Update for June (Patreon)

Hey guys, I just wanted to take a moment to personally thank everyone for their support.  I also wanted to tell you where some of the money has been going the last 3 months.   I know things have seemed at a standstill for a few weeks.  The two videos I released on 8-Bit Guy this week have both been in the works for the last 6 weeks simultaneously, along with the last 2 episode of 8-Bit Keys that I managed to do in between.  So I've actually been pretty busy, even though it doesn't seem that way sometimes.   Now that both large projects are done, I am going to put together a little tour of the place this weekend for Patreon supporters.  

Here's some of the equipment I've bought:

  

I installed new lighting in my studio room.  Before i've been using light stands around the room, which were a pain to deal with.  Now I have 3 spotlights spread out on the ceiling pointing LED bulbs at my workbench.  This has cleared up a lot of space in the studio and made it less of an obstacle course to get work done.  Although the viewers will be oblivious to this change, it will increase my productivity not having to mess with lights.

I bought several of the Plug n Play games on ebay to show in the last episode. I'll get further use out of those in future episodes as well.

I bought a nice USB video capture device so that I can capture composite video directly from systems (such as the Plug n Play games, which I used it extensively on) This will get a lot of use in the future.  I wish I had it when I did the CGA episode.

I bought two action cameras (cheaper Chinese knock-offs of the GoPro) which I used in my Chevy Volt video, and will find future use in upcoming episodes.

I bought a lavaliere microphone which I also used in the Chevy Volt video, which you can see on my collar in a few scenes.  This allows me to  finally take footage away from the camera and yet still be heard clearly.  This, combined with the above cameras gives me flexibility to film away from the studio that I have not had before.

I have bought several items from estate sales lately, many of which I've posted on facebook, and some have shown up in videos.  For example, the latest catch was an Atari 400 system for $25.   All of these will eventually show up in episodes.   Also there were old synthesizers for 8-Bit Keys, and various other things.  

So all in all, I just wanted you guys to know that even though I haven't reached my goal of going full-time with Youtube, having the patreon money has given me the ability to upgrade some equipment and start buying more interesting things to show in each episode.    

I'm planning to start work on some brand new stuff this week.  I haven't even decided which episode I'm going to start work on yet.  I have a list of about 20 ideas I've been jotting down.  I think after the last two really large projects, I'm going to shoot for something shorter, maybe 5 minutes, so maybe I can finish it in a week, since many people in the comments have been complaining that I don't upload a new episode often enough.