May Blather
Just wanted to keep you updated on the things that no-one needed to know. A Patron exclusive...my one-man video 'podcast'.
Comments (127)
Nice shirt!
19:53 Flippin eck!!
Best of luck with the iMovie issues. I've had 'watching' issues with itunes/quicktime on my Mac Mini that feeds my HDTV for years now.... pink mouse pointers that won't go away, and now the latest problem is picture that just turns black unless I have the tab bar visible. Weird. You'd think a nearly trillion dollar company would have these things fixed.....
They eventually issued an update that sorted the problem out, but introduced another issue that I have to carefully work around instead. The problem is that Apple became a phone company, and all this other stuff doesn’t seem to interest them any more. The only reason I use my aging laptop in a dock is because they don’t make a stand alone desktop that would work with my wide monitor. When this laptop dies, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’m really not in the mood to move to Windows as my main machine and start all over with another editing package, any more than an accountant would happily switch from Excel to Numbers.
Please keep doing the retro stuff, your videos are excellently researched, well shot, the presentation is interesting and you manage to find all sorts of interesting devices. Don't fall into the trap of doing quick and shoddy videos. What makes yours interesting is that they are so well done and not full of a lot of know-it-all bullshit.
As long as I can keep finding interesting old things, I’ll keep making videos about them. I’ve got plenty more lined up. Some will be quicker than others to cover though, not everything warrants a long video. However the next one about an unusual design of cassette player was anticipated to take well under 10 minutes and it’s closer to 15.
A suggestion for a future video -- a kit amp. Specifically the Akitika GT-102 power amplifier. It's mail order only (via their website) from USA and is $314 US for the kit. There are so few (to my knowledge) audio kits out there I thought this might be of interest. It's reviewed very well in a US audio magazine for whatever that's worth. Thought I wold suggest it. Best.
I’ll look into it, thanks.
I don't yet know how to create line breaks or paragraphs in the Patreon comments, so you get a second comment instead. I'm a casual user of Panasonic Lumix cameras for my photo work, and they are known to use some heavy-handed noise reduction out of the box. I've read that there are settings that can be applied to reduce that tendency, although I can't tell you what they are. I thought that the first version of your photo looked ok -- until you showed us the one your iPhone produced. The difference is incredible! While I don't argue the issues that you're having with iMovie, Apple clearly is paying attention to their phones. However, on that topic, and despite being an Apple user since before the introduction of the Mac, I feel that Apple has generally lost its way in the wake of Steve Jobs' passing. One other comment: I thought the rolodex flip animation was cool! Have you thought about trying to incorporate something like that into a future closing credit sequence?
I think the only way to format things is to type them into a notepad app then copy them across. The good videos vs views is a difficult one. I think it would be hard to build a channel over time and gain subscribers if you only put out poorly made nonsense. But on the other side it seems easier to get a lot of views with a quick silly video once you become established because often a longer more complicated video isn't what people want to see all the time. It's definitely a balancing act and one that you can just aim to get right a reasonable percent of the time. I suppose it's like a pop group trying to have hit after hit forever. In the end the easiest way I've found is to make videos that I'd like to watch myself. I'm not happy putting out anything that I'd consider worthless. As far as the Lumix photos go - I did shoot them all in JPG+RAW - so I plan on running the RAW pics through Photolemur 2 as recommended by Andy Inhatko on a recent Macbreak weekly. <a href="https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/app/photolemur-2/id1312996177?mt=12&app=apps&at=11laQn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/app/photolemur-2/id1312996177?mt=12&app=apps&at=11laQn</a> It seems like it could just be the thing I need to apply some auto-magic to those holiday pics. As far as Apple goes - you know I've got that 21:9 display that I've got very used to. So the ideal computer for me would be a very fast new Mac Mini to attach to it. I don't need an iMac because of the monitor, I don't need another MacBook because it's not going anywhere and I don't need a built in screen or battery, or an ultra thin and light case with no ports. The only option left - next years Mac Pro will be too expensive and overspecced for someone just wanting to run iMovie. It seems like they've forgotten about me...so it looks like I'll have to move on too (against my wishes). I'd like to use the Roladex flip animation thing properly at some point. Printing out some flip book style video images and inserting them into it. Whether I'll ever find the time, I don't know...but perhaps one day.
