Video Studio Setup: Level 1 Beginner

So you’ve begun creating videos and you want to set up your own video studio in your office or your own home. Are you worried that you’ll have to dish over thousands of dollars to create a professional recording studio? Times have changed, and you can now create a professional video studio in your own home for a few hundred dollars or even less if you already have some of the necessary equipment like a good computer.

In this article, we’ll be outlining everything you need to create your own video recording studio at a beginner level. We’ll list what equipment you need and provide you with the information necessary to help you be confident in understanding how to purchase the right equipment. 

This information is for you if you are just getting started. In the weeks to come, we will let you know what you need to build an upleveled home video studio.

 

Recording Device

We’re going to start off with the most essential piece of equipment, which is your recording device. If you are worried about having to purchase a video camera, don’t worry. At the entry level for creating videos, you can still create excellent videos from your phone. 

The majority of smartphones have the capability of recording in 1080p, which is the quality most content on the internet is viewed at. 

There is additional equipment you can purchase for your phone to record better quality shots such as lenses that we covered in another blog article here.

Another piece of equipment that you can use for recording video is a webcam. You can use the webcam built into your computer, if it has one, or you can get a webcam that you can attach to the top of your computer. The benefit of using a webcam is that it directly records to your computer so it saves your phone’s memory and time transferring it over from your phone. Since you can keep it attached to your computer, it also saves you time from setting up and positioning your phone for recording.

 

Tripod

The next piece of equipment you should consider is a tripod. If you are filming by yourself, it is best to get a tripod because you are able to set your phone on the tripod and record yourself without having to rely on someone else to film you.

Most entry level tripods have a universal ¼ inch thread so they can be attached to DSLRs. Therefore, you’ll need to purchase an adaptor for your tripod so you can attach your phone to it. We did a previous article on what are the best tripods to get for your smartphone, along with what type of adaptor is needed for your phone to attach to a tripod.

 

Microphone

Now we’re going to discuss what audio equipment you should have for recording your videos or for recording audio separately. 

For recording audio alongside your video it is recommended that you get a shotgun microphone for your smartphone. We cover three different microphones you can get for your smartphone here.

If you intend to record voice over or narrations for your video then you should also have a microphone that records audio directly to your computer. You will get better audio quality since you are speaking directly into the microphone instead of being a short distance away from it. One of the best microphone brands is Blue, and their Blue Snowball is not only a great microphone for a beginner setup, but for professionals as well.

 

Headphones

Headphones are an important piece of equipment in video creation. During the process of recording audio, you should have your headphones plugged in so you can hear how you sound during or after you have recorded your audio. 

 

Speakers

Having both types of equipment for listening to your video or audio is important because you’ll be able to hear how it will sound coming out of a different sound device. A sound in your video that you could hear while wearing your headphones may not be heard out of your speakers. By listening from both your speakers and your headphones you can ensure that when you are mixing the audio in your video, everything can be heard clearly from both sound devices.

 

Lights

Lighting is huge factor in recording videos. Not having lighting in your video can drastically decrease the quality of your video.

Despite having your blinds open or turning on the lights in your home, you may find that this is still not enough light for recording good quality video. You can purchase a ring light that you can attach to your computer. Some ring lights have flexible arms, allowing you to adjust the direction of where the light is shining. Having a direct light shining on your face really improves the lighting in the video.

Another option is having a portable LED light. You can stand the LED light on a tripod just like your recording device. When you are buying a tripod for your LED light ensure that it is able to extend tall enough to match your height.

We cover a few options for LED lights you can use to add additional lighting in your studio in a previous article.

 

Computer

You’ll also need a computer to edit your videos.

You can either use a desktop or a laptop but it is important to have the computer specifications necessary to be able to edit video. If you your computer isn’t fast enough to edit videos, the editing software you are using will often crash making the video editing experience painful.

There are three main specifications you need to be aware of when finding a computer to use for video editing: CPU, Video Card, and RAM.

A lot of crashes for video editing programs happen during the saving or exporting of the video. To fix that you’ll need to have a good CPU in your computer. It is recommended that you have a 7th generation intel core processor.

The next important specification in computer for video editing is the video card. The video card is responsible for playing back your video while editing and rendering frames. If your video card isn’t powerful enough it will be incredibly slow and difficult to preview the video you are editing. Nvidia is one of the most popular brands for video cards and are in most computers. Nvidia’s GTX 1050 is the minimum quality video card that is recommended.

The last important specification is the RAM. The ram is important for the video rendering speed and being able to run multiple programs at the same time. It is recommended that you at least have 16GB of RAM if you are doing video editing.

In review the three main specifications are:

• CPU: 7th generation intel core processor
• Video Card: Nvidia GTX 1050
• RAM: 16GB of RAM

 

Editing Software

The editing software you are using is also critical for your video studio since you are using it to edit your videos.

At a beginner level, it would be best to try out free video editing software such as HitFilm Express to get familiar with how video editing software functionality. We have a more in depth analysis of HitFilm Express in our article on video editing tools.

For editing audio, Audacity is a great program to use because of its ease of use and because it is free as well.

 

Conclusion

That’s the list of equipment we recommend to have when creating your own video recording studio at a beginner level.

Here’s an overview of what we’ve covered:

• Recording Device (Smartphone or computer and webcam)
• Tripod (with phone adaptor)
• Microphone
• Headphones
• Speakers
• Light
• Computer (7th generation intel CPU, Nvidia GTX 1050, 16GM RAM)
• Editing Software (HitFilm Express and Audacity)

At Learn to Flourish we are all about creating relevant, engaging, and effective eLearning and videos. If you want to increase the quality of your educational videos, get our free training on how to make great demonstration videos for your audience.

For more tips on video and eLearning creation, check out our blog for more articles such as learning the basics of how to use the dslr camera and how to create online education that people will love.

(Prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of publication. Learn to Flourish does not receive a share of sales or any compensation from sharing any of these products, they’re just some of our favorites!) 

Wishing you inspiration, innovation, and continuous learning,

Lorena and the Learn to Flourish Team