Every freaking year we just about kill
ourselves making over 50 videos in a
span of like five days at CES.
This year we will do the same, but damn
it, we're going to do it smaller, lighter, better, and much, much more
stylishly.
First up are the tweaks we're making to editing. Obviously, I got everyone Razer
Blades, whose quad core Core i7 CPUs, 16
gigs of RAM, and desktop GTX 1060 graphics will cut through our editing
timelines, pun intended, like expensive knives
through butter. But it's me. I cheaped
out and got the 512 gig version. So what
do this is? Where the Angel PKT external
USB 3 drive comes in. They sent us the 1
TBTE version, which is a great size for onthe-go editing. Thanks to sustained
read speeds in excess of 300 megabytes per second. Timeline performance is
excellent with our standard CFO 1080p files, and it even handles RED 8K RAW
playback pretty darn well. Physically, I
can't help but marvel at the size, too. It's head and shoulders smaller than all
the other portable drive solutions we've used in previous years. And there are
some other clever things as well. Trim is supported on Windows or Mac, and the
type-C connector on the drive is recessed to protect the cable from any
unnecessary strain, which is comforting since a dead portable drive during an
event like CES would be devastating.
Drive-to drive transfer speeds were tested at around 250 megabytes per
second, which combined with the easily swappable included USBA or C cables
means that sharing footage between our editors can be done without any dongles.
Speaking of dongles though, since they seem to be the way of the future at this
point, we settled on these juiced systems bizubs.
As great as the Razer Blade is, we're still missing a few things in the IO
department to truly make our lives as effortless as possible. The Biz Hub has
an extra HDMI 1.4 out, three USB 3.0
ports, full-size Ethernet, and the SD
and micro SD card readers we so desperately need. It's driverless, so
you just plug it in and you're good to go. and I've been really happy with the
one that I bought a couple months ago and they generously offered to send them
for the rest of the team. You might be thinking carrying a dongle sucks and
Lionus, there are lots of laptops with all that IO built in. And that's true,
but a 14-in blade and a dongle versus
the laptops that we brought with us last year to CES, there's no contest. Now,
let's talk about the rigs. Not PC rigs, camera rigs. What's the point of better
editing flexibility and I/IO if we don't have better footage to work with? Here
are a couple of updates that we've made to our rigs. So, our A7S II cameras,
whose compact size and stellar low light performance makes them ideal for show
coverage, where booth lighting is anything but consistent, will be
equipped with new battery banks from Ankor that increase their life between
charges from about 45 minutes to over 3
hours with a little clamp on the camera.
We also finally got tired of the static and pops in our wireless audio and moved
to Electroix's wireless system. We still
plan to use wired hammer microphones for our hosts. But having a reliable
wireless backup in case our host wants to conduct an interview or needs an
extra hand to pick something up without risking dropping it. Well, we'll have
that now. They cost us $8,000
for two kits, which is more than many top YouTubers spend on camera and lights
combined, but we haven't had a single audio issue since we started using them.
So, money well spent.
Also, new this year, shooters will be able to choose between a tripod and
handheld, a monopod, a shoulder rig, or
a Chinese knockoff version of the easy rig that we bought on eBay. Shooting
with a tripod gives you rock steady shots like we would have while working
in the office while also allowing you to set the tripod down and quickly go
handheld at any given moment. The main disadvantages of a tripod for shows like
CES is that it requires a much larger footprint to use and when you find
yourself in a tight space or a crowded room, it becomes cumbersome quickly.
It's also much heavier to bring around and takes longer to adjust your height
versus Brandon's preferred method of shooting at shows, the monopod. Monopods
take less space while also giving you a similar steadiness compared to a tripod,
but they allow height adjustments with just one latch at a time. Where the
monopod has its quirks is in the consistency of getting smooth pans and
tilts as well as static shots since you
only have one point of contact with the ground. Additionally, setting a monopod
down is typically not recommended since they are prone to well tip tip typically
tipping over. Shoulder rigs can be a comfortable way
of doing handheld for an extended period of time, also allowing you to move
between shots quite quickly. But the disadvantage is that the movement of
shoulder rigs is not as steady as a monopod or a tripod. And they can get
much more tiring on your arms and back walking around all day on the show
floor. So meet our newest addition to
the stable of stabilization products. We
use our knockoff version of the Easy
Rig. This oh so excellent fashion
statement is composed of what is essentially a frame backpack that
terminates into a metal support that hooks onto the top handle of basically
any camera rig. This transfers most of the weight from your shoulders and neck
to your hips, making shooting handheld a
much more ergonomic and less tiring experience while also making you look
like the second biggest camera dork on the planet. first biggest. That's an
honor that's reserved for Brandon who added bungeeed and gear tied Kongfrog
clips to make putting the camera on and off the Easy Rig much simpler. So, you
have the option to set the camera down quickly when you're not rolling. The
main disadvantage with the Easy Rig is that footsteps are more easily
transferred into movement, so the operator will need to be careful of his
or her footwork to get the most out of the system. Our last piece of gear was
generously provided by Logitech. As much as we love our big headphones for here
in the studio, when you're traveling and when you need the utmost in noise
isolation on a crowded show floor to monitor audio, nothing beats a good pair
of in-ear monitors. That is where the Ultimate Ears 900S comes in. These are
excellent IM with a relatively neutral sound signature. And in the box, they
come with a wide variety of ear tips for nearly any ear shape. All of this while
being relatively lightweight and very easy to carry around with an included
hard and soft bag for carrying. The
headphones themselves have a braided cable and are fairly comfortable with a
good resistance to falling out while moving around. And the cable can be
switched out if anything were to happen to your connector. So, we won't be left
hanging if anything snags our im. What a
punny video. The Zone Balance gaming chair from
Tesoro is a racing style design chair
composed of a steel frame with polyurethane faux leather. I'm sure
there's some padding in there somewhere, too. The high back rest is said on their
website to provide full spinal column support as opposed to full spinal
question mark support like it would if your spine was in the shape of a
question mark. It has a steel base with the class 4 hydraulic p class 4 pistons
to adjust the seat height and comes with head and lumbar support cushions. You
can check it out at the link in the video description. So, thanks for
watching guys. If you dislike this video, hit that button. But if you liked
it, hit the like button. Get subscribed. Maybe consider checking out where to buy
the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description. Also, link down there
is our merch store, our community forum, and not down there, but up there other
videos of ours that you can watch. I promise they'll be good.