I think this version of Resolve (12.5) is the biggest jump in terms of differentiating the free and paid versions of the software yet (ever since they removed the node limitation).

Several of these new features are partially or totally left out of the free version, like HDR and some of the bigger ResolveFX, like lens flare and film grain.

So stoked to see proxy workflow addressed by Adobe. I've been in a situation or two where I've needed to edit compressed UHD on a really underpowered computer—both times, I ended up turning to FCP X solely because they have such a good proxy workflow. I prefer Premiere, so it's cool to see them address this!

As a big user of Audition, I'm intrigued by the Pr-->Au-->ME workflow. It seems nice, but it also seems like a great way to make revisions more complicated. Will have to give it a shot when it's available to see.

Offloading to an external SATA drive for archiving is playing with fire. Spinning it up every so often helps, but it's not exactly bulletproof. Drives fail—all the time. SSDs aren't much safer.

Of course, something is better than nothing. But don't just throw stuff on drives and feel like it's safe for ever.

Data retention on HDDs, SSDs, and even optical media is not very good. Not if you're talking in terms of years vs. months.

I think you have it backwards—RAID-0 doesn't make any sense at all for archiving. You're doubling your chances for data loss with zero benefits. If you need the space, hard drives are cheap.

If it helps, here's my system—take it or leave it:

Active projects live on a Raid-0 drive. A cheap USB drive lives next to it and Carbon Copy backs up the active drive to the cheap drive for safety. Whenever my Raid-0 loses a drive (happens once or twice per year on average) I pop in a new drive and restore from the backup USB drive.

When projects are done, I move them to our NAS (I believe it's set to Raid-10, but the principle still applies) since it has internal redundancy to protect against data lost.

At all times, Backblaze is running and keeps emergency back ups in the cloud. Never had to use it, hope I never have to.

Additionally—Time Machine sucks. Seriously. Buy Carbon Copy, it's way better and easier to use.

I really like that one long take in Children of Men (you know which one...) because it gives me, the viewer, a feeling of relentlessness—I desperately want the camera to cut because it would relieve the tension of the scene. And that's what the director wants in that scene. It works so well.

However, most of Chivo/Inarritu's long takes, while undeniably impressive, end up feeling like stunts. They call attention to themselves. Which is fun, sure—but I think it shows a lack of discipline.

This is where Spielberg's long takes impress me more. They stay subtle and powerful. Unless you're looking for it, you usually don't realize it's a single take, because he uses them to immerse you in a moment. He gives actors time to own a performance and bring a deeper level of humanity into a scene that would otherwise be cut short by an edit.

Spielberg has discipline. He uses the technique effectively to give life to a scene instead of distracting you with stunning cinematography and blocking.

He's not angry about a plugin, he just goes out of his way to express how much he doesn't like Premiere Pro CC 2015. It's just about all he ever comments to say.