The device supports daisy-chaining by including two ports to join to other hard drives and an Apple Cinema Display at the end of the chain. The copper based strand thin Thunderbolt cable provides two channels of throughput and 10Gb/s in both directions. Imagine editing uncompressed high definition video on a MacBook Pro with a storage device that weighs 1.5 lbs and no power cables for laptop or media drives.

The Little Big Disk provides two 250GB Intel 510® Series Solid-State Drives (SSD) and supports multiple streams of uncompressed video and multichannel audio in a striped array. The Little Big Disk is enclosed in LaCie’s classic d2 casing and it constructed of sturdy aluminum with a heat sink designed to provide efficient heat dissipation to remove any possibility of failure due to high temperatures.

Thunderbolt technology supports both data and display protocols simultaneously over a single cable. It integrates two communication methods, PCI Express and DisplayPort, with both protocols supplied on the same cable. This powerful yet flexible technology can connect to a wide variety of devices, such as peripherals, displays, storage, docking stations, audio/video devices, and more.  Sample details here.

Apple demonstrated FCP running 4 streams of uncompressed HD on the 15″ MBP peaking at 600MB/s.  And that just the beginning.  At his FCP-centric web site Digital Rebellion, Jon Chappell called it a game changer:

To me, this is a game-changer because these ports can become any type of port as long as you have an adapter, so Apple essentially added support for USB 3.0, eSATA and anything else you like in one go. Thunderbolt is a huge leap forward for professional users. Its power is in its versatility. It also means that laptops can finally rival desktops in I/O performance. As an example of the amount of throughput you’ll be able to get on a laptop, Apple showed a demo of Final Cut Pro running four streams of uncompressed HD on the 15″ MacBook Pro, peaking at 600MB/s. And if you’re in a shared environment you’ll be able to easily add laptops, or indeed any type of Mac, to an Xsan network for fast access to shared storage, which is something that was difficult to do before.

Similar thoughts were provided at fcp.co about the importance of the technology for Final Cut Pro users, especially for its capabilities when married to Thunderbolt™ third party video in/out peripherals from leading companies.  Expect some announcements at NAB2011:

Wow! Two great bits of FCP news in two days. The new MacBook Pros that have been released today feature ‘Thunderbolt’ Apples branding of Light Peak technology from Intel.
The inclusion of a Thunderbolt port on the new machines has been rumoured for quite a long time now, only the name changed from Light Peak to Thunderbolt over the last few days. How fast is this new I/O? We had been given the example of being able to copy a Blu-ray disk in 30 seconds.
But what would this mean for FCP? Hot off the press is some information from Apple, this is how they will demo Thunderbolt & FCP

“At press demos we will show an external Promise desktop RAID unit connected using Thunderbolt running 4 streams uncompressed HD on the 15″ in FCP peaking at 600MB/s. It is also daisy chained to a 27″ display.”

Also it sounds like third parties have been readying their peripherals for NAB -

“Welcome to the future, Thunderbolt technology enables the fastest and simplest I/O for connecting AJA’s award-winning professional video capture and playback products to your laptop.”– John Abt, CEO, AJA

“Thunderbolt technology will revolutionize mobile media creation. It’s a game-changer and will accelerate our ability to build the highest quality video creation products that are affordable to everyone.”

– Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic

Doesn’t this make fibre channel look old and expensive? Maybe the decision to drop the XServe and back off supporting shared storage means that Thunderbolt might just be the answer to HD collaborative workflows.

We won’t be buying another MacPro until it has a Thunderbolt port, that’s for sure.

I have to agree.

With its miniature form factor and ability to mount to a range of digital cameras and accessories, Ki Pro Mini makes for the smallest camera and recorder package available for the capture of high-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 files that are immediately ready for editing, according to AJA President Nick Rashby. It bridges production and post, effectively eliminating log and capture, he adds. Key features include:

° 10-bit full-raster recording to Apple ProRes 422 SD and HD formats (including HQ, LT and Proxy);

° The ability to record SD/HD files from digital video cameras to Compact Flash (CF) cards;

° Mac OS X friendly media and native QuickTime files (no log-and-capture required);

° Professional video connectivity through SD/HD-SDI and HDMI I/O;

° Two channels of balanced XLR audio with switch selectable line/mic levels;

° Eight channels of embedded digital audio over SDI and HDMI;

° Control options including familiar front panel and web browser interfaces;

° Plain-language file naming;

° Optional Ki Pro Mini Mounting Plates that attach to hot shoes, battery plates and virtually any other accessory bracket;

° An optional Mini Stand for desktop operation;

° Aircraft-grade aluminum construction that delivers light weight and maximum ruggedness.

