Blog Archives

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 Is our Thunderbolt 3 gear out-of-date?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.

This a very cool Mac utility that allows you identify any color on your screen, copy its values or color, and copy them into another app

An intriguing new feature in macOS Catalina (10.15) is Sidecar. This allows you to either extend or mirror your Mac desktop on a recent-model iPad. Here’s what you need to know to make it work.

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.

A look at what QuickTime is, what’s changed over time and references to learn more.

In spite of their documentation, LaCie hard drives, when formatted as RAIDs, are not hot-swappable. Here’s a write-up from Loren Miller that explains the problem.

A look at how much RAM you need for video editing, how to measure usage of the RAM you have, along with thoughts on how best to optimize your system.

Apple updated its Pro Video codecs. These are of value to all editors, but you can’t upgrade to them using the Mac App Store. Here’s how.

Software Update often displays extra update options – if you wait for it.

Promise Pegasus RAIDs are causing problems when trying to run Windows 10 under macOS Catalina. Read here for the details.

Within just a few weeks, most likely this month, Apple will release the latest version of the MacOS – Catalina. First introduced at WWDC last June, this is the latest incarnation of OS X. There are three critical things you …

I discovered it is WAY too easy for your email address to get hijacked. Here’s what you need to know to protect your email and your reputation – based on my personal experience.

This provides an overview of what High Dynamic Range (HDR) media is, where we are now, where we are going, how it works in video editing systems and links to learn more. Written for a video editor, not an engineer.

This is a fascinating, illustrated look at how different media affects performance of RAM, CPU, and Libraries in Final Cut Pro X, along with recommendations on upgrades and computer systems.

Tips and mostly-free software you can use to improve your computer security.

An explanation of how the speed of light limits how fast a computer CPU can go. This is VERY cool, even if you don’t understand tech!

An illustrated guide to free software tools you can use to measure the performance of your computer system, with a focus on video editing.

An illustrated tutorial on how to convert 32-bit (or any) media to make it more future-proof using Apple Compressor; plus a description of missing features that are still needed.

An illustrated tutorial on how to use Apple Final Cut Pro X 104.6 (or later) to convert soon-to-be-incompatible 32-bit media into something more future-proof.

Yesterday, Apple issued a mostly minor maintenance update to Final Cut, Motion, Compressor and iMovie with one big feature that is worth discussing. The new feature is that any of these three applications will now automatically detect media which will …

The most popular articles published on LarryJordan.com for 2018, along with a few other key links you need to know.

For media creators, automatic updates for the macOS are, generally, a bad idea. Here’s how to turn auto-updating off.

This illustrated tutorial shows how to discover the codecs of your media using the Finder, QuickTime Player 7, QuickTime Player, Apple Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2019.

Adobe provides more details on what media codecs will be supporting in future versions of the macOS, as emailed to Larry Jordan.

Here’s is Avid’s more detailed response to Apple discontinuing support for older 32-bit media codecs, as emailed to Larry Jordan.

Blackmagic Design responds to questions about Apple discontinuing support for older media codecs in upcoming versions of the macOS with a relatively weak response.

Apple Compressor is essential to media compression. But what makes it faster? In this series of tests, discover how RAM, storage, and preference settings can make a difference – or slow things down.

A step-by-step guide on how to set up a media compression network using Apple Compressor and one or more Macs. (This is an ideal way to speed compression using Mac minis.)

Apple Final Cut Pro X has special features that are only enabled when you connect a second computer monitor. Here’s what they are and how to enable them.

An easy way to connect an Atomos Ninja monitor/recorder to a Mac and use it as a second screen, or screen-recording system.

A detailed comparison of compression speed and resulting file sizes for a variety of media compressed using Apple Compressor, Adobe Media Encoder and ffWorks/ffMPEG

A detailed series of tests comparing video compression speed using a high-end iMac vs. a new Mac mini running a variety of software. The results are surprising.

An illustrated review of Apple Screenshot, included in Mojave, along with a list of what it still needs to do.