Mat - I always enjoy your "asides" videos. I find it interesting to hear about the inner workings of making videos and the business side of it. For instance, I've wondered about the revenue model of making youtube videos - looking in from the outside, it doesn't seem to really pay to make "good" videos as opposed to "quick" videos. I've heard other youtube presenters say that is essentially the case, that youtube doesn't reward quality as much as quantity. That said, I and many others definitely appreciate the quality of your productions. Knowing how much work it takes to make that happen just increases my appreciation of the effort. Thank you.
Hi Mat. I can only speak for myself but perhaps there are others like me and you might be able to ascertain the comings and goings of your subscribers and patrons. What brought me to technomoan are your retro-tech videos. I very seldom watch videos related to current technology, EXCEPT the kitchen devices (those are fun!) I hadn't watched the Mindhunter video (until now!) because, frankly, I don't know the show! Modern tech doesn't look interesting to me. The bits and pieces of old tech are what fascinate me. Old stereos are often a work of art whereas modern stereos are antiseptic to my eyes. Oh, I should mention, I adore your puppet-people!
Things you find interesting I find interesting . If it takes a short video I watch it, if it takes a long video I watch it. I am always happy to see an email saying you posted a new video. I am also happy that you earn enough money a month that this has become your regular job. Just how cool is that. I enjoy the fire side chat you put on in this video. Till next time.
It is cool and I’m very lucky. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing. Keep the fire on. During the video you got 9 news subscribers, cool ;)
The iPhone (and other modern phones) are defining what we expect from "casual" photos - in much the same way as Autotune and similar features define "popular" music. That doesn't make it better than a decent point-and-shoot (eg. Sony RX100Mk5), but for holiday snaps, probably more than adequate. Consider getting a good quality clip-on optical zoom lens for your iPhone and you're good to go
Seeing your comparison shots with the iPhone 10 and the new 4K Lumix ... Now I'm wondering if I really need to pony up $2500 for a full-frame DSLR. Perhaps Apple should make dedicated cameras, using the same quality-level sensor as in the iPhone, only a bit larger.
Fantastic shirt, Mat. Where did you find it?
Hi there, just to reiterate a previous couple of comments about editing software and your forthcoming purchase of the BMPCC4k. As that camera is 4K they will come free with the full version of Davinci Resolve. This gives 4K editing and as mentioned, colour grading. We currently shoot cinema quality documentary on an original BMPCC, and once we purchased enough supporting film equipment, we are very happy with using it and the image quality. The previous comment was correct that the original camera needed its footage graded in post - however the new camera includes built in LUTs or lookup tables - these should be able to essentially pre-grade your footage to whatever colour look you like, so once setup it should be sweet. Lastly if you are interested in the BMPCC camera itself then we run a Twitter account @BMPCC_User. Cheers for all your work, we enjoy watching all the videos and really appreciate the effort you put in and subjects you cover - especially interested to discover these blather vids since becoming a Patron.
I wondered why they were making a big deal of the LUTs, in the promotional material so that explains it thanks. I do plan on trying out the Davinci Resolve, but I’d really prefer to install it on a new machine. I wonder how well it will work on an Intel Hades Canyon NUC.
Thanks for the update video! Something completely different. I saw this today: <a href="https://sonicstate.com/news/2018/05/24/digitise-your-old-cassette-recordings/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://sonicstate.com/news/2018/05/24/digitise-your-old-cassette-recordings/</a> and I thought it might interest you. It's far from consumer electronics (in price as well), but the features seem pretty good. Anyway, looking forward to hear what will come of the video editing.
P.S. I ended up buying and using an Xrite colour checker passport to help with the grading because Resolve cam then do each shot automatically, but it adds a lot of complication.
