September 25, 2023

I have a lot of really important technical articles for you this week. But the most important is that the latest upgrade to Final Cut Pro 10.6.9 has a major bug in it. If you haven't upgraded, don't.

Link: CAUTION: Final Cut Pro 10.6.9 Has a Serious Bug

For whatever reason, Apple has released a number of buggy updates to Final Cut Pro recently. As a general rule, I now strongly suggest waiting a couple of weeks after any new release - even a minor upgrade - to be sure it is working properly. As well, macOS 13.6 is now out. Just so you know, I haven't upgraded yet.

Next, Robin is reporting black flash frames and failed exports in Final Cut Pro and severe artifacts in Premiere Pro when editing media from SD cards. This one I don't have a solution for. Please read this - and suggest a solution in the comments.

Link: Why Am I Getting Black Frames in My Video?

Another issue I've written about for years is that when you store a hard disk on the shelf, data "evaporates" over time. This is a process called "data rot." While I've known about the problem for a long time, I haven't had a solution. Now, I do. With the technical assistance of Tim Jones, Chief Solutions Architect at OWC, I have a simple Terminal script that can "re-energize" drives that you are storing for the long-term. Here are the details.

Link: How to Prevent or Repair Hard Drive “Data Rot”

In the news:

Last week, we were inundated with IBC news. In the crush, I forgot to mention new announcements from Sennheiser. My apologies.

Sennheiser announced a variety of new products at IBC including the MKH 8030 figure-eight condenser mic, the AMBEO 2-channel spatial audio renderer plug-in, a 32-bit wireless transmitter for distortion free recording, and updates to their Evolution Wireless system.

Link: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/newsroom/category/news

Teradeck launched a redesigned MOTO.S RT lens motor. It accepts power up to 32 volts, provides a quick-release gear, and intuitive rod clamp architecture and cable management.

Link: https://teradek.com/products/motr-s

NAB New York is coming Oct. 25-26, including a new conference on streaming. Registration is now open.

Link: https://nabshow.com/newyork2023/

Future Media Concepts announced the FCP Creative Summit, in Cupertino Nov. 6-8. Registration is now open.

Link: https://fcpcreativesummits.com

Last week seemed to be filled with technical challenges. For example, I posted this article with a title that got no one's attention. (Smile, it had less than 20 views!) The storage tips in this, though, are important and can save you money and improve performance. So I gave it a new title and recommend you read it.

Link: Facts You Need to Know About Storage

Carey Dissmore pointed out an error in that I was consistently calling SATA SSDs "PCIe SSDs." Sigh... I have made this mistake in a lot of articles. But one that is especially note-worthy is this one, which I corrected. (NVMe SSDs use PCIe. SATA SSDs do not. The name was wrong, but the results are the same.)

Link: For Video Editing Storage – How Fast is Fast Enough? [u]

Last week, I was a fly-on-the-wall to an interesting discussion between Philip Hodgetts and Clayton Moore on the impact of AI (machine learning) on media production. This helped me better understand the impact AI is having on day rates, production techniques and where we are going in the future. With their permission, I'm sharing their conversation with you.

Link: The Impact of AI on Media Production & Profits

Zack Arnold's comment (from the AI article above) is important, I think. In the past, we made money by becoming ever more specialized - both in the tools we used and the tasks we performed. As AI continues its inexorable rise, many of those specialized tasks will be automated. Which means that, for us to still earn a living as media creators, we need to expand our toolset. Move from being specialists to informed generalists. AI can only regurgitate what it already knows. What we have - that's human - is the ability to create out of whole cloth. Client-service, creativity and story-telling still remain uniquely ours.

Strange times. Until next Monday, stay safe, stay hopeful and edit well.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» CAUTION: Final Cut Pro 10.6.9 Has a Serious Bug (News)

  » FXFactory recommends against upgrading. Here's why.

» How to Prevent or Repair Hard Drive "Data Rot" (Tutorial)

  » Storing hard drives on the shelf requires periodic re-energizing.

» Why Am I Getting Black Frames in My Video? (News)

  » Robin reports black frames in FCP, artifacts in Premiere and no answers.

» Facts You Need to Know About Storage (Tutorial)

  » These tips can save you money, improve performance and demystify tech.

» The Impact of AI on Media Production & Profits (Discussion)

  » A discussion on AI between Philip Hodgetts and Clayton Moore.

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