With Manifesto, no keyframes are required for animation. The text of choice is scrolled in and out of frame automatically based on the length of the generator track. This feature also lets users match a title roll (or crawl) to the duration of a different clip.

Manifesto can reference an existing RTF file on disk, allowing users to rely entirely on an external program for text input and layout. Users can create animations at any frame rate with built-in motion blur and the ability to reduce interlacing artifacts. You can use external media to determine which portions of the title are visible, or vice versa.

Manifesto is offered as a free download via the Noise Industries web site. FxFactory Pro is available for US$399. Additional plug-ins are available for free or commercially starting at a price point of $29.00 USD.

Click here to view the embedded video.

MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows that is used to transcode video from one format to another. It will work with just about any video codec or file format, including DVDs and Windows media.  Remember, however to observe copyright and DRM requirements.  Many of you are already using MPEG Streamclip or have heard of it.  If you don’t have it, download it now!  This is an invaluable tool that every video editor should have at their disposal.

So, what does it do?

MPEG Streamclip is a video format converter to make MPEG video into something that you can import to Final Cut Pro and edit with. It also converts video to any other format supported by QuickTime.

Sometimes we get clients that turn up with something that absolutely must be in their project. The problem is, all they have is a DVD and there’s no chance of getting the original footage. Well, that’s clients for you. Welcome to the world of video post production.

If you look at the structure of a DVD in the Finder, there are several files with cryptic names -IFO, VOB, VTS…. What’s all that about?

I could explain but that’s not really what this tutorial is for.

Don’t worry. Copy the entire DVD to a local hard drive and open MPEG Streamclip.

Click on File > Open Files. MPEG Streamclip knows what you want and only the relevant parts of the disc are highlighted:

Choose VTS_01_1.VOB -you don’t usually need 1_0 as this is just black padding between the menu and the stuff you really need.

You might be asked if you want to fix timecode or data errors -click OK, it’s better. Trust me.
You might be asked if you want to join files. I prefer to say no at this point -give me the individual files, I’m a professional video editor after all.

The spinning wheel does its thing….. Hey look, it’s a scene from the DVD!

Now we need to convert it to something that Final Cut pro can use. There is only one setting of any interest to Final Cut Pro editors:

Click it and we are where we really need to be:

MPEG Streamclip will always show this screen as a default. For the most part the DV codec is fully acceptable, after all the DVD is a highly compressed source to begin with. Lets change it:

What do we learn from the above illustration? you will notice that I have checked the reinterlace chroma box, Why? It looks nicer -do it. I also chose PAL DV because the rest of my material is in that format as are my Final Cut Pro settings. If you normally work in NTSC then you should choose that instead.

All you have to do now is save your movie. Click the “Make Movie” button, then give it a name and place to live. When your video has been processed it can be imported into the Final Cut Pro project.

If you are working in an uncompressed or other Timeline and your client brings a DVD that absolutely must be cut into the movie, then choose an appropriate setting from the list of those offered by MPEG Streamclip. If you are working in a HD Timeline then choose the HD format that matches your other material or take the simple route and choose Pro Res.

PART TWO

Welcome to round two of the MPEG Streamclip tutorial.

MPEG Streamclip will let you process several clips at once (batches). So you can set it up and walk away to do more useful things like wash the car, walk the dog or spend some quality time with the family.

I do a lot of projects about pro motorcycle racing. At first we tried bolting regular cameras onto a bike and chasing after the riders. Now these folks are all absolutely mad. Shooting around the track at incredible speeds is dangerous . We also discovered that the weight of the camera on our bike completely changed how it reacts when cornering. Hair raising stuff indeed.

Because we love our rider at least as much as our cameras, we invested in a bunch of those tiny little finger sized cams that record to solid state drives. We can tape those little guys anywhere for some really exciting and unusual shots.

We expect to have a few of them destroyed over the course of the season, so we had to find a way to save money. The recorders we got make AVI files and use the MPEG 4 codec. Not very FCP friendly, but that’s where MPEG Streamclip comes in.

