update provides the ability to use Twixtor inside a Progressive project which was not possible previously (though Chet Davis did provide website members with a work-around as posted here: Using Twixtor In A Progressive Project) Here is... Continue reading

Had a great time this past Thursday teaching the April Members Webinar: Voiceover Recordings and Your Casablanca. Website members, when you are ready, can view the streaming video of the lesson (84-minutes) on this page: April 2013 Members Webinar: Voiceover Recordings and Your Casablanca Video Editor. This page also ha s the link where you can download (and print if desired) a 5-page PDF booklet of notes. Below the video on this page you will find links to other articles/ tutorials that I mentioned in the program, largely in response to the great questions attendees were asking during the program. Continue reading

You've likely heard of BlackMagic cameras (the folks who are helping to bring 4K Video to the forefront)... they have a new pocket camera at NAB this week" "Perhaps one of the smallest products of the show so far is also creating the biggest buzz. The Blackmagic pocket cinema camera is a compact-sized full HD camera with a super 16mm sensor. Priced at just $995 it is an affordable lightweight solution for those traveling light or looking to place a camera in a tight spot." Here is an introductory video from the folks at Newsshooter.com More details in this article:... Continue reading

The NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) this week as many of the 'big guns'... the major equipment manufacturers show off their latest, newest and forthcoming audio and video gear. I will post what I consider the most interesting news from the show floor on this blog and on the Casablanca Expert Facebook page. We'll kick off the news with an announcement Canon actully made last week but applies here as new video product news! Canon released three new camcorders today – that by itself is hardly big news as the camera companies regularly bring new models... Continue reading

This is not directly related to Casablanca video editor but indirectly in two ways: 1. some of the topics are related to video editing 2. The program is hosted by yours truly, Chet Davis - also known as 'The Casablanca Expert' Our Technology Tutor is a podcast (internet radio program) where Chet Davis shares technology tips you can use, in plain language you can understand. Learn to become more successful using your personal tech tools like the iPhone, Mac computers, video cameras & editing, and digital photography. You can listen to these 30-minute programs on your computer in the iTunes... Continue reading

I wanted to confirm that I sent out the April Casablanca Free Community Newsletter earlier this week. Please check your In Box for all the news & Casablanca resources. This month I shared links to all the new info about the Casablanca acquisition by the new parent company in Germany (Macro Motion). I also mentioned my new (free) on-line class titled 'Cables and Connectors' and have a good list of resources (articles & streaming videos) all about Titling in your Casablanca Video Editor. Let me know if you did not get a copy and would like to be added to... Continue reading

Since the news broke this past Monday (March 25, 2013) about the sale of Casablanca video editing products to Macro Motion - from Macrosystem Digital Video in Germany there have been announcements made publicly by Jörg Sprave (Macrosystem Digital Video) and Eric Kloor (Owner, MacroSystem US) about this development. You will find links to their complete comments/thoughts below. I have received a number of questions/concerns from website memebers and last night recorded a short video outlining and summarizing the development and the 'players' in the sale. Website members will find this video on this page: Short video explaining the news... Continue reading

There is official announcement in Germany today that the Macro Motion company has acquired the video editing (Casablanca) and home entertainment business (DVC) from MacroSystem Digital Video GmbH You may recall that Macrosystem AG was acquired by the Loewe company back in December 2009. Loewe is a consumer electronics company with a big presence in the HDTV market in Germany & the rest of Europe. This is an interesting development and one I believe could provide further stability for the Casablanca product line. The new parent company for Casablanca video editing, Macro Motion has been one of the apparently successful... Continue reading

QUESTION: "Arabesk is doing what I need now thanks to your instructions. Just one quick question. After I make all the settings including putting the Button Type to 'background stamp' everything stays the same the next time I go back into Arabesk except for Button which always goes back to Type 'from Scene'. I always have to make that one change to 'background stamp'. It would be nice not to have to make any changes when I use Arabesk. For it just to remain the same as the last session." ANSWER: The best and sure-fire way to make sure your... Continue reading

Just sent out the March News for Casablanca Expert Members... lots of info. Upcoming Webinar on Archives & Backups, Webinar Recording on Efx Pack 7 & 8, two Brand new video tutorials (short lessons), news about upcoming workshops, deeply discounted iPhone class and news about a FREE class to learn Twitter. If you did not receive your copy (and you are a member) please let Chet know. Continue reading

... finally! Whew, tried and tried to get the recording of the recent (February 2013) Member Webinar to cooperate but finally decided it was corrupt and not going to 'play nicely' (long story short - my webinar service allows me to record the sessions onto my local drive. Something happened this time at the end of the recording process that rendered the file unstable. It was there - but not able to convert to a play-able video file). So... I have re-recorded the whole program. I took the visuals and the scenes & effects along with the ideas developed with... Continue reading

QUESTION: I have a customer that wants music on her DVD, but she gave the music on USB drive. I have inserted the USB Stick but the files don't seem to show up in the Record Menu under the USB Icon? ANSWER: With Bogart V5 (on a Casablanca Next Gen editor) we can now import MP3 audio from a USB source, this is done in the Audio Record, Edit menu and not the regular Record Menu. First insert your USB drive into your editor, then click the 'USB Record' button at bottom of the menu to select that device and... Continue reading