How to Setup a Vlog Studio at Home

How much time does it take to actually set up recording a video and what are the payoffs? Once you know what you are doing to get the best quality out of your camera and to share a video your already off to a great start. The payoffs of a well constructed video is so important in creating an engaging video that looks professional.

This article will go over the essentials for how to set up a vlog studio at home whether you have a lot of gear to work with, a little gear or are just interested in my process! I will be going over lighting tips for video photo shoots, cameras for video shoots, microphones and more.

Camera Gear

First of all you want to get a camera situation together. I use Canon EOS RP with a Canon 24-104mm to shoot my videos, we will get into camera settings later. The Canon EOS RP is great because it is light-weight and has 4k compatibility. The Canon EOS RP also has a flip screen that allows you to see yourself while recording the videos. Other choices of camera may include phone cameras.

The type of lens also is essential to your video shoot. You may want something that captures enough light indoors, has a great focal length and what not. Personally I am a fan of the wide-angle style for videos that allows the viewer to see the background and the foreground like the 24-104mm or the 24mm. A more up close lens may be the 50mm or 85mm I say these sizes generally without brands attached because these are just the focal lengths that give depth. Make sure to take into account your camera's sensor size as well ; Full-Frame or Cropped.

Phone Cameras can also work great, just make sure to use your back camera for recording. The back of phone cameras usually have great megapixel counts and higher resolutions that make the optimal for videos. Also don’t forget to turn on that 4k video! Many new iPhones have great features for taking photos and videos that are perfect for your vlog.

I also like using tripods that match my height or look at my height at eye level. Using a tripod helps stabilize a photo and makes life a lot easier then using stacked books, bookshelves or anything else. I would highly recommend buying a tripod to control your video even more. Tripods come in different sizes and materials and it really depends on what you are using it for eg outdoors or inside.

Next you will need a microphone to record your voice and any other relevant sounds that will amplify your video to a higher standard. There are many options for microphones these days. Personally I still use the Video Rode Mic Pro. Most Cameras have the ability to record audio on their own in camera, however this doesn’t pick up your voice as well and may also allow unwanted background noise into your videos.

Background noise can be removed in editing programs like Premiere Pro, Audacity, Final cut pro or other video or audio programs. However this will also make your editing time longer and can become difficult with multiple clips. I would highly suggest investing in a great microphone that can last you.

Fiber Internet Providers

Video production requires considering your internet provider carefully. Fiber provides the fastest and most reliable connection available, making it perfect for heavy bandwidth activities like uploading and streaming high-resolution videos. With its superior download/upload speeds, fiber internet ensures smooth video processing workflow. Compare the best fiber internet providers in your area to find one offering great value for your money.

Lighting

The next step is the lighting. The lighting can make or break your video. Just like photography you need to have a bit of knowledge of light. You want to make sure you are visible to the viewer and the scene- whatever it might be is lit up correctly. I would highly suggest recording videos next to a window during sunlight to get great light indoors. This is known as diffused natural lighting. It is simple but powerful for getting great lighting.

However if you are far away from a video or they are not big enough you can try artificial lighting. Be careful of which types of lights you use and to not mix too many different Kelvin scales that affect that “color”. Kelvin scales can share the color of a light.

Source: Here But Not
For example you might use a light that emits a yellow tone and light that emits a blue tone, this may be difficult to properly light your face and may create color distortion in your face that is not stylistic. Editing these colors in post can be more advanced so be careful of this.

Personally I use 3 fluorescent lights to light up my videos. These lights also include stands and white umbrellas. The stands allow me to adjust the height of the light to usually match my own height. The white umbrellas spread and diffuse the light that is placed on my face and the background. The 3 lights can be placed one to light my side, the other to light the front of my and the last one to light the background.

These lights came to me in a studio photo kit and have worked perfect ever since for small vlog videos and videos in my room that needed lighting. However there are plenty of other lighting options like the popular Ring lights that illuminate your face for videos.

If you would like to learn lighting techniques for indoors and flashes I would highly recommend this book Light Science & Magic An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. This gives some great ideas if you are wearing certain clothing or the spaces you are enclosed in.

You can also take into account what kind of camera settings you would like to have in the video and your lighting situations based on that.

Some videos may require a higher or lower shutter speed based on your lens/ local length. You may also be interested in using the aperture to create a certain characteristic to your photos such as a low aperture to create a focused video or open the aperture up to share the background while showing yourself. In these cases they may require you to have brighter lights or different positioned lights to get your desired effects. Light your scene strategically to give off the “vibe” you desire.

Camera Settings

A quick talk about camera settings. Although this isn’t a technical article about camera settings in and outs I'll explain briefly what camera settings can do with a stable (if you’re using a tripod) video. The shutter speed for video will reduce the amount of motion blur in a given video, even on a tripod.

The faster the shutter speed the faster and dynamic your body movement will look- however there is a point where this motion may look unnatural. Oftentimes the Frame Rate on your camera is also stabilized to a certain shutter speed. When you shoot at 60 Frames Per Second some cameras lock your shutter speed at 1/60th or more to shoot at. This will reduce the amount of light you let in; more lights or a different arrangement.

Aperture can also be used in a stylistic manner where you can change the intensity of you/ or the subject. Lowering your aperture will keep the focus and detail mainly on you and blur out the background that is not relevant. However raising the aperture to something like f/22 will let in less light but more of the background and yourself will be in focus. It should be noted that f/22 is not always optimal for some lenses that have found to have a tact focus at f/15. Make sure you research your lens for the best video quality or you do some of your own tests to understand how your focus works.


Other things to consider may include your SD card sizes, hard drive space and backups. SD cards may seem obvious and something that you can easily get at a store, however I would suggest investing in a few that have fast speeds. This way you can keep recording and take great high quality videos. Secondly is buying big enough harddrives to keep all your videos organized and in archive.

So there it is , in no time you too can set up a vlog studio at home. From the lighting, camera gear, microphones and a little practice you’ll be a pro in no time!

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