December 23, 2024

SSDs are currently the fair-haired children of computer storage, but the real work-horses (to mix metaphors) are hard disk drives (HDD). They hold more, last longer, and cost far less per megabyte.

I spent last week testing a new OWC Thunderbay 4 HDD RAID, running new Seagate Iron Wolf Pro drives. (I'll have the review for you next week.) But, from this testing came a flock of interesting observations that I want to share with you. If you use hard drives in your studio, you'll want to read these. 

Link: Why You Should Always Use HFS+ to Format Mac Hard Disk Drives

Link: Real-World Speed Tests for Different HDD RAID Levels

Link: Real-World Speed Tests for Different SSD RAID Levels

Link: Why SSDs Are Better for Multicam Editing For All NLEs

TOP NEWS STORIES THIS WEEK

The news is on my home page, updated as news rolls in. One news item this week.

GOOD NEWS

Webinars are now playing in our Video Training Library! Whew!! The issue was complex and involved how we securely integrate with AWS/CloudFront to stream videos. Our engineers finally resolved this issue late Friday. However, there still seems to be an issue affecting only our FCP X - Complete streaming files. We are working on this and should have it resolved soon.

CLARIFICATION

As I mentioned, I'm removing my FCP X - Complete training title from my store at the end of this month. This caused several people to write asking if I was abandoning Final Cut Pro? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

This specific Final Cut training title began life seven years ago and went through several major updates. Like Topsy, it has grown and grown and, ah, grown. It is now more than 230 files and almost 30 GB in size! It has become increasingly difficult to update. So, rather than just keep adding stuff ad hoc, it makes more sense to remove this title and, ultimately, replace it with something more streamlined. 

However, I still have 173 Final Cut training titles in my store. I am continuing to provide tutorials and webinars on Final Cut. As well, I'm keeping all the Final Cut Pro - Complete files in my Video Training Library available to subscribers.

Link: SAVE 60% - Apple Final Cut Pro 11: Complete

My next webinar will be January 8, 2025: Visual Effects in Final Cut Pro 11. Registration, as always, is free for my live events.

Link: FREE REGISTRATION link to Larry's Final Cut webinar

Shifting to the wildly creative, I have a tutorial on time-lapse photography featuring the work of renowned painter: Christoper Campbell. Not only is this an interesting tutorial, it is an excellent look at the mind and skills of a painter at work.

Link: Create Better Timelapse Videos in Any NLE

Continuing my examination of storage, here are more tutorials / reviews for you.

Link: The Fuller a Hard Drive Is, the Slower It Goes

Link: Performance Test: Thunderbolt 2 vs. Thunderbolt 3 for HDD RAIDs

Link: An Explanation of RAID Levels

Finally two highlights from my "Ask Larry" webinar. The first looks at backup basics, regardless of NLE.

Link: Backup Basics for Final Cut Pro, or any NLE

This showcases how to optimize Premiere Pro preferences for better performance.

Link: Optimize Preferences in Adobe Premiere Pro v25 [v]

Something that frustrates me is watching webinars or videos by people who say they "know video" - who obviously don't. Or who feel that good video techniques don't apply to them. Last week I was watching a webinar from a company touting their video skills. Audio levels and quality went from OK to unintelligible. Is it really that painful to wear a mic? One camera had such poor resolution we couldn't see who was in the shot. Two cameras were so badly backlit the speaker was a silhouette. Another camera was mis-framed. Only one speaker had a beautifully lit, perfectly framed shot with excellent audio and a costume that looked great.

How are we expected to take their "expertise" seriously when they obviously don't? I have no sympathy for people who say "we know video," then ignore their own advice. This just drives me nuts. "Video is easy," most folks say. Except when you try to do it yourself, you begin to see just how difficult good video actually is. If you are supposed to be an expert, act like it.

On behalf of my entire team, we wish you a very happy holiday. Until next Monday, stay warm, stay healthy and edit well.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» Why You Should Always Use HFS+ to Format Hard Disk Drives for Mac (Review)

  » This compares the speed of HFS to APFS - the results are dramatic.

» Real-world Speed Tests for Different HDD RAID Levels (Review)

  » How you format a RAID affects its speed and capacity.

» Real-world Speed Tests for Different SDD RAID Levels (Review)

  » How you format a RAID affects its speed and capacity.

» Why SSDs are Better for Multicam Editing Than HDDs (Review)

  » The problem is not bandwidth but latency.

» The Fuller a Hard Drive Is, the Slower It Goes (Review)

  » How the amount of free space on an HDD affects speeds.

» Performance Test: Thunderbolt 2 vs. 3 for HDD RAIDs (Review)

  » This looks at whether upgrading hardware makes a difference.

» An Explanation of RAID Levels & How to Use Them (Tutorial)

  » What are the differences between RAID 0, 1, 4, 5 1=5)?

» Backup Basics for Final Cut Pro, or any NLE (Tutorial)

  » This video explains hardware, software and how many backups are "enough."

» Optimize Preferences in Adobe Premiere Pro (Tutorial)

  » This short video shows which to change to improve performance.

» Create Better Timelapse Videos Using Any NLE (Tutorial)

  » Add magic to your next time-lapse sequence with this simple technique.

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