Is a USB 3.0 external drive fast enough to use when editing with Final Cut Pro X, as compared to a Thunderbolt drive?
Presumable the Thunderbolt drive is faster, but for a serious amateur would a USB 3.0 drive be adequate?
I'm thinking of installing a 1144AM PCI-E 2.0 x4 Quad-Port USB 3.0 Raid for Mac on my Mac Pro 2.66 Mhz Quad Core Intel Xeon.
There are empty slots available.
Cost is a factor.
Thanks,
Hal
It depends on what format you're working in and what you're doing, but for most things USB3 is more than adequate.
It depends on what format you're working in and what you're doing, but for most things USB3 is more than adequate.
Halle,
If cost is a factor then USB3, if not Thunderboldt.
I use the old Firewire, external drives.
The theoretical speed for the Thunderbolt is 10 Gb/s, the USB3 is 5 Gb/s, both of which exceed the eSATA speed of 3.2 Gb/s. USB3 is becoming more plentiful, and thus lower in cost, and should exceed your storage rate access speed. USB3 is a viable option for your use.
I and many others use USB 2.0 with no problems!
It all depends what you want the speed for.
If you are doing 4 angle multicam with hi-def ProRes you will get dropped frames, but using proxy ProRes, no problems at all.
If you think it will speed up your editing you will probably be disappointed as it is the processor and RAM that limits the speed of rendering.
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown
Well you don't really have an option because Thunderbolt is not available for a MacPro.
With usb 2, I've edited hundreds of 2 camera, pro rez 1080p shows with 8 audio tracks on a 4 year old iMac. The problem is you need to render effects and transitions before they play. Once rendered, they play fine.
USB 3.0 vs Thunderbolt drive
