Gadgetory

absolutely what's up everybody and welcome to my first video for Computex 2016 this is kind of my Computex prep video but I want to start out by saying a huge thank you to my sponsors for this event fractal design MSI and g.skill without them I would not be able to do any of this coverage so thank you so show them some support by clicking their sponsor links in the description down below anyway this video is kind of a preparation video for Computex and I didn't want to make it like what's in my bag video although a lot of this stuff is going in my bag this is more of a overview of some of the technology I'm bring along with me and I wanted to talk about creating video contents at an event like Computex because it can be a bit of a challenge and I've taken some steps this year to improve my production methodology as well as hopefully the audio and video quality and if you're looking at this video right now I think you pull what the hell this looks and sounds pretty mediocre well that's because I'm using my cell phone right now to record this this is my Nexus 6 and I'm going to kind of show you guys a progression I'm going to start with this in a second I'll show you some of the cameras I'm going to be using and I'll switch to those as we move along hopefully you'll be able to see a progression as we move from one to the next to get a better idea of how hopefully the content that bring you this year is going to look and sound a lot better so here's everything laid out on the table and over in this area we have audio and video capture equipments right up here we have this MSI workstation laptop that I'm going to be using to edit videos watch some editors mainly gonna be using edit videos then I have some other random knickknacks and stuffs that I picked up at Target and whatnot so I'll cover that at the end anyway I want to get off of my cell phone camera so let's start off by talking about this camera which you've probably seen me use before this is the panasonic lumix lx7 undred so I've been using this camera for a couple years it has a couple quirks the main thing is that it does not have an audio input jacks so when I'm recording with this I got to rely on the built-in audio and it kind of sucks sometimes because it picks up some of the the noise inside from focusing and zooming in that kind of thing you guys hear that image quality on this is really great and it gets very nice close-up photos and I have this aftermarket kind of cool lens cap on there that pops open when I turn it on if I can figure out how to turn Hey look at that it's fancy the other thing is there's a fleck of dust on the sensor which is bugs the crap out of me but there's not a whole lot that I can do about it right now maybe I'll find like some fancy camera guru in Taiwan to take this apart and fix it but anyway let's switch to this camera yeah this is so much better okay so camera one is my cell phone camera two is the LX 100 that I'm using now camera three is gonna be this little guy which is a actual monoprice kind of a GoPro naka shoots 1080 video doesn't get very good audio cuz it's in this housing but we got that attached to kind of a selfie stick thing and I'll use that for quick shots externally or you know if I need to hang it out in an airplane window or something this is my little flexible tripod that I've been using for the LX 100 this is what I used last year at Computex and I had the Alex 100 set up on top here and this little offset same thing to the side if you watched the video last year I had my zoom h1 mic kind of hanging down off of there actually with this little ball joint right there and I was able to kind of walk around with the camera and pointed at stuff in her court things and I was able to point the mic back at my face and record that separate audio so it didn't sound mediocre like the audio that you're getting right now anyway I've reconfigured this for this year it's still going to be put in use a little bit I will still use this with the lx100 and really because it's flexible and you can wrap it around things or if I just need to set it up on a table or something that would be good so those are my three cameras fourth camera is this one right here alright so here's the gh4 this is my main camera actually do have two of these cameras but I'm only bringing one of them and this one has been upgraded and outfitted with some new technology but the lens I'm using on there is one of the Panasonic lenses it is eats well 235 yes HD camera it's a really nice lens and it gets really good image quality it does have a floating focus ring which is the only thing I really don't like about it but the nice part is that it's really compact and fairly small so for travel that works great eh for is also great for travel because for a DSLR it is also very small when it comes to the size of the body and one of the things I really like especially for taking this on the go is the change for battery life is absolutely amazing so you know I'm really I like for instance when I brought this to Austin and I did coverage there I literally did not have I used one battery the whole time I never changed it or anything and a flip-out screen and all that good stuff external audio connections and then as you might be able to see I have this cage you on the outside it's kind of a mid-level cage by ephoto Inc DSLR camera camera rig anyway um Kyle got one of these cages too and his was pretty expensive I think it was over 200 bucks and I was considering that some of the ones that are solid body this one is in pieces but it comes all built and connected together and I like it so far it was about 85 bucks and it gives you a bunch of extra mounting points all around so you can attach stuff like this little guy in here which is a little external cold shoe which I'm going to be using to match my audio solution also you get a handle up on top and that really helps for well being able to just pick up the camera and move it around like this also really helps where when it's on the monopod so the monopod I'm using is this one well that's the monopod it's from Manfrotto yeah this so that's that's the monopod with the rig on top this this fluid head is actually velbon valve flow 9 pH 3 6 8 this one there's only about 40 to 45 dollars Logan first tipped me off to this little fluid head and you know it's not super nice like some of the really expensive Manfrotto ones but it really gets the job done and even as a fluid head it's not that bad you can do pretty decent pans and tilts and all that stuff so that fits up on top and with this Manfrotto monopod which has the little