There have been countless times when designing a website or creating a video that I have needed a graphic, whether edited or created.  Fortunately, I have had access to Photoshop during those times.  But what do you do when you don’t have that expensive Adobe product?  Do you resolve to do the best you can with Paint or grab whatever will work from Google images?

We all need a graphics manipulation program at some point and I have recently found the most awesome open-source program to fill that need.  Have you ever heard of GIMP?  GIMP “is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.”  It is TOTALLY FREE and offers most, if not all, of the same features that Photoshop offers.

The interface is simple to use and the tools do exactly what you would expect.  If you have ever worked with Photoshop, you will find the learning curve for GIMP to very shallow.  I was able to use the application quickly and easily once I downloaded the app.  It works on a PC and a MAC and simply works.

Check it out and see if it doesn’t meet your graphic needs.  And it’s OPEN SOURCE!!!  I love Open Source.  Once you download it, let me know what you think of the app.  Worth the trouble of the download?

There are several hundred thousand websites on the Internet that offer information and knowledge about video production. Many websites are good for instruction and or information, but there are none that compare to the COW.

Now I do not mean the four legged creature that eats grass and tries to compel us to “eat more chicken.” I mean the website that is dedicated to the Creative Communities Of the World. If you’ve never visited the COW, do so. It is filled with all the information you could ever need or want about video production. Experts frequent the place and offer advice and expertise on all your questions. I think you’ll like it.

One of the downsides to NLE software driven editing is the need to render. Whenever effects are applied to a clip or a sequence, there is always a need to render. Final Cut creates a folder in your Final Cut Pro Documents folder to store all these render files. When you are finished with a project, archive the files and remove the media, your drive is still filled excess material from your renders. You can can safely and easily render files from the confort of your Final Cut application.

From Final Cut click Tools>Render Manager. Final Cut has kept track of all render files from all projects. You can remove some or all of the render files stored on your drive by placing a check mark in the appropriate column. This should only be done when you are finished with a project and ready to archive it for storage.

This is a quick little way to help save valuable storage space and to clean your system when you complete projects.

When working with video, it is important to make sure you consider your hard drive purchase.  Hard drives come in many shape and sizes, speeds and transfer rates.  When it comes to video, size and speed matter.  SD video is compressed at a rate of about 25 Mbs and HD video is compressed at rates from 35 Mb/s to 100 Mb/s.  So, when capturing your footage, you need a hard drive that can handle these bit rates.

For non-professional workflows, make sure you have a drive that is operating at 7200 RPM or better with Firewire 400 and/or Firewire 800.  You NEVER use a drive via USB when editing video.  It does not have the transfer speed needed to adequately work with video.

I recommend to my friends and clients that they use either a G-Raid or a Lacie drive.  With the price of storage as low as it is at the writing of this post, buy as much storage as you can possibly afford.  You can get several terabytes (TB) of storage for about $300.00, which is a great buy.

Most small businesses are so busy running their business that they fail to make the connection between their brand and their business. A companies brand is important when it comes to finding new customers or retaining current customers. Your brand says who you are and what your about.

If you have branded your business effectively, people already have an idea of what to expect when they do business with you or buy your product or service. Therefore, we should all spend time working on our brand as well as our business.

Here are a few things that you can do to improve your brand:

• Develop a brand strategy that is based on your business plan.
• Determine your target audience.
• Develop a consist brand image with a logo, website, business cards, letter head, etc.
• Be consistent with all communication

What are some of your marketing strategies for developing your brand? How have you successfully branded your own business? Share your thoughts with others.