Exactly; "buy once - cry once" 🤓 The initial cost up from shrinks the overall cost when you see how many years you keep quality gear, and how much time can be saved with tools that work smarter/easier. Thanks for this video, Troy! You've covered a broad range of topics that are really root level themes. 🙌
@@dextermorgan4093 You know, like that time you spent watching Dexter's last season that could have been spent in a much better way and made your life a lot more interesting.
@@joas162 lol actually I didn’t watch all the seasons. It started to get boring with him not killing as much. But I have watched through the first few seasons a few times. I liked his interactions with Doakes. Fun fact, a many of those scenes were filmed a few houses down from where I lived in Long Beach.
I built out a NAS with Synology, 5 drive, expandable units up to 10 more drives. It's been working great, just plugged into my router, network access, hardwired connection. That was a game changer for organization.
Great overview! I use a Synology 8-bay NAS, and it simplified my business so much having everything in one place and not in a flurry of external portable drives. I still use portable SSDs for travel jobs, but getting a NAS was one of the most influential purchases I've made. Be sure to get a 10Gbe port compatible NAS, or a NAS that can take a 10Gbe expansion card, it will elevate your read/write speeds tremendously. One reminder is that RAID is not a backup, just redundancy (which helps minimize downtime when drives fail- and they all do eventually). You truly should have a 2nd storage unit for backup, and many experts say a 3rd in the cloud to prevent against theft or damage at your office location. That sure gets expensive though. :)
Thank you Rob! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts! :) Would you edit any projects directly from your NAS? I’ve always been curious if a 10gbe connection would provide fast enough data transfer to allow editing straight off the drive. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter! Thanks again!
@@TroyMairs In my process, I use two 2TB M.2 SSDs on my motherboard to edit my active client projects from, and even then I enjoy rendering proxies to make the 4k 10bit .XMF C70 videos files faster to playback and scrub. My projects are between 100GB and 1TB in size, so I like to edit on the fastest drives I have for maximum efficiency (and enjoyment, really). My NAS is where I archive my client projects and keep everything else for my business. When I need to reference an archived project, or make an update to an older project, it is fast enough to edit from. Even if your computer can handle real-time playback, nothing beats hyper scrubbing through proxy footage (no matter if you're using SSD or NAS). In short, you can definitely edit off a 10Gbe NAS (I would recommend proxy workflow), but I find my projects are still more responsive on a fast M.2 SSD drive.
Likewise! Same setup (I use a Synology DS1821+ as my array), and have paired that with a Dropbox system. On Dropbox I have an 'Active' Folder which syncs 1 to 1 with my Synology, and an 'Archive' Folder which is cloud-only. Once Synology is getting full or 3 years have elapsed since the project was worked on, it gets moved into the Dropbox Archive, freeing up space on the Synology. The upside to this is that outsourcing is a breeze (as it's all cloud based and people can sync dropbox locally to work with), You don't need to perpetually be worrying about increasing our NAS storage, you can work locally from the Synology as it's a 10Gbe connection, cloud syncing is automatic, and Dropbox also comes with a very handy video review software so collating feedback on projects is very easy! If you want to know more about how to do something like that, hit me up (tom@tomlebon.com), happy to chat to anyone!
Love it, thank you for taking the time to share your experience! You touched on my primary concern, which was access/making edits to projects that were in Archive. My concern was it wouldn't keep up at all. Knowing I could dip into the archive and pull something from a project helps put that concern to rest. Thanks again Rob!
Tom, this sounds like a really effective setup! I'm a bit envious! :) I just might have to Copy and Paste this into my workflow! I appreciate the offer for help, I just may take you up on it when the time comes!
Thank you Austin! I hope you're right, but in the mean time I am PUMPED to have the subs that I do :) I have a great time making these vids and interacting with this community, thanks for commenting!
Sharing my Archive/Hard Drive System - I have 1 SSD that I'm currently working off of, w/ recent and current projects, I have 1 SSD that I always keep on me for last minute calls. It only has all my luts, presets, effects, music, templates and etc on it, so if I do get a last minute or on-the-spot gig, I'll never have to create things from scratch. Then I have a large 13TB G Drive that I call the "everything drive" that I use as an archive drive. This way, I don't have to keep buying drives and I won't get nervous to delete files.
Solid set up! Thank you for sharing! I particularly like the drive dedicated to "assets." It can be all too easy for those things to get scattered across drives! Thanks for commenting Jelinda!
You sir, as of today, are my new favorite person on TH-cam. Your on-screen presence silently screams authenticity; I love it. BTW, SanDisk Pro G-Raid series are simply amazing NAS systems. For me, they leave Synology in the dust. 7:07
That is such an awesome compliment! Thank you so much! :) I've had a handful of votes here in the comments for the Synology systems, but it sounds like I'll have to take a fair look at the G-Raid series. Thanks for the insight, and thank you again for this comment! Night made!
Thankyou Troy. I appreciate you taking this time and sharing. As a beginner, your helping me grow with a strong and balanced Foundation. Good work Brother!
For storage I'm using a drive dock and solid state drives. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make copies of all the drives. Will be moving to faster NVMe drives next, so that just means a new dock, but will be following the same process.
best reccomendation for a centralised storage solution is get something like a synology NAS drive. you can upgrade it in the future, plus some versions have 10G switches allowing you to edit straight off it, back your projects up to it and even give remote access to collaborators
@Troy Mairs np! And lmk if you want a reccomendation of suppliers, I've been working with a company called First Contact who are a UK based synology partner that have got loads of experience with configuring and setting up NAS drives for editing. Currently I use one to edit directly off of!
For storage I use a Synology NAS DS1621+. It has 6 hard drive slots but by using shr-1 or shr-2 you can add drive of any size at any time when needed. It's possible to add 2 expansion modules and add up to 10 drives. With 6 drives of 12tb using shr-2 I get 48tb of storage and 2 drives used as failsafe. Using shr-1 I could have 60tb but only 1 disk used as failsafe which is more risky but can be fine if you have multiple backups.
For me the hardest thing to come to terms with was C-stands, because they are as expensive as they are boring! Now of course I have several (all used or on sale) - essential piece of kit.
That's a GREAT item to buy on the used market! No matter how you buy them, there will never be anything fun about handing money over for a C-stand though! Lol Thanks for commenting!
To file away videos I would recommend getting a Synology NAS. The best bang for the buck currently is the 1522+ with IronWolf Pro drives. I recently started recording straight to an external SSD on my camera and then editing my videos on it. Then I zip away old footage (if it’s large like ProRes) and store it on the NAS. I would HIGHLY recommend it. Also, it does a whole heck of a lot more than just storage.
Hi, Just stumbled on this and felt compelled to comment. It's all excellent advice. I've worked in film/tv since the late 70's and made plenty of bad buying decisions in the process! :-) GAS is a relatively new term (I think) but I've suffered for decades! If you're working professionally then at least it's all tax deductable, but you'll always end up buying kit that you regret and hardly ever use. The advice I was given, and never took! Was to sell anything if you haven't used it for 6 months. As Troy said, the stuff you can't go wrong with is: tripods/heads, lighting stands, solid grip kit in general. Buy the best quality you can afford, you'll still be using it in 30 years! Buy stuff thats appropriate for the work you do. For example don't get a great tripod thats too heavy! Sounds basic but we can all make that sort of mistake! You'll end up leaving it at home. Lenses can seem pricey but they're generally a good investment. You'll be using them after many changes of camera and you'll get a reasonable price when you eventually sell them. These days the camera body itself is probably the most difficult investment. An expensive camera body will be still producing superb images many years from now but there'll be something 'better' in 6-12 months and your £15,000 camera will still be great, but worth very little. If you've really got to have the latest thing then you'd better have a lot of work to justify the expense and to pay for the loans. If you feel the camera body is going to generate work for you, then great. But it had better pay for itself in less than 2 years.
Hey David! Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insight! You touched on a point in your comment that I didn't cover in the video that I wanted to highlight. "Buy stuff thats appropriate for the work you do" I've fallen victim to that for sure, and its a great metric to judge a purchasing decision. Thanks again David! I appreciate you taking the time to contribute your thoughts!
I built my own Network-Attached Storage Server (NAS) about a year ago. I HIGHLY recommend either building one or buying a pre built one. I now have 24TB of storage that I can access from anywhere in my house through ethernet or over wifi from any device that can connect to wifi or ethernet, for only $430 dollars in total cost.
This sounds like an IDEAL solution! The remote access would often come in handy. Do you find the speeds to fast enough to do some editing on? Thank you for the insight!
looking this video from my super wide, curved monitor as a video and content creator, was really laughing out loud, thanks for this great video. Keep up the good work!
