Blog Archives

Larry Jordan suggests some performance and hardware tips to consider when the time comes to upgrade your Apple computer.

RAID chunk size affects performance by determining the size of data blocks that are written to an SSD or HDD RAID. Here’s an explanation of chunk size with a recommendation of which size to choose when optimizing a RAID for media.

Posted on by Larry

This webinar, and excerpt, focuses on video editing, specifically organizing and backing up media, optimizing preferences, and the other small decisions you make at the start of a Premier or Final Cut project. Presented by Larry Jordan.

Posted on by Larry

This webinar focused on video editing, specifically organizing and backing up media, optimizing preferences, and the other small decisions you make at the start of a Premier or Final Cut project. In this short excerpt, Larry Jordan discusses the difference between USB-C and Thunderbolt.

Posted on by Larry

This webinar focused on video editing, specifically organizing and backing up media, optimizing preferences, and the other small decisions you make at the start of a Premier or Final Cut project. In this short excerpt, Larry Jordan presents the routine maintenance you should do with a Mac computer to keep it running smoothly.

Posted on by Larry

The OWC MiniStack STX is fast, convenient, and capable way to expand storage for a Mac Mini or a Mac Studio. It expands the number of available Thunderbolt 3/4 ports, and provides user-upgradeable HDD and SSD storage capacity. Here’s my review.

Posted on by Larry

It is generally possible to expand the storage capacity of an HDD RAID, without buying a new enclosure; which can save hundreds of dollars. Here’s what you need to know to add storage to your RAID.

Posted on by Larry

Wondering how to improve the speed and performance of your computer – especially for video editing? In this short video excerpt Larry Jordan illustrates how to improve the speed of a video editing computer system by selecting the right storage for your edit.

Posted on by Larry

Digital signage is a part of everyday life – but have you ever wondered how it works? Larry Jordan goes behind the scenes at the Peppermill Hotel & Resort to see how they do it.

Posted on by Larry

Lou asked: “Should I partition the internal drive of a Mac to get the maximum speed for video editing?” The answer is no – but not for the reasons you might suspect. Larry Jordan provides the details on maximizing system speed.

Posted on by Larry

Wondering how fast your computer is compared to the latest Apple silicon Mac desktops? We have the answers! In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan measures the differences in computer speed between Intel and Apple silicon Macs when running Apple Final Cut Pro and compressing video.

Posted on by Larry

Wondering how fast your computer is compared to the latest Apple silicon Mac desktops? We have the answers! In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan measures the differences in computer speed between Intel and Apple silicon Macs when running Adobe Premiere Pro and compressing video.

Posted on by Larry

As video images get bigger, faster and bigger storage becomes critical. Enter the RAID. In this short illustrated video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains what computer RAIDs are and the differences in speed, capacity and data protection between the different RAID types.

Posted on by Larry

This collection provides easy links to the nine detailed testing and performance reviews Larry Jordan wrote about the 2023 M2 Mac mini computer from Apple.

Posted on by Larry

For video editors, any M-series Mac computer is a vast improvement over any Intel system. In this detailed review, Larry Jordan looks at setup and performance tests of the M2 Mac Studio computer using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Posted on by Larry

For video editors, any M-series Mac computer is a vast improvement over any Intel system. In this detailed review, Larry Jordan looks at setup and performance tests of the M2 Mac Studio computer using Apple Final Cut Pro.

Posted on by Larry

Discover top laptop choices for US media creators. Consider popular brands, factors to consider, and integrating technology. Unleash creativity with the right laptop Guest post written by Angela Wellnes.

Posted on by Larry

With its latest releases, Apple now offers M2 versions of the Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro. This article is to help you decide which hardware best meets the needs of media creators, then provide tips on how to best configure the system.

Posted on by Larry

The OWC Express 4M2 is really, really fast. Well-built. And, provided you format your storage as RAID 4 or 5, expandable. Here’s a detailed review along with suggestions on how to optimize it for your media editing,.

Posted on by Larry

Recently, while writing a review of the BenQ PD2725U monitor, I realized that I have described how to change color space settings on external monitors incorrectly for years. Here’s the key rule you need to know.

Posted on by Larry

About a month ago, I purchased a BenQ PD2725 monitor because I wanted a color accurate monitor for scanning still images and video editing. Based on what I’ve learned and seen, I’m comfortable making color and composition decisions based upon what I see with the BenQ PD2725U.

Posted on by Larry

The need for EXTREMELY fast storage is a special case. Most of us will be fine with a single-bus Thunderbolt device. But, if maximum speed is your need – this dual-drive SSD lash-up is amazing – and faster than Thunderbolt!

Posted on by Larry

Displaying video full-screen in Adobe Premiere is as easy as pressing a single key. However, for best results, when you have two monitors, this quick tutorial shows how to change preference settings to create a separate view and grading monitor.

Posted on by Larry

Apple just announced new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad. The iPad version is a harbinger of things to come; both good and bad. Professional editors are not the market. Here’s what’s in the new software and, more importantly, what it means.

