03/21/09  Shared Media Storage without Breaking the Bank! In this article Walter Biscardi, Jr. shows how he was able to add expandable, shared media storage in his facility for less than you would expect. And he was able to keep all of his current storage options in place, working right alongside the shared array.  read more 03/10/09  A discussion on Color Grade monitors Colorist Ron Anderson and I discuss the current state of monitors and what could be considered accurate enough for making critical color decisions without breaking the bank.  read more 02/25/09  Walter Biscardi reviews Telestream's Episode Pro Recently, Creative COW leader and business owner Walter Biscardi needed a very flexible and fast compression tool that also provided extremely high quality end products for his clients. Oh, and it needed to be easy to use. Enter Telestream's Episode and Episode Pro. In this review*, he's using Episode Pro 5.1.1 and he'll explain the differences between the two at the end of this article.  read more 11/28/08  Get the Book! Real World Broadcast Specs Your TV show isn't ready to air until the STATION says it's ready to air. The good news is that they're clear about what they want from you. Longtime TV vet and Creative COW leader Walter Biscardi tells you some of the things to look for...and some of the things to look OUT for.  read more 10/28/08  Walter's Real-Time Secrets for Final Cut Pro It's late, you're running late, and you can't figure out why your sequence isn't playing in real time. Fortunately, Creative Cow leader and Final Cut Pro expert Walter Biscardi is here to help. You know that something's wrong, Walter knows what, and he tells you how to fix it here.  read more 08/28/08  Building a Vignette in the Color FX Room, An Apple Color tutorial After using Apple Color and its predecessor Final Touch HD for several years now, broadcast editor and Creative Cow leader Walter Biscardi has learned a trick or two along the way. Using a vignette mask as an example, he shows you how to take advantage of Apple Color's node-based compositing to build powerful custom effects.  read more 07/22/08  Get maximum efficiency using Final Cut Pro Tabs Because Final Cut Pro can do so much, it can be easy to get lost inside its interface as you start to do more and more at once. Let Creative Cow leader and Final Cut Pro expert Walter Biscardi show you how to take back control of your workspace and work more quickly and efficiently with FCP's tabs.  read more 06/28/08  Preparing your Final Cut Sequences for Color Yes, Apple Color is connected to Final Cut Pro...but not exactly integrated. Creative Cow leader Walter Biscardi, one of the world's most respected experts on the connection between the two, will help guide your sequences safely from FCP to Color -- and show you why it's worth the effort.  read more 06/28/08  Introducing Stop Staring & Start Grading with Apple Color Allow us to introduce one of the most eagerly anticipated DVDs in Creative Cow Master Series history, Walter Biscardi's overview of Apple Color. Building on nearly 20 years of professional editing experience, as well as years of experience with Apple Color (and Final Touch HD before it), he's got the perfect perspective to make working in Color easier than you imagined. It's the disk he wished he had when he started using Color.  read more 11/28/07  Machine Rooms, the Bob Zelin Way! A big change was ahead for Walter Biscardi & Company, the company had grown to the point that it was time to integrate the studio with a new network that gave each of the multiple edit bays access to a number of hard drive systems, decks and recorders, etc. Walter reports in his blog how Creative COW leader and COW Magazine writer, Bob Zelin, took his studio to new heights and capabilities in record time...  read more 09/08/07  Your Own Business Part 3 - Running and Building the Business Okay, so you've taken the big plunge and started your own business. You've got the office set up, you've got the cards printed...now what? In part 3 of his series, Creative COW leader and business owner Walter Biscardi tells you what you need to know to get the word out, how to manage money...and manage clients! If you're even thinking about starting your own business, start here.  read more 09/03/07  Your Own Business, Part 2: Setting Up Shop This is Part 2 of a 4 Part series on Starting and Running your own business in the creative industry. If you�ve thought long and hard on whether to start a business and your answer is �Yes,� then let�s proceed with Part 2 of this 4-part trilogy. Here we�ll explore a lot of questions on setting up your company and getting ready to open those doors!  