Fire it up and click on List > Batch List, or press command and B:

The next window opens:

Now we need to give MPEG Streamclip some files to work with.
Either drag them in from the Finder or click the Add Files button:

After choosing the files, the next window pops up. Because the clips are going to be used in FCP, we want to Export to QuickTime. Check the Fix Timecode Breaks button here as well, then click OK:

We already know this window from part one of the tutorial:

The rest of my material is DV-PAL, so I choose that codec here:  In your case, remember to choose a codec that matches the local TV standard and your current Sequence setting as appropriate

Click on To Batch and up comes the next set of options. At the bottom of the window, we can choose how many clips are processed in parallel. Click on the button marked in blue below to choose between 1 to 4 clips, then on the Gobutton:

I chose to do 4 clips at once, so with a reasonably fast Mac it should not take long to process:

That’s all folks. Hope you find this tutorial useful.

This article is reprinted with the permission of Nick Holmes, a tireless contributor at the Apple Discussions Professional Applications Forums.

The performance of any engine is dependent on the sum of its parts. Nothing proves the point more clearly than the engine that powers Adobe’s Premiere CS5 Macintosh. A rebuilt, but familiar Premiere CS5 coalesces three key technologies into the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine to facilitate a powerful editing environment for today’s demanding video codecs. As a 64-bit application, Premiere can access as much RAM as you throw at it. It leverages this 64-bit support and a multi-core, multi-threaded Macintosh to provide native real time editing in a multi-codec timeline. And it utilizes a qualified NVIDIA video card to accelerate encodes, real time previews, and many commonly used filters and plug ins.

I edited native DVCProHD, AVCIntra 100, 1080/60p from a Panasonic TM700, and AVCHD and RED footage at full resolution and without dropped frames in the same timeline – an impressive feat for those that regularly have this workflow. That’s the good news.

CS5 Premiere Pro Mac ships as a component of the Adobe Production Bundle and less expensively when separately bundled with CS5 onLocation and Encore, Adobe’s DVD/blu-ray™ authoring application.

Mercury Playback Engine. The Mercury Playback Engine (MPE) is not a separate component of Premiere Pro CS5, but represents the sum of its individual parts: 64-bit OS and application, multi-core/threaded hardware, and a NVIDIA GPU utilizing CUDA acceleration.

1. 64-Bit Support. Video editing requires fast, high capacity hard drives and system RAM to hold video frames in memory while editing. These twin demands grow exponentially when you add high definition to the mix, especially for demanding codecs like AVCHD and h.264, and large image sizes like RED. A 64-bit Premiere Pro Mac provides the pipeline to all your system RAM. This frees the other components to do the heavy lifting in the editing process and provides a more stable workflow, especially for large images. 2010 MacPros users will experience the largest performance gains because these desktops support up to 64 GB/s of RAM. Old MacPros with at least 12 GBs of system RAM will also benefit from Premiere’s 64-bit support. Remember, however, that a 64-bit boot of Snow Leopard to required to access these capabilities. Newer 2010 MacPros default to a 64-bit boot, and older MacPros require a manual boot.

2. Multi-core/multi-threaded Macintosh. Premiere Pro CS5 is multi-core aware. It also supports hyper-threading, which allows two video processing threads to run simultaneously on each, actual Mac processor core. Up to twenty-four virtual cores firing on all cylinders are available on some MacPros to uniformly distribute video processing tasks.

My test machine is a mid-2009 dual quad core (2.26GHz) Mac Pro (Xeon/Nehalem) with 12GB of RAM. Video footage was stored on a soft-striped RAID using two 500 GB Seagate internal SATA hard drives. The Kona System Test utility benchmarked the drive array at approximately 205 GB/s read/write. Test footage was taken from a Panasonic HPX300, HPX170, and HMC150, a TM700 (28 mbits/s AVCHD footage at 1080/60p), and sample footage from a RED cam. Everything was tested in native format without transcoding to a proxy or intermediate codec.

This mixed codec timeline of AVCIntra 100, DVCProHD 1080/30p, 1080/30p AVCHD, AVCHD 1080/60p at 28 mbits/s, and DVCProHD 720/24pN footage produced fluid playback at full resolution, full frame rate in CS5 Premiere Pro. Straight cuts and simple transitions presented no playback issues. Adding multiple layers, scaling, applying CUDA supported effects and filters did not stutter playback whatsoever. However, of all the codecs, native DSLR h.264 codecs eventually presented playback issues as I added layers, filters, and other FX. Playback improved, however, when working in half resolution. Superlatives do not exist to describe these capabilities. This is not your father’s Premiere.

