New show: NewsReal with Joe & Niall

[Niall]

Our new show 'NewsReal with Joe and Niall' pretty much replaces 'Behind the Headlines' as the Sunday show on Sott Radio.

We've gone with new branding and a new YT channel for it. After many attempts, we've come to accept that we don't have the bandwidth for livestreaming the visual show on Sundays, so if you're listening live, you only get audio. From the following day, however, the 'whole' show is available to watch.

In addition to our comprehensive 1hour+ discussions, we'll also be making 'NewsReal Shorts' for that channel, inshallah.

Here's the 'first' one, enjoy!

 

[Keyhole]

Awesome development and a great way to reach wider audiences with the branding etc to keep up with the times. I hope to see that it will be successful

 

[Scottie]

WOOHOO!

We have new faster internet both here and at the Farm, which has been like a breath of fresh air... but upstream bandwidth is still pretty winky. So, audio is okay, but streaming video is really pushing things. That's why the live video we've had in the past was such a small window and kinda blocky.

But on the plus side, we have a new setup now, complete with much better cameras and a capture card (we were using just webcams before). It was all a bit expensive for our small non-Hollywood budget. But if there's one thing I learned from my YT channel, it's that you simply must at least get some fairly good equipment - and then tweak until you're sick of it - and then tweak some more. So, still working out some of the kinks.

We still need to play with cam modes and focus settings, because the footage is a bit too soft for my taste (that's typical of most camcorders). Also need to play with lighting a bit more in "light" of the new cams. We don't want "the talent" to look dead, but at the same time we don't want them to be blinded or burst into flames, either...

I'd also like to get Joe and Niall better mics after we had an issue with Niall's mic.

Well, one step at a time. For now, it would be great if all you fans would subscribe to the YT channel! I did.

The shows will be on SOTT, of course, but the dedicated YT channel that is not SOTT branded will hopefully also pull in more viewers.

People like Peterson, Shapiro, Weinstein(s), Rogan and so on in this so-called "Intellectual Dark Web" are great in many respects, but they each sure have some pretty big blind spots. I'm also not totally convinced that they're going to be as great together in the end as they think. Even together, they don't seem to see the Big Picture. I dunno - there's just something about it that bugs me. I could just be nutty though.

Anyway, stay tuned for more exciting and informative moving picture shows - and better everything!

 

[Keit]

That's awesome! Looking forward to a new format!

 

[Meg]

That's terrific! I'm looking forward to the new format, too.

 

[maiko]

That's great!

 

[Ant22]

Great stuff you guys! Thank you for all the work on this!

Is there going to be any change to the content or structure of the rebranded show?

Well, one step at a time. For now, it would be great if all you fans would subscribe to the YT channel! I did.

Yup, same here!

 

[luc]

WOOHOO!
People like Peterson, Shapiro, Weinstein(s), Rogan and so on in this so-called "Intellectual Dark Web" are great in many respects, but they each sure have some pretty big blind spots. I'm also not totally convinced that they're going to be as great together in the end as they think. Even together, they don't seem to see the Big Picture. I dunno - there's just something about it that bugs me. I could just be nutty though.

Yep, I thought about starting a thread about the IDW because I see some red flags there as well. Rubin is a bit too ecstatic about this "new movement" to my taste, and Bret Weinstein strikes me as someone who is a little too much in love with his theories about evolution and how to apply those universally "for the good of the people". He also disagreed with JP in one conversation about whether intelligence is connected to wisdom (he thinks it is). And to interpret his ideas admittedly a bit harshly, you could almost make the case there is a kind of a schizoidal declaration in there - people are programmed towards tribalism (i.e. bad) and we need to start bold experiments to reshape things if humanity is to survive... (you can see some of his thoughts on his website and the embedded video.) Don't know, but we know from Political Ponerology how movements and ideas tend to bear sour fruits indeed...

Anyway, the new show looks very promising, good luck guys!

 

[Gandalf]

Great idea.