A few thoughts, Mat. First off, when I listed all the stuff we bought thanks to you, I forgot to mention two ultra-wide screens too! Secondly, I don't know iMovie at all but I used to make videos for a career and I have never found anything I could not do in Adobe Premiere Elements. The full Premiere would be overkill for you and certainly non-trivial to lean. I edit 4K in Premiere Elements 2018 just fine. (On Windows 10) Like all software there are things that annoy me. but in general it's robust, fast and useable. Thirdly, re the Pocket Cinema Camera, you may be surprised by the quality you get out of it. Others will correct me if I'm wrong I am sure, but certainly in the original Pocket cinema Camera, you would need to grade every shot before you could use it. Follow this search. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pocket+cinema+camera+ungraded+footage" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pocket+cinema+camera+ungraded+footage</a> You don't want to give yourself a lot of extra work for each video you shoot. I have used some footage from a PCC (not mine) and I had to download DaVinci Resolve to grade all the shots to make them useable. Just a word to the wise - I would check out the footage before buying one. Cheers,
I was concerned that it might be more trouble than it's worth...but I suppose I'll have to find out the hard way. It won't be the first time I tried to improve things and ended up going backwards. I know I could cancel my preorder - but I'm just far too curious to do that. As far as your advice about Premier Elements goes, that's good to hear. The reason I like iMovie is because I need to know where the edges are. By that I mean that I need to know what it can and can't do - with some of these programs where you could edit a Hollywood movie on them....that's more than I need. So my simple set of features I use would get buried amongst the options used by professionals. For example rather than looking down a table of thirty types of overlay titles - they'd let me have an infinite number of options and the ability to create my own - and forget the simple, one click choice. That kind of thing is over-facing for me.
Almost everybody loves pizza. Why? Because it's loaded with fats, carbs, and salt, which are things humans like! And there you have the satisfaction of a phone photo. The photos are LOADED with intense colors, super-sharp details, and crisp contrast, which are things that humans like. The phone camera is designed to please people who want to push a single button and get an eye-grabbing snapshot as opposed to an accurate photograph. A purpose-made camera is more conservative by design. The eye-popping postcard landscape rendition is a menu option. It's recording way more data than the phone, which is why its advantages really shine when you dump your photos into your computer. A phone camera is more than good enough for most people's expectations -- remember when a family camera used cartridge film that only ever used one shutter speed an aperture, and relied on the 24 hour photo place to compensate when making the print? -- and those folks don't care that the iPhone's super-advanced computational photography accidentally rendered an extra sailboat.
Appreciate the updates -- always good to know a bit more about the creators your supporting. I've always found your videos fascinating; glad to support the channel. Has there ever been a "20 questions" techmoan "about me" video? You've got to have some kind of interesting background to understand and be competent in all of these different electronics fields...
I always enjoy these little updates. And I'm so glad your output is a mix of stuff that's more "accessible to the general YouTube audience" if you will, and total passion projects.
iPhone vs. Compact camera needs to be a video
I think you’re right.
I like these videos, but probably only from you, because your detail is relevant to the channel and the money mechanics....
Hah! Fame at last! I figured it was some sort of card index thing, and to be fair I never called it a ‘computer’! But thanks for answering the question Mat. :-)
My memory isn’t what it was and I know I’ve been asked about it by a few people, one of whom definitely guessed it was some kind of computer. To make it function for this video I had to solder in a new battery connector as well as cut out and write out those cards.
Your videos are always a pleasure to watch, keep up the good work! In the nineties a lot of people switched to a Mac because of their iMovie, nowadays it could be the reason they switch again. ;-) I would choose a video editor which runs on several platforms.
Mindhunter ... the main reason could be the fact that is not a very popular show ... not as popular as others I mean. It's on my to watch list because of your video.
It’s still on my to-watch list too.
As always, thanks for making videos Matt.
Speaking of cutting software, ever tried KDEnlive? An older version is in MacPorts, no one came around to compile a current one for Mac sadly. I never cut any videos before, but after some fiddling and educated guesses from ~30 years of computing, ~18 of these under Linux, it just clicked and i like it.
I wasn’t aware of that one. It seems there are plenty of options. The hard part is re-learning everything.
Just to give my perspective. I had no idea of what Mindhunter was before watching your video. I guess we can't take anything for granted in the heavily fragmented post modern media culture. I'm an avid Youtube viewer, and it seems I'm subscribing to around 500 channels. Many of them have been dead for years though. Still, I get presented with roughly 40 to 80 new videos per day though my feed, so there is no way I'm watching them all. And when I've been away for a couple of days, those uploads tend to fly under my radar, because Youtube seem to only recommend videos that are similar to what I've watched the last 24 hours. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that timing and thumbnails can't be underestimated, when you want to reach non-subscribers or people that don't watch Youtube every day. You can be sure that I will hunt down your uploads though. Yours and Scotty from Strange Parts. The rest I can live without.
