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Fast External Mac Drive For Video Editing: Benefits, Features, and Recommendations



Surprisingly, the answer is: Not as fast as you think. Whether you edit using Avid, Adobe, Apple or Blackmagic, Windows or Mac, the storage bandwidth rules remain the same. You need a certain amount of data every second in order to edit video effectively. So, how fast do we really need?




Fast External Mac Drive For Video Editing




A 3-drive SSD RAID opens up every format, everywhere. However, the real benefit of this much speed is not single camera editing, but multicam. This speed easily handles 10 streams of 4K video. Double that if you use proxies.


The problem of a dropped frame on FCP X is that the Read speed of a drive must never drop below a single video frame megabit size time requited to read it out of storage. The speeds shown in the Blackmagic are average speeds per second. With AJA the average speed per second is also reported along with a graph of the read and write speed by frame size is given per frame. In the graph there are spikes in read that sometimes drops below speeds needed to transfer a frame. Then a video drop frame will be reported. Spinning drives have lots of spikes that drop below the min speed required to required to prevent a dropped frame. Even with the SSDs of all shapes sometimes have spikes that that may give a dropped frame or two. Beats the spinning Raid 5 and 0. So less dropped frames occur.


This is the optimal capacity of RAM a computer needs for video editing. 32GB will allow you to edit all kinds of files, and you will be able to work with longer videos. With 32GB RAM, you could have multiple programmes running at the same time, and still be able to efficiently edit and preview your videos. 32GB will let you do everything you need to do to edit videos, without slowing down your workflow.


In summary, the amount of RAM you have in your PC or laptop will make a significant difference in your ability to edit videos seamlessly and efficiently. Although 8GB or 16GB is a huge amount of RAM for most people, video editing requires a lot more RAM due to the complexities of the software and the types of files being used. You will still be able to use 8GB or 16GB of RAM for video editing, but the type and amount of footage you can edit will be limited and you might have to shut down other applications. However, by purchasing at least a 32GB capacity of RAM, you will significantly improve your video editing experience and be able to perform all the tasks needed without slowing down your computer.


In general, we find that the Sandisk Extreme Portable SSDs are very travel-friendly portable SSD that makes an excellent working drive, redundant on-site storage, or transfer drive for videographers, video editors, and photographers. Thanks to its performance, price, and build quality, The Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD 1TB gets our pick for the best SSD for editing video.


The Extreme PRO is an NVMe drive, whereas the non-PRO is only SATA III, an older and slower interface compared to the newer and insanely faster NVMe interface. NVMe is currently the best external connection protocol available in the consumer space.


Transfer speeds on portable SSDs are extremely fast, especially when compared to traditional hard drives. The read/write speeds available means that you can quickly copy videos and even edit your videos without any real performance issues.


We think that the best external SSD capacity right now is 1TB, as it is the best sweet spot right now for capacity and price. Yes, 2TB solid-state drives are definitely becoming more affordable, but for most users, we feel that the cost per GB of a 1TB drive is a perfect choice.


if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'creatorbeat_com-mobile-leaderboard-2','ezslot_16',175,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-creatorbeat_com-mobile-leaderboard-2-0');The external SSD is only really necessary if you need to transfer content from machine to machine or if your internal storage is too small to reliably copy your footage and work from that drive.


Now that the read and write speed for external drives are fast enough, you can easily edit your videos directly from an SSD, whether internal or external. Everything you can do on internal drives you can now do on external drives without worrying about a difference in drive speed between the two.


However, when compared to other top-performing external SSDs, the Pro-Blade tops the list, coming in on par with the SanDisk Extreme Pro in my tests and having faster transfer speeds than that reported of the Samsung T series or Samsung 970 Evo Plus.


The portable 2021 M1 MacBook Pro with M1 Max chip can not only edit up to 30 streams of 4K video but even 7 streams of 8K video which is as good as any professional video editing workstation out there.


Although at one time there was far less video editing software for Mac than Windows PCs, almost all of the best video editing software are also now compatible with macOS (although some are still being updated to work natively with the latest M1 and M2 Macs.


