Could Storages Compared - Part 4

 Check Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of my exploration of cloud storage providers, with real life testing and comments.

 Since I am an editor, and I use Final Cut Pro among other tools, in this post I am looking into uploading and downloading ".fcpbundle" files, which are the program files for Final Cut Pro. On macOS, the bundles are recognized as a single Final Cut Pro Library file that the software can open and save.

 In actuality, a ".fcpbundle" file consists of an enclosing folder with a series of files and subfolders inside. This one is very stripped down, they can grow in size and content depending on the project you are working on and its advancement.

 In terms of cloud storage though, with the exception of iCloud, these ".fcpbundle" files are identified as regular folders. 

 When round tripping (upload + download) a ".fcpbundle" file to the cloud, weird things can happen due to the nature of the bundle and files contained within. See below my testings of how cloud providers handle these particular files.

 ROUND-TRIPPING FINAL CUT PRO LIBRARY FILE

A) Uploading into local sync folder, downloading from the web

All cloud providers via their macOS desktop sync work fine. Except for FolderFort since they do not have a macOS app available at the moment. The downloaded library can be opened by FCP no problem.

 Although it cannot be opened if the Library resides into the local cloud folder of all the providers using the Apple File Provider scheme, see Part 2, i.e. with iCloud Drive, DropBox, GoogleDrive, OneDrive and Internxt. The Library must first be first dragged to another location, opened, saved, and then uploaded again to the cloud.

 With the clouds that are not following the macOS File Provider scheme: Mega, Jottacloud, Drime, kDrive, the Library can be opened and saved in-situ by FCP. Which makes sense since these cloud folders are behaving ore or less like local folders.

 As with pCloud, if you try to open the Library while it resides on the pCloud virtual drive, FCP will CRASH. So with pCloud, one has to copy the library to a proper local folder, and then save it again to pCloud when done.

B) Uploading and downloading from the web

Crazy as it sounds, iCloud FAILS. iCloud does not upload the Library correctly on the web. In my example, the Library is 193KB. It is only 30KB after upload on iCloud via the web. It is empty, even though it is stamped by iCloud as a "FCPBUNDLE file". As a result, this file downloaded onto my Mac cannot be opened by FCP. In essence you cannot use iCloud web to upload a FCP Library or you will loose it. This is mind boggling since Final Cut Pro is an Apple product, I can't understand how Apple is OK with this.

DropBox, Internxt, and Sync FAIL. They refuse to upload the Library claiming it's empty. Which in a sense is better than what iCloud is doing. At least you cannot be fooled into believing that your Library is safely uploaded to the cloud. 

 OneDrive, Jottacloud, Drime, Mega, Icedrive, pCloud, and FolderFort all upload the Library like champs on the web, nothing is lost. Download works fine as well.

TO RECAP THIS FCPBUNDLE TEST:

Cloud Provider	Proper desktop app upload	Opening, saving FCP Library from sync cloud folder	Proper web upload /download	Using Apple File Provider scheme	Recognized as fcpbundle
iCloud	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
OneDrive	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Mega	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
GoogleDrive	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Internxt	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
kDrive	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
DropBox	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Drime	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
JottaCloud	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
PCloud	Yes	Absolutely not	Yes	No	No
FolderFort	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No

 

DaVinci Resolve 21 Is Out!

 DaVinci Resolve version 21 is out! So many new things, so little time!

From BlackMagic:

 DaVinci Resolve 21 introduces the Photo page, bringing Hollywood's most advanced color tools to still photography! A new generation of AI tools let you search media by content, read slate data, perform de-aging, blemish removal and more. The Edit and Cut pages have improved keyframing and greater graphic format support. Color page workflows are optimized with MultiMaster trim passes, layer list node graphs and group versions. Fusion offers over 70 new graphics via the powerful Krokodove toolset. Fairlight’s folder function simplifies audio track management and navigation. Plus, increased support for immersive and VR workflows puts you at the forefront of the latest deliverable technologies.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/whatsnew

Splash screen

What's new in DVR 21? Photo page and more! Some are only for the paid "Studio" version.

Old projects do need an update.

Once updated, V21 projects cannot be opened with older versions of Resolve.

How To Bulk Transfer Contacts From One iCloud Account To Another

  Apple makes transferring contacts in bulk from one iCloud account to another somewhat painless on the web.