Lol that's too funny! :) I really did/do like the curved monitor from the editing perspective! super-wide timelines are a dream. I've always been curious as to how well the on-screen calibration tools worked on curved monitors, given they don't sit exactly flush to the screen and may allow for some ambient light leak to "taint" the calibration. So that thought was always living in my head! Haha I appreciate the compliment and the comment! Thanks Michael!
@Troy Mairs The choice between a DAS (Promise Pegasus) and NAS (Synology) for video editing largely depends on your specific needs and workflow. While many people on the internet recommend a NAS for video editing, it's important to consider that a NAS can be slow to edit off of, unless you have an expensive SSD NAS. If you require a centralized storage system for your team and need to access files remotely or collaborate on projects with multiple editors, then a NAS might be a good choice for you. A NAS allows you to store all of your files in one centralized location, which can be accessed by anyone on your team who has the appropriate permissions. Additionally, you can access your files remotely, which is useful if you need to work from a location outside of your office. However, it's important to note that a NAS can struggle with random IOP/S, which can slow down access times and potentially cause issues with latency during the editing process. Random IOP/S is a measure of the ability of a storage system to handle multiple small input/output operations per second. In video editing workflows, where data is spread out across multiple hard drives, random IOP/S can be a critical factor. When data has to go through a CPU before being processed, this can cause slower access times, which can negatively impact the editing process. On the other hand, if you're a solo video editor or work with a small team, a DAS might be a better choice for you. A DAS provides direct data access through a RAID card, rather than through a CPU, which results in faster access times and can significantly improve your editing workflow. This can be especially important when working with large files and multiple applications at the same time. For example, I recently switched from a NAS (DS1821+) to a DAS (Promise Pegasus) due to the issue with random IOP/S, and it has made a significant positive impact on my editing workflow. My relinking process went from taking 2 minutes down to just 30 seconds, and overall, the improved performance and reliability of the DAS has made my workflow better in every aspect. It feels like I am working off an SSD. In summary, the choice between a DAS or NAS for video editing comes down to your specific needs and workflow. If you need to access files remotely or collaborate with multiple editors, a NAS might be a good choice. However, if you're a solo editor or work with a small team and need faster access times, a DAS might be a better choice for you. P.S. Here is a blog post I found a while back taking about it what I mentioned. aperina.com/blog/choosing-a-file-storage-solution-for-our-business-promise-vs-qnap/ If you would like I would love to elaborate more about NAS vs DAS with you.
Wow, thank you for taking the time for such a thorough explanation. This is really helpful! Its tough because I'm stuck right in the middle.. Having remote access and multiple users is hopefully on the horizon for my professional work, but not at the expense of slower edits. I've speculated a NAS might be slower but this is the first I'm learning of the IOP/S so thank you for bringing that to my attention! :) Much appreciated!
Great video man, I’ve been doing this for a long time and have also learned the hard way! Data storage gets pushed lower on the list than it should be, and I’m in the same boat as you on that one!
For your external storage question. Synology Nas is the best place to start for most. It allows you to not only have expandable storage options, that can be accessed in home or off network (if your upload speeds are fast enough). But it also offers 2 other invaluable options.... A. redundancy which is one of the biggest failures of most creatives B. automative cloud backup...which goes into point a.
@@TroyMairs not a problem, if you're focusing mostly on video work and want to use it for a "working drive" I'd recommend getting a setup for 2.5g or more. Otherwise if you're using it just for storage of finished stuff, regular 1g is sufficient. I work of my internal drive then backup to my NAS (for now). That said if you're gonna spend the money I'd recommend buying a 4+ HD bay unit, even if you only use 2 of them initially. Also buying NAS specific drives and running a mirrored raid of some type to ensure your data is protected. This setup will also allow you to expand later to use all 4 drives and all of their current 4+ bay systems support an add on 5 bay expansion system to allow you to add more storage later should you need it. The last perk is that I have as stated with mine is to automatically backup to an offsite cloud storage. It usually costs me $20-30/m but if my house burns down it'll be well worth that investment to know my clients work is safe. Best of luck!
For archiving video, tapes are the best if you are not loading old footage on the daily, which if we are talking about an archive you are probably not. It is a one time investment in a tape writer/reader and then storage is easy as chucking a tape in a cardboard box for up to 35 years maybe even more, and with that you can use a more compact NAS type enclosure which is cheaper, less bulky, less power hungry, not to mention it rebuilds the array faster and you are holding only active projects on there and not a massive load of bloat. Implementing a system of using lossless compression for the final files you plan to archive with something like handbrake could be great to get more use out of your tapes or any archival media.
Love it! Tapes is a new suggestion here in the comments! Thanks for shedding some light on that archival form! That could prove to be a great way of offloading the "bloat" that so often sits on drives!
@@TroyMairs people forget about tapes, but for about 150$ you get 18tb of storage capacity. B&H has a nice range of tapes and readers if you want to check it out. The read speeds of tapes are not bad at all as well.
On point #3, color accurate monitors - no two panels will come out of the factory exactly the same, and the color performance will vary within an individual model. And for any kind of serious work, calibration is more essential than it was emphasized here. A good panel can have a lot of room to correct, and a skilled calibrator is a godsend. A combination of both can get a good panel from deltas in range of 2-3 to 0.05 - 0.2, and that's a world of difference.
For storage I’m looking into a WD my cloud ex2. It would back up my computer wirelessly, the drives are exchangeable and expandable. You can even back up your work work ssd by plugging it in. the files would be available anywhere on your network and if I’m not mistaken even remotely.
No kidding? This is a new recommendation here in the comments, I'll have to look into that a bit deeper because it sounds like a pretty clever solution! Thanks for the insight Phil!
While I’m nowhere near where you are as far as professional film making, I have been learning that lesson to just buy quality items the first go around. Sure I might not have it right away, but as one TH-camr puts it, buy nice or buy twice.
You’re right on! I think that really applies to life as outside of filmmaking as well. That’s where I really learned (and am still learning) that lesson! Thanks for joining the conversation Todd, pumped to have you here!
where is the lav mic tho 😅 In all seriousness, where should we put the lav if not on our shirt? or is the only option to use a boom to get that feeling
Great question! If placing a lav mic on the shirt is the only/best option, then by all means that is the answer! There are a few methods of concealing a lav mic that would make it less obvious while still giving you the recording option. (Attaching a lav to the chest, inside of a shirt/jacket, or a bra are common hiding places) In an ideal situation, try and get two separate sources of audio. Perhaps a lavalier mic AND a boom in case one of them fails :)
Hey thank you so much! :) I'm awful at graphics, so I lean pretty heavily on Motion VFX for my client/youtube work! They get my recomendation for sure! mvfx.co/TroyMairs.
Following for the recommendations for a storage system. I too have a mixture of about 10+ External hard drives stored in the bottom drawer. I would love to have some kind of raid storage system that I can access on-demand without having to pull the external hard drives (if I can find the data and power cords)!!!
I'm the same way! I want the archival system, but I also want on-demand access. Its a tall order that comes at a price but I guy can dream! Thanks for commenting! A lot of viewers have recommended the Synology NAS systems.
@@TroyMairs I have reached out to one of my favorite content creators (who actually responds to my emails) and hopefully Kelsey has some great options. I didn't realize my content was vulnerable until in 2022 I lost one of my internal hard drives. This drive housed many of the projects I was working on. I mean I had back-ups on another internal hard drive. But not everything. I ended up spending $600 to send the drive to a data recovery firm in TX. The files they did recover were files I did not really care about. So I DO NOT want to have to learn that hard lesson again. I'll have to check out the Synology NAS systems. I did reach out to a company (PureStorage) but they are only interested in Enterprise companies and not small Ma & Pa businesses like mine. 😡
Nice Vid. I would have loved some more Broll. When you talk about the Tripot you gesture a lot on what to do and what to looks for but only people with experience know what a quick release system looks like or how the legs extend. And why not transform the vid from a mostly talking head video to something a lot more dynamic with a few more broll shots. You have such a wonderfill studio setup so why not show it of a bit more. Great content with a lot more potential!
Thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts! I appreciate the feedback and I'll definitely take note of that for future videos! Thanks again! :)
Thank you for kind words/feedbackl! I appreciate you letting me know! I'm doing a bit of a deep dive on audio best practices (a neglected area in my filmmaking journey thus far!) so hopefully we'll see some improvements on that front in the coming videos! Thanks again!
