Blog Archives

Most technical problems with media editing are often the result of insufficient bandwidth caused by bottlenecks in the media, the operating system, software, or hardware. This looks at each in detail to provide ideas to get your system working better.

Apple introduced new security technology with M1 Macs that affects 3rd-party RAIDs, hard disk and other external gear frequently used by professionals. Here’s what it is and how it affects you.

Here are 21 keyboard shortcuts that work on any Mac that can help you get your work done faster.

When you need to get the best streaming video possible – for Mac or Windows, live or recorded – here is the gear you need, links to find it and instructions on how to get it all to work.

Apple released new MacBook Pro laptops featuring high-performance Apple silicon chips. Given all the options, here are Larry Jordan’s recommendations for the best system for your budget.

“Ask Larry Anything,” is a free-form conversation about subjects related to editing. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains what an LTO tape drive is, the differences between LTO generations, recommendations for LTO software and how media creators can use this technology to safely archive their media and projects for decades.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. While VPNs are used extensively, they may not be as secure as you think. DH2i has something better.

Audio Design Desk simplifies the process of finding, placing and experimenting with audio cues for video projects. While ADD handles the basics of sound design, the creative inspiration still comes from you. The good news is that version 1.7 makes this creative process faster and easier than ever.

Your Mac system is acting flakey. Here are a variety of tests and trouble-shooting techniques you can use to get your system and running. (This includes a special section on trouble-shooting for media editors.)

Seagate and Axle.ai partner to provide “Smarter Media” – edge-to-cloud mass storage with a media asset management front end. This new service, named “Lyve” is designed to provide cost effective smart media solutions for real world applications.

Fonts are the easiest way to telegraph an emotion – and they don’t require any design skills from us. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates several font design tips to help you choose which fonts to use in your next video project.

Fonts are the easiest way to telegraph an emotion – and they don’t require any design skills from us. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan demonstrates three font adjustment techniques that can make on-screen video text look better. While this uses Photoshop, we can actually do this in most applications on Windows or Mac.

DPI (Dots per Inch) is a measure of image resolution. It also confuses a lot of people. Here’s an illustrated guide to where DPI matters, where it does not, and why images look bad when you scale them larger.

Voice Changer, from Accusonus, is a plug-in for most popular NLEs that creates voice effects from robot to dragon. It is fast, easy to use and a fascinating sound design tool to bring the sounds in your imagination to life.

Any M1 system is impressive, when measured in performance. What these new 24″ iMacs lack, though, is more ports, more RAM and access to 10 Gb Ethernet. These first M1 iMac systems are targeted at consumers and general computer users. While they can be used for video editing – even serious video editing – be sure you can work with their limitations before ordering a system.

Maxon announces new versions of Cinema 4D, Redshift for Mac and Moves by Maxon. They also premiere a new corporate logo.

Bryan asked me to explain the media workflow for both master and proxy files from Frame.io’s “Camera 2 Cloud” into Final Cut Pro. It is surprisingly easy – provided you start in the right place.

When it comes to updating the operating system on my main production Mac, I’m a laggard. This is by intent. Still, I finally decided it was time to upgrade. Here’s what I learned in the process.

Last week, Dalet Amberfin announced significant updates to their Amberfin media transcoding software. I contacted Eric Carson, Director, Amberfin Product Strategy at Dalet to learn more about Amberfin and its new features.

This week, Signiant announced that it had acquired Lesspain Software, best known for it’s media asset management software “Kyno.” To learn more, I sent questions to Margaret Craig, CEO of Signiant. Here is our interview.

EditMentor is an online education tool that teaches the craft of editing. It is deep, extensive and well-thought-out. It is obviously a labor of love on the part of the EditMentor team, with a clear focus on education. Here’s a review.

Here are the twenty most-read tutorials (and links) from Larry Jordan’s website for 2020. These popular tutorials span millions of views and extend back in time to 2012.

Two “Top Ten” lists of tips and techniques from “The Inside Tips” for 2020. The first is by number of views, the second is by reader ratings. These cover Adobe and Apple software, along with codecs, media, visual effects and production.