I see now, this was not about Brexit at all! I guess I misread the title ;)
I spent $300 at Righteous Reels because of this video. 'Tis a shame you don't see any of that, but he remembered you.
Even if I'm not on commission it's nice to know that I've helped someone out - whether it's you getting something you wanted or him making a sale.
Thank you for the chat Matt, always good to speak your mind with like minded folk - my Mrs isn't the slight bit interested as it goes right over her head! It's frustrating that the Casio Calculator is out performing the Mind Hunter - Youtube is odd in the way videos trend. Me personally, the Mind Hunter video will always be a favourite. I prefer the longer videos myself, however short ones allow a quick delivery. Like you, I myself have been disappointed with the quality of some cameras compared in identical shooting situations to iPhones. My DSLR is nearly always outperformed in quality by my iPhone - I suspect a move to Mirrorless will prevail soon, as the DSLR is clumbersome to carry around. Keep doing what you do Matt.
I wish the 'smarts' that are in modern smartphones would get folded in to compact cameras. The 'experts' who like tinkering with manual settings and changing lenses could carry on buying DSLR or Mirrorless cams - but the average chap who likes to carry a compact camera and leave it in auto would have a camera that takes over all the thinking and effectively gives semi-pro results. If a smartphone lens can do that, just imagine if the same processing was applied to a 1" sensor.
Subscribers - I think the vast majority of people don't regularly go on Youtube to watch content. I do on a daily basis since it's basically replaced all the TV trash for me, and I have a relatively small list of channels I'm subscribed to and watch nearly everything they do. But "most people" probably only go to Youtube when linked to something, hit the subscribe button but never actually watch their feed. Camera - that Panasonic thingy is really trash! I do bother carrying my RX10III because that's something I can actually be happy with the quality I get from. Editing software - Final Cut Pro X is actually well supported and regularly receives pretty massive updates. Can imagine they leave the consumer version aside... Anyway since when you get your Blackmagic cam you'll have to download their software you might as well try Resolve which is free for most common stuff and you'll actually get a voucher for the full version with the cam. I'd actually love to try that cam and the price is very interesting, but unfortunately I can't bring myself to do much video anymore so I can't convince myself it's worth the "investment"...
Excellent - I really enjoy watching you talking 'informally' like this. I use Adobe Premier Pro for video editing as it is included in the regular Adobe subscription. I probably only use about 1% of its complex capabilities, no doubt you could produce a Hollywood movie using it, but there are plenty of tutorials on-line, and it may not be a huge investment in time to learn to use it sufficiently for what you need. My hands often look like yours (ie tatty!) so I am quite tempted by the hand wash dispenser - have to see what the wife says ;-) I didn't get a Lixie clock kit in the end - I showed your video to my son who said , 'Dad, you've already got TWO Lamteric Clocks; where would you even put another clock?' And of course, he's right. Thanks for doing this latest video, Mat. I know you don't personally know (m)any of us out here, but for us, you're like a friend or that really interesting bloke we might bump into at the gym/pub/cafe (delete as applicable) and it is always good to hear from you. Keep up the good work - please!
This is really the only place I get to talk to like-minded people. Even when I worked in an office with hundreds of people I never met anyone who was interested in these things. Now that I only see the postman and various couriers the chance of having a chat about anything has reduced even more.
Thanks for the Purell mention. On a similar Med cruise I came to the same conclusion but never followed it through! I see they are now reduced to £8.49 (still £30 for 2 x 1200ml of gunk) so we’ll wor a punt! Thanks Mat.....
Never ever change from the "Broadcast quality" you have on your videos to something more "simple and quick" like many other creators on Youtube. Your videos are candy for the eyes to watch!
The funny thing is the Casio calculator video actually lost some subscribers - so people like things to stay as they are, and I'm not happy with throwaway videos either.
I watch alot of YouTube on my tv through a PS3 or Chromecast and it's not easy to like the videos, so that could be a reason why such a disparity exists
The views still count. I never really pay too much attention to the likes and dislikes - unless the ratio were to shift wildly.
At least iMovie still works. I spent up on Final Cut Pro only to be later told that it is no longer supported and indeed won't run on the latest upgraded Apple OS. I can't even load my previous projects. Keep up the good work.