12:44 I can find one more common thread: price! 😉 I liked all the things you recommended, seems to quality gear all of them, and I can really relate to buying budget stuff that are quickly discarded. But I wonder. Since you are recommending gear that supposedly ought to hold for one's entire career, should you not recommend some older gear? Surely, if one can give advice for career-lasting gear produced today, one can give advice for career-lasting gear was made 20 years ago. Since we are only given recommendations for newly developed gear, that seems to me to be an indicator that one's gear will probably not be adequate for one's entire career. The things we buy today will not be on the future lists of career-lasting gear. The person that bought all the career-lasting gear 20 years ago, now see clear benefit of exchanging this gear towards, for example, lighter carbon fiber tripods, etc. New standards are constantly set, one's creative/professional aims are constantly changing, new materials are developed, tougher demands are issued, etc. Of course, some things are more robust against these cultural whims than others, but ultimately, all the tools we use will become obsolete, inadequate and unsatisfactory. I think that the cost-benefit analysis of future needs and future demands are difficult to make, as the future is difficult to predict. While I agree with your encouragement of shopping for quality, I'm not so sure that promoting gear as career-lasting is the best strategy. In any field. Being flexible and adaptable is probably better advice, I would think. Or maybe I'm just envious of never being able to afford a Sachtler Flowtech tripod, haha. Amazing video, nonetheless! Very pedagogical and well structured, with impeccable lighting and top notch production quality!
This is a really interesting approach Andrew! Thank you for the insight and unique perspective! Price is a pretty common thread here as well, you're right! So it's pretty easy to recommend those items. I have always been a bit impulsive in my gear buying decisions, so in an effort to "slow myself down" longevity had to be the foremost trait. That's why I left off items like camera bodies and "high-tech" gear that will become obsolete even FASTER! (Those are often the most exciting ones to buy) I'll be thinking about your concept of "older gear recommendations." That might be a video topic in and of itself and hopefully that would yield a list of gear that is a bit easier on the wallet! Thanks again Andrew! Great to have you here in the comments!
@@TroyMairs I can relate to the impulse, having longevity as a principle for gear acquisition sounds like a healthy advice. I'll try to adopt that as well. And doing a walkthrough of old quality video gear that are still relevant today could be a great video!
Great content! Recently realized I have to stop cutting corners on my audio gear. So started by investing in a boom mic setup, and soon some better lavaliers and a timecode solution as well. Love the authentic vibe of your videos. Definetly earned a new sub here!
Thank you Stefan! Pumped to have you here! I'm guilty of the same... I've dedicated a disproportionate amount of time/money towards the visuals, and the audio suffered as a result. You're in good company!
I agree with everything you are saying as regards to investing in quality equipment. Yes it is more painful in the short term but good equipment will outlast the cheap many times over. At the end of the day with very few exceptions you only get what you pay for.
Great video Troy! Good stands and tripods are a must, and everyone eventually will come that realization. The other game changer for me was when I added an external audio mixer/recorder to my kit. Keep up the great videos!
Thank you Brian! I really appreciate that! That is a fantastic addition as well. I remember incorporating timecode successfully for the first time on a job, that was a real game changer too! It took me longer than I'd like to admit to start prioritizing and understanding the audio side of things :) Thanks for sharing!
I have a 6big lacie and g-speed 24 shuttle. Ive had for months now and im getting warning that the newest os mac will not be supported. So Im stuck too🎉Done didit. Thanks for the warning. Great points. Thanks
Oh that's tough! Sorry you're stuck in that situation! Thanks for sharing though, I'll be on lookout for an archive system that will hopefully play nicely with future OS updates. Thank YOU for the warning!
Ive got 9 lightstands in an old tripod bag. Super handy, Something like an ap200 doesnt need a big stand (if its low in booklight mode) save the big stands for 8.4 or polyboards or ap1200 with a softbox. This bag of little stands gives me so much muscle beyone my 6 sctands and 4 combos. Just dont load or raise little stands. I had a couple of little stands that would not fit in that tripod bag.. threw them out
Nice! Having a place for those "catch all" stands to live out of sight until they are needed is a good idea! Mine kind of float and just in the way most of the time!
About the HardDrive Arrays. I’d recommend buying a NAS (it’s like a small server, Synology or QNAP are manufacturers I recommend, especially QNAP has some built in Cloud features) and fully equip it with HDDs in a RAID5 configuration, this way one drive could die and you still would have all of your data. Downside of them is: they aren’t that portable, but they have a usb port on the front for directly copying a disk’s content.
Awesome! Thank you Michael, that sounds not only useful but also very doable! Sometimes these NAS setups get a bit complicated, so I appreciate the succinct advice!
@@TroyMairs glad I could give some useful advice. Also I should mention the HDDs should all have the same size and for NAS or 24hour use (WD Red for example). If you have any more questions I gladly help you out.
NAS - Network attached storage. Basically a server just for you to keep all your files on. Having a NAS is killer because you can set it up so you never lose files if a hard drive dies or you lose power. You always have access to your files no matter where you are or what device you’re on. Having a NAS is essential for creatives.
Troy, your energy sensed through your self-awareness interview is similar to my own in which within your own creative parameters, and other people when you attempt to engage in conversation with don't get it, and it by many healthcare professionals may describe the situation as a compulsion. But, what do I know, as I'm neither trained nor skilled in that industry. The point is this, making purchases seems to come with the expense of some emotional connection at the end. That's the very reason why I bothered to chime in my thoughts as I collect information to get started in the real estate photography industry and its abundance of tech gear required to complete the goal once started.
I'd love to discuss an archival method that I use. I purchased a used Dell R720 and have an 8x8TB array running ZFS2 (TrueNAS). It's fantastic and supports 10gig so I can edit/cull with amazing efficiency.
Awesome thank you Nathaniel! I've always been curious/skeptical of the editing workflow through 10gig. I've never used it, I often hear mixed reviews on if it has a fast enough read/write speed for heavy editing, so thank you for the insight!
Thank you, Troy. Great video. I’m a bit older than you and also suffer from GAS. That said, while I have certainly bought a lot of ‘gadgets’ over the years, I always think of a lesson from my dad. Buy good stuff. If you don’t, you’ll wind up buying it twice. Second, if you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you and good gear is key to this. Liked this video enough, first one of yours I’ve watched, to subscribe. Cheers!
Great tips, On the white balance tip, I hate that Sony when you are using the custom mode dial does NOT allow you to quickly pop off a custom white balance , totally frustrating and makes no sense but it is what it is. Hopefully they will change that in a future update. I have my custom modes set to 24p, 60p and 120p and there is not way of doing a custom white balance when using the custom modes unfortunately...
That would be frustrating! I shoot mostly with the Canon line of cameras, but I'm familiar with how great Sony's custom WB is, so it would be a real annoyance not to be able to use it!
I really enjoyed watching this video Troy and learned a lot from it. I’m going to look into the better-quality wireless audio equipment straight away. You made several excellent points and changed my perspective. Thank you.
I'd recommend getting a NAS, such as a synology. Make sure to read up on how to set it up in a secure way. QNAP NASes have been compromised quite often in the past, so even though they have better hardware, I decided for 2 synology's (one is a backup in a different place).
Congrats this one really kicked off! Great content and I can second your choices. Spend a good amount on Manfrotto/Avenger stuff lately and I surely don’t regret.
Recommendation for in home storage: Build it yourself or buy a cheap server. I find solutions like Synology and Western Digital rather expensive for what they offer. Sure, a rackmounted server + rack may be more expensive at first but the expandability and the formfactor make more than up for it, imo. :D Also, while it sounds intimidating at first, it really isn't that hard to do. There are cool solution and OS which are pretty much install & go.
There is defintely an intimidation factor at play! Even a bit for the Synology systems for me, but that is likely just because it will be a change in my workflow and that's never fun (But often necessary!) < I think that is the real reason I've drug my feet as long as I have!
@Troy Mairs yeah. I honestly had a similar thing. I also had a hick up putting my data at risk, but now, everything is running just fine for a year or so, now. No further incidents, no further problems. :D Valuable lessons learned, no data was harmed, and new ideas/projects are planned. :D
Thanks for great advice and sharing practical tips. While I mainly do photography, I’m dabbing into video more, mainly with my channel. Again, you are being very thorough and systematic. 👍👍👍
Glad this was helpful! I always fin it interesting how similiar, yet so different photo and video an be! All the same fundamentals apply, but its an entirely new way of thinking! I started out with video (its also what I enjoy most) and I found that taking the time to really learn stills photography heloed me become a better filmmaker. Its a new perspective. Thanks for commenting!
