I did some shooting in HD and I edited it with ease with iMovie '11.

Once I edited my video, I exported it and I was shocked: lots of compression artifacts, terrible to watch in HD! In the shadows, the faces of people, there were those huge ugly pixels.

How the hell is this possible??

I went immediately to see the original recordings, and those artifacts were not present. So I went to see the files that iMovie creates as intermediaries for faster processing, and those were perfect.

So, I think, I've chosen a low compression bitrate. I choose an absurdly high bitrate and I got with a 1 gigabyte-per-minute video. With the usual compression artifacts.

Out of curiosity I import the project in Final Cut Pro X, and export it with the same settings

I get a small file, without those ugly compression artifacts.

Here is a comparison of the same frame with the same export settings from iMovie and Final Cut Pro X:

Here is the original video

My conclusion is that iMovie intentionally reduces the quality of exported video to avoid a professional use...

A few hours ago, while I was coming back to Italy by airplane I saw the movie Promised Land.

(The text over the poster says "the movie that oil corporations did not want you to see")

The movie is about a big gas corporation that wants to drill the countryside. The obvious ending of the movie is that natural gas is essential and cleaner than oil, but extracting it with fracking it's polluting, so it's better to preserve the landscape. With the concessions money the quality of life will improve, but will it be worthy?

After the ending I notice something: produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi. I am shocked! Wasn't it "the movie that oil corporations did not want you to see"??

When I came back home I search more info: Image Nation Abu Dhabi is an Abu Dhabi Media division, controlled and financed by the United Arab Emirates government.

Why a nation that has one of the biggest gas reserves should back an environmentalist movie??

The only reason I could find is to send this message: Americans, don't extract your natural gas, buy from arabs.

Coincidence or scheme?

Yesterday I was making a video, showing Sony, Capcom, SEGA, Tomy, etc.. addresses, so I thought it would be funny if I added a small title "Achievement Unlocked" once I shown the address on the map.

I made a title template to be used with Final Cut Pro X. 

You can see an example of its use in this video.

Unfortunately, there is a little problem. It looks like it's not possible to insert sound effects in a Final Cut Pro X title or generator, so you should insert the Achievement Unlocked "ding" manually. The mp3 is included in the zip, you just have to insert when the title is displayed.

Download it now

Copy it  in /Users/yourname/Movies/Motion Templates.localized/Titles.localized

For a better effect you should use the font used by Microsoft in the XBOX: Convection Regular. There are two ways to get it. One is buy it for $49. The other way is...

When the Hollywood Majors see a chance to make money, they won't let it fly away, and what is the easiest way to do it? Do a remake: the story has already been written, it was already a success, risks are low, and profits are probably high, perfect!

If not for that feeling that every Hollywood remake is gonna be awful, why? Maybe just a prejudice?

By the way, cool, i just saw that there is the remake of The Karate Kid on the works. So cool, and I immediately went to watch the trailer:

What? The feeling that every remake is awful is not just a feeling?

So, they took The Karate Kid and removed:

1. The Karate (Replaced by Kung Fu)
2. Japan (The story is in China)
3. Miyagi sensei (With Jackie Chan as Mr. Han)
4. Daniel-san (With Will Smith's son that, dressed as a rapper is Dre - please note that Will Smith is also the movie producer)

Ok, the protagonist moves from a city to another, and is bullied, but it's a brand new movie! Why not choose "Kung Fu Kid"?