Mobile Production Kit thoughts (ROLLING ACTIVE)

This being our first post in this new blog "Thinking out loud", I thought I would first explain the idea behind it.  We currently have several reviews that are in the ROLLING and ACTIVE state.  ROLLING means the post is continually updated as we find out more information and/or complete test data.  This is handy when a new product is announced, shipped, and in our hands for testing.  It is useful to have all of that data in one spot, but one that grows organically as information is collected.  ACTIVE means that we are keeping that post open to add more data as it is discovered.  Or it means that we have forgotten to change it to CLOSED, which happens.  But when CLOSED, we usually ad our final recommendation on that particular product; something we need to do a better job of.  In any event, because we like to keep those posts isolated to that particular product, it makes it hard to discuss combinations of that product with other things that we may or may not have tested yet.  So arrives "Thinking out loud".  This will be a rolling review and we will continue to update with thoughts and ideas as we think of them.  It will eventually be closed out when we have finally picked what we think is the best solution.  In this case, it will probably be the best solution for us as it is based on equipment that we already have.  As with all rolling posts, the latest information will always be at the top.  Start from the bottom, if this is your first time reading this post.

The topic of this post is on mobile production kits.  As we test a lot of things, we have a mishmash of devices that we can use to produce videos in a mobile and studio environment.  The idea here is to come up with a configuration of hardware that fits our particular needs.  Along the way we hope to educate the reader with why we prefer certain items, and why we choose not to use items (even if they are better...more on that in a bit)

4/1/2023 (Post #1)

The Mevo Core...you dastardly dog.  We were so happy (well, not completely unhappy) using our Nikon D750 as a primary camera for video production.  With this camera we either connect to our computer via an HDMI capture card or by using the YoloBox Pro, a device we have ethical problems with, but one that probably works better than any other encoder/switcher out there.  But either can be a clunky setup to take on the road, but both work well in the studio.  YoloBox works better mobile than the laptop but still has wires to contend with.  We have always had several Mevo cameras (the OG Plus and a couple Starts).  And within the last couple of years, Mevo, later purchased by Logitech, has developed a pretty good ecosystem for multicamera production.  This was never a temptation to invest in that system as neither camera, in our opinion, ever produced a good enough quality to move away from the DSLR.  Now entering dastardly dog...the Mevo Core.

It is important to admit that at the time of this writing, the rolling review of the Mevo Core is still active.  It is even more important to admit that our original intention was to get the testing out of the way on this camera, and replace it with the Black Magic G2.  The G2 is a similar Micro four thirds camera that lacks the wireless and encoding function of the Mevo Core.  But given our use of HDMI sourced devices only, this really wasn't a problem.  The problem now is that the Mevo Core has done far better than we ever expected.  In retrospect, that really is unfair as the Plus was an exceptional device, far ahead of its time.  And while we have been very critical of the Start, mostly due to it's small 1080p sensor, it did about the best you could expect from the hardware used and within the price point involved.  But Mevo built upon all of that experience and created an exceptional studio camera in the Core.  We are now left with in conundrum on how to proceed with our production kits.  Here is what we are thinking about at this time.  We will expand upon these in later posts.  But below are the breakdown of the solutions and some pro and cons as well:

1a.) Buy a Google Pixel Tablet (that should be able to handle Mevo multistream).  Use the Core as a primary camera and the other Mevos we have (and the one's we will probably buy more of) to handle our videos.

Pros:

• Keeps us in the Google ecosystem.  I'm not a fanboy.  The interconnected features are very handy and make passing off from one device to the next almost like an extension of a screen.
• A fully wireless solution that makes it very easy to setup a multi-camera event.

Cons:

• Sadly, the Pixel does not have a data option; only WiFi.  This means that some sort of external hot-spot will be required (which is suggested anyhow)
• Investing in the Mevo ecosystem limits us to Mevo devices and those other devices that have NDI capability.  This means our Nikon D750 is out (without some sort of HDMI to NDI hardware, which is expensive).  Not a tragedy as it's a 10 year old device.  But it is difficult to beat the Nikon glass we have on hand.
• Unsure at this time how difficult it will be to connect our studio microphone.  A Rode NT1.