Totally agree about good lavs. The sanken cos 11 is a dream to work with and can even make a rode wireless go recording sound pro level. GAS is a real business problem (or business owner problem) and my rule is if I can’t justify it as a business investment I can only buy it used. That way it’s already depreciated and if it doesn’t work out or I get bored I can sell it on and I’ve not spent much more than renting it.
That's a great way to approach it! Early on in my career GAS got me in a bit unnecessary credit card debt (real business problem! lol) So I resolved to only make purchases I could pay for with cash that day. That has really gone a long way for me any way! Thanks for commenting!
Good stuff Troy! I too have GAS. Or at least, "had," GAS haha! Like the Protein Farts kind of GAS. Great stuff. Well presented. Hindsight is always 20/20 lol
As far as the storage goes, there’s an option to be able to upload it to server which may be better than buying a bunch of drives. But it just means - you’re essentially renting a digital space
Definitely relate…. The only good thing about being a beginner is I cant afford to sink a lot of money in gear… but always see something I want!!! LOL respect ✊🏽
I can definitely relate to THAT! I don't know that "level" I'm at as a filmmaker, but I can assure you that feeling doesn't go away! Haha! Thanks for commenting!
I've used ONE Sachtler Tripod throughout my 15 years lasting TV production career, did anything bad to it you shouldn't do and sold it for almost the price I got it for (around 4k). The best investment I've ever made. Too bad it's gone 😂 Very good video and thanks for the reminders! You've got a new subscriber from Germany.
Pumped to have you here Alex! :) What an awesome testiment to Sachtler, sure they are expensive, but divide that cost over 15 years and the maths starts to add up! Thanks again!
Nas drive all the way. Synology has some great options. Plus you can purchase a 3 bay and then buy another 3 bay once that's filled and connect them together. You can do this with the ones with more bays as well.
Synology seems to be the winner based on the comment section! I've got a lot of faith in the experience of this community, so that will likely be the route I go. Thanks for sharing your experience!
@@TroyMairs Avoid GAS and go with a DAS. I switched over from Synology to promise pegasus and I will never go back, unless I have a huge team (even then I would go the rack-mounted professional server route) I left a comment earlier explaining why DAS is better and I don't understand why people stand by synology so much. I have gone through 3 different units by the way.
Absolutely! Thanks for commenting! Next bit of gear? Great question! Rhino makes a motorized "dana dolly" system that I've had my eye on for some time! I'd like to get hands on with one before I commit though! Thanks for joining me on the journey!
Hey thank you! That shelf is a Husky "industrial" style metal shelving unit. I think I got this from the FB Marketplace but Home Depot sells them new as well!
Just food for thought, you could do giveaways with the "cheap" gear that you no longer need or use. I'm trying to become a full time photographer/cinematographer and work for myself. I know I would appreciate any gear given to me! Love your channel brotha, keep up the good work! :)
Nice video. I have the video passport, and I regret buying it. I rarely use it, and I have never been able to use the color chart in Resolve even with the tools made specifically for the chart. I also have lots of cheaper gear I don't use. Partly because I didn't have money for more expensive gear, I didn't know about it, but mostly technology. I used to have CLF bulb lights, then I bought some Kino Flow knock-off lights. Those were before LEDs finally became an option for video lighting. I have panel lights, but now use COBs more. As for the old gear, including cheap stands and tripods I didn't want to use anymore, I donated it to Goodwill instead of continuing to have them clutter my home.
I'll second that part about the color checker in Resolve. The software side of that tool is clunky at best. I've always liked the pocket sized case to keep it both clean and close by. I often just use it for the grey card, every now and again the skin tone patches come in handy for me. I understand that initial frustration though because I bought it expecting to use that function. Thanks for contributing that last idea as well! Great solution
Its a great question! And unfortunately my answer is "I don't know." The junior pin receiver on the one leg would make attaching a wheel difficult. It might not be impossible, and there could be a universal wheel base out there that could support it, but as far as I know, a wheel base system isn't an option. YET! Lol there is always room for innovation, so if it doesn't exist today, that doesn't mean it can't be invented! :)
It's not only a waste of money, it's a waste of the earth's resources too. Great to see you recommend quality stuff that lasts!
Totally agree! I wish I would have thought about that point to include in the video lol! Thanks for the comment!
Exactly; "buy once - cry once" 🤓
The initial cost up from shrinks the overall cost when you see how many years you keep quality gear, and how much time can be saved with tools that work smarter/easier.
Thanks for this video, Troy! You've covered a broad range of topics that are really root level themes. 🙌
Waste of earth’s resources? Lol
@@dextermorgan4093 You know, like that time you spent watching Dexter's last season that could have been spent in a much better way and made your life a lot more interesting.
@@joas162 lol actually I didn’t watch all the seasons. It started to get boring with him not killing as much. But I have watched through the first few seasons a few times. I liked his interactions with Doakes. Fun fact, a many of those scenes were filmed a few houses down from where I lived in Long Beach.
I built out a NAS with Synology, 5 drive, expandable units up to 10 more drives. It's been working great, just plugged into my router, network access, hardwired connection. That was a game changer for organization.
Solid, thank you for the recommendation!
Super chill and helpful video! Hoping to see some more soon bro!
Thanks Collin, I really appreciate that! I LOVE making these vids, so there will certainly be more to come!
Awesome video, thanks for sharing the tips and tools that you use.
Much appreciated! You're very welcome and thank you for the kind words!
Amazing Video. Thanks for the sound advice.
Glad it was helpful!! Thanks for commenting!
Great overview! I use a Synology 8-bay NAS, and it simplified my business so much having everything in one place and not in a flurry of external portable drives. I still use portable SSDs for travel jobs, but getting a NAS was one of the most influential purchases I've made. Be sure to get a 10Gbe port compatible NAS, or a NAS that can take a 10Gbe expansion card, it will elevate your read/write speeds tremendously. One reminder is that RAID is not a backup, just redundancy (which helps minimize downtime when drives fail- and they all do eventually). You truly should have a 2nd storage unit for backup, and many experts say a 3rd in the cloud to prevent against theft or damage at your office location. That sure gets expensive though. :)
Thank you Rob! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts! :) Would you edit any projects directly from your NAS? I’ve always been curious if a 10gbe connection would provide fast enough data transfer to allow editing straight off the drive.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter! Thanks again!
@@TroyMairs In my process, I use two 2TB M.2 SSDs on my motherboard to edit my active client projects from, and even then I enjoy rendering proxies to make the 4k 10bit .XMF C70 videos files faster to playback and scrub. My projects are between 100GB and 1TB in size, so I like to edit on the fastest drives I have for maximum efficiency (and enjoyment, really). My NAS is where I archive my client projects and keep everything else for my business. When I need to reference an archived project, or make an update to an older project, it is fast enough to edit from. Even if your computer can handle real-time playback, nothing beats hyper scrubbing through proxy footage (no matter if you're using SSD or NAS). In short, you can definitely edit off a 10Gbe NAS (I would recommend proxy workflow), but I find my projects are still more responsive on a fast M.2 SSD drive.
Likewise! Same setup (I use a Synology DS1821+ as my array), and have paired that with a Dropbox system. On Dropbox I have an 'Active' Folder which syncs 1 to 1 with my Synology, and an 'Archive' Folder which is cloud-only. Once Synology is getting full or 3 years have elapsed since the project was worked on, it gets moved into the Dropbox Archive, freeing up space on the Synology. The upside to this is that outsourcing is a breeze (as it's all cloud based and people can sync dropbox locally to work with), You don't need to perpetually be worrying about increasing our NAS storage, you can work locally from the Synology as it's a 10Gbe connection, cloud syncing is automatic, and Dropbox also comes with a very handy video review software so collating feedback on projects is very easy! If you want to know more about how to do something like that, hit me up (tom@tomlebon.com), happy to chat to anyone!
Love it, thank you for taking the time to share your experience! You touched on my primary concern, which was access/making edits to projects that were in Archive. My concern was it wouldn't keep up at all. Knowing I could dip into the archive and pull something from a project helps put that concern to rest.
Thanks again Rob!
Tom, this sounds like a really effective setup! I'm a bit envious! :) I just might have to Copy and Paste this into my workflow! I appreciate the offer for help, I just may take you up on it when the time comes!
You deserve so many more subscribers! I love the way you present the info. Super clear and to the point with just the right amount of B roll.
Thank you Austin! I hope you're right, but in the mean time I am PUMPED to have the subs that I do :) I have a great time making these vids and interacting with this community, thanks for commenting!
Refreshing to hear your thoughts on this man! Great vid 🔥
You got it! :) Thank you!
