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Fisheye, Macro, and Wide Angel Camera Phone Lenses
If you are on location, you have probably noticed that if you want to take a picture of a sweet setting, some details on paper, or just really wanna screw around with taking pictures in between lighting setups, this might just be the set of camera lenses for you phone you were looking for.
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Tandem USB Connector
You can connect so many different USB devices, it would be a shame to limit yourself to just the amount that you have available in your hubs and available slots. The USB Lineup lets you plug in a device, and then continue plug in devices behind that… indefinitely!
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Nvidia Quado FX Series Video Cards
The Quadro FX series of cards have been specifically designed and calibrated to work in tune with the Adobe suite of products, including After Effects and Premiere Pro CS5. The boast a load of onboard video RAM, CUDA architecture and are just plain screaming cards.
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Alienware and NEC’s 42-Inch Wide Monitor Concepts
Although these are still concepts and not available on the market yet… they are pretty amazing, and I gotta say, once they set a price, these things are going to be amazing for editing on.
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Griffin Powermate
This is a pretty sweet little gadget. You can assign this little dial to do whatever you want, from being a plain old volume knob to being a shuttle for your NLE and anything in between… the possibilities are endless!
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Wacom Cintiq Tablet
Wacom tablets have been around for a while, but not many people know about the Wacom Cintiq. I don’t use one regularly, but trying them out at NAB in April made me want to change my workflow. Things like roto, paint, photoshopping and general tasks seem so much easier, especially when with this one, you draw right on the screen!
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My Suite Stuff’s AE Pillow
How could we not include My Suite Stuff in this roundup? Sadly, they are down for renovations, but never fear… they should be up soon enough for you to fill your snuggling needs with your favorite app icon pillow formations!
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Go Pro Camera
The Go Pro is by far one of the most versatile sports cameras I have ever used, and been able to handle. Shockproof, waterproof, 1080p, mountable to just about anything… and its super cheap! Such a great little tool to have around just in case!
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TruePower U Socket Wall Outlet
If I could, I would replace every outlet in my house with these. This is absolutely brilliant, and in ten years I think every outlet will have this in them. Imagine charging all your USB capable devices from anywhere in the house… without a computer!
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Camtrol
This is a great product for anyone that has a video camera… handycams to DSLR filmmakers can benefit from this insanely customizable stabilization system. It has handle gribs, full gimbal positioning options, and if you have a handycam type of camera, there is a remote for start/stopping recording!
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Nasty Clamps
This thing has saved my butt more times than I can imagine. I forget my tripod, or it won’t fit into the space where I want, all I do is attach my camera to the thread at the end of the Nasty Clamp, clamp it to an object and BAM! Shot assembled!
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CableDrop Cable Clips
Such a simple idea, yet so effective! Being a video professional, it is inevitable that we are to have an incessant amount of cables around us at all times… and the most aggravating thing is when they fall behind the desk. What to do? Well, here is the answer.
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eSATA Drive Dock
… or the toaster as I like to call mine, is an amazing tool, especially if you work on a lot of projects, where you end up just buying a hard drive for that specific client. You can keep all your drives organized by job and just pop them in when you need to work on that specific project! Works via USB.
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Tracking Markers
These can almost be free, just make sure you have a good set of them on hand if you ever need them. You could be out on shoot, need to lay them on the ground, stick against a wall, or whatever, they will make your matchmoving, tracking or planar tracking worlds easier, especially if they are easy to roto out.
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A Nice, High Capacity Flash Drive
Any flash drive will really do, but this one over at ThinkGeek.com is pretty tiny, and can go up to 32GB. Reason you want to always have this on hand, is if someone wants to hand you over some clips, transfer data from a laptop, or generally give you any kind of piece of the production at hand, you have a little piece of storage that will work on almost ANY computer.
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Some Kind of Slate App
You are more than likely using a smartphone by now, and if you are… you should try to pick up a Slate app for a couple bucks. It will help immensely on shoots where you need to sync multiple cameras, audio, keep track of takes and audio files, settings on the camera an whatnot. Linked here is the DSLR Slate iPhone/iPad app, but there are many more for other platforms.
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Mountain Dew
For those long editing nights where you have to go over revisions upon revisions… what’s the one thing you want by your side? A couple of liters of some of your favorite sugary soda beverage. Nothing gets me through a rigorous night like a good old fashioned sugar high.
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Sad Keanu Cutout
Last, but definitely not least, you need to have yourself a Sad Keanu Reeves cutout to keep you company and sit upon your monitor like a throne. Just remember on those cold, lonely editing nights, there is someone always there with you.
We are always ever expanding our toolbox. Whether it be with camera equipment, VFX gear, or gadgets to make our post workflow more efficient and endurable, I have found some of my favorite pieces of equipment from my own arsenal, as well as from my wishlist that you should definitely check out and consider adding to your collection.
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