We can't believe we read a tweet this morning saying that there weren't any new Thunderbolt products on display at IBC. Maybe they didn't go past the G-Technology stand and catch sight of this 8TB monster prototype.
It would seem that the majority of hard drive manufacturers have realised the potential of Thunderbolt and have products in development or very close to shipping.
At IBC, G-Technology were showing off a prototype of their 8 Terabyte G-RAID with Thunderbolt connectivity. It is billed as the highest capacity two drive RAID 0 external storage device in the world.
The model features Hitachi's new 4TB 7,200 RPM drives giving the unit a write speed of 221 MB/s and a read speed of 250 MB/s. The case will be smaller than the prototype on display as it contained some custom circuit boards. It has no other connectivity on the rear, just two Thunderbolt ports allowing pass through for daisy chaining.
“We understand the process of creation, and today, digital video editing is no longer facility‐driven – It’s driven by the places and lifestyles of the people doing the work,” said Steve Pereira, vice president, Hitachi GST, Europe Middle East and Africa. “Our G‐RAID Thunderbolt demo connected to a MacBook Pro shows how our customers can get lightning speed and huge capacity in a single RAID 0 storage solution to easily edit anywhere. Built like a tank, our G‐RAID solution has been the cornerstone of our business, and we look forward to bringing our Thunderbolt‐based family and 4TB‐based solutions to the market. WithG‐Technology’s high quality, high performance commitment, our customers can continue to focus on their work and not on their equipment.”
No word on price but we were told that it will probably be scaled up from the £500 6TB version. You'll be able to buy the unit in late November and other Thunderbolt products are due for release in Q1.
We found this G-Technology video from NAB 2011 in April.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
