» Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category

24Dec MSI GS60 Ghost Laptop M.2 SSD upgrade

I’ve been doing a bit of research on the MSI GS60 Ghost laptop and I think i’m just about ready to start upgrading. From what I’ve gathered in forums as well as the MSI manual, the GS60 has two (type 2280) 80mm M.2 SSD slots and a single 2.5 inch bay. I just received the Crucial 512GB […]

10Jun Nvidia GTX Titan vs R9 290x for NLE work – First impressions

I’ve been test driving the R9 290x for almost a month now and so far it has been a positive experience. Rendering speeds are slightly faster than a GTX 680 and it has no problem keeping up with the Samsung 4k panel I’ve been using. It’s pretty impressive for a GPU that sells for around […]

24May Chargercity DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount Review

As you can see from the video, the DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount adapter has a pretty strong grip for a spring loaded clamp. I wouldn’t have any problem trusting this as an attachment point for a smartphone or the TP-Link wireless router on a rig. If you are looking for a car or motorcycle mounting option you might want […]

22May DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount – First impressions

I know a number of you are using the DSLR Controller app and the TP-Link wireless hack I posted awhile back to control and monitor your camera. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of cheap simple ways to mount the TP-link or your phone (unless you count velcro). I try to keep an eye out for […]

30Apr RODE Videomic pro 3.5mm to XLR input adapter

These adapters are pretty hand to have around. They work great with for the RODE Videomic Pro when dealing with XLR inputs and they also do a good job adapting wireless audio units like the Sennheiser units I normally use. You can find the cheaper version here for about $6.50 and the RODE branded version […]

26Apr OpenCL vs Cuda Adobe Premiere CC rendering test

As I mentioned earlier this week, I was pretty impressed with the OpenCL Adobe Premiere CC demonstrations I saw at NAB this year. Thanks to some attractive used prices on ebay, I decided to pulled the trigger on a used Sapphire R9 290x GPU. The R9 290 and 290x GPUs have had a drastic drop in […]

26Mar New 1280×800 DIY field monitor project?

I was doing a little ebay scouting this morning and came across these very interesting 1280×800 project monitor kits. For under $100 you get a 5.6 inch 1280×800 display, driver board, and controls. Basically, you find a box to put it in and a 12 volt power source and you have yourself a sub $100 field […]

19Mar Wireless stereo audio with the Tascam DR-60d field recorder

As promised here is a full overview of the Tascam DR-60d wireless setup. All of the audio in this video (minus the intro) was recorded via a Wi audiolink stereo wireless transmitter. I’ve had very good luck with this setup in the field and this method has dramatically reduced the number of times I’ve needed […]

19Feb DSLR Camera rig mounting options

Everyone has their own opinion on how things should be mounted on a rig, but there are a few basic bits and pieces you’ll need in order to get started. First, lets answer a very common question. What is the difference between a hot shoe and cold shoe? A “hot shoe” has active electronics attached […]

18Feb FMX-DSLR, DXA-SLR, and Riggy XLR audio adapters side by side

Here we have (from left to right) the Juicedlink RM333 “Riggy” ($399), the Azden FMX-DSLR ($261), and the Beachtek DXA-SLR ($285) audio adapters. It’s easy to see that all three of these units are very similar in design, square boxes that are about the same form factor with a handful of volume control knobs on the […]