1b.) The same option as above but accept the fact that Apple products are more widely supported in the video and app development world. Purchase an iPad Pro that has the new M2 processor.  I'm told by Mevo insiders on the Mevo forum this is the most widely accepted option of the Mevo Multicamera App.

Pros:

• If Mevo says this is the most widely used device, it means it will probably be the most widely supported.
• Same wireless benefit as above
• Allows for data service if we wanted to use this device to transmit.

Cons:

• Apple is hard to love when you have been in the Android ecosystem for so long.  It isn't personal and it isn't a fanboy-ism.  Both ecosystems are different and are not natively interconnected.  It will be a hard transition and will leave us with a device that is only used for this function.
• Same issue with the investment of the Mevo Ecosystem mentioned above.
• Unsure at this time how difficult it will be to connect our studio microphone.  A Rode NT1.

2.) Continue with the YoloBox Pro, but use the HDMI out of the Mevo Core, along with our DSLR's and any other camera that will interface with HDMI or USB (webcam).

Pros:

• One of the best switching devices that we have used.  It just works.  And while the YoloBox Pro only ingests 1080p video, (I think...need to test)we could crop zoom the output of the Mevo Core to produce a 1080p signal that has not been reduced in quality.
• The device we have will accept 3 HDMI sources and 1 USB (webcam source).  But it is small enough to make for a great mobile system.
• Has a SIM card slot.  We can drop the card out of our Android phone, boot up with the card in the Yolo and have full data capability.  This just works.

Cons:

• This is a hard one.  YoloLiv is a Chinese company.  I get that this is starting to sound political; possibly even racist.  I hope you know me well enough to know that's not where I'm going.  And I get that most of these electronic devices are made in this region.  This is not intended to be a disparaging statement against some fine human beings that have developed an incredible product.  But the dangers of the Chinese government, and their overreaching power into any business in their nation make it extremely dangerous to use, once you consider that you have to enter your social media credentials into the device to make it efficiently useful.  If you want to stream natively to FaceBook, Instagram, YouTube or any other destination, you must give the Chinese Government full access to your accounts.  This is not an extremest take.  It is the fact.  You are providing YoloLiv with these credentials, and their government has full access to anything that Yolo has, at any given time.  It is as simple as that.  You can get around this by creating RTMP stream destinations (we are experimenting with Restream.IO in order to more easily stream to multi-destinations).  But once you go down that road, you are introducing a level of complexity that makes it hard to enjoy.
• The YoloBox Pro we have does not have NDI capability.  So we would not be able to interface with the Mevo Plus.  The Start could be used in webcam mode, but not an ideal solution.  The YoloBox Ultra does have NDI.  But it would be hard to re-invest in YoloLiv based on the previous con.
• Would be limited to 1080p video.  The Ultra does accept 4K signal, but same limitation as above.
• Still would require the Mevo app to control and set the camera and lens settings.

3.) A laptop running OBS.  Lots of Pros.  Fewer cons, but they are some decent sized ones.

Pros:

• The biggest pro is that we currently have everything we need.  We have decent laptops, HDMI to USB capture cards, and several cameras that can be interfaced.
• While we have not yet tested, OBS supposedly can ingest NDI feeds.  So this would allow for the Mevo cameras except the Mevo Plus.
• 4K is possible out of the box.
• OBS is powerful and free.  There are also lots of support videos online and the community is pretty welcome to sharing information.

Cons:

• Laptops don't do well in the field.  They aren't rugged and don't handle the heat well.  Additionally, a device that can handle video is fairly clunky.  Our production laptop is large Dell XPS.  Expensive and brittle.
• For HDMI devices, wires wires and more wires.  This leads to a complicated and clunky setup.
• OBS, while free, is open source software.  There are all kinds of odd things that we deal with every time we use it.  So for quick ad-hoc streams, it would be a difficult setup to trust.