You must be confusing Final Cut Pro 7 which was discontinued a decade ago with the current Final Cut Pro X which is well supported.
I can confirm your results with the Panasonic camera. Bought one myself and was disapointed with the foto and video quality. I moved back to my Sony RX100MK3. It's not a travel zoom but picture and video quality is impressive.
The photos and video at the full zoom aren't really any use either. The zoom doesn't move smoothly enough for video either. The one thing it's helped me to realise is that a big zoom is little use.
oh i know it might be difficult.. here in the states a lot of homes had a built in sound system that would have connections and speakers/com units all over the home for folk. ever research that or look into it? many homes even now have remnants of them. was that done much in your side of the pond?
That's an easy one - I've never lived in a house with any built in wiring for AV - but I've only lived in two houses. I think some new houses might have things like this, but I can't afford a new house.
have you ever checked out or focused on the craze we saw for digital photo frames? I think they're still a thing but it was interesting seeing the different tech used to pull it off.. all the way down to ones that fit on a keychain. I'm also noticing the tech going into NEST for homes. Nest based sprinklers for the home. thermostats, outdoor lighting programming, etc. And finally.. what is your opinion or views on bathroom technology? shower radios, tv's, etc. do you have em, have you tried any of it? do you use a favorite sonic toothbrush or electronic toilet .? haha.. just spitballing ideas. , no need to worry if this all sound like rubbish.
I definitely should look into home automation more, good idea.
You need to start up a new channel: Techmoan Shirts. I have no idea where you got your Cassette shirt, but I love it.
For editing I use Final Cut Pro X but do to Apple losing interest in its products I have dabbled in Adobe Premier Pro. The commands are basically the same as Final Cut.
As for editing, I have used Vegas Pro since around 2000 (was Sonic Foundry, then Sony, now Magix). I got really frustrated with Sony Vegas after building a very powerful machine and it still lagged a LOT when editing. You may not believe this, but I moved to iMovie on the iPad. After using it a few weeks, I decided it was powerful enough to do what I wanted, so I purchased an iPad Pro to have the faster processor and Apple Pencil. After using iMovie on iOS for about 6 months, I came across a program called LumaFusion. It was $20 and had absolutely rave reviews. I purchased it and REALLY like it. It is amazingly powerful, never laggy and allows 3 streams of 4K60 video and 4 audio tracks (layered). It has lower thirds, keyframing and much more. It's made editing almost fun for me and I love the way I can take my iPad almost anywhere and work on my videos! I publish most of my videos now in 4K30, but have done a few in 4K60 (video taken with iPhone X) and I always get comments about the video quality. It also accepts 100mbit 4K30 files from my Panasonic G7 with no issues. My only recommendation is to get the 512GB iPad Pro if you go this route. Of course, you can try the software on your iPhone as it works great on that device as well, just less real estate for editing. The most amazing part for me is it only takes about 10 minutes to render a 4K30 video on my iPad using LumaFusion, where it would've taken 4-6 hours on my i7, 32GB RAM/etc desktop with Vegas Pro.
Thanks for the tip. The hardest part for me with editing on an iPad is getting the stuff into it and out of it. I do have an iPad pro and tried iMovie on it, but I couldn't find a way to get it do a lot of the things I needed. My iPad pro is a first gen and has a tendency to ignore inputs on the right of the screen when it gets warm, so I'm waiting for the next revision before buying another.
I agree with the comments about not knowing which videos are going to be popular. My most popular video is nearing 1 million video views and was one I almost didn't do as I didn't think it would garner any interest. It is concerning a $50 Kicker car audio subwoofer amplifier that's rated to deliver 200 watts at 0.5 ohms. I honestly think the thumbnail got the interest as I have the amplifier in the palm of my hand on one side and on the other I have a wall of subwoofers with me holding my ears. Never though that much about thumbnails and importance, but it appears this one was getting suggested all over the place and very popular (for my channel). I've been making vids for about 10 years as well and I'm still surprised which ones get the most interest. I guess you just keep going and hope all do good and some do very good!
I was surprised to discover how Final Cut Pro is like a much better iMovie. It would be the easiest transition for you. If you couldn’t make heads nor tails of it I highly recommend taking the free tutorial from Ripple Training and using the free 30 day trial. Only about an hour or two of your time and then you’ll know for sure. Adobe stuff is much harder to use for someone used to the Mac style of software.
