Final week I attended CES in Las Vegas to assist convey you 9to5Mac’s coverage of the most recent tech merchandise and Apple equipment going into 2019. Whereas hands-on movies are some of the efficient methods to share the information, they will also be probably the most difficult to create amidst the chaos that’s the present ground. This 12 months, I made a decision to take my video workflow iOS-only and see what I might study alongside the way in which.
Last year was my first time attending CES, so my video technique was constructed on the fly as I found what does and doesn’t work on the spot. Just like protecting a stay occasion, the much less gear you’ll be able to convey, the quicker you’ll be able to transfer. Lighting in cubicles is mostly satisfactory with out bringing in backups, however audio is a nightmare.
The iPhone has been my main nonetheless and video digicam for years, however final 12 months I nonetheless fell again to my MacBook for importing, managing, modifying, and exporting the entire media I captured. This 12 months’s setup was fairly easy:
Video: iPhone X stabilized by a 1st-generation DJI Osmo Mobile, iOS Digital camera app
Audio: iPhone XS Max and Zoom iQ7 Lightning mic (reviewed), iOS Voice Memos app
Modifying: 2018 iPad Professional (11-inch), LumaFusion for iOS
Images: iPhone XS Max, Lightroom for iPad
Why did I select to make use of an older iPhone X for video when the XS Max would theoretically seize a greater shot? The reply comes right down to weight. I discover that the unique DJI Osmo struggles to deal with Plus and Max-sized telephones, so the iPhone X was a significantly better match. I additionally selected the iOS Digital camera app over DJI’s custom app as a result of it’s faster to get in and simply begin filming. Representatives at cubicles have their consideration pulled in all instructions, so each second counts.
CES is notoriously noisy, so bringing an exterior microphone is vital for good audio. This complicates the modifying course of, however is properly value the additional effort. Final 12 months I tested the Zoom iQ7 on the present ground and was so impressed by its outcomes that I introduced it alongside once more.
Like with the DJI Osmo, I additionally selected to make use of Apple’s Voice Memos app as a substitute of the Zoom HandyRecorder app due to its pace and usefulness. Final 12 months this was a problem as a result of limitations of Voice Memos, however the app obtained a large improve with iOS 12 that has dramatically helped my workflow. The brand new consumer interface is extra easy, and the flexibility to entry not too long ago deleted recordings offers me peace of thoughts. Should you haven’t used Voice Memos since iOS 12, I’d advocate giving it one other shot.
Attaching the iQ7 to a separate iPhone meant that I might individually place my mic close to the voice of the demonstrator and my digicam close to the product. It was additionally vital as a result of the DJI Osmo iPhone mount covers the iPhone’s Lightning port. I’d love an iPhone gimbal answer that permits a mic to be simply connected. Since I used to be a filming and modifying crew of 1, managing all of those units concurrently required sharp focus and a few hand acrobatics. However compromising on anyone side of the gear would’ve led to a noticeably worse ultimate product.
CES was not solely my first expertise utilizing an iPad to edit time-sensitive video tasks, it was my first expertise utilizing LumaFusion for iOS. Whereas every of the completed movies (linked under) had been fairly easy and fast edits, utilizing a brand new editor in a manufacturing surroundings requires you to study quick. Fortunately, LumaFusion was a breeze.
Should you’re aware of iMovie or Ultimate Reduce, you’ll in all probability be proper at dwelling in LumaFusion after a couple of minutes of experimentation. Apart from some iOS-specific UI optimizations, the app works very similar to you’d anticipate from a normal desktop editor. LumaFusion gained’t be successful any design awards, however it’s by far probably the most highly effective video editor for iPad. With a extra visually pleasing interface, it will actually really feel like Ultimate Reduce for iOS.
I prepped my modifying surroundings earlier than leaving dwelling by importing my CES video belongings from iCloud Drive and organising a template challenge stuffed with the 9to5 intro animation. Since web speeds are unpredictable at CES, I wished to ensure all of the information I may need had been native.
After capturing my video clips and voice memos, I introduced the information over to my iPad merely utilizing AirDrop. The pace and ease of wi-fi switch enabled me to complete importing my media whereas taking a breather throughout CES Unveiled to fulfill up with the 9to5Google staff. I used to be able to edit the minute I returned to my lodge room.
As nice as AirDrop is, I nonetheless bumped into frustrations. Typically my different units failed to look as close by choices to share with, and file transfers unexpectedly stalled. These bugs are irritating as a result of there is no such thing as a apparent approach to troubleshoot them. Asset administration on iOS can also be nonetheless a weak level for the iPad. I’m removed from the primary particular person to level it out, however it’s a truth value repeating. Whereas assembling my precise video timeline in LumaFusion was a breeze, amassing the entire information I wanted felt a lot much less environment friendly than utilizing my MacBook. Had my tasks been extra advanced, this might’ve change into a critical bottleneck.
One of many options in LumaFusion that impressed me most was its clean playback. My 12-inch MacBook struggles to play exported 4K video clips with out dropping frames and may’t play video timelines easily in Adobe Premiere even when utilizing low-res proxy information. But, my iPad Professional was capable of flawlessly preview video clips with results utilized in real-time. It is a recreation changer for me. The iPad Professional additionally bested my Mac in export occasions. Final 12 months I sweated the clock ready for time-sensitive movies to complete rendering on my MacBook. My iPad was capable of tear via related tasks in simply a few minutes.
The CES hands-on surroundings.
After my movies had been completed, I’ve to confess that I moved the rendered information over to my MacBook for importing to YouTube. This was much less out of necessity and extra to save lots of myself the expense of the pay-per-device Wi-Fi connections that Las Vegas loves. Consolidating my web utilization to LTE on my iPhone and Wi-Fi on my Mac helped lower down on bills.
With one other CES within the books, I can say with confidence that switching to an iOS-only video workflow for easy tasks drastically improved my productiveness and helped full time-sensitive edits and not using a hitch. Much less ready for rendering, much less fumbling with cables, and lighter gear all meant extra time on the present ground. I wouldn’t return to CES with out my iPad.
9to5Mac’s CES 2019 Movies:
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