Jose and Laurel consider the impact of 2-week-long pregnancies on birth rates as a metaphor for artists avoiding the pain of criticism or rejection. They also discuss which parts of the creative process they each find the most painful, the abundance (or scarcity) of new ideas, and the problem of choosing where to spend creative time and energy.

In the first section, Jose and Laurel talk about how they use their new Fostex RM3-DT Active Rack-mount Monitor with Dante and their Triad-Orbit T3C Tripod. They also discuss the challenges of figuring out new gear.

The second section (23:19) contains thoughts on brainstorming inspired by John Cleese's YouTube video on "Creativity in Management", focusing specifically on the mindset necessary for productive brainstorming (and also complaining a bit about those who are unhelpful in a brainstorming session).

The third section (34:04) is an update on the studio's latest short (working title "Elle's First Day"), and their continuing challenges in working with motion capture (mocap) gear.

RM3: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RM3DT--fostex-rm3-dt-active-rack-mount-monitor-with-dante

T3C: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/T3CMicStd--triad-orbit-triad-t3c-tall-tripod-stand-with-casters

John Cleese: https://youtu.be/Pb5oIIPO62g?si=orkZ-JC-spber9tu

BWA's webpage: https://baconwrappedavocado.com/

Jose and Laurel talk about mics and preamps, Black Friday sales and the history of some audio clones. Then they take a deep dive into some of the pros and cons of writing software: Storyist, Scrivener, Word, and Pages. (Spoiler alert: They use all of them for different things!) They wrap up the episode with a discussion of the somewhat complicated process of writing and recording audio for VR video. Timing is key!

In this episode, Jose and Laurel talk about how negative things can make it hard to be creative, and some of the ways combat that. They also discuss the expansion of their recording area and their new teleprompters. Plus, they give an update on a big milestone for their company: submitting their application for an Epic MegaGrant.

Teleprompter: GVM TQ-L Teleprompter from Procam

Software: PromptSmart Pro for iPad

Jose and Laurel discuss their experiences with and opinions of Artificially Intelligent audiobook readers, YouTube narrators, and social media post readers; James Earl Jones, Disney, and SAG contracts for actors' likenesses and voices; Awkwafina as an AI voice; AI-generated images; and finally AI assistance in software development.

Then Jose manages to segue back into talking about buying gear. (He can be sneaky like that!)

Admittedly, the decision to purchase gear and the effects that it has on our productivity is a favorite topic of ours. Also, I'm pretty sure Episode One was supposed to be a test run but I really liked the way it turned out. This is a longer discussion that highlights different aspects of the decision-making process.

Jose and Laurel talk about their most difficult hurdle in creating---marketing! If you've ever poured your heart into a project, then released it into the world to the sound of crickets, you know our pain. So much "how to launch" advice assumes you've already cultivated an audience of hundreds (or thousands), but how do you get them? We also discuss why our VR videos take so long to make. (And if you're wondering why we keep switching between saying we have a team of four vs. five, it's because there are four of us creating new content. Our fifth team member helps us upload our finished content and does research for us, both of which we appreciate very much!)

Join us on our journey!

In their inaugural episode, Jose and Laurel discuss the lure of new gear and some extreme views about buying it.