Blog Archives

Yes, the new M1 MacBook Pro is very, very fast. But, the M1 did not win every race when tested against a 2013 MacBook Pro and a 2017 iMac. These twelve tests are a good comparison between performance benchmarks and real-world media processing of the improvements you can expect if you upgrade to these new systems.

Recently, Apple updated Compressor to version 4.6, where a highlighted feature is automated Watch Folders. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how these work and how you can use them to automate compression of video, audio or still images exported from any media application.

Watch Folders are an important new feature in Apple Compressor 4.6 that can speed your workflow. Here’s an illustrated tutorial on how they work.

“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.

Here’s how to connect camera source files to proxy media in Adobe Premiere Pro, when the proxies were created outside of Premiere and the master files arrived after you started editing with the proxy files.

Apple updated Final Cut Pro, Motion and Compressor last week and both Final Cut and Compressor got a flurry of new features. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to reduce the file size of an animated image sequence. We do this without losing any video quality, by using indexed color and Apple Compressor.

Apple updated Final Cut Pro, Motion and Compressor last week and both Final Cut and Compressor got a flurry of new features. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to control what metadata is embedded into your movies during compression using Apple Compressor. This is a very useful technique when security or privacy are important.

New with the 4.5.3 update to Compressor are compression settings which simplify cropping and compressing square and vertical media. These new settings simplify the conversion of, say, horizontal media to vertical making it easier to repurpose existing assets for new uses.

“Ask Larry Anything!” is a free-form conversation about technical questions of interest to video editors. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to create a custom compression setting, using Apple Compressor, to create a 10-bit HEVC video file with surround sound.

“Ask Larry Anything!” is a free-form conversation about technical questions of interest to video editors. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to embed labels, called “metadata,” into video files during compression using Apple Compressor that can be viewed later during playback. These files could be ProRes, MP4, MP3 or QuickTime.

Both the new M1 and existing T2 chips from Apple support hardware-assisted encoding and decoding of H.264 and HEVC media. Here’s how to enable it in Adobe Media Encoder.

Both the new M1 and existing T2 chips from Apple support hardware-assisted encoding and decoding of H.264 and HEVC media. Here’s how to enable them in Apple Compressor.

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.

Apple released minor updates for Final Cut Pro and Compressor, along with stability improvements and a name change.

Watch Folders are a fast, automated way to compress files. But, when you nest them, they can simplify even highly complex compression tasks. Here are two examples.

There’s a feature in Adobe Media Encoder that can speed your compression work: Parallel Encoding, especially when you are creating multiple versions of the same source file. Here’s how it works.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to stitch multiple clips into a single movie during compression in Adobe Media Encoder.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to crop and reframe video, along with creating a short segment to test compression settings in Adobe Media Encoder.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to add overlays, like watermarks or timecode, to video during compression in Adobe Media Encoder.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this short video, Larry Jordan shows how to create Watch Folders to automate media compression using Adobe Media Encoder.

Apple has expanded hardware acceleration on recent makes. Here’s what you need to know to vastly improve the speed of video compression.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how job chaining in Apple Compressor can save significant time when applying multiple compression settings to a source file.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use Apple Compressor to crop or reframe a video clip prior to media compression.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to apply both still and moving watermarks to compressed video using Apple Compressor.

Video compression is essential to all media today, from social media to broadcast to streaming. In this video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to use Apple Compressor to create a custom compression setting for use in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

New with the 10.5 update to Apple Final Cut Pro X is the ability to copy libraries, events and projects and, if necessary, create proxy media while all project media is being copied. This simplifies creating projects to share between editors.

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.

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.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan discusses the impact of video frame size, frame rate and codec on storage capacity and video editing, whether you use Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro X.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains why converting video frame rates often causes video playback to stutter, whether you use Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro X.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains why H.264 and HEVC media are considered inefficient for video editing, whether you use Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X.

Apple Compressor 4.4.7 now supports creating a wider range of proxy files. This illustrated tutorial explains what you need to know, how it works and which to choose.

One of the headline features in the 10.4.9 update to Final Cut Pro X is a number of improvements to proxy editing. Here’s an illustrated tutorial on what they are and how they work.

Apple released a flood of small changes with the 10.4.9 update to Final Cut Pro X that didn’t get a whole lot of press. Let me take you behind-the-scenes in this illustrated tutorial to explore these smaller gems.

This is a system to speed exporting Premiere Pro projects for one or more editors using two computers, Adobe Media Encoder and Watch Folders.

A detailed, illustrated workflow on how Larry Jordan creates his weekly webinars from pre-production through to post. This includes software, settings, tips and tricks.

Proxy files simplify working with video files. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to create and use them in Apple Final Cut Pro X.

An illustrated tutorial on how to create a highly-compressed HEVC movie with transparency (alpha channels) using either the macOS or Apple Compressor.

Burning Blu-ray Discs is possible on a Mac, but bugs in Apple Final Cut Pro X make creating Blu-rays harder than it should be. Read the workarounds here.

A detailed look at video compression speeds in both Mojave and Catalina for both Apple Compressor and Adobe Media Encoder. Cool charts are included.

A video compression speed and file size comparison using Apple Compressor between macOS Mojave and Catalina. This will be of interest to video editors and media creators.

Smart Rendering is a media optimization strategy that speeds renders and exports in Adobe Premiere Pro CC. This explains what you need to know.

A general analysis of when to use H.264 vs. HEVC for media compression, along with a recommendation for media creators.

A detailed look at the speed differences between a Mac i5 vs i7 system for video compression into H.264 or HEVC codecs. The results are surprising!

Lesspain Software update Kyno to version 1.7.1, which now supports Windows, as well as finding and converting older media that is not compatible with macOS Catalina. Here are more details.

Apple released the latest version of Compressor (4.4.5) last Monday. One of the key features in the update was improved performance. Since all of us rely on compression to deliver our final projects, I wanted to see how much improvement …

Apple updates Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor to support the 2019 Mac Pro. Here are the details.

A quick look at DVD Creator from Wondershare, and a conversation with Wondershare about the specific features in the software for filmmakers.

An explanation of when to use, or not use, “Maximum Bit Depth” and “Maximum Render Quality” in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

An unpublished HDR compression guide from Adobe on how to export HDR media from Adobe Premiere Pro CC.