legs down on the bottom I also use this in Austin and I really like it I apologize I don't recall the model of this monopod right off the bat but I will link it down in the description if you guys want to check that out so that's kind of my mobile rig and you know it can stand up or you can maneuver it with a little handle or that kind of thing and move it around a zoom in or zoom out or whatever you want to do so actually Kyle is probably gonna be using this a lot because we're gonna be filming each other but uh I don't know hope hopefully he likes this configuration that said let's switch to that camera and see how that one looks ok we switch to the gh4 I'm using the built-in mic on the gh4 and let's go over some of this other stuff on here now if you're recording stuff or if you're editing stuff you're gonna need some audio playback these are my fostex headphones that I got from Mayflower electronics actually I might not be bringing these but I'm gonna bring a nice set of cans these have a nice like you can you can replace the audio cable on it so using this little short one made it pretty nice from while I was testing the monopod rig also have a nice little pair of earbuds here these are from think sound think these are the rain there's rain and thunder but these are actually pretty nice little earbuds and then I have some additional audio cables this little flexible one is for connecting the zoom h6 up to the gh4 when it's plugged in also I just have a little eighth inch audio extension so minor things over here to show real quick another limiting tripod that's to set the zoom h6 up on if we need to set it up on a desktop I have a tiny little screwdriver multi screwdriver kit this is actually made for snowboarding but I'm taking it with me because TSA doesn't get mad at it because it doesn't look like it could be used as a stabbing weapon or anything but that's handy for attaching a ton attaching cameras to tripods and anything else where you might need to connect something or use a screwdriver some minor little things here this is actually I'm gonna attach this to my belt I made a hole in my belts I'm gonna screw that in for the opposite side and then that just gives me a little cold shoe on my belts and that will be so if I need to wear the zoom h6 on me on my belts instead of the camera hopefully I can just pop that in there I really don't know how that's going to work memory cards of course these are from Kingston as well as a what is that SanDisk these Kingston will 64 gig micro SDXC cards do really good job I've been using those for the past year so and then the zoom h6 I've kind of shown you but I haven't really shown you but I got a zoom h6 I'm actually really really happy with this so far it's a little bit on the expensive side but I'm happy to have gotten it so it's got four separate XLR inputs it's got two built-in microphones that come along with it that you can pop off and remove from the top so this is the XY version here that gets kind of stereo sound points in two directions and this is kind of multi-purpose I think and it's got little carrying case so you can put everything in there here's one of the other mic attachments that comes with it so you can really swap this swap them out and depending on what your situation in your sound situation is I'm not sure how good these are going to work for a noisy show floor environment so I do have some other solutions as well but I can pop those on to the end and they even are removable this is Sophie sure sure that's not a delicate connection at all you can pop those off and I can I can even use it without anything connected to the front there so if I just need to use it as a sound bridge or sound board I can go XLR Zin to that and I'm going to go out of the headphone jack so I can control the volume into the gh4 or if the gh4 needs to be further away or something and I can't plug into it directly because I don't want to do any wireless for this trip Wireless on the show floor is is dangerous so if I need to plug into it directly and I can't plug into the gh4 then I will just attach this to my hip and off to the races just record sound separately on the SD card also put that little adapter on it and that is so it can go on top of the gh4 which I can't show you because I'm using the gh4 right now able to show you in just a minute though I've switched back to recording with the lx100 so I can show you guys this setup at least a little bit more configured the way it's supposed to be so there you have it you know it is a little top-heavy it's slightly cumbersome but I don't think it's too bad overall so again the zoom h6 is up on top and right now I have gone out the side of it just my little XLR adapter for my lav mic so this would be a configuration for example where I could be holding the camera from back here recording stuff or whatever blah blah and then I can just have that XLR mic wired down and attached to me and then I can narrate while I'm filming which is actually a pretty convenient for the XLR cuz it stays in the right position and doesn't move around too much or anything the zoom h1 let's turn it on I'm sorry zoom h6 I need to remember I upgraded now turned on just like that starts up pretty quick gives you levels right there on the thing and then all you got to do is kind of hit the button for the right channel I think I have that plugged into channel 3 yes and now we have a little indicator that says yes the little the little lightning bolt means you have phantom power and now this is picking up audio from from a little lab mic there anyway so that's pretty much how it looks it's nice to be able to see the the visuals right there and then the other thing is once you turn on standby it automatically starts piping that sound through to your outputs if that's what you're doing so theoretically down here on my monitor I should well at least this hasn't gone into partial sleep mode I should be able to see yeah there's there's levels right there Mike the Mike going up and down that's that's for me talking it can hear me it's listening now the zoom h6 does come with its own little mic windscreen but I picked up this one too because I think it's kind of funny-looking and I like the I like the dead cat one so I put that one on top of there it'll look cool and then as I mentioned I'm probably not even going to be using the built-in mics unless roommate sticks all that much because I'll be using other solutions so I have a lav mic here such as connects it needs this little connector although this is kind of large and bulky sticking off of the side of the zoom h6 it