3. NVIDA CUDA Acceleration. CS5 heralds the future of GPU-based video editing, and Premiere simply flies with a Quadro 4800: for multi-stream playback in real time; when applying CUDA supported filters; and when encoding for distribution. A pivotal component of CS5 Premiere, unfortunately the NVIDIA Quadro 4800 is the only Mac option. The less expensive, but nearly as powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 is also supported, but is no longer sold by NVIDIA, or available at the Apple Store. Neither NVIDIA or Adobe have revealed plans for additional, qualified Mac NVIDIA GPUs, so Mac users must either purchase the pricey Quadro 4800 or look elsewhere for available GTX 285s. eBay auctions occasionally offer used Mac GTX 285s, or PC boards flashed with Mac firmware, but be careful when considering these options. NVIDIA lists Mac and Windows GPUs qualified for Premiere CS5 at its website.

4. NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 is a game changing, but expensive, component to the package. It is indispensable for workflows that routinely embrace multi-stream, real-time editing of native and/or computational intensive high definition and large format codecs, and when using the listed CUDA effects and filters. As noted above, off-loading tasks to the GPU leaves the computer to focus on other routines. With GPU and CPU working in parallel, the editing experience, even for tough, complex codecs, becomes astonishingly quick.

The specs for the 4800 are impressive, and detail how powerful the card is. It has 192 CUDA cores; 1.5GB of RAM, a 384-bit memory interface, and a memory 76.8GBs per second bandwidth. The card facilitates realtime playback for many commonly used filters that Adobe has rewritten to take advantage of NVIDIA’s CUDA technology.

The strength of the Nvidia 4800 GPU, and it is considerable, is facilitating realtime playback when using Premiere’s CUDA accelerated effects and filters listed above. With this card, these effects are all realtime and rarely, if ever, require rendering.

In addition, Premiere Pro uses OpenGL technology to facilitate playback in the timeline and display the program and source monitors. Any video card with at least 768MB of RAM, and solid OpenGL support will assist in general playback of the timeline, which arguably includes the ATI/AMD GPUs shipping with the newest MacPros. However, those cards do not support accelerated effects, which are NVIDIA-specific.

Testing Results. My test results for multi-codec, native multi-codec timelines mirror what other reviewers have reported on the web. Basically, playback with the MPE using the NVIDIA Quadro 4800 on my multi-threaded MacPro in a 64-bit Snow Leopard boot were spectacular. Multi-codec timelines comprised of codecs from p2, Canon DSLRs, AVCHD cams, and sample RED footage supplied by Adobe played back full frame, native, and in real time. Playback was unaffected when applying various CUDA listed effects and filters supported by the GPU.

In addition, multi stream projects up to six streams played back without dropped frames and at full resolution. Separate timelines composed of four streams of pro res 422, DVCProHD (mxf) files, and AVCIntra100 were stutter free at full resolution and frame rate. If you add streams of video, Premiere’s playback resolution can be halved to examine video elements at full resolution, and then played a half resolution to evaluate the full edit. This is a nice feature, and huge time saver.

Thoughts. Adobe Premiere CS5 has stacked the deck to provide a pleasant editing experience using native codecs, and large format video. If you regularly work with tight deadlines, use native footage in multiple source codecs, have recurrent needs to edit DSLR video, high resolution HD, AVCIntra 100, AVCHD/AVCCAM, RED R3d natively, and your OS, GPU, and computer qualify, then Premiere CS5 is an astonishingly attractive option.

There are dozens of other apparent and under-the-hood improvements not detailed here. They include FCP and AVID XMP project support, CUDA acceleration of encoding, better metadata organization, improved and accelerated filters, and simplified workflows options, especially when creating new projects.

The performance gains of CS5 devolve, in large measure, on the accelerated performance supplied by NVIDIA’s CUDA technology and embodied in the Quadro 4800. Adobe has rewritten significant parts of CS5 Premiere to leverage the 4800’s capabilities. Editors will reap huge performance gains, particularly when editing today’s computational intensive and large format video codecs. NVIDIA’s next generation Fermi technology will continue to advance GPU-based editing. A Mac card supporting Fermi is rumored. Let’s hope the rumors are correct.

Until then, a decision to move to Premiere’s new editing paradigm devolves on your workflow demands and balance sheet. Specific hardware is required, and none of which is inexpensive. But if you have the resources, are deadline based, regularly work with computational intensive and/or large image size video codecs, then nothing compares to CS5 Premiere Pro with a Quadro FX 4800 on a qualified Mac. Nothing.

