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.

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.

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.

Sometime in October, Apple will release the latest version of the macOS: Ventura. First announced at the 2022 WWDC in June this version, like every macOS update, features a variety of new features and apps. Still, while this is exciting, …

The Apple silicon version of Premiere does not support AAF export – yet. But the Intel version does. Here’s the workaround to get AAF export working in both versions of Premiere.

This built-in Mac utility is fast, easy-to-use and always available. When you need to rename files in a hurry, this is a good trick to know.

MediaInfo, published by MediaArea, is a convenient unified display of the most relevant technical data for video and audio files. It is free, available through the MacApp store. Here’s a detailed look at this useful utility.

Why does Apple Final Cut Pro only use Apple silicon efficiency cores when exporting? And which cores do Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve use? Here’s a comparison between the three.

If you have a crashed hard disk and need to recover images, Stellar Photo Recovery may be worth considering. But if you have specific images that used to open, but don’t open now, Stellar Photo Recovery didn’t work for me. It may work for you.

Remote Access allows one computer to control another. If you need it, great. If not, its a security risk. Here’s how to turn it off.

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.

Here’s a very effective technique to manage your storage called “Optimize Storage.” It’s free and built into every Mac. Let me show you how this works.

Recovery Mode is a hidden operating system on recent Macs that simplifies emergency maintenance on your system. However, it is accessed differently for Intel and M1 Macs. Here are the details.

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.

It is a true saying that “change is the only constant in life.” But, when it comes to operating system upgrades, I tend to be far from the bleeding edge. Recently, I upgraded to macOS Monterey. Here’s what I learned.

Here’s a quick work-around, contributed by Lloyd Walker, to cancel the “Spinning Beach-Ball of Death” when it appears in Apple Final Cut Pro.

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.