read more 09/01/07  Setting Up Your Own Business - Are You Ready? Creative Cow leader Walter Biscardi is a 17 year veteran of broadcast and corporate video production who owns Biscardi Creative Media in the Atlanta, Georgia area.. Along the way, he's learned a few things to do, and not do, in order to be successful. But before you can succeed building your business in the creative industry, you have to know: are you ready?  read more 06/28/07  Auto Balance Feature - An Apple Color Tutorial In this short video tutorial, Walter Biscardi demonstrates the auto balance feature in color. This is a basic level tutorial.  read more 06/25/07  Final Cut Pro or Apple Color? Which to use? Should you use Final Cut Pro or Color? In this short video tutorial, Walter Biscardi demonstrates some of the differences and why you might use one program over the other. This is a basic level tutorial.  read more 06/20/07  Apple Color - The First Time You Launch In this short video tutorial, Walter Biscardi demonstrates everything you need to know the first time you launch Apple Color. This is a basic level tutorial.  read more 03/28/07  Walter Biscardi reviews SyncVUE Synchronizing Client/Editor/Team Remote Video File Viewing. Created by an editor for editors, syncVUE is a workflow support tool to assist reviewing video files via the internet, synchronizing Quicktime movie playback and viewing across multiple locations. In this Creative COW Magazine article, Walter Biscardi reviews syncVUE and how it might help your workflow in a real world video production environment.  read more 08/22/05  High Definition for the Road Walter Biscardi, Jr. shows how uncompressed High Definition Editing is no longer the domain of the edit suite anymore. Give him a 24" square to work with anywhere in the country, and he'll set up his mobile editing system to cut on the spot.  read more 08/11/05  Aspect Correct Product Review Walter Biscardi takes a first look at this innovative LCD screen cling from Aspect Correct. You can put the grease pencils and gaffer's tape away, now you really know what you're shooting in the field.  read more 08/06/05  G-Tech G-RAID Product Review Walter Biscardi, Jr. puts the G-Tech G-RAID Firewire 800 hard drive arrays through their paces  read more 07/17/05  LaCie Biggest Disk F800 Product Review The LaCie Biggest Disk F800 is targeted towards the heavy duty DV user. But can it be used for uncompressed? Walter Biscardi, Jr. takes a look.  read more 06/30/05  Travel Mattes Lesson Three - Enhance your Interviews The final lesson in this three part series shows some real-world uses of Travel Mattes in Final Cut Pro to enhance on-camera interviews  read more 06/23/05  Travel Mattes Lesson Two, Animation and Drop Shadows In this short video tutorial, Walter Biscardi, Jr. demonstrates the basics of travel mattes in Final Cut Pro. In this second lesson in a 3-part series, we'll learn some simple animation and drop shadows. This is a basic level tutorial.  read more 06/13/05  Travel Mattes Lesson One - The Basics In this short video tutorial, Walter Biscardi, Jr. demonstrates the basics of travel mattes in Final Cut Pro. Learn what travel mattes are and the difference between alpha mattes and luma mattes. This is a basic level tutorial.  read more 06/03/05  LaCie Big Disk Extreme Product Review Firewire 800 is making the evolution from a single drive unit, to multiple drive units striped together in RAID format with LaCie introducing the d2 Big Disk Extreme series. In this article, Walter takes this new offering from LaCie for a test drive.  read more 08/01/04  Aurora PipePro Product Review Aurora Video Systems' new PipePro is a single-slot PCI card for Mac users which features SDI/Firewire input with embedded audio, analog component, S-Video and composite output, 4 channel AES audio in, 6 channel AES audio out, RS-422 control, Genlock and many other features -- all for $799 (US). Here is Walter Biscardi, Jr.'s report.  read more 12/13/03  Laird Telemedia LTM-480 Product Review In this article, Creative Cow's Walter Biscardi gives Cow members a "first look" field report of Laird Telemedia's new LTM-LCAM series of cameras. In a recent shoot featuring a specially modified Lamborghini designed by SuperCars and running at Road Atlanta, he used the new LTM-LCAM tiny lipstick case-sized digital cameras mounted just above the windshield to videotape laps to cut into the final piece. As mentioned in the article below, the camera can be mounted and cushioned to reduce vibration for a rock-solid image. Walter concluded that: "These things ROCK! -- and at major cost savings. They are much more than a helmet cam and I love this thing and will be getting a second one shortly!" Read the review to see what else he says about it.  read more Return to News & Articles Main