For now, it would be great if all you fans would subscribe to the YT channel! I did.

Yup, same here!

Done

 

[Hesper]

Subscribed. Another step forward for SOTT on YouTube - great idea guys.

 

[aimarok]

What are the models of your video cameras, Scottie?

 

[Mark]

We still need to play with cam modes and focus settings, because the footage is a bit too soft for my taste (that's typical of most camcorders). Also need to play with lighting a bit more in "light" of the new cams. We don't want "the talent" to look dead, but at the same time we don't want them to be blinded or burst into flames, either...

I'd also like to get Joe and Niall better mics after we had an issue with Niall's mic.

Tech notes:

I've been doing some search on cam stuff lately. As it turns out camcorders are very expensive (for my budget anyway), so after checking into alternatives I discovered that some of the newer smart phones have very good video quality and can do 1080p and even 4K. There's a site, DXOMark, that tests and ranks them (with a point score), explaining pros and cons with imagery. As an example, something like a Samsung S8+ is ranked really good and they're available in various places for $500 or less, used. And of course audio can be wired into a mixer or recorder etc. Just an FYI, as a way to have extra cams without big expense.

Mobile Reviews - DxOMark

As for mic, I have a Shure SM7B that is very good (and widely used for audio voice recording), so I can recommend that one.

Added: If you want to consider using wired lavalier mics the Rode Smartlav+ is pretty good based on my own tests. (it has a TRRS connector, so an adapter may be necessary depending on what it's connected to).

 

[mkrnhr]

Fantastic. Maybe an out of the field remark would be that in addition to experimenting with light and focus, maybe it could be considered to use a fixed chair instead of the spinning one used by Joe.

 

[Marina9]

Awesome you guys!! It looks amazing, congrats to all the team that was behind this!

 

[Scottie]

Tech notes:

I've been doing some search on cam stuff lately. As it turns out camcorders are very expensive (for my budget anyway), so after checking into alternatives I discovered that some of the newer smart phones have very good video quality and can do 1080p and even 4K. There's a site, DXOMark, that tests and ranks them (with a point score), explaining pros and cons with imagery. As an example, something like a Samsung S8+ is ranked really good and they're available in various places for $500 or less, used. And of course audio can be wired into a mixer or recorder etc. Just an FYI, as a way to have extra cams without big expense.

Yeah, that's an option. I use my Nexus 5 for my overhead cam for YT vids. Trouble is, we'd need 3 of them.

The cams we got are the Canon Legria HF-R806, which is the Canon Vixia in the USA - the base model or near to it, I think. 250 bucks. FullHD at 60fps, although we're not using them at "full power" just yet. They have mini-HDMI outputs that work without recording and when on AC power (some cams don't). So then all that was needed was a Magewell quad HDMI capture card. That was pricey... But not as pricey as the fancier SDI version.

Real pro FullHD cams start at about $1500, and rapidly rise to 5k and higher. And then you need an SDI capture card, or multi-cam production hardware, etc. Joe Rogan's setup cost something like 30k, and that's just cams, mics, and studio equipment... no puters or panel lighting or fancy desk chairs, and so on.

And Mark, you'll be happy to know that the puter doing the recording is linux with the free OBS Studio. OBS on Windows is kind of problematic.

As for mic, I have a Shure SM7B that is very good (and widely used for audio voice recording), so I can recommend that one.

Added: If you want to consider using wired lavalier mics the Rode Smartlav+ is pretty good based on my own tests. (it has a TRRS connector, so an adapter may be necessary depending on what it's connected to).

The Shure is the one I want for Joe + Niall. Too bad they're 481€ each here! We're using Sennheiser e840's now, which are pretty good for the price, but they're really really basic vocal mics.

The Rode SmartLav+ is excellent. That's the one I use for my YT vids, but the Rode app is only available for iPhones. So, I use our Zoom Cass session recorder for audio. The guys like the Big Radio Mics better though. They're easier to use with our radio show mixer, and they look cool. But not as cool as the Shure SM7B...