I've had an iPad Air 2 for many years and it's always been more of a "luxury" device versus a "necessity" device (like a computer). But recently I upgraded to the 2020 12.9" iPad Pro and it's now become more of a hybrid device for me as I've started using it a lot more for content creation.
In the past my iPad has been primarily used for content consumption... for YouTube, Netflix and more. While I still of course use it for that, I'm now also using apps like LumaFusion, GarageBand, MetaRecorder and others to produce my weekly YouTube video work and podcasts.
Now I definitely did use these apps in the past on my old iPad, especially for recording my podcasts and for voiceovers. And I also used LumaFusion some, but more as a quick editing setup or for social media stuff - not for full on video projects.
Although a side note: I did use LumaFusion on my iPad Air 2 to do mobile color correction and grading for iPhone shot projects using my LUT packs - and it worked great for that (I actually created a course about this) - and I'm still doing that now with the new system too, but just in a more advanced way. More on this below.
We're getting closer and closer to the day when an iPad will be all (or almost all) you need to create professional quality video content. We're soooooo close and for some we're already there, for others like me - not quite - but I'm still very interested in pushing these mobile filmmaking tools to the limit.
So I setup an iPad Pro Home Studio. Watch this video to see my setup and the accessories I used to make it all work.
▶︎ FEATURED STUDIO GEAR:
2020 12.9" iPad Pro https://geni.us/8OnuDmx
Magic Keyboard https://geni.us/BQvvo4c
Samsung T5 SSD https://geni.us/KpTMBUV
Western Digital Wireless SSD https://geni.us/P4FFI
USB-C Hub https://geni.us/e5RZF
Apple Magic Mouse https://geni.us/QDInT
Mackie CR3 speakers https://geni.us/bpUfM (choose size)
Blue Yeti Mic https://geni.us/rBOK
Neumman TLM 193 https://geni.us/tyOb6 or TLM 103 https://geni.us/rganf (optional)
RODE Mic Boom Arm https://geni.us/FRyh43
HP VH240a monitor https://geni.us/5BSV4Aw
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones https://geni.us/wUSGT
Sony WH-CH510 Bluetooth headphones https://geni.us/hLdB
Is it perfect? For me, no. Not yet, but it's pretty great I must say. And again, for many this will do pretty much everything you need.
I personally still like to do fine tuning and polishing in Premiere Pro. This is partly because it's just what I'm used to... And it's partly because the professional tools (in LumaFusion in particular) aren't fully rounded out yet. But I'll repeat myself and say... they're very close (I really want to see video scopes and an "Auto" white balance button, etc. in LumaFusion).
What I have also been doing is using LumaFusion as an "offline" editing app and then using their XML export feature to then do my polishing in Premiere Pro (or FCPX or Davinci Resolve). I did a video about this workflow too.
Overall I'm very pleased with the new iPad Pro and how these great mobile apps work with it and I can see a day in the not too distant future where this will be the way I work full-time (depending on the type of project, of course).
How about you?
Drop a comment below or hit me up on Twitter and let me know.
Happy filmmaking!
P.S. If you're interesting in learning more about mobile video and filmmaking be sure to check out the courses I offer on the Academy section on this website.