Thanks for the tip on the training. I've tried the 30 day trial and gave up after the first few hours.
Thanks, I like those updates.
As a hoarder of sorts, I end up with a house that is actually a full-on mess all the time. Do you have a system for keeping your stuff put away? Can you at least show us a peek at the order (or disorder) in the next blather, if not a full video if you do have a good methodology?
That's going to be in the behind the scenes video - but really it's disorganised chaos.
It's okay for men to use hand cream :) also I know this will only count for like 350 views but I assume most Patreons will only watch the initial version of the video and not the public one. That's a shame that point and shoot is a bit naff at its job :/. In terms of video editor, along with Final cut and Premiere, there's stuff like Vegas Pro (Used to be owned by Sony but I think it's Magix now) Not sure about 4k though but it's an option.
Thanks for sharing the stats, expenses, and income from the Mindhunter video, which is certainly one of your best. I can really see the care that went into it and I hope you can still get a return on your investment for it. I am always fascinating by the economics of YouTube and frankly, I am surprised that more people aren't so open about the profit or loss of their channel. I think many people would find it interesting, and it could be a lucrative source of content in it's own meta sort of way. Instead you got a lot of clickbait videos where people never really answer the question of what it costs to make a video and what revenue they receive from it. So thanks for being upfront, it’s a really intriguing topic for me, even as someone who has no interest in making videos.
Great tip on the hand sanitiser experience - I periodically use a strong topical steroid on my fingers due to Eczema and end up avoiding moisturisers due to the annoying sticky feeling, e.g. try using a touchscreen after applying a moisturiser. So I will try to get a small bottle of that Purell to give it a test run and scale up if it works.
I honestly don't know how you've been using only iMovie all this time. Very impressive, what you've made that piece of consumer software do.
Hey now! Using moisturizer on your hands doesn't make you any less manly these days, unless you use one of those terrible fruit-scented ones. I highly recommend the ones by Kiels, since they don't smell of anything, and they don't leave your hands too greasy to twist a doorknob as some do. I'm a pro video editor of some 18 years, and started out with Final Cut Pro 1.2. I switched to Adobe Premiere Pro when Apple turned Final Cut Pro into FCP X, which I always found a nightmare. I'm mostly happy with Premiere, and recent new features Essential Graphics and Essential Sound are incredible timesavers that cut hours off of both graphics and audio mix. (I must caution though that occasionally Adobe releases a pretty buggy, terrible release, but usually fixes it not too long after.) I also have my eye on DaVinci Resolve, which is free in its 1080p version. Originally just for pro color correction, in recent years they've added a ton of graphics and sound tools, and now it's a full-fledged NLE. I've only just installed the new beta version but it looks incredible. Certainly worth kicking the tires if you're so inclined.
I would bet the views on the Mind Hunter video will pick up once the show is back for Season 2. It's just not on many peoples minds right now...
I hope you're right. Although I suspect a title sequence change is afoot.
For a video suggestion, how about a round up of those cheap £20ish mini amp boards. I've just bought 2 160w ones which I'm going to run in dual mono with a 32v PSU and then see how it compares to my Denon amp. No idea why! Actually, comparing sound quality of amps over YouTube might not be useful to the viewer!
You've hit the nail on the head with the audio stuff - it really needs to have something unusual to listen to or interesting to watch in motion to work as a video. A few people recently have suggested I demonstrate speakers. A picture of a box that makes sounds that the viewer can't hear is just one of those things that really doesn't work. Like snooker on the radio.
On editing software, I use Corel VideoStudio on Windows and it works fine, I tried Adobe Premiere but wouldn't get the use out of it to justify the price. It's cross platform though so may suit you as a mac user who could be forced to switch to Windows or Linux if Apple do decide to get rid of their pc business.
It seems like there are a lot of alternatives out there which might explain Apple's apathy.
the BlackMagic stuff always offers a lot of bang for the buck. So long as you never have a problem. Because if you need tech support or a good manual, or documentation... good luck, bub!
I've never contacted any tech support line - I always assume that they're going to be less than useless.
Really enjoyed that informal chat, interesting to see the difference in photo quality as I'm looking to buy a compact camera soon and would be very disappointed if the quality was worse than a phone. Any good ones you'd recommend for around the €500 mark? My current phone is good but camera is terrible, I still miss my Lumia 1020.