Sharing my Archive/Hard Drive System - I have 1 SSD that I'm currently working off of, w/ recent and current projects, I have 1 SSD that I always keep on me for last minute calls. It only has all my luts, presets, effects, music, templates and etc on it, so if I do get a last minute or on-the-spot gig, I'll never have to create things from scratch. Then I have a large 13TB G Drive that I call the "everything drive" that I use as an archive drive. This way, I don't have to keep buying drives and I won't get nervous to delete files.
Solid set up! Thank you for sharing! I particularly like the drive dedicated to "assets." It can be all too easy for those things to get scattered across drives! Thanks for commenting Jelinda!
i love how you put this video together. Anyone can tell you put a lot of thought & time into it. Quality stuff! Awesome graphics
Thanks man I appreciate you saying that! I do put a lot of forethought into these videos but I honestly love doing it! Glad you enjoyed it!
Totally agree… it’s slick and Troy is easy to listen to
The quality of these recommendations, and your videos, are stellar.
That really means a lot, thank you Douglas!
You sir, as of today, are my new favorite person on TH-cam. Your on-screen presence silently screams authenticity; I love it. BTW, SanDisk Pro G-Raid series are simply amazing NAS systems. For me, they leave Synology in the dust. 7:07
That is such an awesome compliment! Thank you so much! :) I've had a handful of votes here in the comments for the Synology systems, but it sounds like I'll have to take a fair look at the G-Raid series. Thanks for the insight, and thank you again for this comment! Night made!
Thankyou Troy. I appreciate you taking this time and sharing. As a beginner, your helping me grow with a strong and balanced Foundation. Good work Brother!
Appreciate you Alexander! Thanks for checking out these vids and for spending some time with me! :)
As someone who is about to starting as an entry level professional this is super helpful! Thanks
You're quite welcome! Thanks for checking out the vid Noah, and best of luck on your new endeavors! :)
For storage I'm using a drive dock and solid state drives. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make copies of all the drives. Will be moving to faster NVMe drives next, so that just means a new dock, but will be following the same process.
Thanks for the insight Justin!
best reccomendation for a centralised storage solution is get something like a synology NAS drive. you can upgrade it in the future, plus some versions have 10G switches allowing you to edit straight off it, back your projects up to it and even give remote access to collaborators
The Synology NAS sure seems to be the crowd favorite here in the comments! Thanks for sharing your recommendation, very helpful!
@Troy Mairs np! And lmk if you want a reccomendation of suppliers, I've been working with a company called First Contact who are a UK based synology partner that have got loads of experience with configuring and setting up NAS drives for editing. Currently I use one to edit directly off of!
For storage I use a Synology NAS DS1621+. It has 6 hard drive slots but by using shr-1 or shr-2 you can add drive of any size at any time when needed. It's possible to add 2 expansion modules and add up to 10 drives. With 6 drives of 12tb using shr-2 I get 48tb of storage and 2 drives used as failsafe. Using shr-1 I could have 60tb but only 1 disk used as failsafe which is more risky but can be fine if you have multiple backups.
Thank you for the detail explainaition! Much appreciated!
I totally understand what you talking about when it come to buying gear that that do not last or just not good. Love your video.
Glad I'm not the only one! Lol thank you for the kind words!
Greetings from the UK… love your videos Troy! Keep ‘em comin and I’m sure this channel is going to grow quickly.
Hey glad to have you here! Thank you for the kind words and support. I hope you're right! :)
For me the hardest thing to come to terms with was C-stands, because they are as expensive as they are boring! Now of course I have several (all used or on sale) - essential piece of kit.
That's a GREAT item to buy on the used market! No matter how you buy them, there will never be anything fun about handing money over for a C-stand though! Lol Thanks for commenting!
To file away videos I would recommend getting a Synology NAS. The best bang for the buck currently is the 1522+ with IronWolf Pro drives. I recently started recording straight to an external SSD on my camera and then editing my videos on it. Then I zip away old footage (if it’s large like ProRes) and store it on the NAS. I would HIGHLY recommend it. Also, it does a whole heck of a lot more than just storage.
Thank you for the recommendation!! The ProRes archival is an interesting approach, I like it!
Hi, Just stumbled on this and felt compelled to comment. It's all excellent advice.
I've worked in film/tv since the late 70's and made plenty of bad buying decisions in the process! :-)
GAS is a relatively new term (I think) but I've suffered for decades!
If you're working professionally then at least it's all tax deductable, but you'll always end up buying kit that you regret and hardly ever use.
The advice I was given, and never took! Was to sell anything if you haven't used it for 6 months.
As Troy said, the stuff you can't go wrong with is: tripods/heads, lighting stands, solid grip kit in general. Buy the best quality you can afford, you'll still be using it in 30 years!
Buy stuff thats appropriate for the work you do. For example don't get a great tripod thats too heavy! Sounds basic but we can all make that sort of mistake! You'll end up leaving it at home.
Lenses can seem pricey but they're generally a good investment. You'll be using them after many changes of camera and you'll get a reasonable price when you eventually sell them.
These days the camera body itself is probably the most difficult investment. An expensive camera body will be still producing superb images many years from now but there'll be something 'better' in 6-12 months and your £15,000 camera will still be great, but worth very little. If you've really got to have the latest thing then you'd better have a lot of work to justify the expense and to pay for the loans. If you feel the camera body is going to generate work for you, then great. But it had better pay for itself in less than 2 years.
Hey David! Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insight! You touched on a point in your comment that I didn't cover in the video that I wanted to highlight.
"Buy stuff thats appropriate for the work you do"
I've fallen victim to that for sure, and its a great metric to judge a purchasing decision.
Thanks again David! I appreciate you taking the time to contribute your thoughts!
I built my own Network-Attached Storage Server (NAS) about a year ago. I HIGHLY recommend either building one or buying a pre built one. I now have 24TB of storage that I can access from anywhere in my house through ethernet or over wifi from any device that can connect to wifi or ethernet, for only $430 dollars in total cost.
This sounds like an IDEAL solution! The remote access would often come in handy. Do you find the speeds to fast enough to do some editing on?
Thank you for the insight!
looking this video from my super wide, curved monitor as a video and content creator, was really laughing out loud, thanks for this great video. Keep up the good work!
Lol that's too funny! :) I really did/do like the curved monitor from the editing perspective! super-wide timelines are a dream. I've always been curious as to how well the on-screen calibration tools worked on curved monitors, given they don't sit exactly flush to the screen and may allow for some ambient light leak to "taint" the calibration. So that thought was always living in my head! Haha
I appreciate the compliment and the comment! Thanks Michael!
@Troy Mairs
The choice between a DAS (Promise Pegasus) and NAS (Synology) for video editing largely depends on your specific needs and workflow. While many people on the internet recommend a NAS for video editing, it's important to consider that a NAS can be slow to edit off of, unless you have an expensive SSD NAS.
If you require a centralized storage system for your team and need to access files remotely or collaborate on projects with multiple editors, then a NAS might be a good choice for you. A NAS allows you to store all of your files in one centralized location, which can be accessed by anyone on your team who has the appropriate permissions. Additionally, you can access your files remotely, which is useful if you need to work from a location outside of your office.
However, it's important to note that a NAS can struggle with random IOP/S, which can slow down access times and potentially cause issues with latency during the editing process. Random IOP/S is a measure of the ability of a storage system to handle multiple small input/output operations per second. In video editing workflows, where data is spread out across multiple hard drives, random IOP/S can be a critical factor. When data has to go through a CPU before being processed, this can cause slower access times, which can negatively impact the editing process.
On the other hand, if you're a solo video editor or work with a small team, a DAS might be a better choice for you. A DAS provides direct data access through a RAID card, rather than through a CPU, which results in faster access times and can significantly improve your editing workflow. This can be especially important when working with large files and multiple applications at the same time.
For example, I recently switched from a NAS (DS1821+) to a DAS (Promise Pegasus) due to the issue with random IOP/S, and it has made a significant positive impact on my editing workflow. My relinking process went from taking 2 minutes down to just 30 seconds, and overall, the improved performance and reliability of the DAS has made my workflow better in every aspect. It feels like I am working off an SSD.
In summary, the choice between a DAS or NAS for video editing comes down to your specific needs and workflow. If you need to access files remotely or collaborate with multiple editors, a NAS might be a good choice. However, if you're a solo editor or work with a small team and need faster access times, a DAS might be a better choice for you.
P.S. Here is a blog post I found a while back taking about it what I mentioned. aperina.com/blog/choosing-a-file-storage-solution-for-our-business-promise-vs-qnap/
If you would like I would love to elaborate more about NAS vs DAS with you.
