Blog Archives

Confused when comparing Intel to Apple silicon systems? Jerry Thompson was, too. Here are the answers to your questions on what the differences are between Apple silicon and Intel, along with suggestions on how to spec a system.

Picking a high-quality computer monitor for video editing is surprisingly confusing. Here is Larry Jordan’s explanation of what specs you need to look for, which you can ignore, and what criteria he uses for picking computer and video monitors.

What is a “Retina Display?” What does it do and what monitors support it? This tutorial explains the term, why it’s used and what it means.

No monitor is perfect, but if images are your life, you should make the effort to check out the ViewSonic VP2776. When I look at the same image on all three monitor connected to my Mac, the ViewSonic looks the best. Here’s a detailed review.

Which combination of hard disk or SSD storage provides the fastest speed or highest capacity for video editing? This illustrated tutorial will answer these questions, plus provide a spreadsheet you can use to test your own numbers. This works for Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Apple Final Cut Pro editors.

Even the largest RAIDs fill up. If you own an OWC RAID, you can safely and easily archive RAID sets for archiving and storage. Loren Miller explains the process in this highly-illustrated, step-by-step tutorial.

Thunderbolt is an amazing protocol and essential to many video workflows. However, it isn’t a magic box. Once you understand what affects the speeds it can transfer data, you can better plan for how to use it. This tutorial explains what impacts the speed of a Thunderbolt device.

August is vacation time. Still, over these five weeks, we published 19 tutorials and product reviews. Here’s a summary of everything we released this month. Something to look through during the holiday weekend.

V-Station HD is a new and uniform approach for multi-cam video projects, particularly for those who are not trained in video production. In this article, Larry Jordan interviews FutureVideo Products CEO Robert Cohen to learn more about their video products.

I’ve been thinking recently about how much the marketing of the tech industry is driven by “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO). Rumor sites are in the business of generating page views by emphasizing “what we might miss.” But speculating on what Apple will announce is a smoke-and-mirror-filled rabbit hole. Don’t let FOMO derail your buying decisions.

The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4 (TS4): More ports and more speed in one small box with a great price. However, there are a few key issues you need to understand before you buy. Here’s my detailed review.

The ATEN UC8000 MicLIVE AI-powered podcast audio mixer is a good first effort, but it isn’t ready for production. It is well-built but not well thought-out. Here’s my review.

One of our favorite – and most wide-ranging – sessions returns with “Ask Larry Anything!” Presented by Larry Jordan, this is a free-form conversation based on questions submitted by viewers. In this short video, Larry has a conversation about computer performance in the real-world, specifically for video editing.

One of our favorite – and most wide-ranging – sessions returns with “Ask Larry Anything!” Presented by Larry Jordan, this is a free-form conversation based on questions submitted by viewers. In this short video, Larry talks about Mac obsolescence and whether the new Apple silicon computers make older systems obsolete.

The TourBox is a small control surface for just about any Windows or Mac application – with a special emphasis on media creation and editing. It is well-built with a very well-designed software interface. There’s only one small problem…

The iRig Pro Quattro I/O is a four-channel audio interface perfect for recording music or video in the field, or for live-steaming podcasts or other productions. Here’s an in-depth review.

At WWDC 2022, Apple introduced their latest iteration of Apple silicon: the M2. Based on information released by Apple during the event, the M2 is, on average, 10-15% faster than the M1. Note: That’s not a knock on the M2, …

Based on a reader’s comment, this compares image quality between three different source codecs (ProRes, MPEG-2 and H.264) compressed into H.264 using Apple Compressor. This also illustrates how many CPU and GPU cores were active.

This tutorial compares the export speed on an Apple silicon MacBook Pro of Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve; along with how effectively they used CPU and GPU systems.The results surprised me – none of them maxed out the system!

How many CPU cores do you need for video editing? This illustrated tutorial looks at how many CPU cores Apple Final Cut Pro uses during import, edit, render, export and multicam. The answer is surprising!