At the moment I feel that unless you have (at least) a 1" sensor in a camera then a decent smartphone will outclass it due to its more advanced processing capabilities.
Hi Mat - love these videos. Did you know that if you stare at that shirt and squint, you get a 3D dolphin ;-). One serious question - you have a lot of kit plugged in, how do you power it all? I ask because I am about to recable my home office as I have things plugged in I no longer use and (horror) 4 gangs leading off 4 gangs. My room is similar to yours and I am assuming that there are not that many mains sockets.
It is a concern and I do have a few 8 gang extensions - I try to only power a few things at a time and if possible daisy-chain devices and use USB power as much as possible. The back of the HiFi is a fireman's nightmare, but the whole thing turns off with an Alexa command, so when it's not in use it's off...no standby.
Also do enjoy the blather videos. Makes the subscriber/supporter experience more personal too. Real shame about the Mindhunter video, I thought it was great! If you do ever switch over to Windows, I'd recommend Sony Vegas (or Magix, or whoever owns it now) for an editor. I took to it very quickly after trying a few different editors.
Funnily enough the last Windows editing package I used was Vegas with my MicroMV camcorder all those years ago (over a decade). They still send me emails.
I rather enjoy the “blather” videos quite a bit. I betting that we will probably never meet, so this is as close to a conversation as we may get. I really feel like I get to know you a bit. That’s nice. Sorry it doesn’t work in reverse.
This might sound a bit sad, but these are the only chances I get to talk to like minded people. The Mrs isn't interested in the slightest and I don't really have any other acquaintances.
I was watching your Minidisc retrospective (again!) today and noticed you say you may have enough material for an eventual follow-up. Is this still on the cards at all? I know you said a long time ago that Minidisc wasn’t the most interesting topic for you because you used the format and technology so often over the years, it doesn’t hold a lot of intrigue. But speaking from a purely selfish point of view due to me having collected Minidiscs for the past few months and being keen to learn even more about the medium, the players, the recorders, etc, I’d love a sequel!
I do have a couple more MD machines to show- but there's not enough there to warrant a full video yet. I have no doubt that in time there will be some more MD stuff to show though.
Like others had mentioned, it's crazy to see a good portion of my favorite Youtubers in one place. I like to think that I would have been friends with people like 8-bit guy and LGR if I knew them in real life since I've been a vintage computer collector since the 1990s. I never really cared about hollywood stars, but I guess that's "star struck thinking". Anyway, has anyone looked at DaVinci Resolve (works on Mac too!)? They have a free version now and it's been an industry thing for a long time. Might be worth looking into anyway. Moving to a package like that is going to be hard, but on the flip side that's their business, they aren't going to pull an Apple.
Funnily enough the camera I preordered comes with a full version of DaVinci Resolve - so I'll definitely be trying it out.
Hmnn, well, I didn't watch the mindhunter thing because I have no idea what Mindhunter is/was. Perhaps you were limiting yourself with an overly specific title?
Hmnn, well, I didn't watch the mindhunter thing because I have no idea what Mindhunter is/was. Perhaps you were limiting yourself with an overly specific title?
The titles are incredibly important - but I'm not happy being click-baity or sensationalist, and I feel that they need to be accurate.
I really enjoyed this . I hope you are having a great day .
It's been pretty good, although I feel like I was working all day and at the end of it - I've just got this video. I'll have to knuckle down to proper work tomorrow if there's going to be a new video at the weekend.
Your blathering videos are as good as your review episodes, keep making them. I think most people just hop around on their subscribed youtube channels, that's what I do. If a new video looks interesting I watch it, if it doesn't I don't. I have maybe five or six channels that I watch all of the new videos, that's all. Regardless, I never think about the 'quality' of the video before clicking on it, it's the subject matter and presentation that counts. All of your videos are of good quality, clear and concise narration. No long silences, or uh's, 'you knows', etc. filler that grow old fast. Just keep up what you're doing, and thanks! Oh, I use Powerdirector 16 (Windows) for my editing, it's cheapish, simple and handles hd+ easily.
