New videos, new camera gear, exciting news! BTS #101 (Patreon)

What up, mini family?! Apologies for missing last week's BTS post. I was enjoying a little vacation in NYC. Amber and I like to go regularly and absolutely stuff our faces with food. Here's a picture of Little China. There's a restaurant here called Nom Wah Tea Parlor that we really enjoy!

We also got to go to the Museum of the Moving Image to check out the Stanley Kubrick exhibit. I got to see so many cool models used on the production of '2001 A Space Odyssey'!

Enough about food and NYC, though, let's get some juicy BTS deets. In passing, I've been mentioning to my wife that I want to move the youtube operations out of our house. The sole purpose is just to have more space. I lose a significant portion of my week to tearing down and setting up different sets for live streaming games, live streaming painting, doing the podcast, and shooting regular videos. If I could have a dedicated space for each of those things, I could save a lot of time. I am not looking forward to having to drive, having to pack a lunch, not having mini painting supplies/a desk to paint on at home, etc. I mentioned to Amber it would make sense to do it Q1 of next year, but she was very excited to get started so she started sending emails and setting up meetings to see spaces to work out of!

Here was two rooms from 1 location. Lots of potential here! I essentially need a giant room that I can subdivide how I see fit and this fits the bill. There are other requirements like good internet options, 24/7 access, parcel delivery, etc. that are also important, but as long as it's big, it's in the running. We're going to look at 10 places total and so far have knocked 2 off of that list. Speaking of Amber, she's also expressed interest in painting minis!! She told me to find her some fairy and mushroom minis and we did just that. Jon hooked us up with some Moonstone fairies to get started. 

Amber actually found these other 3D printable options on myminifactory.

So that's pretty exciting! Expect a video sometime in the future where it's just me and Amber painting a fairy or mushroom mini. I'm not sure what the purpose of the video will be, but sometimes just the novelty of the experience (my wife painting her first mini) is worth enough. Did someone say camera gear? Yes? OK, we'll talk about it. On my most recent ASMR video, I got a chance to use my new lens.

This is a probe lens. Because of its unique shape, it can fit into areas that cameras otherwise would not be able to. In my ASMR video, I rigged up a camera on my slider and had the camera travel through the handle of a mug. I look forward to thinking of other creative options for how to use this lens! You can see the shot here: https://youtu.be/y65n6j-Xt0g?t=414

Aside from that, I also have been becoming increasingly frustrated with the battery life of the various cameras that I use, so much so that I often use dummy batteries that just plug into an outlet. This has its own annoyances such as going to the bathroom during a podcast and tripping on the wire and corrupting the video footage which I've never done before....Anyways, I think it's time for some big boy batteries; you know, some BBBs.

When it comes to videography, the two big types of batteries you'll see often are gold-mount and v-mount batteries. This simply refers to the type of connection they use. I've been careful to always pick v-mount options for lights and various equipment (brands often make gear in both gold-mount and v-mount varieties) just so that everything I have is consistent (I don't know if one is better than the other). So, I bought my first v-mount battery and a couple adapters so I can use it with my GH5 and MAN is it amazing. It does make the assembly heavier, but this battery lasts FOREVER. I did an hour long podcast, a 4 hour long livestream, and a 2.5hr long podcast and it was still at 4/4 pips for its battery life. Insane! Alright, back to hobby stuff.

I'm working on a table topper for ASOIAF, the game I'm enjoying at the moment. It's going to include several features like built in objective markers for all the games typical objective spots. They're often hard to measure out and move around a lot, so I thought this would be convenient for them to stay put in an accurate location. It's a project that has me using some carpentry skills, some crafting skills, and some 3D printing skills, which is always fun.

Had some issues with this print adhering to the build plate yesterday, but after I adjusted the print on the plate and also re-leveled my bed, everything worked out. It's always a great feeling to thinker with something and improve the outcome. Speaking of ASOIAF, I got 2 more games in and have a tournament coming up this weekend! 

I have an upcoming sponsorship from A-case and they sent me out this little prototype.

It's a magnetic box that stores gaming pieces. It's nice because it can go on the trays inside your metal carrying case (because the bottom of the box also has magnets, not just the lid) along with your miniatures if you play a game that has a lot of tsotchkes like ASOIAF. The very last news item is that I finished up this Ironborn archer for my Greyjoy army during stream last Friday with some bonus work afterwards. 

That's all for now! PAINT MORE MINIS!

Scott