I've been teaching on Udemy for almost 7 years. My A/V setup has change dramatically over those 7 years. As time went by I would "upgrade" bits and pieces, here and there. Not only has the equipment changed, but the knowledge I have gained using the equipment has increased as well. But I still got loads of room to improve my knowledge and techniques while recording online course.
I am not as neat or professional as some, but this works. From top.. camera view, editing view and instructor's view looking into the camera. The biggest mistake I made was not investing in proper lighting to begin with. I wasted a lot of time trying to edit out shadows and bad color. Make sure that window shade is closed, the overhead light off, so you only have one color tone from the lights; and make sure you have eliminated the shadows on the green screen. All obvious now! Camera has changed from this photo. I now use a Nikon Z6ii.
I'll chime in with the lowest-tech setup yet 🙂 Today I had to film some "talking head" segments. I really struggle with getting green-screen right, so I've taken to just filming in front of a bookcase with a nice short lens. You can see here my old DSLR camera with a Parrot teleprompter attached to it, my Rode shotgun mic above where I'll be standing, one extra light to fill in the side that's not illuminated by a window.. and my stand-in! That stick with a hat on it is what I use to dial in the lighting and focus before I step into its place, and start yammering.
I don't bother moving the chair because it's out of frame.
The mic is attached to a digital audio recorder, and I then have to marry the audio with the video from the camera in editing.
Most of my recording though is just voice-over on slides or screen captures, and for that it's just a Shure SM7B on a boom arm hooked to my computer via a Blue Icicle.
Here's what the camera sees... it's a wider field than I need, so I can zoom & pan in the final edited video to make things more interesting, or to put me off to the side while some graphic is beside me. Also you can count on some strategic cropping to hide my beer belly (I don't even drink much beer, yeesh!)
Shared space...it doubles as an office for myself and my wife...and a guest bedroom..lol.
Outside looking in
My desk...need better wire management.
I do like a clean and minimalist setup. Even tho lights and acoustic enhancing stuff start to take up more and more space I still try to keep it organized and full zen 😉
I use a simple, but it it seems effective set up.
The best thing I bought was the desk mount for all the things I need in one
Viozon Selfie Desktop Live Stand 6-1
Available on Amazon and neatly keeps all my equipment in one place.
I use a Cannon M50, A GVM led lighting set up, Rode Plus Mic and an audio technica at2020 mic.
I then use screenflow for editing and thats about it.
My Backdrop is just a collection of my spiritual artifacts with a blue wash from one of the GVM Led Lighting. It is all very clean and easy to use with my IMac powering it all.
It took me ages to get it right, but I really like a plug and play as I can use this set up for my lives as well as courses etc. Cannon have a webcam facility now for the M50 which makes it a beast of a webcam as well as great for filming. I hope this helps x
In 2015, when I published my first course, I only had my basement, a pc and a full HD webcam which served me as mic also.
There was the a water pump for the building that started every 2 minutes, so , I was constrained to stop recording every two minutes.
Now I have my own studio and I can even weight lift in a corner! There is also a sofa-bed with a light-gray wall behind , which is my background when recording myself with the webcam. For talking head, I have a small green screen wall.
I still have to improve cables and outlets and I change them almost once a month but I'm never satisfied, neither my wife is!
This setup is very messy but has done well for me. I use this for my consulting work as well. This was a spare room in my apartment that I customized to fit my needs, over the last 1.5 years or so. Added one thing at a time. I have sealed the entire room, including the windows with thick plyboard. The door gaps are sealed, walls in the room have 12 large panels hanging all around, that I built with some basic tools at home.
I use an old D3100 Nikon to shoot the videos, while one of my desktop screens is UDH resolution. I use Adobe Audition, Premiere Pro, Bandicam, and a few other adobe tools for recording and editing.
The mic is a Samson C01UPRO.
Still pretty new to the magical online world of Udemy! I'm sharing a visual story of my recording studio because I'm entertained by it and wanted to share my version of an audio/visual setup.
Images are in order of description.
- Stage one of my backdrop for the visual ~ this is a rolling clothes hanger organizer of some sort, and you'll notice there's a white sheet hanging. This photo is to explain the backdrop, and to show a wall which doesn't appear on my videos.
- Same clothes organizer thing, but now extended and against a blank wall in the same room
- Two samples of blankets/quilts which I switched for each lesson
- A shot of me teaching two separate lessons ~ notice the blanket/quilt is different for each.
- The third wall in my recording studio ~ loud neighbors when the window is open along with beautiful, yet disruptive, blowing wind and chirping birds
- My view while I record into the Blue Yeti mic and onto the iMac camera ~ this is wall #4
Thank you for taking a look at my creative zone... 😁
~ Carole
After recording since 2017 in front of a green canvas, followed by recording in my office, in 2022 I was able to realize my dream of a dedicated studio. Right next to my house.
It's just 2.5 x 3 m (approx. 8 x 9 ft) small, which is a challenge regarding acoustics. But with self-made acoustic panels, professional panels, etc. I managed to get a decent sound.
The best things about a dedicated studio (mine has only a small window, which I cover with another acoustic panel):
- Constant lighting conditions, no matter the weather or the time of day
- I can record NOW, whenever I want to, and don't have to invest 1 hour to set everything up to record a 5 min video
- I have multiple options for settings (one with a dark background, used for talking heads, another with a white wall for slide presentations)
I use 2x LED panels as main lights and 4x small light tubes for color effects.
Sony Alpha 6400
Teleprompter
Rode NTG 5
Rode Wireless Pro II
One of the angles for talking heads
A pic with a bit more of the studio visible
Hope this is helpful and inspiring for some of you.
What do you think about my setup?
Do you recognize the badge?
Best
Axel
PS: I have a couple of videos taken when I did the renovation showing the changes in acoustics, depending on the panels. If you are interested, please leave a note and I post the videos.