Final Cut Pro aficionado Jerry Hofmann’s 90 minute DVD provides a decade of experience about basic to advanced system, OS, hardware, and Final Cut Studio set up, and much more. Jerry starts with FCS and OS X installation strategies, discusses various hardware and software options, system, user, and AV settings, and finishes with how to set up an editing suite including which color to paint the walls (and why). Just about everything else Final Cut Pro hardware and software related is included. This is a must view for novice and expert, and a bargain at Amazon.com for $49.95.

The video DVD is divided into twelve informational categories. It includes AppleTV versions for each category in a separate Extras folder. Jerry’s presentation suggests solutions to issues which routinely arise when editing, and when using OS X. It also provides alternative approaches to avoid these issues.

Information is also supplied about purchasing 3rd party hardware for Final Cut Pro, including an extensive discussion about media drives, capture boxes and cards, hardware scopes, and external monitoring. Screen captures for the procedures and products discussed complement static views of Jerry’s presentation. This combination of monologue, screen casts and grabs, provides an informative hour and a half.

A brief explanation is provided below for many categories presented by Mr. Hofmann. Additionally a sample video from the DVD can be accessed here.

Installation & System Preferences.  How is Final Cut Studio safely and quickly installed, and reinstalled if problems arise? How is OS X completely reinstalled after major OS updates or before a new version of FCS is installed? Jerry provides time-saving strategies to quickly and efficiently complete these tasks using disc images created from the OS X install, and FCS installer discs. He covers boot drive cloning procedures using utilities like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper, the minimum system requirements for installing the suite, the importance of high speed internet access when updating, using the software updater to bring the suite current, and “when” it is wise to install updates.

Of importance, Jerry explains why these procedures are “best practices” for FCS users. The benefits of creating and using an OS X pocket boot drive are also explained.

Hardware Considerations. The minimum hardware necessary to run FCS is evaluated, including advice about Mac Mini or iMac systems. Jerry provides information on correlating your Mac purchase decision with the type of editing is contemplated. For example, if there is a need to compress large amounts of video for distribution, then a multi-core Mac is suggested. Custom application keyboards, which mouse to use, the utility of trackpads, and dedicated FCS3 panel devices are also explored. Advice is provided on purchasing blu-ray™ burners and discs, additional RAM, its installation and how to avoid slow system disk caching.

I/O Considerations. The chapter relates to how input/output cards, boxes, and scopes are evaluated for use for inputting tape, color correction, and monitoring externally for broadcast and DVD. Capture devices, including cards and external boxes, are evaluated. These include the Kona series, Io HD box, and KiPro from AJA, and similar products from Blackmagic design and Matrox. He also suggests which purchases make sense for boutique production companies. External video scopes are compared to FCS’s internal scopes and audio monitoring is covered.

An important segment explains recommended media drives, for either external and internal use, and why video should not be captured to a boot drive. Jerry provides a simple procedure using two free applications to gauge which media drives should be used with what video codec and camcorder.

User/AV/System Preferences & Settings. There are separate sections on how to set overall OS X system preferences to be compatible with Final Cut Pro, and FCP’s user and system preferences tabs. The latter review is lengthy and pure gold. Similar explanations are provided for the AV and system settings within FCP.

A number of other topics, including use of external drives, file storage, and editing suite set up and equipment are explained by Mr. Hofmann in detail and according to best practices.

This DVD is a no nonsense, straightforward instructional experience that approaches basic to complex system configuration, settings, and hardware using a solid professional workflow. Jerry’s extensive working knowledge of both the application suite, the hardware necessary to run it, and 3rd party products provides insights not often found in similar DVDs. Apple should bundle it with every license it sells for Final Cut Studio. Both new and seasoned users will discover valuable information here.

Until then it can be purchased at Amazon.com.

No shipping Macintosh computer supports USB3, a curious omission for a company that historically has embraced new technology. The omission is more acute given the USB3 specifications: up to 4.8Gbps data transfers, compatibility with USB1 and USB2 peripherals, and low cost. Although FW800 is supported in nearly all Mac laptop and desktop systems, eSATA is a 3rd party option, and only the pricey 17-inch MacBook Pro, and some older 15-inch MBPs carry an ExpressCard 34 slot.

