With the start of Thanksgiving weekend in the US, the holiday season has officially started. Sales are everywhere - except, it seems, on the products I actually want. Anyway, in honor of the season, I've updated my article - "What You MUST Know Before Buying Your Next Computer" - to include the new family of Apple silicon systems. Based on my email, editors are focused on CPU speed and core count -- that's focusing on the wrong thing.
I'm in the middle of testing two new SSD systems. (You'll read my reviews next week.) But, in the process of speed testing, I discovered a troubling difference in results reported by the Blackmagic and AJA speed testing software. These aren't small differences - something is very badly broken. I just don't know where yet.
As regular readers know, I advised waiting before upgrading to macOS Ventura. My current plan is to upgrade about a week after the 13.1 update is released by Apple; which should happen in the next week or two. Most of my essential apps are now updated to support Ventura, and that one-week wait gives me time to make sure nothing major broke. I'll keep you informed on how the update goes, but, truthfully, I don't expect problems.
As you might expect, the news is light this week:
Avid released a new version of Media Composer - version 2022.10. New features include simplified project setup for new users, "passive hints" suggesting what you should consider doing next (also for new users), floating metadata window for clips and bins, revised relinking menus and more. Here's a blog with the details.
Avid also introduced the new fixed-format Avid VENUE | Stage 48 remote I/O stage rack for live sound production. They describe this cable plug-in rack as ideal for mid- to large-scale productions operating with limited budgets.
A caution. A few months ago, I reviewed the
CalDigit TS4 dock - a device I liked a lot. However, over time, I learned that it drops connection with the computer when the computer goes to sleep. This means that any connected storage is unceremoniously disconnected and any background tasks that require Internet connectivity don't work. CalDigit has a firmware fix for this, but it can only be installed using a Windows computer. A Mac update has been promised for months, but there is no word on when or if it will be available. If you purchase this dock, make sure you get one with upgraded firmware.