 Log into the first iCloud account on the web.

 Go to Contact app.

 Select all contacts you want to export.

 Click on the Share button, and select "Export vCard.

Even though it says "Export vCard" singular, it will export multiple contacts in a single ".vcf" file.

 Name and save the .vcf file somewhere safe.

 Log out the first iCloud account.

 Log into the second iCloud account.

 Go to Contact app.

 Click on the + button.

Even though it says "Import Contact" singular, it will import multiple contacts from a single ".vcf" file.

 Select the ".vcf" file to import.

 Wait for a while, if you have a lot of contacts the process can take several minutes and there is no progress indicator whatsoever, it looks like nothing is happening. I wish Apple would add some kind of progress bar with a percentage of completion or something!

 After some time the contact list gets populated.

 Done!

 Delete the ".vcf" file if you so desire, or keep it somewhere safe as a backup.

Cloud Storages Compared - Part 3

  In Part 1 and Part 2 I look at the pros and cons of a handful of cloud providers. I dive into the nitty gritty to discover the practical differences, annoying behaviors, and other details that can make the experience enjoyable or unpleasant.

 Read on for more info as I continue my test drive. At some point I will do a recap / wrap-up and decide which provider I prefer for my own usage.

JOTTACLOUD UPDATE

 First off, I need to correct myself re. Jottacloud Selective sync capabilities.

Jottacloud does selective sync! - I updated my Part 1 post to reflet that.

In the Jottacloud settings you can select which folders get synced. Great!

JOTTACLOUD FUNCTIONS

Jottacloud has three distinct functions: Backup, Sync and Archives.

Backup looks at folders your device and backup any new file or updated file to the cloud. Backup is also selective as you can select which folders get backed up in the settings. Very cool. You can backup multiple devices. If something happens to your computer, you have a backup in the cloud of the data you've selected to backup.

Sync is for files and folders you wish to share between devices. You can select any folder on your device that you want Jotta to keep in sync. As mentioned earlier, you can select which files and folders get synced within the main sync folder. That's very flexible. 

Archive is self explanatory, and is where files and folders you occasionally use get stored. Archive is in the cloud, but is accessible - not searchable unfortunately - via the desktop app. It is fully searchable on the web app and iOS app, so hopefully Jotta will add the feature in a subsequent update of the macOS app.

I'm liking Jotta more and more. It is accessible in iOS Files as a Location, like kDrive and Drime.

DRIME DRAMA

As I continue testing Drime, something happened on my Mac: For some reason now, only the top folder shows on the local folder and it is empty. The sync of files and folders seem to work, as files I put in the local folder get uploaded to the could just fine, but they disappear from the local folder as soon as that's done.

The other issue I have with Drime, it uploads every single .DS_Store from my Mac, and it gets in the way of the experience.

I wrote to the people at Drime, let see if they come up with a solution to both of these roadblocks.

AND NOW, REAL WORLD SPEED TEST

Cloud Provider	1GB file web app upload speed	Web app drag and drop to upload	Max file size	Web app drag and drop between folders	macOS app
iCloud	12 min	Yes	50 GB	Yes	Yes
OneDrive	18 min	Yes	250GB	Yes	Yes
Mega	12 min (*)	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes
GoogleDrive	12 min	Yes	5TB	Yes	Yes
Internxt	12 min	Yes	40GB	Yes	Yes
kDrive	13 min	Yes	50GB	Yes	Yes
DropBox	11 min	Yes	2TB	Yes	Yes
Drime	11 min	Yes	Unlimited	Yes	Yes
JottaCloud	14 min	Yes	Unlimited	No	Yes
PCloud	12 min	Yes	Unlimited	No	Yes
FolderFort	13 min	Yes	100GB	Yes	No

(*) Mega failed repeatedly on Safari as I was trying to upload the 1GB test file (using drag and drop, and using the upload button.) It uploaded fine on Firefox.

Microsoft OneDrive is the slowest of the bunch. Jottacloud, kDrive, FolderFort are a tad slower than the rest, all clocking around 11-12 min.

I've added FolderFort to this speed test, it looks like a stripped down version of Drime. It has no macOS app, so not interesting to me at the moment. Hopefully they will have one soon.