Wow, thank you for taking the time for such a thorough explanation. This is really helpful! Its tough because I'm stuck right in the middle.. Having remote access and multiple users is hopefully on the horizon for my professional work, but not at the expense of slower edits. I've speculated a NAS might be slower but this is the first I'm learning of the IOP/S so thank you for bringing that to my attention! :)
Much appreciated!
Great video man, I’ve been doing this for a long time and have also learned the hard way! Data storage gets pushed lower on the list than it should be, and I’m in the same boat as you on that one!
Thanks man! Much appreciated!
For your external storage question.
Synology Nas is the best place to start for most.
It allows you to not only have expandable storage options, that can be accessed in home or off network (if your upload speeds are fast enough).
But it also offers 2 other invaluable options....
A. redundancy which is one of the biggest failures of most creatives
B. automative cloud backup...which goes into point a.
Thank you Colbe for the recommendation! You must be on to something because Synology seems to be the unanimous favorite 👍
@@TroyMairs not a problem, if you're focusing mostly on video work and want to use it for a "working drive" I'd recommend getting a setup for 2.5g or more. Otherwise if you're using it just for storage of finished stuff, regular 1g is sufficient.
I work of my internal drive then backup to my NAS (for now). That said if you're gonna spend the money I'd recommend buying a 4+ HD bay unit, even if you only use 2 of them initially. Also buying NAS specific drives and running a mirrored raid of some type to ensure your data is protected. This setup will also allow you to expand later to use all 4 drives and all of their current 4+ bay systems support an add on 5 bay expansion system to allow you to add more storage later should you need it.
The last perk is that I have as stated with mine is to automatically backup to an offsite cloud storage. It usually costs me $20-30/m but if my house burns down it'll be well worth that investment to know my clients work is safe.
Best of luck!
Good tips. Thank you for the reminders !
Sure thing! Thanks for checking out the vid!
For archiving video, tapes are the best if you are not loading old footage on the daily, which if we are talking about an archive you are probably not. It is a one time investment in a tape writer/reader and then storage is easy as chucking a tape in a cardboard box for up to 35 years maybe even more, and with that you can use a more compact NAS type enclosure which is cheaper, less bulky, less power hungry, not to mention it rebuilds the array faster and you are holding only active projects on there and not a massive load of bloat. Implementing a system of using lossless compression for the final files you plan to archive with something like handbrake could be great to get more use out of your tapes or any archival media.
Love it! Tapes is a new suggestion here in the comments! Thanks for shedding some light on that archival form! That could prove to be a great way of offloading the "bloat" that so often sits on drives!
@@TroyMairs people forget about tapes, but for about 150$ you get 18tb of storage capacity. B&H has a nice range of tapes and readers if you want to check it out. The read speeds of tapes are not bad at all as well.
On point #3, color accurate monitors - no two panels will come out of the factory exactly the same, and the color performance will vary within an individual model. And for any kind of serious work, calibration is more essential than it was emphasized here. A good panel can have a lot of room to correct, and a skilled calibrator is a godsend. A combination of both can get a good panel from deltas in range of 2-3 to 0.05 - 0.2, and that's a world of difference.
You're spot on, thanks for elaborating on the point! Any of the monitors mentioned here would need regular calibration.
Quality content Troy! Great info indeed. Thanks
Much appreciate, Brian! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
For storage I’m looking into a WD my cloud ex2. It would back up my computer wirelessly, the drives are exchangeable and expandable. You can even back up your work work ssd by plugging it in. the files would be available anywhere on your network and if I’m not mistaken even remotely.
No kidding? This is a new recommendation here in the comments, I'll have to look into that a bit deeper because it sounds like a pretty clever solution!
Thanks for the insight Phil!
While I’m nowhere near where you are as far as professional film making, I have been learning that lesson to just buy quality items the first go around. Sure I might not have it right away, but as one TH-camr puts it, buy nice or buy twice.
You’re right on! I think that really applies to life as outside of filmmaking as well. That’s where I really learned (and am still learning) that lesson!
Thanks for joining the conversation Todd, pumped to have you here!
@@TroyMairs thanks, I’m enjoying your content so far!!
Great video with some good advice. I liked the animated charts! I'll be borrowing that ;)
Ayy thank you much! :) I appreciate you taking the time to check out the vid and comment.
Motion VFX is your answer for the animated charts!
@@TroyMairs thanks. I’ll prob animate it myself in AE ❤️
where is the lav mic tho 😅
In all seriousness, where should we put the lav if not on our shirt? or is the only option to use a boom to get that feeling
Great question! If placing a lav mic on the shirt is the only/best option, then by all means that is the answer! There are a few methods of concealing a lav mic that would make it less obvious while still giving you the recording option. (Attaching a lav to the chest, inside of a shirt/jacket, or a bra are common hiding places)
In an ideal situation, try and get two separate sources of audio. Perhaps a lavalier mic AND a boom in case one of them fails :)
Awesome advice delivered in a concise way. Nice video
Thank you for the compliment and checking out the vid! Glad you enjoyed it!
Righteous beard right there. 🙌
That’s quite the compliment coming from “Red Beard Ops” 🔥 Thank you for that and for watching the vid!
Great information and content I love the text and visual aid elements to help drive your points home
Hey thank you so much! :) I'm awful at graphics, so I lean pretty heavily on Motion VFX for my client/youtube work! They get my recomendation for sure! mvfx.co/TroyMairs.
@@TroyMairs awesome I will check em out
Following for the recommendations for a storage system. I too have a mixture of about 10+ External hard drives stored in the bottom drawer. I would love to have some kind of raid storage system that I can access on-demand without having to pull the external hard drives (if I can find the data and power cords)!!!
I'm the same way! I want the archival system, but I also want on-demand access. Its a tall order that comes at a price but I guy can dream! Thanks for commenting! A lot of viewers have recommended the Synology NAS systems.
@@TroyMairs I have reached out to one of my favorite content creators (who actually responds to my emails) and hopefully Kelsey has some great options. I didn't realize my content was vulnerable until in 2022 I lost one of my internal hard drives. This drive housed many of the projects I was working on. I mean I had back-ups on another internal hard drive. But not everything. I ended up spending $600 to send the drive to a data recovery firm in TX. The files they did recover were files I did not really care about. So I DO NOT want to have to learn that hard lesson again. I'll have to check out the Synology NAS systems. I did reach out to a company (PureStorage) but they are only interested in Enterprise companies and not small Ma & Pa businesses like mine. 😡
Nice Vid. I would have loved some more Broll. When you talk about the Tripot you gesture a lot on what to do and what to looks for but only people with experience know what a quick release system looks like or how the legs extend. And why not transform the vid from a mostly talking head video to something a lot more dynamic with a few more broll shots. You have such a wonderfill studio setup so why not show it of a bit more. Great content with a lot more potential!
Thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts! I appreciate the feedback and I'll definitely take note of that for future videos! Thanks again! :)
S N A P 👌🏻 GAS 👀 me too! Great video mate 👍🏻 New subscriber here. Cheers from Western Australia 🇦🇺🤝🏻
Lol you get it! Thanks for subscribing! Glad to have you along for the ride! :)
love this man, lots of great info. Gain seems quite low though, a lot quieter than two previous videos I watched
Thank you for kind words/feedbackl! I appreciate you letting me know! I'm doing a bit of a deep dive on audio best practices (a neglected area in my filmmaking journey thus far!) so hopefully we'll see some improvements on that front in the coming videos!
Thanks again!
We all suffer from GAS at times. But boy is it a relief when you're unburdened from it.
Truer words have never been spoken!
Love this man great work!
Thank you my guy! I really appreciate you checking out the vid!
858 subscribers.. bro this was awesome. Subscribed bro
Pumped to have you here my guy! I appreciate the support and kind words Luke!
