Today, we're doing two things.
We're finishing up the studio tour that I started
in the last video, but this time focusing more
on a desk tour of my editing station and monitors
and I'm also going to be answering
some of your questions from the previous video.
Let's get undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What's happening, everybody? I'm Gerald Undone
and I'm sick of these dolphins.
Is it I can't hear so I don't understand.
So, since I'm already over here,
let's start with the two most frequently asked questions
on the last video. The first one was about picture profiles.
So, on the Sony cameras, I'm using S-Log2 with S-Gamut.
So, basically picture profile seven,
and then on the Blackmagic, I'm using the film gamma
with BRAW, and then I use this X-Rite ColorChecker
to equalize their white balances and give a colour sample
so it's easier to match them in post.
The second question was about the overhead shot
and how the camera and mic are suspended.
So, this is just a C-stand with the arm coming out
and extended up over the table,
and at the end of the C-stand arm is a 3/8 inch thread
for which I have a ball head attached to it.
No, not this one, but a similar one, slightly larger though,
but it's a cheaper one from Amazon.
It's a Neewer. It was about $30 Canadian.
I'll put a link to it in the description below,
but it's not bad. It said it supported 10 kilos or 22 pounds,
so I thought it should work for the Sony a6600
with just a crop lens on it, and then the mic
is attached to it using a small rig clamp
which then has a combination of frictions arms
attached to it. The first one is actually this
discontinued product from Cinevate,
which is actually a grip that I use for odd jobs like this
or sometimes attaching to a camera
that doesn't actually have a grip.
Unfortunately, you can't get these anymore.
But, you can use any other magic arm you have,
as long as it's long enough to do the job,
and you don't want to have to worry so much
about weight because the microphones are pretty light,
so I think pretty much any magic arm combination
would work there. I hope that information helps.
Now, let's go take a look at the editing station.
So, first off, as I mentioned in the previous video,
I'm using a motorized sit/stand desk from Autonomous.
These things are crazy good for the price.
They're only $300-$400 but feel like a unit worth $1,200.
I highly recommend them if you're looking for
a good standing desk on a budget.
Underneath the desk is my main rig.
Now, this is a custom-built machine
with an Intel i7 8700K running close to 5GHz
with 32 GB of 3000MHz RAM
and an NVIDIA GTX 1080. It's not the fastest rig
you can build, but it does what I need it to quite well
and it didn't break the bank. On top of the desk,
we have a mouse and keyboard, obviously.
This is the Cooler Master MasterKeys MK750
which, in my opinion, is so close to being
the perfect keyboard, but has one seriously annoying flaw
and that's key chattering with double and triple registers.
I've had two different versions of this keyboard
and both would double type certain letters
very early on in the life of its switches,
but I installed an app called "Keyboard Chattering Fix"
that removes the chattering, so it kind of solves
the problem and let's me keep using this keyboard
since I like it so much, but I wish I didn't need
a software solution for it.
The mouse is the Logitech G502, which is easily
one of the best mice of all time, in my opinion.
This is the Proteus Spectrum version,
so I can set it to match my purple colour,
but all of the G502s are excellent.
This is my favourite mouse I've ever used
and I even keep a second one for travel
so I can use it with my laptop.
The speakers are Yamaha's HS5 Studio Monitors.
Classics. Good bang for the buck.
It could be better shielded internally,
but they sound great and they're propped up
by a combination of Rockville stands
and Auralex foam to get them to the right height
and to isolate them from the desk.
They, as well as my computer, are connected
to my Zoom F6, which handles pretty much
the entirety of my audio workflow.
As I mentioned in the video on the F6,
I do my recording, editing and interfacing
using this one device and it works tremendously well.
Check out that video if you want to know more about it.
When I'm not using my Yamahas though,
I'm using my headphones, which are...
these beyerdynamic DT 770s.
Now, headphones are a pretty subjective experience,
but for me, there's not a better set of cans
at this price point. And then, over here,
you might not be able to see it, but I've got
the ATEM Mini Switcher for streaming,
but this won't be here much longer
because I'm just working out the last few kinks
of my new streaming setup, which will allow me
to stream from over in the new main shot area
and so, I'm gonna be bringing the ATEM Mini over there
so I can continue to use the different camera angles
that I set up, but for live streams.
I hope to have the first of those streams up this week,
so make sure you ring the bell so you get notified
when I go live so you can see the new stream setup
and ask me any questions you might have live.
Alright, so lastly, let's talk about the monitor
since that's what I've been testing lately
and what you've been asking me about.
So, this one here is the ViewSonic 3481.
It's a 34-inch 1440p 21x9 Ultrawide VA panel
with 100 Hz refresh rate, and over here,
I have the BenQ SW271, which is a 27-inch
4K 16x9 IPS panel with a 60 Hz refresh rate.
I chose these two monitors after a plethora of research
and deal hunting and I've been trying both
of these panels out simultaneously to see
which design I like better and I still haven't decided
because I really like both of them.
They're both fantastic displays
and have similar features that I appreciate.