WEB APP DRAG AND DROP TO UPLOAD

Al providers have this function, which is fast and convenient. On the other hand, not all providers show upload progress clearly. Here is some fun comparison with screen grabs below.

UPLOADING WINDOWS VISUALS

In perfect unreadable Microsoft fashion, I give you OneDrive.

Black progress bar over dark gray line, fantastic.

No info whatsoever except the name of the file and where it's being uploaded.

Plus a useless spinning wheel.

When you click on the expand button, you get a version with improved readability.

Why? Can't we just get that version upfront? Really, Microsoft?...

Jottacloud large contrasty progress bar with data size progress.

Practical, not very beautiful to look at. Does the job.

The Expanded version is really only useful when uploading multiple files.

Drime really good snapshot of the action.

Data size counter, timer. Good job there.

kDrive, not so great display, at least it's contrasty enough.

The progress is shown in the small circle.

The better, larger progress line is actually not one! It just zips endlessly there.

Data size progress indicator wins a point. But overall bad UI from kDrive. 

iCloud clean, unencumbered display.

With the right amount of info, as one would expect from Apple.

Data size counter, no timer though.

Although the progress bar and the wheel are kind of redundant.

Internxt clean, stripped down display, taking after Apple.

Percentage uploaded instead of actual data size.

Except I'm not sure "Processing" is the right word to use here.

DropBox has been at the game for a while and it shows.

Excellent progress bar, extended file info.

Counter, expected time of completion, and more. A winner.

Icedrive minimalistic high visibility "gadget".

Different for sure, not bad actually.

Sync.com not so great window.

No progress bar, useless spinning upper wheel.

At least it's readable, with some data counting info.

pCloud clean, stripped down window.

Missing some real time data size and time counter.

Mega excellent panel, another winner.

FolderFort better than Microsoft.

No progress bar, but high contrast UI, and data size upload progress, nice.

Inspired by Google, no doubt.

And finally GoogleDrive clean panel.

Missing size counter, with expected time of completion.

MAX FILE SIZE UPLOAD

Only Mega, Drime, Jottacloud and PCloud offer unlimited file size upload. GoogleDrive and DropBox give you a generous 5TB and 2TB respectively. OneDrive maxes at 250GB, Folder fort at 100GB. I expected better than 50GB from iCloud and kDrive. Internxt is at the bottom of the list with a 40GB limit. Note that even though some providers have unlimited file size, in practice they have some kind of limitation that kicks in, like slower upload speeds (Jotta above 5TB), daily data upload cap; or stricter limits to the desktop app, or phone app, or web app.

WEB APP DRAG AND DROP BETWEEN FOLDERS

This is a very intuitive, convenient and fast way to move files and folders around. Most providers do it well, DropBox does it best. Unfortunately JottaCloud nor pCloud have that feature, which makes them very passé. I hope they both implement full drag and drop in the near future.

macOS APP

Being an Apple Mac (and iPhone) user, this is a must for me. All providers on my list, except ForderFort, have a macOS app. As mentioned into Part 1,  the location of the cloud drive differ among providers. They do behave differently, and the available functions are different. I will look into user experience more in details in incoming Part 4.

I will also look into the providers iOS apps, and how they behave. They all have one, including FolderFort, which make the lack of macOS app on their part all the more disappointing.

Stay tuned!

Cloud Storages Compared - Part 2

  In Part 1, I go through the various pros and cons of a select few cloud providers, and what I discover as I'm test using the services. Read Part 1 first and then let's continue our discovery here.

STATUS ICONS macOS DESKTOP APP

 I have to correct myself about kDrive not visually signaling the difference between offline and online files with status icons, it actually works. I noticed he same phenomena happening with DropBox status icons which are similar looking. Grey cloud icon, file in the cloud only, free checkmark, file on local drive and in the cloud.

 The problem according to Infomaniak (makers of kDrive), is that too many File Providers create confusion on the whole system, and status icons tend to disappear. If you turn other apps File Providers off and on again, the kDrive/DropBox status icons appears. It's kind of random.

 It is weird that this affects every file and folder on the Mac considering each provider should only be concerned by their dedicated sync folder, not the folders of their peers. I suppose Apple has only implemented an all or nothing function at this point. This needs improvements.

