PostMicroTools
Curated picks
Recommended hardware for post & VFX
Honest, no-fluff hardware picks for editors, colorists and VFX artists — the gear that actually shows up in real suites.
External SSDs (edit drives)
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD V2
~2000 MB/s read, IP65, USB-C 20 Gbps. The default field/edit drive — fast enough for native 4K ProRes.
View →Samsung T9 Portable SSD
~2000 MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, compact. Sustains 4K ProRes 422 HQ comfortably.
View →OWC Envoy Pro FX (Thunderbolt 4)
~2800 MB/s sustained. The pick for native 4K/6K ProRes 4444 and onset offload.
View →Multi-drive / RAID
OWC ThunderBay 4 mini (RAID 5)
Thunderbolt 4, 4 × NVMe/SSD. ~2,5 GB/s sustained — finishing & multicam 6K/8K.
View →Synology DS923+
4-bay NAS, 10 GbE option, Btrfs snapshots. Project archive + Plex for the studio.
View →Color-accurate monitors
BenQ SW272U (27" 4K)
98% P3, 99% Adobe RGB, hardware calibration. Best price-to-accuracy for color today.
View →ASUS ProArt PA279CRV
27" 4K, 99% DCI-P3, Calman/Calibrite ready. The sweet-spot grading monitor.
View →Eizo ColorEdge CS2740
27" 4K with built-in self-calibration sensor option. Boutique-quality color reference.
View →Calibration
Calibrite Display Pro HL
The colorimeter editors actually use. Pairs with DisplayCAL/Calibrite Profiler.
View →ColorChecker Passport Video
On-set color chart. Frame it in the first take to keep grading consistent across cameras.
View →Mac & workstation
Mac Studio (M4 Max / Ultra)
Desk workhorse for color & VFX — multiple ProRes accelerators, plenty of RAM.
View →Color & edit control panels
DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel
Three trackballs, primary grading wheels — the entry pro-color panel.
View →Tangent Ripple
The most affordable grading panel — three trackballs, USB. Works in Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut.
View →Blackmagic Speed Editor
Cut-page keyboard for fast editing in Resolve. Big productivity gain on shorts/social cuts.
View →How these picks are made
Every item here is something a working editor/colorist/VFX artist might actually buy. We avoid spec-sheet "best-of-everything" recommendations — these are the boring, reliable picks that show up in real suites. If you'd genuinely buy it for a friend, it's on this list.
Disclosure
Some links are affiliate — they cost you nothing extra and a small commission helps keep PostMicroTools free. We never recommend products we wouldn't use ourselves; the list is the same whether the link earns or not.