“Should you upgrade?” is the wrong question. Here is a better answer on when to upgrade to Big Sur – along with links to help your transition go smoothly.

Apple’s new M1 SoC chips launched to incredible reviews – but the best is still to come, especially for media creators. Read Larry Jordan’s thoughts on this new technology.

As part of a larger update, Apple released new versions of their Pro Video Formats. This free update is recommended for all media editors. Here are the details.

accusonus believes that audio effects can be both powerful and easy to use. Supporting all major editing software, the ERA 5 bundle includes 13 plug-ins to fix common audio problems. Here’s a first look at what’s inside.

Technology constantly changes, but older codecs and media don’t. What do you do if you can’t play older media in macOS Catalina or Big Sur? Watch as Larry Jordan shows how to use Kyno to potentially find and convert older media.

In the past, we would use Safe Boot to repair and maintain our Macs. But that was then. Today, we need to use Recovery Mode. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows what you need to know to keep your Mac running right.

I first wrote this article to work-around a bug in Final Cut Pro X. But, Apple fixed the bug. Now, this is a step-by-step guide to importing chapter markers into Apple Compressor, which is useful for media created outside of Final Cut Pro X.

After testing, a 7200 RPM RAID is about 30% faster than a 5400 RPM RAID. Also, journaling makes a difference. When speed is important, here’s what you need to know.

Disk Warrior is an essential Mac-based trouble-shooting, repair and optimization tool for any Mac system accessing spinning hard drives. I’ve used it for years and continue to highly recommend it.

Audio Design Desk is an amazing program. It creates sound environments quickly and easily. Its ability to replace sounds with similar sounds, without messing up timing or sync is unique. It’s a sound designers dream – once you figure out how it works.

Josh asked me to explain the pros and cons of using internal, direct-attached, and network-attached storage for media editing. Here’s an overview, along with recommendations on what you should consider for your own system.

Recently, NewBlueFX launched: NewBlue Stream, a new product designed for live streaming. In this interview with CEO Todor Fay, we learn more about the product, why they created it and who it is designed for. This is fascinating.

I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about how to improve the speed and responsiveness of my storage. Here’s a relatively inexpensive way to improve the responsiveness of a server, especially for smaller workgroups. When it comes to …

You exported your video file only to find that it is WAAAY too big! Here’s an explanation of file sizes, codecs and media workflow for beginners.

Apple continues to make it easier – though not intuitive – to bring an errant Mac under control. Here are the steps you need to take to get you Mac running right.

This morning, Frame.io announced a new version and several new features, along with updated support for Final Cut Pro X 10.4.9, also released today. Here are the details.

An illustrated tutorial on how to create a countdown video in Final Cut Pro X that displays remaining minutes and seconds. Then, I show how to embed it into Keynote for a presentation.

A product review of five powerful Mac-based audio plugins to repair common audio problems that are easy-to-use and deliver great results. They support Final Cut Pro X, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and are worth adding to your toolkit.

CommandPost is a free, flexible, customizable tool that allows editors to get far more out of Final Cut Pro X than they would ever expect. Here’s an illustrated tutorial to this powerful software.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan answers a question about how to catalog and find media files, this also features demos of Image Chest and Kyno software.

Apple Silicon – new CPUs from Apple – were announced at WWDC 2020. Here’s Larry Jordan’s take on what this new hardware means to media creators.

Video walls for performances are very popular. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create them, using Final Cut Pro X and the Griddy plugin from FXFactory.

I’m impressed with how Image Capture simplifies moving files between iPhone and Mac. It is easy to use, capable, fast and secure. And, best of all, it’s already installed on your system.

In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan demonstrates a very fast technique to copy files from an iPhone to a Mac.

ChronoX is a very useful app for testing your system in a real-world setting to help you maximize its performance. Here’s a detailed look at what it is and how it works.

An in-depth look at the latest release of ArGest Backup 4.0 from TOLIS Group. This is specifically designed for archiving assets to LTO tape. This review uses the LTO-8 tape format.

In this short video demo, watch as Larry Jordan shows how and why to disable drive ownership in the macOS for all external storage. (Yes, you should do this.)