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NEWS ARTICLES

Coping with the Digital Transmission Transition
Sometime between February and June, 2009, all broadcast television stations in the US need to convert from analog to digital transmission. However, this is NOT the same as converting from SD to HD - they are not, necessarily, related. While the current changeover timing is being debated in Washington, here are some answers to your questions.  (Published: Feb. 2009)

New Product Review - Drobo
Drobo has been making a lot of noise in the market with its new storage hybrid - part RAID, part expandable hard drive. I've been using one for a couple of months now and in this review, I put it to work and discover that it can serve a very useful role in editing, but not in the place you would expect. (Published: Feb. 2009)

Larry's Philosophy on Upgrading
Nothing generates mail like a new version of software. But not all software updates work the way they are advertised. In this article, I describe an update approach that you can use to make sure that when you upgrade everything on your system works properly. (Published: Dec. 2008 ; Studio Suite v. 5.1, 6.x)

Snow Leopard and Multiple Processors
Apple has announced a new version of its operating system for next year - 10.6 (Snow Leopard). This article looks at what this may mean for Final Cut Pro users. (Published: Oct. 2008 ; Final Cut Pro)

Larry's Philosophy on Upgrading
Repeat after me: "Just because Apple has released it, does not mean you should upgrade to it." upgrades are a two-edged sword -- great when they work, disaster when they don't. In this article, Larry lays out his philosophy of upgrading to keep his editing systems working smoothly. (Published: Sep. 2008 ; Final Cut Pro)

Hard Disk Warning!
It is a long-known, but little-discussed secret that hard disks slowly lose their magnetic signal. If you archive your projects on hard disks, you need to read this article before all your carefully stored files... are gone! (Published: Sep. 2008 ; Final Cut Pro)

Review - Zoom H2 Handy Recorder
The Samson Zoom H2 recorder has a lot of good things going for it - price, size, and portability. However, when I was using it at NAB, the one thing that disappointed me was the audio quality. Read the review here. (Published: Aug. 2008)

Strengths and Weaknesses of Final Cut Server
Final Cut Server is out, but what does it really do? In this article, we take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the product. Server has a lot of power, but it isn't for everyone -- this article helps you decide for yourself. (Published: Jun. 2008 ; Final Cut Serve v. 1.0)

In Search of a Backup Strategy
With the camera industry's head-long rush into tapeless image acquisition, having a soild backup and archiving strategy is critical because video tape masters no longer exist. In this commentary, I discuss the sad state of today's options and provide suggestions to keep you out of trouble.  (Published: Jul. 2006 - Updated: Jun. 2008 ; Color)

Notes on Blu-Ray DVD Costs and Competition
With Blu-ray winning the DVD format war, attention has now turned to the costs of creating a Blu-ray DVD. This article explains that the cost of replicating one of these new format discs isn't cheap. (Published: May 2008 ; DVD Studio Pro)