I know exactly what you mean. Some of the videos I've put the most work into were flops, and some that I thought nobody would like ended up being big hits. I don't know why that happens. It is really disappointing when that happens too. I also know the nightmare of having to change video editing software. I'm used to final cut pro, however, I have this suspicion that they Apple has really gone downhill on the computer business since Steve Jobs died. I've been worried that I may have to switch to Adobe Premiere at some point, and I don't want to. As for your LED bulbs.. that's probably not uncommon. Both Fluorescent and LED lights tend to get dimmer as they age.
Yes, since it looks likely I'll have to switch. Adobe does seem a better prospect than FCP - at least it's multiplatform. There would need to be a significant turn around at Apple to encourage me to stick with what looks like a lost cause at the moment.
I use Final Cut. The learning curve is steep, but I can at least tell you that it gets updated *regularly*. Sometimes a little too regularly. I've just learned a new feature and suddenly there's five more. But certainly their Pro team seem to actually care. It's a shame, because iMovie used to be so good.
I feel I will jump to Final Cut - if and only if they make a super powerful Mac Mini. I like my 21:9 screen, so I don't want an iMac. The upcoming new Mac Pro will be proper pro money and overkill, but a fully loaded Mini with Hades Canyon (or whatever it's called) would be ideal.
I really need that shirt...... how very cool. Really looking forward to what you have created.
I do photography on the side, and I'm always surprised that some shots I took with no planning end up being more popular than the ones I planned out. There was one shot I took at the beach where I got up at 5am, set up the camera in 32f/0C temps, and took hundreds of shots to get settings just right to capture the colors of the sky at dawn over a pier. I thought the picture looked fantastic. More people ended up liking another picture I took during the day, which was just a quick throwaway snapshot.
It seems like this is a universal rule - the less time you spend on something, the more other people appreciate it.
Flippin 'eck! OK, as a Yank I'm not sure of the accent. Is it a bit of Yorkshire?
It's a bit of Yorkshire and Lancashire including Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan Oldham, Halifax - I get around.
FCPX has a 30-day free trial. It actually does get updates, is only a little buggy (all editors are at least a little buggy), and would be the easiest transition from iMovie.
I got the 30 day trial and I couldn't make head nor tail of it. I couldn't figure how to do anything I wanted...I ended up going back to imovie after a few hours and got the project done in 30 minutes.
Is there Ikea in your country? They have a lot of good LED lightbulbs of their own production.
Yes there's an Ikea nearby, although I try to avoid it.
At first, I thought this was called 'My Bladder'. Not sure what that says about me... Thanks for the updates, Mat! Looking forward to more videos :)
You should try renting cameras. I do that when I go on vacation. Get the best camera can don't have to buy it.
It's funny, but I've never been a renter - all the way back to video recorders and TVs and even property. It's just not in my nature -even when it's probably the best idea.
Bathroom probably has an automatic paper towel machine now too.
Not yet....
That thing about putting a lot of effort into one thing and doing it really good (at least for our standards without going all professional movie/record company with millions/billions in budgets) compared to the little weird stuff we make that often feels a little "meh"... it never fails to amaze me. People for some reason seem to like the stuff you're not so proud of. Could be that there is some relatable human feel to those quick projects that the big one tends to alienate.. I dunno. Weird thing that. :D Also, good to see that I'm not alone in having it messy in my workspace too at times! ^_^ Try Final Cut Pro X for real. Works perfectly for me and The 8-Bit Guy and you can import old iMovie projects into it. FCPX will still be supported for a good while still. Just shout if you need help on migration and setting it up. :)
...at times, yes...at times. ;-) I see the same thing with other youtubers - LGR posted a quick video playing cuphead on a B&W TV and it got more views than things he worked weeks on. Perhaps sometimes we overthink things.
Blather, yay! I was just thinking it was time for another one of these. I have a question: do you ever get recognized by fans when you're out and about, like on a cruise? Like, I'm imagining someone screaming from across deck, "DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS MAN IS? He repaired a Sony Flamingo PS-F9!"
It's happened a handful of times - most recently with shop assistant. I'm really rubbish at thinking what to say when it occurs and I'm sure I must leave a bad impression.
Just glad you didn't call this video 'Week Blather.' Haha
Where did you get your shirt? I love it.
I should sign up to an affiliate scheme there - it's from JoeBrowns.co.uk and the shirt code is SM053 - when I saw it, I thought that I just had to get one.
Cool shirt!