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.

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.

Andy, from Scotland, upgraded to FCP 10.6 only to get a constant “Spinning Beach Ball of Death” every time he tried to open an existing Library. Here’s how Apple Support helped him solve this problem.

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.

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.

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

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.

“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, delete and modify proxy settings in Apple Final Cut Pro.

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

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.

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.

Most of us have heard of Apple’s transition from Intel CPUs to its own Apple silicon. But these new systems upend the established rules for how to configure a computer system for media editing. Here’s what you need to know about the new M1 SoC from Apple.

The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is a small, rugged, fast, bus-powered storage system that easily fits in your pocket. With speeds averaging over 900 MB/second, it can easily support multicam or traditional HD editing. Here’s a detailed review.

Whether you use Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro, exporting and archiving an XML file of a finished project is a good way to preserve it for the future. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial explaining how.

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.

Emojis are little icons that have taken over the world. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to add and modify emojis in a video project using Apple Final Cut Pro.

Here’s a quick illustrated tutorial on how to create, find, access or delete backups for Apple Final Cut Pro X libraries.

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.

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.

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

OWC releases a new 4-port Thunderbolt 3 dock that provides more Thunderbolt ports to any Mac with Thunderbolt 3 and running Big Sur. This is actually a big deal. Here are my thoughts.

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.

With the release of macOS Mojave and continuing into Catalina and Big Sur, older media codecs are no longer supported, nor displayed. Here’s a simple technique to find and transcode outdated files using Kyno.

Storage speeds vary widely. Here’s a tip to measuring them accurately.

Media professionals should wait on upgrading any mission-critical systems to Big Sur until there’s time for developers to test and upgrade their software.

Today, Apple updated Final Cut Pro X (10.5), Motion (5.5.) and Compressor (4.5) to support new computers with Apple silicon, along with a variety of bug fixes. Here’s the list.

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.

Thunderbolt 4 is already on the market – and it isn’t what you expect. What does it mean for Mac and PC users? Is our Thunderbolt 3 gear out-of-date? Larry Jordan interviews Larry O’Connor, Founder/CEO of OWC, a leading Thunderbolt manufacturer, to learn more.

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.

The Mercury Pro LTO tape system is a well-constructed, high-speed and easy to use tape archive system for media creators. Bundled with myLTO software, it can get new users archiving quickly, yet fully support more demanding archive applications.

The answer is “Maybe.” This detailed article explains the fundamentals of high-speed networking, illustrates how to connect a Mac to a 10G Ethernet network, then measures performance between 1G and 10G connections, with a focus on video editing.

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.

A list of folders where Adobe Premiere Pro stores settings and work files. These are the first place to look when you need to track down a missing file.

The brand-new ArmorLock SSD from G-Technology is fast, secure and rugged. But, it has problems when trying to add multiple secure users to the drive. It’s a great idea that needs tweaking.

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.

There is difference in how the same color is displayed in Premiere, Final Cut and QuickTime. This made worse when looking at media on a P3 display. Here’s what you need to know.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to trouble-shoot Apple Final Cut Pro X, as well as providing links to trouble-shooting Macintosh systems.

Built into the Finder is a batch file renaming utility that is fast, easy to use and flexible. If all you need is to quickly rename and sequence files, this free utility, shipped with the macOS, will do the job.

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.

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.

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.)

Apple is discontinuing KEXTS in a future version of the macOS. Here’s what you need to know now.

A quick, step-by-step process to transfer videos from a Mac to an iPad.

This is a table of updated file sizes for all iPhone video formats, based on frame size and frame rate. Use these to plan your storage needs.