12:44 I can find one more common thread: price! 😉 I liked all the things you recommended, seems to quality gear all of them, and I can really relate to buying budget stuff that are quickly discarded. But I wonder. Since you are recommending gear that supposedly ought to hold for one's entire career, should you not recommend some older gear? Surely, if one can give advice for career-lasting gear produced today, one can give advice for career-lasting gear was made 20 years ago. Since we are only given recommendations for newly developed gear, that seems to me to be an indicator that one's gear will probably not be adequate for one's entire career. The things we buy today will not be on the future lists of career-lasting gear. The person that bought all the career-lasting gear 20 years ago, now see clear benefit of exchanging this gear towards, for example, lighter carbon fiber tripods, etc. New standards are constantly set, one's creative/professional aims are constantly changing, new materials are developed, tougher demands are issued, etc. Of course, some things are more robust against these cultural whims than others, but ultimately, all the tools we use will become obsolete, inadequate and unsatisfactory. I think that the cost-benefit analysis of future needs and future demands are difficult to make, as the future is difficult to predict. While I agree with your encouragement of shopping for quality, I'm not so sure that promoting gear as career-lasting is the best strategy. In any field. Being flexible and adaptable is probably better advice, I would think. Or maybe I'm just envious of never being able to afford a Sachtler Flowtech tripod, haha. Amazing video, nonetheless! Very pedagogical and well structured, with impeccable lighting and top notch production quality!
This is a really interesting approach Andrew! Thank you for the insight and unique perspective! Price is a pretty common thread here as well, you're right! So it's pretty easy to recommend those items. I have always been a bit impulsive in my gear buying decisions, so in an effort to "slow myself down" longevity had to be the foremost trait. That's why I left off items like camera bodies and "high-tech" gear that will become obsolete even FASTER! (Those are often the most exciting ones to buy)
I'll be thinking about your concept of "older gear recommendations." That might be a video topic in and of itself and hopefully that would yield a list of gear that is a bit easier on the wallet! Thanks again Andrew! Great to have you here in the comments!
@@TroyMairs I can relate to the impulse, having longevity as a principle for gear acquisition sounds like a healthy advice. I'll try to adopt that as well. And doing a walkthrough of old quality video gear that are still relevant today could be a great video!
Thanks for the idea! :)
Great content! Recently realized I have to stop cutting corners on my audio gear. So started by investing in a boom mic setup, and soon some better lavaliers and a timecode solution as well. Love the authentic vibe of your videos. Definetly earned a new sub here!
Thank you Stefan! Pumped to have you here! I'm guilty of the same... I've dedicated a disproportionate amount of time/money towards the visuals, and the audio suffered as a result. You're in good company!
I splashed out on a Cos-11 D lav a few years back… incredible quality and worth every penny!
I agree with everything you are saying as regards to investing in quality equipment. Yes it is more painful in the short term but good equipment will outlast the cheap many times over. At the end of the day with very few exceptions you only get what you pay for.
Couldn't agree with you more! I've made that mistake several times over, and unfortunately still do every now and again!
Great video Troy! Good stands and tripods are a must, and everyone eventually will come that realization. The other game changer for me was when I added an external audio mixer/recorder to my kit. Keep up the great videos!
Thank you Brian! I really appreciate that! That is a fantastic addition as well. I remember incorporating timecode successfully for the first time on a job, that was a real game changer too! It took me longer than I'd like to admit to start prioritizing and understanding the audio side of things :)
Thanks for sharing!
@@TroyMairs Yes, timecode! I have recently added that to my projects. It is amazing, and kinda simple to do, and not that expensive.
Absolutely. As a Grip, I always tell videographers when the subject arises, if you buy quality stands, you will never have to buy them again.
I have a 6big lacie and g-speed 24 shuttle. Ive had for months now and im getting warning that the newest os mac will not be supported. So Im stuck too🎉Done didit. Thanks for the warning. Great points. Thanks
Oh that's tough! Sorry you're stuck in that situation! Thanks for sharing though, I'll be on lookout for an archive system that will hopefully play nicely with future OS updates. Thank YOU for the warning!
Ive got 9 lightstands in an old tripod bag. Super handy, Something like an ap200 doesnt need a big stand (if its low in booklight mode) save the big stands for 8.4 or polyboards or ap1200 with a softbox. This bag of little stands gives me so much muscle beyone my 6 sctands and 4 combos. Just dont load or raise little stands. I had a couple of little stands that would not fit in that tripod bag.. threw them out
Nice! Having a place for those "catch all" stands to live out of sight until they are needed is a good idea! Mine kind of float and just in the way most of the time!
What an awesome video !!! I am in awww ❤❤❤ This is perfect !!
In aww! That's quite the compliment! Thank you!:)
Sweet video dude, really nice & concise information too
Thank you much! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
About the HardDrive Arrays. I’d recommend buying a NAS (it’s like a small server, Synology or QNAP are manufacturers I recommend, especially QNAP has some built in Cloud features) and fully equip it with HDDs in a RAID5 configuration, this way one drive could die and you still would have all of your data. Downside of them is: they aren’t that portable, but they have a usb port on the front for directly copying a disk’s content.
Awesome! Thank you Michael, that sounds not only useful but also very doable! Sometimes these NAS setups get a bit complicated, so I appreciate the succinct advice!
@@TroyMairs glad I could give some useful advice. Also I should mention the HDDs should all have the same size and for NAS or 24hour use (WD Red for example). If you have any more questions I gladly help you out.
NAS - Network attached storage. Basically a server just for you to keep all your files on. Having a NAS is killer because you can set it up so you never lose files if a hard drive dies or you lose power. You always have access to your files no matter where you are or what device you’re on. Having a NAS is essential for creatives.
Love it! I think this is the direction I'm going to go, I appreciate the insight Wayne, thank you!
Troy, your energy sensed through your self-awareness interview is similar to my own in which within your own creative parameters, and other people when you attempt to engage in conversation with don't get it, and it by many healthcare professionals may describe the situation as a compulsion. But, what do I know, as I'm neither trained nor skilled in that industry.
The point is this, making purchases seems to come with the expense of some emotional connection at the end.
That's the very reason why I bothered to chime in my thoughts as I collect information to get started in the real estate photography industry and its abundance of tech gear required to complete the goal once started.
Thank you for sharing your insight! Best of luck in your endeavors!
Synology system is amazing and super easy to use.
Thanks for the vote! I appreciate you commenting!
Great vid, love the graphic animations
Thanks Nelson! I appreciate the feedback! Check out Motion VFX if you're looking for similiar graphics on your projects!
I'd love to discuss an archival method that I use. I purchased a used Dell R720 and have an 8x8TB array running ZFS2 (TrueNAS). It's fantastic and supports 10gig so I can edit/cull with amazing efficiency.
Awesome thank you Nathaniel! I've always been curious/skeptical of the editing workflow through 10gig. I've never used it, I often hear mixed reviews on if it has a fast enough read/write speed for heavy editing, so thank you for the insight!
Great video man, keep them coming!
You got it! Thank you for the compliment! I'm having a blast making these vids and hanging out in the comment sections :)
@@TroyMairs Haha I can relate
Thank you, Troy. Great video. I’m a bit older than you and also suffer from GAS. That said, while I have certainly bought a lot of ‘gadgets’ over the years, I always think of a lesson from my dad. Buy good stuff. If you don’t, you’ll wind up buying it twice. Second, if you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you and good gear is key to this. Liked this video enough, first one of yours I’ve watched, to subscribe. Cheers!
Thank you Alan! That's some sound advice from your dad as well👍 thank you for sharing to that insight, glad to have you along for the journey!
Crazy good video man, keep balling out and making this amazing content
Appreciate it, Ian! Thank you!! I’m having a blast over here making these vids!
Great tips, On the white balance tip, I hate that Sony when you are using the custom mode dial does NOT allow you to quickly pop off a custom white balance , totally frustrating and makes no sense but it is what it is. Hopefully they will change that in a future update. I have my custom modes set to 24p, 60p and 120p and there is not way of doing a custom white balance when using the custom modes unfortunately...
That would be frustrating! I shoot mostly with the Canon line of cameras, but I'm familiar with how great Sony's custom WB is, so it would be a real annoyance not to be able to use it!
I really enjoyed watching this video Troy and learned a lot from it. I’m going to look into the better-quality wireless audio equipment straight away. You made several excellent points and changed my perspective. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it and maybe learned something new! Happy shooting!💯
I'd recommend getting a NAS, such as a synology. Make sure to read up on how to set it up in a secure way. QNAP NASes have been compromised quite often in the past, so even though they have better hardware, I decided for 2 synology's (one is a backup in a different place).
Great insight! Thank you for commenting!
@@TroyMairs you’re welcome
Really nice work. Thank you for this; all really solid recommendations.
Thank you so much Mark! That's great to hear, i appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
Congrats this one really kicked off! Great content and I can second your choices. Spend a good amount on Manfrotto/Avenger stuff lately and I surely don’t regret.
Right?! I was (obviously) pretty pumped with how this one has performed! Thanks for the support!
Solid video, love the pacing!
Glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate you taking a minute to comment!
Recommendation for in home storage: Build it yourself or buy a cheap server.