There seems to be a problem between Time Machine, Final Cut Pro and external RAIDs. Learn more.

Recently, the folks at ViewSonic contacted me about what they see as the top trends in 2022 for visual displays and monitors. I was intrigued by their list and emailed Jeff Volpe, President of ViewSonic Americas, to learn more. Larry: Jeff, …

The New Mac Studio computer is stunning. But, is it for you? Here’s what you need to know to configure it for video editing – yet save money at the same time.

There are cheaper soft lights out there, but I like the quality of the Lumecube Edge Light. It is well-built, easily adjustable and floods a medium-sized area with clean, soft light. Here’s my review.

In this article, I compare the compression speed of Apple Compressor, Adobe Media Encoder and ffWorks (ffMPEG) on an Intel system versus a new M1 MacBook Pro. Along the way we also discover that speed is not dependent upon how hard the CPUs are working.

“Ask Larry Anything,” is a free-form conversation about questions related to media production and editing. In this short excerpt, Larry Jordan discusses the differences between using photo scanners and copy stands when digitizing photos or 3D objects.

I’m a long-time owner of an Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner. But, recently I purchased an Epson V850 Pro because I have a lot of slides to scan. In this review, I compare both and share the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Connecting two scanners to the same computer is not as simple as plugging them in. Here’s what you need to know to get these to work.

The Marshall Electronics CVM-16 Pro-Style Tripod Stand is the most solidly-built, well-thought-out, versatile small tripod I’ve ever seen. It was designed by people who take photographs for a living. And it’s built to last for years. Here’s my review.

Richard asked me to compare the speed of Apple Motion running on Intel vs. Apple CPUs. The results were STUNNING – and NOT what I expected. This offers a caution that simply running on Apple Silicon is not a guarantee of blazing speed.

The Elgato Stream Deck is an easy-to-use, flexible and well-built external keyboard specifically designed to trigger actions by pushing a button with your fingers, not the mouse. For live events, webinars, gaming and general productivity, this is a great little device.

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.

Apple brags about how the new M1 Max CPU can play multiple streams of 8K ProRes video in real-time. But that’s using a fully-loaded system. I wondered: How well does a new MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro CPU handle …

LG makes good monitors, but, in the case of the 27UK500, if you are tall or need to tweak how your monitor looks, the 27UK500 monitor should be avoided.

The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual provides extremely fast, high-capacity storage that’s essential for many creative workflows today. It works perfectly as plug-and-play, but has problems if you tweak.

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.

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.

Last week, as part of Adobe MAX, Adobe released a flock of new features and improvements to Premiere Pro. Here’s a summary of what’s new.

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.

The sound these monitors produce is very clean, crisp and rich that fills the space. If you are looking for accurate, high-quality sound in a small space, give these Yamaha monitor speakers a good listen. Larry Jordan has a review.

“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.

The latest version of LTO – generation 9 – is now available. Storing 18 TB / tape, and archiving faster than generation 8, here’s a quick overview of the new version of archiving technology.

The OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD delivers performance, compatibility and ruggedness. It is also smokin’ fast. It supports both Mac and Windows computers and provides storage from 240 GB to 2 TB. Here’s my review.

“Ask Larry Anything,” is a free-form conversation about, well, anything you want to ask. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains where to store media in Apple Final Cut Pro and how the storage you use affects performance. This also includes a chart detailing the speed of different storage.

Here is a variety of online techniques to get you and your Adobe Premiere Pro system back up and running quickly.

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.)

Smart Collections are flexible, easy to create and very, very deep. I use them for almost all my projects – except the very simplest. Here are illustrated examples of how these work.

The ProCo Power Mute CPMD mic switch is a ruggedly-built, easy to use and reasonably quiet mic mute, well-suited for live events or recording. Here’s Larry Jordan’s detailed product review.

New Pfieffer Report testing confirms Adobe software, running natively on M1 Macs, is far, FAR faster than the same software running on Intel Macs. Speeds are almost double. Read the details here.