needs this in order to provide XLR phantom power to this little mic I also have this handheld mic Samson q8 so in particular on the loud show floor when there's lots of music going on that kind of thing being able to hold this and just hold it right next to your mouth does wonders it's nice because I can hold it right by my face and I kind of feel like I'm on The Price is Right next contestant on The Price is Right this is stupid yeah I have a short XLR cable to go with that one and then again this actually just this little mic windscreen came from from Amazon just earlier today but I have have this dead cat as well dead kitten this one is for my zoom h1 but I think I might put it on top a day I know what do you think should I go with the more traditional windscreen like that one or go with the dead kitten taken dead kitten finally over here we have Ed's mouse ed from tech source I don't really need this mouse for production but he left it at my house when he was over here last week and so I'm actually bringing it to Taiwan to deliver to him even though they both live in Southern California that makes sense I decided to move into the bathroom so I could actually see how this looks from my own perspective so right now I'm filming myself and I'm monitoring myself in the headphones which sounds kind of weird cuz I can hear myself laughs Mike is miked up some to me right here going into that going into the camera camera is up and running and you know I got to be honest I don't have any zip ties holding this thing together so it feels a little bit more professional than it's been in the years past all right guys I'm back to recording with the gh4 and I'm using the lav mic so here's a quick run-through of my miscellaneous pile also heroes in the background back there he let out some epic toots just a minute ago I'll see if I can catch any more of them anyway all right so we have a Wired magazine because it's always good to have some analog reading material for the plane or the travel or whenever you're bored I got a new t-mobile account this is literally going to be just for a month because t-mobile has really good international set up so in Taiwan I'll have full data and cell reception all that good stuff extra batteries always gotta have that stay prepared for potentially getting sick at many cons so I got some airborne and some dayquil just in case I want to have some food for on-the-go so I got my Clif bars chocolate chip apparently I'm I really like chocolate chips and then I also got some you know some peanuts they're just so so if he needs some quick protein pop those in there got to stay clean stay clean and fresh so I got my you know my materials here for all that all that stuff don't ask what the baby wipes before I got some sunscreen probably won't need it but you know it's there just in case new toothbrush and toothpaste Listerine pocket packs as well some gum having like clean fresh breath as you're working for 8 or 12 hours a day and going lots of places and eating random food and everything I find that to be quite handy also I got a J pillow this was a complete just spur-of-the-moment impulse buy from Amazon last night and it got here today thanks Amazon Prime but it's supposed to be like a really nice neck pillow and when you're doing a 12-hour flights or more then that's pretty important ok guys I'm back to the lav mic now to take a look at the msi workstation laptops that msi is lending us to use for the next couple weeks so first off it didn't realize it came with a little carrying pouch it's nice zippered protective pouch especially for travel and before I even get in the laptop itself I am gonna be rolling with some supplemental storage these are a couple external drives from Corsair you've probably seen this before I've done videos on them I got the GTX right here which is about 256 gig and I got the GS here which is about 500 gig so tons of storage on these and the GTX is really fast I actually edit off of this Drive so I will do that sometimes the GS is more for mass storage but I have a bunch of games on here my rule when I'm doing filming on the road is that if I have any footage that's on an SD card I don't work with it or touch it or do anything with it until it's copied to at least 2 locations so that usually means internally to the laptop itself as well as preferably some external locations so I also have a HyperX SSD this is a HyperX savage 480 gig and I've got that connected to a USB 3.0 adapter so that is going to be really really fast just about as fast as it would be if you connected it straight to a SATA connection to like on a desktop so that's going to give you plenty of SSD storage to work off of and especially when you're working with a lot of raw video footage in Premiere it's really nice to have fast storage and finally here's the msi workstation laptop specific model is ws 66 QJ - 0 - 4 which is kind of a mouthful but basically you got a 15.6 inch 1080 Full HD screen and Intel Core i7 6700 HQ processor and NVIDIA Quadro M mm m4 gig workstation graphics card a 1 terabytes 7200 rpm hard drive and 128 gig SSD as well as 16 gigs of DDR 4 memory as well as wireless Bluetooth Windows 10 Professional all the stuff you would expect with a workstation system those are lots of connectivity for external monitors SD card reader USB type-c connector tons and tons of features on this laptop so we're gonna be putting it through the paces and I will let you know how it performs for us well I've just realized I'm pretty horribly backlit but it's ok the video is pretty much over I have one last item here to share this is an AOC external USB 2.0 powered and connected monitor which is pretty handy it's actually my wife's but I've used it a couple times the model is a OC e.164 9fw U and it's pretty small but um you know basically consider it vertically or whatever and the fact that you just plug it in via USB and you know you get a load a little driver but it just works power and data over the USB connections so I'll be providing that for Joe so he can have a secondary monitor to use while editing on the msi workstation but that is gonna wrap it up for this video guys by the time you watch this I will probably be on a plane to Taiwan and perhaps even another secret mystery location in between that I can't even tell you about yet I want to say one last big thank you to my sponsors fractal design MSI and g.skill for helping me go on this trip and bring you lots of informative and educational content hit the thumbs up button and subscribe to my channel for all the Computex videos coming up very and we'll see you next time