Monthly Archives: April 2012

Improving so-so footage with Color Correction and Film Grain in Final Cut

By faber | Published: April 30, 2012

In this tutorial, I will use Final Cut Pro 7 to transform footage from not so pro cameras into more professional (IE Hollywood style) movies.   Not everyone has access to one of those awesome thousand dollar video cameras, so for anyone who only has a video camera good for everyday footage, there is Final [...]

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Introduction to the Pen Tool in Illustrator

By faber | Published: April 29, 2012

Though it is initially a bit daunting to learn, once mastered, the pen tool is perhaps the most powerful and versatile tool in the software’s arsenal. Today, however, will serve more as an introduction to the pen tool and demonstrate some of its capacity for creative application. The pen tool works through a series of [...]

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Eye reflections in Final Cut

By faber | Published: April 27, 2012

Written by Austin Powers Assuming you have some basic experience with Final Cut, such as adding and adjusting filters, here you’ll learn how to create a simple yet effective eye reflection effect that just might launch your film career. Or at least make your mother proud. We’ll start with two clips: a close-up shot of [...]

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FTP Basics

By faber | Published: April 25, 2012

Written by Michael Kelly More and more people are wanting to create their own websites, but, unfortunately, just aren’t quite sure where to start. Places like WordPress or Tumblr will let you create something quickly, but it’s often not what people are looking for. Luckily, for anyone with a NetID, Duke provides basic but usable [...]

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How to Use Multi-Clip for your Music Videos on Final Cut Pro

By faber | Published: April 22, 2012

Written by Hanna Metaferia Ever see music videos that have multiple shots running on the screen in sections, playing different video clips at the same time? It’s called Multiclip; this great special effect can be used for music videos, or any other film-project of yours on Final Cut Pro 7. The first step is to [...]

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Basic Keying in Final Cut Pro

By faber | Published: April 20, 2012

Written by Billy Baumgartner Although Final Cut Pro is not as powerful (and wasn’t designed to be) in the composite realm as software like Adobe After Effects, most filmmakers can achieve the basic result they desire using filters within Final Cut. This avoids messy exporting and outsourcing to the other slower programs, and saving valuable [...]

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Better Contrast with Unsharp Mask in Photoshop

By faber | Published: April 14, 2012

Written by Joel Wanek Photoshop is an amazing and sometimes overwhelming program.  There often seem to be multiple paths we can take to reach the same desired result.  No one way is right or wrong but its good to have a variety of options.  Here’s an alternative to using the Brightness/Contrast adjustment tool that will [...]

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Final Cut to Color and back

By faber | Published: April 12, 2012

Written by Austin Powers Color correction is often overlooked in the rush to finish a video project. Aside from fixing color flaws in the source footage, such as white balance mismatch between cameras, color correction can be used for artistic effect—even video from a Flip can look (somewhat) like a Hollywood movie with the right [...]

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Transferring Film Projects to a New Computer

By faber | Published: April 11, 2012

Film editing can be complicated, messy business.  In a school setting, where you may be working on multiple different computers over the duration of your project, things can get even messier, and many people run into problems when they try to move projects from one machine to another.  While a project in Word or Photoshop [...]

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Big Heads, Tracking Motion, and Napoleon Dynamite

By faber | Published: April 10, 2012

Written by Tim Yoon I love watching the NBA. In addition to loving the game, I often enjoy watching the NBA promotional video series (“Where Amazing Happens” is a personal favorite). There was a particularly amusing promo series a couple years back where NBA stars had big head cutouts and looked akin to bobbleheads: Today [...]

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  • New MPS West Now Open!

    The new MPS in 006 Bostock is officially open! Come see us in our new location near the Link in the lower level of Bostock.

    The Old Chem branch of the Multimedia Project Studio is now permanently closed.

  • What is the MPS?

    The Multimedia Project Studios are a series of high-end computer labs located at Duke University. We feature cutting edge equipment and industry standard software and are staffed by a corps of student Multimedia Consultants who are available to help you out with your project on a one-on-one basis, but are not able to do production work on your behalf.
    MPS Lab Locations & Hours
    MPS East
    115 Lilly Library
    The MPS in Lilly is open whenever the library is open. Check their site for hours, which can change during holidays and academic breaks.

    MPS West
    006 Bostock
    The MPS in Bostock is open whenever the library is open. Check their site for hours, which can change during holidays and academic breaks.



    Staffed Hours for Both Locations

    Winter, summer, and other break hours will vary, according to student consultant availability. To check consultants' availability, view our Live Schedule.

    Sunday - Thursday: noon to midnight
    Friday: noon to six
    Be sure to check our Live Schedule to see who will be on staff and our staff page to meet our talented consultants.