Enter CalDigit’s AV drive, a Mac compatible SuperSpeed USB3 external hard drive bundled with either an ExpressCard 34 or PCIe card and a custom Mac driver. My evaluation package easily installed in an available PCIe slot in a 2009 MacPro. Compatible MacBook Pro owners can purchase the ExpressCard 34 bundle with the drive. The 1TB AV USB3 drive performed surprisingly well using USB3, and provided the fastest write speeds I’ve seen for a FW800 device.

What’s In The Box. CalDigit bundles the drive, USB3 and FW800 cables, external power supply, QuickStart Guide, and either an ExpressCard 34 or PCIe USB3 board depending on your needs. A 2TB version is also available. The drive is housed in an aluminum enclosure and weighs 3.3 pounds. It measures 1.79”x5.37”x8.31”, contains a power port, two FW800 ports, security lock, and USB3 port on its back. The drive connects via USB2 using the supplied USB3 cable. USB2 cables are not compatible. CalDigit sells additional 3 foot ($14.99) and 6 foot ($19.99) USB3 cables.

A front positioned indicator light displays on/off status, but no power switch is provided. The drive will sleep when not in use. The back mounted “smart” fan controls temperature. CalDigit declined to identify which drive mechanism is used, but indicated that all drives must pass a stringent certification process to be used in the enclosure. The mechanisms spin at 7200 rpm, include a 32 MB or greater drive buffer, and have a 8.9ms average seek time.

You can purchase the USB3 drive separately ($199.00/1TB). Also available separately is the two port USB3 ExpressCard 34 card ($89.00) and the two port USB3 PCIe card ($79.00), both of which include one USB 3.0 cable. A 2TB drive is sold in a bundle or separately.

Setup and Installation. CalDigit automates the process to format the drive and install the Mac driver. First, mount the drive using the FW800 connection. The company’s drive assistant formatter appears, recognizes the Mac OS, and prompts to initialize the drive as a MacOS extended device.

Once initialized, copy the USB3 driver, backup utilities (Carbon Copy Cloner), and raid utility off the drive, install the driver, and reboot your Mac. Install the PCIe card in an available slot on your MacPro, and connect via USB3. The bundled utilities and driver are also available for download at the company’s web site. The whole process, including the install of the PCIe card, took about 10 minutes.

Performance. Once powered up and connected via USB3, the drive mounted on the desktop. The Kona System Test utility was used to test USB3, FW800, and USB2 performance. Here are the results:

Read/write speeds for an empty USB3 drive were spectacular. The 145 MB/s write/reads were 30% faster than any internal SATA drive I have tested.

I then transferred 750 GB/s of data from an internal SATA drive to the empty CalDigit AV drive using USB3. The transfer tool just over 120 minutes, which indicates that the USB3 drive is limited the slowest drive it is transferring to or from.

Read/write speeds for a nearly full drive dropped significantly — about 95 MB/s write read, but still were impressive. Similar drops in speed or also characteristic of SATA drives.

The surprising results were for FW800 write speeds. At 85 MB/s, the write speeds were 25% faster than any other FW800 drive I’ve tested.

Finally, here are the tests results for USB2:

Final Thoughts. The AV drive is a versatile device. It functions in three modes: USB3 with compatible Mac card; FW800 at increased write speeds, and USB1 or 2 with any Mac or PC. But its real appeal is tethered as a USB3 drive. As indicated, the drive is faster than any shipping standalone FW800 or eSATA drive that I’ve tested, and installation in a supported MacBookPro or MacPro with the appropriate card is straightforward.

Apple has not yet implemented onboard USB3 or eSATA on any shipping Mac, which presents challenges to potential Mac USB3 adopters and opens the door for 3rd party solutions like CalDigit. The company has done well in providing a relatively low cost bundle for qualifying Mac computers. However, its custom Mac driver is not guaranteed to be compatible with other USB3 hard drives, so be forewarned when purchasing other USB3 devices.

Whether Apple will eventually provide on board USB3 is difficult to assess as new standards emerge. Apple hasn’t implemented the newest standards for Firewire, and has eschewed onboard USB3 in its latest hardware. Other protocols are on the horizon, including Light Peak, an Intel developed, exceedingly fast optical cable technology that promises a bandwidth of 10 Gbit/s initially. However, CalDigit’s AV drive is available now, is reasonably priced, works with Mac desktops and laptops with the appropriate card, provides the fastest throughput currently available in this form factor, and exceedingly fast FW800 transfers. That is a tough package to beat.