TJ Walker shows how to build a broadcast-quality video studio at your desk for under $2,000. Use a 6x8 fabric backdrop, position an HD webcam at eye level, add a desktop microphone and multiple lights to kill shadows, then capture with software. The whole thing takes minutes to set up for video calls or presentations.
Questions this video answers
June 4, 2012
About $1,600 (under $2,000)
Less than $200
212-764-4955
Chapters
From New York, here's T.J. walker. These days I find myself more and more communicating to people this way, either through Skype video, through prepared videos, through video press releases, whether it's on YouTube, sending it to people directly, or some kind of live webinar. Now everyone talks about Internet video, but still there's this sense of where do I start? Do I get a webcam? Do I use my iPhone? Do I build a whole fancy expensive studio? Get right down to it. Most people just don't do video because it seems too difficult, it seems too hard. Seems like you got to be technical. Well, I'm here to demystify this and show you step by step what you need to do to create your own in house broadcast TV studio similar to what I have right here now. For starters, there's just not that much difference between what you can do and what Brian Williams does on NBC News, for example. He's in a big newsroom. Well, I'm in a big newsroom. Actually, I'm not in a big newsroom. This, this is just a brick wall. And this is a 6 by 8 photo that was blown up, put on fabric and then velcroed to the wall. Now the key to it is you get a photo that, that represents what you want and then you make the photo a little bit blurry. And then it seems like there's more distance. It seems like you're far away. But I'm only 12 inches away from this wall. And it makes it look bigger, it makes it look better. A couple of other things you need a high definition webcam. Now in the description below, I list the brand I have it. I'm not trying to sell any brand. There may be plenty of other good brands, but there's the brand that I use right there. Here's the key. You need the camera almost at eye level or maybe just a couple of inches away. And you do need a little distance. That's the problem with using a laptop that's sort of looking up your nose. Nobody looks good with a video camera looking up your nose. The next thing you need in order to seem professional is you need some quality audio. And the problem is if you use the built in microphone on a typical laptop or computer, it's going to sound muffled, it's going to sound tinny, echoey. It's just not going to sound good. Now you could go out and get a plug in microphone, a clip on that, clips on just like a newscaster. I've done that before. The problem is you're always Losing it. You're fumbling with it. I have one right here that just sits on my desk and you'll see the description of it. I never have to touch it, it's unidirectional, it's pointing right at me. But I don't have to take the time to clip on it. And I'm not fumbling around. Here's my goal. My goal is to be able to quickly do video anytime I want. If I get an email from somebody wanting a media training proposal, I don't just send them a document or a PDF, I turn the lights on, I just speak and I give them a video proposal mentioning them by name. And it's faster than typing. That's the whole beauty of this. If there's breaking news I have to give commentary on that relates to a CEO or politician having a meltdown in the media. Boom. One button and I'm just talking. This is just my normal desk area. This is not fits my desk. I have my normal computer. The only thing that's different is a little high definition camera on top as well as a microphone that sits on the desk pointing at me. And then of course the most important part to really make this look professional, the lighting. Now you don't have to spend a lot on lighting. I have a light right in front of me. I have a light sort of down low to the side, another one above me and another backlight behind me. Here's the key with lighting. You don't want a lot of shadows on your face. You don't want a lot of shadows on your backdrop. If I turn one of these lights off, the backdrop would show up. Now, to show you how easy this is and why it's not a big fancy setup, I'll show you what I do when I turn the lights on. I just wired them all together. I have a switch right next to me. I'm going to turn it off. So this is what my desk looks like normally when I'm just doing work, making phone calls, etc. It looks dark to you but isn't really dark. This is just normal office lighting. You do need more lighting when you are going to make professional looking video. But then at the moment's notice, I want to put out a video press release, send someone a video proposal, do a Skype call that looks professional, perhaps do a speech to some conference through Skype. All I do bend down and I've got the lights back on. It really is that simple. Now with everything I talked about here, it cost less than $2,000. So for the typical company, government agency, even individual entrepreneur, author, expert, this is very affordable. This setup actually cost just a little more than sixteen hundred hundred dollars. You may find less expensive ways of doing it yourself. Now, a couple of other things I mentioned specifically in the description here. The software we use, there's no one type of software, but you need some software for capturing the video. You need the camera. You need a decent microphone. By the way, this microphone, less than $200, but it's such better audio quality. And then the lights. It's a simple system. Here's the thing, the more you do video, the easier it gets. The faster it gets and you'll get to the point, like I am, where it's actually easier and faster to do a video than it is to type a letter. I now send essentially video letters to clients, friends, even prospects because it's a little more intimate and it's faster and it's easier. And these days it stands out because most people don't know how to create video or they're intimidated by it or they think they've got to hire Steven Spielberg to shoot their movie. Well, you could, but you don't have to. So I'm telling you, if you want to get in the modern age and really understand video social media aspects, you need to have your own studio so that you're not coming up with a new backdrop each time and setting things out, trying to find some perfect location. Just make it your desk. Put a little backdrop, make sure you have more light in front of you. That's why you can't really have a light behind you. It totally messes up the light and makes your face black. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help you out. Give us a call, 212-764-4955. I'm T.J. walker.