Posted on by Larry

CZUR has thought carefully about the features a book scanner needs to offer. The CZUR ET24 Pro is fast, flexible and provides key output options. It has limitations, but, for the price, it will do what needs to be done for most of us.

Posted on by Larry

In the old days, to monitor video to see exactly what it looks like for color grading required an external video monitor. Today, that’s no longer necessary. Here are three different techniques to view full-screen video from cheap to high-quality.

Posted on by Larry

Most USB drives are formatted as FAT32. This older format is highly compatible, but very limited in terms of file names and size. A better option is to reformat the drive as ExFAT which is supported natively by both Windows and Mac systems.

Posted on by Larry

I like this Levitouch Dual-arm Monitor Mount from Gabor a lot. It is solidly built, easy to assemble, and supports two computer monitors from 17 – 32″ and up to 19.8 pounds each. Here’s my detailed review.

Posted on by Larry

It seems counterintutive, but you don’t need massive amounts of RAM for video editing. This explains why the duration of your video project does not determine the hardware you need. It also explains what DOES require faster hardware.

Posted on by Larry

The Apple Studio Monitor is an amazing display. But, as a monitor, it has too much — and too little. This could be the perfect monitor for you – or it could be far more than you need. It’s complex. Here are my thoughts.

Posted on by Larry

If you want power to burn in a space small enough to fit on your desk and still have a desk left, the 2023 Mac mini with the M2 Pro SoC is impossible to ignore. Here are my thoughts on strengths, weaknesses and configuration.

Posted on by Larry

This articles details the performance of the M2 Pro Mac mini, specifically the speed of rendering visual effects and exporting projects in Apple Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro. 77 tests were performed and some of the answers are surprising!

Posted on by Larry

I am often asked which NLE is “better.” That question can’t be answered, except to say “It depends…” However, we CAN test render and export speeds, along with multicam streaming support using the new 2023 M2 Pro Mac mini. I did – and here are the results.

Posted on by Larry

This review specifically looks at video editing performance using Adobe Premiere Pro with the new 2023 Mac mini with an M2 Pro SoC. This concentrates on render and export speeds, along with multicam editing.

Posted on by Larry

The new 2023 Mac mini is a powerhouse – especially when equipped with an M2 Pro SoC. In this detailed analysis, Larry Jordan looks at the performance of the M2 Mac mini specifically for use editing media in Apple Final Cut Pro.

This you won’t believe. I tested to see how many streams of 4K media Final Cut Pro can edit in a multicam clip. The answer blew me away. These are the details.

A frequent question is whether a computer has the power an editor needs. Here I look at what Apple Final Cut Pro needs for 4K multicam editing and the speeds your storage needs to support. The answer is not what you expect.

Digital video no longer requires state-of-the-art hardware. We no longer need the biggest, fastest, most powerful system to get our work done. Here’s what you need to consider for a video editing system today.

These well-built units, wrapped in an aluminum case with a variety of colors, are small, solid, require no extra cable, inexpensive and work great. Here’s Larry Jordan’s review.

Here are some real-world speed tests of 2-, 3-, and 4-drive SSD RAIDs using the OWC Thunderblade. Speeds are fast, but none fully fill a Thunderbolt 3/4 connection. Still, they are more than fast enough for almost all editing.

iBoysoft Data Recovery for the Mac brings missing files back to life. It does so for a wide range of files and devices. But the interface is flaky, core features are unreliable, and the entire application needs someone to pay much closer attention to it. Here’s Larry Jordan’s review.

The Synology WRX 560 Wireless Router is fast, powerful and amazingly flexible. It is designed for networks that need lots of controls. But, installation is a challenge.

macOS Ventura is significantly (masses of megabytes!) slower than macOS Monterey for both ExFAT- and APFS-formatted SSD drives. No one know why. Worse, formatting drives is now harder than before. Here are the details.

If you are wondering whether it is time to upgrade, 13.1 is a good place to start. Just give yourself time to get everything sorted once the upgrade is complete. Here’s a detailed look at what to do, the problems I ran into and links for more information.

“Ask Larry Anything!” is a free-form conversation about video editing technology. In this short tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates real-world speeds for SSDs and RAIDs, along with details on how much storage speed we actually need for editing video smoothly. The answers will surprise you.

This tutorial measures and illustrates the difference in speeds between different SSD (Solid State Drive) RAID levels. This also provides definitions of these different levels and recommendations on which to use for your storage.

Posted on by Larry

How fast does our storage need to be to edit video successfully? In other words: How fast is “fast enough?” Surprising, the answer is: Not as fast as you think. Here’s what you need to know.

Posted on by Larry

Measuring the speed of storage is an exercise in futility for a whole lot of reasons. Here’s what you need to know when you want to measure the speed of your system.

Posted on by Larry

Here are the step-by-step instructions for creating or deleting a multi-disk RAID 0 or RAID 1 storage system using Apple’s Disk Utility, which ships with every Mac.

Posted on by Larry

The OWC Thunderblade is a four-blade SSD RAID with speeds that more than meet the needs of virtually all video editors or audio mixers. This thing is plenty fast – the trick is figuring out exactly HOW fast. Read a detailed product review from Larry Jordan.

← Older posts Newer posts →