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Home » Asus Zenbook Pro Duo – Does Doubling Your Screens Double Your Fun?

Asus Zenbook Pro Duo – Does Doubling Your Screens Double Your Fun?

For modern music producers in the midst of our media-everywhere world, having a really capable computer has moved from “Oh that’s nice” to essential.

For this video review of the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo, we’re turning again to Consordini demo specialist Alan Scott. As a professional musician and producer, Alan states what’s going to sound obvious: these days, our computers are our instruments, our sequencers, or we can turn them into old school tape machines.

If you want to tap directly into Consordini’s large catalog of pro-level gear reviews, go to https://Consordini.com 

Next Gen, Meh

But if a computer is so important to a producer, there hasn’t been anything too innovative about laptops, where year after year manufacturer’s battle it out over better chip specs, higher res screens and the like. So how about some innovation in laptops, which really haven’t busted beyond their borders for a while.

Twice the Fun

Well, the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo does just that: delivering something beyond bling that can shake up the way you work. The “duo” in the name gains real world meaning when you gaze at the second screen, a responsive touch screen that covers the top of the keyboard. Asus calls it Screen Pad Plus, and suggests it can offer secondary controls to a variety of pro apps, while still staying within the parameters of a modern laptop.

ASUS’ Zenbook Pro Duo offers a potent – if compact – multi-tasking approach.

It’s a striking and innovative use of some extra space above your keyboard. True, the compact setup might not be what you want for extended editing sessions. Instead, we’re talking spur of the moment, when reaching for something this compact and (reasonably) light at 5.5lbs won’t be a chore. Though really, if you buy you laptops solely for email and budgets, this might be much more than you need.

In our video, Scott sets up the Zenbook Duo Pro as a mixing console, or you might, as he shows, shift immediately to an editing timeline. Very cool and, I must say, innovative.

Tech Spec Time

The tech inside tracks closely to other lines’ top models. That’s expected if you’re going to compete in the pro space. The top Zenbook Pro Duo model features the latest Intel core i9 8 core processor, which can be overclocked to 5GHz. That’s way more than enough for any audio processing you might do on a laptop. But that speed comes in very handy when you begin editing multiple streams of 4K video.

Some of the more than standard features of this top model of the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo have to mention the 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Meanwhile, the NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card remains a powerful choice for both high-end audio and video work.

The main display’s OLED 4K panel covers 100% of DCI P3 and Adobe RGB color gamut. The unit reviewed also offers a touch screen. Prices start at around $1,500 USD but can quickly get to some $2,500 USD if you get this tricked out model.

But enough of my description. If you are a tech geek like I am, then you want to see the machine in action. So click on the image link below, and check out Alan’s informative video. I’ll just opine that Asus’ powerful machine, designed for media creators, might make the top of your next production budget.

Consordini’s Alan Scott offers his take on the ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo.

ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo Quick Specs:

• CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i9-9980HK (octa-core, 16MB cache, up to 5GHz)

• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 • RAM: 32GB DDR4 (2,666MHz)

• Screen: 15.6-inch, OLED Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) and Screenpad Plus, a 14-inch Ultra HD (3,840 x 1,110) touch display

• Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD

• Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), 2 x USB-C 3.1, HDMI 2.0, headset jack

• Connectivity: Intel Wi-Fi 6 with Gig+ performance (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5

• Camera: IR webcam with Windows Hello support • Weight: 5.5lbs (2.5kg) • Size: 14.13 x 9.68 x 0.94 inches (35.9 x 24.6 x 2.4cm; W x D x H)

About Joe Herman

Joe Herman is a filmmaker, artist and post production specialist and writes often about the industry. You can reach him at joe[at]legendmultimedia[dot]com. Or reach and follow him on Twitter @JoeHermanTweets.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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