New tech and production company Studiobox has devised a complete filming solution that can be delivered directly to the doorstep. Designed for live webinars, interviews, press junkets, live-streamed web content, talking-head TV segments or even running a virtual study course, each Studiobox includes a professional grade 4k camera, lighting and audio equipment – centred on Audient’s Evo 8 –without the need for a film crew.
Los Angeles-based Studiobox prides itself in offering a true one-stop solution. The tech is all hidden, leaving a simple, straightforward interface for clients, with everything controlled remotely – from adjusting the camera angle, lens settings, colour correction and lighting right through to the audio.
‘In order to control lights, camera and audio via computer, each element requires an interface,’ explains co-founder, Ian Smith. ‘The Evo 8 is our interface between the computer and the multiple microphones we use.
‘An integral need for our product was an audio interface that could be controlled from a computer,’ he continues. ‘The Evo provides a very slick, easy-to-use computer interface. We work with the Evo through its software, allowing our operators to remotely control the unit over the internet without asking the talent to touch any hardware.’
Evo 8 is a 4-input/4-output audio interface with an intuitive feature set. This includes four preamps offering 58dB of gain as well as high-performance converters with 113dB of dynamic range. Powered directly via USB, Evo 8 can be controlled via its customisable software, Evo Mixer. ‘The software controller is the major standout feature. It was the best one we found in an audio interface,’ Smith says.
Studiobox was born during pandemic lockdowns as a solution to continue production. Smith and co-founder Max Ostrove quickly realised that they could go one better than sending kits of parts.
‘We figured that we could leverage technology to control lights, camera and audio through a computer and then combine them all in a ready-to-record unit that could be shipped anywhere and set up in minutes,’ Ostrove explains. ‘By solving for Covid, it turns out we stumbled into the future of production, where it’s just easier and cheaper to send a Studiobox than fly and house a crew for a shoot.’
With an Evo 8 in each of seven Studiobox units so far, the company has been steadily expanding its inventory as demand grows, after installing the first one in the summer of 2020. ‘Clients are amazed that this box can do everything,’ adds Ostrove.
With the operators monitoring and adjusting the audio in real time, they haven’t yet used the automatic levels setting function, Smartgain. This could be set to change, however, according to Smith: ‘We have plans to automate many of the functions in the box, so that an operator isn’t necessary. At that time the Smartgain function could be a critical feature.’
Ostrove confirms that the future is bright for this fast-growing start-up. ‘Studiobox is currently developing software to allow anyone to control a box. We imagine remote production units becoming a part of video creator’s kits, like a drone or slow motion camera. For the audio world, the remote podcast recording box is coming next.’
More: www.studiobox.co