I find solutions like Synology and Western Digital rather expensive for what they offer. Sure, a rackmounted server + rack may be more expensive at first but the expandability and the formfactor make more than up for it, imo. :D
Also, while it sounds intimidating at first, it really isn't that hard to do. There are cool solution and OS which are pretty much install & go.
There is defintely an intimidation factor at play! Even a bit for the Synology systems for me, but that is likely just because it will be a change in my workflow and that's never fun (But often necessary!) < I think that is the real reason I've drug my feet as long as I have!
@Troy Mairs yeah. I honestly had a similar thing. I also had a hick up putting my data at risk, but now, everything is running just fine for a year or so, now. No further incidents, no further problems. :D
Valuable lessons learned, no data was harmed, and new ideas/projects are planned. :D
Thanks for great advice and sharing practical tips. While I mainly do photography, I’m dabbing into video more, mainly with my channel. Again, you are being very thorough and systematic. 👍👍👍
Glad this was helpful! I always fin it interesting how similiar, yet so different photo and video an be! All the same fundamentals apply, but its an entirely new way of thinking! I started out with video (its also what I enjoy most) and I found that taking the time to really learn stills photography heloed me become a better filmmaker. Its a new perspective. Thanks for commenting!
Your information is top notch and your delivery is very calming. Well done. You have a new subscriber! 😀
Thank you so much Sarah! :) I'm glad to have you along for the journey!
Totally agree about good lavs. The sanken cos 11 is a dream to work with and can even make a rode wireless go recording sound pro level.
GAS is a real business problem (or business owner problem) and my rule is if I can’t justify it as a business investment I can only buy it used. That way it’s already depreciated and if it doesn’t work out or I get bored I can sell it on and I’ve not spent much more than renting it.
That's a great way to approach it! Early on in my career GAS got me in a bit unnecessary credit card debt (real business problem! lol) So I resolved to only make purchases I could pay for with cash that day. That has really gone a long way for me any way!
Thanks for commenting!
Good stuff Troy! I too have GAS. Or at least, "had," GAS haha! Like the Protein Farts kind of GAS. Great stuff. Well presented. Hindsight is always 20/20 lol
Lol! That's BAD gas... haha glad you made it out the other side and lived to tell about it! :) Glad to have you here Mike!
As far as the storage goes, there’s an option to be able to upload it to server which may be better than buying a bunch of drives. But it just means - you’re essentially renting a digital space
Thank you for the insight!
Definitely relate…. The only good thing about being a beginner is I cant afford to sink a lot of money in gear… but always see something I want!!! LOL respect ✊🏽
I can definitely relate to THAT! I don't know that "level" I'm at as a filmmaker, but I can assure you that feeling doesn't go away! Haha! Thanks for commenting!
I've used ONE Sachtler Tripod throughout my 15 years lasting TV production career, did anything bad to it you shouldn't do and sold it for almost the price I got it for (around 4k). The best investment I've ever made. Too bad it's gone 😂
Very good video and thanks for the reminders! You've got a new subscriber from Germany.
Pumped to have you here Alex! :) What an awesome testiment to Sachtler, sure they are expensive, but divide that cost over 15 years and the maths starts to add up! Thanks again!
Nas drive all the way. Synology has some great options. Plus you can purchase a 3 bay and then buy another 3 bay once that's filled and connect them together. You can do this with the ones with more bays as well.
Synology seems to be the winner based on the comment section! I've got a lot of faith in the experience of this community, so that will likely be the route I go. Thanks for sharing your experience!
@@TroyMairs Avoid GAS and go with a DAS. I switched over from Synology to promise pegasus and I will never go back, unless I have a huge team (even then I would go the rack-mounted professional server route)
I left a comment earlier explaining why DAS is better and I don't understand why people stand by synology so much. I have gone through 3 different units by the way.
Amazing Content! Definitely need to pickup 2 of these that I'm missing.
Thanks Dante! Glad you enjoyed it, pumped to have you here!
Handy vid! Lmk if you’re down for some feedback on the edit 👀
I'm always up for feedback! Have at it!:)
Great video Troy! Subscribed!
Thank you! Glad to have you along for the ride! :)
buy nice or buy twice! great video troy thank you!
Words to live by! And a lesson that I have to "re-teach" myself at least once a year! lol Thank you Sergio!
Great video man 🔥
Hey thank Maxime! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Well done video and great advise. THANK YOU.
Thank YOU! I appreciate you checking out the vid!
The color checker can also be used with MBR Color Corrector which can save you a lot of time.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing that bit of insight!
Great video!
If you’re in Canada, strobepro has very high quality heavy duty stands and they’re a bit cheaper than matthews shipped from elsewhere
Thanks Jason!
Shipping is a real consideration, thanks for bringing that up! I appreciate the recommendation!
100% Relate to this man, thank you for sharing your journey and have to say what's the next bit of gear you looking at :)
Absolutely! Thanks for commenting! Next bit of gear? Great question! Rhino makes a motorized "dana dolly" system that I've had my eye on for some time! I'd like to get hands on with one before I commit though!
Thanks for joining me on the journey!
Look into a OWC Thunder Bay 4 or Thunder Bay 8. They are a great direct attached storage system.
I’ll do that! Thanks for the suggestion! Do you set yours up in a RAID configuration?
@@TroyMairs I have mine setup in a RAID 5 configuration
Solid! I might be asking you a few more questions about that when I get over my head in it! Lol
@@TroyMairs no problem. Let me know
Who the heck is Troy?? Well, I guess we will all know soon! Great job bro. Exited to see more.
Hey thanks man! I appreciate the support/confidence! I’m having a blast making these vids, definitely more to come!
Asus ProArt series could be an option for monitor. And for a friendlier price tag.
Thanks for the tip!
I can totally relate! Great content subject.
Sounds like I am in good company, thank you for commenting!
Great Video 👍 thanks. I hope you have any other videos about lights. I really wanna go with one system. The only question ist aputure or godox…?
Thank you Robin! I really appreciate that! I'm just about to get into my thoughts about lighting on this channel! I've gone the Aputure route myself!
Extremely well made video! Super random question but can I please ask what the font name you used was?
Thanks for checking it out, I'm glad you liked it! The font name is "Inter"
SSD Nas - best investment I’ve ever made. I have a bunch of 1 & 2 TB drives too. But when they get full I back up to the NAS!
Oh and SSD based NAS! That's a slick set-up you've got there, thanks for sharing!
Love the video! What’s the shelf you use for all the gear behind you? Thanks!
Hey thank you! That shelf is a Husky "industrial" style metal shelving unit. I think I got this from the FB Marketplace but Home Depot sells them new as well!
You’re a life saver thank you!
Lol a life saver! Pressure is on now! Haha thanks for commenting!
Just food for thought, you could do giveaways with the "cheap" gear that you no longer need or use. I'm trying to become a full time photographer/cinematographer and work for myself. I know I would appreciate any gear given to me! Love your channel brotha, keep up the good work! :)
For sure! That’s a great solution :)
Great video! The text looked like a motionVFX plugin- could you share which one you’re using?
Thank you! Good eye, MotionVFX all the way! Check out the mKeynote plugin for resolve: mvfx.co/TroyMairs.
Another vote for the Synology NAS. Qnap is also a good option.
Thanks Paul! That seems to be a favorite, I'll be looking in to this hopefully soon!
Nice video. I have the video passport, and I regret buying it. I rarely use it, and I have never been able to use the color chart in Resolve even with the tools made specifically for the chart. I also have lots of cheaper gear I don't use. Partly because I didn't have money for more expensive gear, I didn't know about it, but mostly technology. I used to have CLF bulb lights, then I bought some Kino Flow knock-off lights. Those were before LEDs finally became an option for video lighting. I have panel lights, but now use COBs more. As for the old gear, including cheap stands and tripods I didn't want to use anymore, I donated it to Goodwill instead of continuing to have them clutter my home.
I'll second that part about the color checker in Resolve. The software side of that tool is clunky at best. I've always liked the pocket sized case to keep it both clean and close by. I often just use it for the grey card, every now and again the skin tone patches come in handy for me. I understand that initial frustration though because I bought it expecting to use that function.
Thanks for contributing that last idea as well! Great solution
Can you attach wheels with a step lock system to the bottom of the legs for this C-stand?
Its a great question! And unfortunately my answer is "I don't know." The junior pin receiver on the one leg would make attaching a wheel difficult. It might not be impossible, and there could be a universal wheel base out there that could support it, but as far as I know, a wheel base system isn't an option. YET! Lol there is always room for innovation, so if it doesn't exist today, that doesn't mean it can't be invented! :)