The 14 inch M1 MacBook Pro with M1 Pro or M1 Max is around $500 cheaper and around 100g lighter than the 16 inch model but we strongly recommend going for the 16 inch M1 MacBook Pro screen estate for video editing.


Out of the current models we recommend the iMac 27-inch. It offers everything you need for editing 4K video without breaking the bank, and its components can be upgraded as your needs grow.


Having gone through everything a video editor needs from a computer, we decided on a list of recommended specifications to test each model of Mac against. These specs promise to give you a frustration-free experience with most video editing software.


Fortunately, all Macs include fast Thunderbolt 3 ports that support USB-C devices. Desktop Macs also have a number of traditional USB ports, and external USB hubs can be purchased if you need them for your MacBook.


For video editing is SSD or HDD best? Both SSD and HDD drives are useful to a video editor. An SSD, although more expensive, is fast and will boost video editing and playback performance. While large capacity HDDs are slow but cheap, so they are ideal for archiving completed video projects.


The scratch disk is the temporary location where the program stores the files it is using in the video project. This is normally on the primary drive, where the operating system is installed, which typically is your fastest drive. As stated above, the primary drive is usually an SSD because of its speed advantage over an HDD.


Solid State Drives use flash memory chips for data storage and access. To better understand whether you should use an SSD or HDD for all your video editing drives, we will give you a detailed breakdown below.


This huge speed differential will translate to a notable performance difference when it comes to editing videos. This includes the loading of video and audio clips on your timeline, adding filters and plugin effects, the playback of your project timeline, rending, and more.


Then things started getting complicated, you had to decide whether you should platters spinning at 5,400rpm were going to cut it, or should you get a faster spinning 7,200rpm HDD. Then, for a while, you had to know whether you need a PATA or a SATA drive.


For higher capacity SSDs prices start to get eye-watering. So if you are using an SSD for video editing and an HDD for storage of completed projects, at present the largest capacity SSD I would buy is 2TB.


While 1TB of storage seems like a lot of space, you need to keep in mind that a 1TB SSD will cost significantly more than a 1TB HDD. Also, consider the type of video files you are shooting and editing.


With that kind of usage, a 1TB drive will fill up quickly. For that reason, many video editors use external HDD drives where they can archive their finished video projects. In my case, I use internal HDD drives and then swap them out for a new one when full. The old HDD is then added to my archive store.


In my current system, I have a 1TB boot drive, a second 1TB SSD for my current video projects, and a 6TB HDD for long term video storage of my projects. Ultimately the HDD gets swapped out and stored externally when it gets full.


For faster loading speeds, you should consider NVMe M.2 for video editing purposes. NVMe technology delivers up to 10x faster read speeds than standard SATA 3 SSD drives. In terms of loading effects and frames, the increased read speed will translate into a real-world performance difference you can see.


For an application-specific example, video editing projects load at an accelerated rate in Adobe Premiere CC when using the Samsung 970 Evo Plus. When it comes to 4K video playback speed, the Samsung 970 Evo Plus maintains a smooth playback of the timeline regardless of the video quality or size.


The last and probably the most crucial factor for frequent travelers. It would help if you always look for well-built external drives that can last you for a decent amount of time as that would increase your chances of safely storing backups.


The rugged build quality is excellent and solves the durability issues that regular hard drives have. This makes it perfect for traveling and other consuming tasks that can put a standard external drive at risk.


Its build quality is impressive, and the performance it delivers is blazing fast. The rugged body makes it the perfect travel companion, and the blazing fast speeds mean you can play games straight off the drive with a primary USB-C connection.


Another deciding factor, however, is the connection. Many external hard drives have USB 3.0 connections, but since MacBooks and Mac accessories rely on the power and data transfer speed of USB-Cs, USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 or 4 connections are certainly favorable.


We have been evaluating some of the best external drives for Mac for 2023, focusing on capacity, interface, and compatibility with Mac devices. Now that the holiday season has passed, we are keeping an eye out for sales, deals, and any new releases at CES 2023.Collin Probst, B2B Hardware Editor 2ff7e9595c


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