 (*) Note that Mega nor Jotta have a cloud only option, so the status icons are only there to indicate upload in progress (red), or file fully uploaded to the cloud (green.)

 (**) pCloud always mounts the whole cloud drive as a virtual drive, with all of its content offline. The status icons serve the same purpose of indicating upload in progress, or file fully uploaded to the cloud.

USER SPECIFIED FOLDER macOS

 iCloud, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, and Internxt do not let user specify a local folder. Instead the sync folder goes to: User/youruser/Library/CloudStorage. You cannot change the location. I don't fully understand this behavior, but it sounds like Apple is imposing this new way of syncing cloud drives to the Mac. Google explanation as to how this is supposed to work makes it even more confusing. DropBox too is migrating to the File Provider way, but for now at least you can still use it the old way, and specify which folder gets synced. Depending on your needs, having or not having a user specified folder might work or not work for you. DropBox decided to update on my machine, so now it's managed by File Provider.

OK, I guess.

Cloud Provider	Status Icons	User Specified Folder	Movies Preview	Rename Extension	Detailed Info
iCloud	Yes	No	Yes	No	Basic
OneDrive	Yes	No	Bad	No	Basic+
Mega	Yes*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic
GoogleDrive	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Basic
Internxt	Yes	No	Limited (***)	No	Basic
kDrive	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic
DropBox	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Best
Drime	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Basic
JottaCloud	Yes (*)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic
pCloud	Yes (**)	No	Yes	Yes	Basic

MOVIES PREVIEWS

 Common encoding schemes like h264 are recognized, but others (like ProRes) are not, and so there is no preview for these less common codecs across the board.

 OneDrive previews are an abomination, they look awful like they are over compressed (for the sake of quick access I suppose), which makes the experience borderline useless.

(***)  Internxt systematically fails at previewing most movie files, including ".mov" and common codecs. Only previews that work seem to be h264 ".mp4".

Same thing happens with IceDrive and iDrive by the way. A h264 ".mov" file will not preview, but renaming the file ".mp4" will preview fine.

The worse is Sync.com, it has no preview for any kind of movie

RENAME EXTENSION (Web App behavior)

 iCloud, OneDrive, Internxt do not allow you to change the extension of a file in the web app. You cannot rename a ".mov" file as ".mp4" for example. I do not like that limitation.

DETAILED INFO

 Most providers only provide basic information, type of file, size, location. OneDrive gives you some useful info like frame size. DropBox is by far the best with info about capturing device, resolution, frame rate, color space, and even codec. All the others are pale in comparison.

For Adjusting macOS Apps Relative Audio Levels There Is FineTune

  FineTune is a well polished sound app that allows for adjusting levels from multiple apps playing audio on your Mac.

 If like me you want to listen to sound effects or music online, and simultaneously playback ProTools, or Audition, but the browser player has no adjustable level and the music is awfully loud, or the level is only adjustable for each item - which is cumbersome, you need an app to adjust relative audio levels between apps. A function sorely lacking on Macs since... Forever. 🍎 Bad Apple!

 That's where FineTune takes over. Adjust the relative level of Firefox to 50% and you now can hear your ProTools session properly. Wonderful!

 It can also adjust outputs levels, and has a graphical EQ available for each source. And it remembers your settings.

 It is similar to Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource, only it's free. Available on Github. If you like FineTune, you can buy Ronit a Kofi here.

Batch Convert Audio Files With iZotope RX

  You can batch convert audio files, including old ".sd2" files with the help of iZotope RX, including RX7 which I own.

 In RX7, select Window/Batch Processing. The batch processing window opens:

Drag and drop a dummy file in the "Input Files" section.

 Add a Processing step by clicking the + button. Select Apply: "Resample" from the list.

 Select With: Preset, or a custom settings to your choice. I chose 48k.

 Note that you can add as many Processing steps as you like, all the processing within RX are present: De-click, Normalize, etc. Save file as: your choice, I chose BWF. Set output options allows to select the destination, and the bitrate, I chose 24bit.

 Rename the batch process to your liking, I named it "Convert to BWF 48k 24bit". Now you can delete your dummy file from the list, the batch process is ready to use. You can create as many as you want and they will be listed there next time you open RX.

 Drag from the Finder to add the files you want to batch convert to the Input files section. Press Process! And let it rip!