For instance, they both have great stands
with good height adjustments that allow for tilt
and swivel and they both offer a full range
of connection options, including HDMI, display port
and USB-C, and they have USB passthrough
from your computer, which you can use
for connecting peripherals, like your mouse
and keyboard and also your colour calibration hardware.
The BenQ also has an SD card reader,
but I only seem to get UHS 1 speeds from it
and as you can see, it comes with a hood
for reducing glare and light pollution.
It has this really nice velvet interior
that does an excellent job of preserving
the integrity of the image in mixed lighting.
Also, the hood kind of makes this irrelevant,
but the BenQ has outstanding viewing angles.
Some of the best I've ever seen. As you can see
from an angle to it here, I'm about 150 degrees off axis
and it looks almost as perfect as if I were straight on.
The ViewSonic's angles are quite good too,
but the BenQ's are amazing.
Both panels also boast a colour accuracy
with a Delta E of less than two
and come factory calibrated with a nice range of presets
including sRGB, Rec.709 and in the case of the BenQs,
since it's targeted a little more towards photographers,
it also has an Adobe RGB mode. It also allows you
to rotate to portrait orientation
and you can adapt the hood to work in that mode.
The ViewSonic doesn't have Adobe RGB
but it does come with a factory calibration report
in the box, which is a useful touch.
Like I mentioned, both monitors feature
a hardware calibration method, so you can connect
your X-Rite directly to the monitor
and you don't have to monkey around
with loading software profiles every time
you boot your computer because they store the correction
as a 14-bit 3D LUT into one of the calibration presets
on the monitor themselves, so that's awesome.
After calibrating, both are quite good
for colour critical work, but the BenQ is a tad better.
It has a wider gamut, allowing for 100% sRGB
and 90% Adobe RGB versus only about 80% RGB
on the ViewSonic. And it's also 10-bit,
where the ViewSonic is only 8-bit.
Now, in terms of practical applications,
this doesn't stop me from getting the colours right
on either screen, but I do notice more colours
and tonality on the BenQ, which in some specific cases
might cause me to slightly oversaturate
an image corrected on the ViewSonic,
but this concern is minor. Now, both monitors claim
to be HDR compatible, and they do have a built-in mode
for that, but they aren't truly up to spec for that
based on the standards.
As I said, the ViewSonic is only 8-bit
and only has a max brightness of 400 nits,
which is far below the 1000 nits requirement
and the BenQ, while 10-bit, only has a peak brightness
of 350 nits, so they're pseudo-HDR at best,
which is no surprise considering the issues
with HDR standardization in this industry.
But, they do allow you to activate the HDR functions
within Windows 10, so that's good, I guess.
I think the reason they're able to put HDR on the box
is because they can achieve the required contrast levels,
even though the peak brightness isn't high enough.
So, those are the similarities and the smaller differences.
Beyond that, it really just comes down to aspect ratio
and resolution and there are serious advantages to both.
If you're a creative who's also a gamer,
I think you'll prefer the ViewSonic.
The ultrawide and high refresh rate is nice for gaming
and it's only 1440p instead of 4K, so you'll be able
to push those frames easier and it's free sync compatible.
Also, if you're into shooting anamorphic,
it's nice that the screen is very close to the scope ratios
that you'll be editing in, as it offers 2.33:1.
I've actually been working on a review
for this awesome and affordable anamorphic lens
from SIRUI, and it's been fun seeing the footage
span across the panel, but there are some things
that are weirder when using an ultrawide.
Not every app and game supports it
and live streaming and screen capture tutorials
are more difficult since I usually present them in 16:9.
Alternatively, the BenQ solves that with its 16:9 ratio,
but the 4K resolution has presented some problems
for me with Windows 10 scaling in DaVinci Resolve.
It's not perfectly optimized and you have to choose
between slightly blurry buttons and fonts
or giving up timeline real estate. I went the blurry route,
obviously, because more timeline is more important
and it's not terrible, but it's not ideal.
This isn't the monitor's fault by any means,
but it's something you should be aware of for now
if you edit with Resolve. The Adobe suite seems fine though,
but I didn't have those scaling problems with Resolve
on the ultrawide. Lastly, when it comes to build quality,
both displays are good, but the BenQ is a tad
more robust when it comes to wobble and its giving me
no issues, where the ViewSonic did get a stuck pixel
in the first week of use and I've since swapped it out
for another one on Amazon. Also, I think it's important
to remind you that when it comes to purchasing
a monitor, it's a good idea to buy them from somewhere
that has an excellent return or replacement policy.
Amazon is great for this because you don't even
have to pay the return shipping, and they swap them out
right away if you get dead pixels. I would never
buy a monitor from a place with a rigid return policy
because you never know when you're going to get unlucky
with your panel. All that aside though,
I'm not trying to scare you. Neither of these monitors
is particularly problematic. In fact, they're both excellent
and I recommend them both.
They have great colours, terrific features
and no noticeable panel issues like light bleed, etc.
It really just comes down to what you need most
for the work you're doing.
But, that's going to be it for me.
I hope you found this video entertaining,
or at least helpful, and if you did, make sure to leave
the old thumbs up and consider subscribing
if you haven't already, but if you did not find this video
helpful or entertaining, then you probably sat too close
to the TV as a kid.
Alright... I'm done.