Question For Those Who Record Their Own Videos

[kirstyseo]

Hi,

This is a quick question for those of you that record your own videos. Currently we record videos using a pretty middle of the road sony HD camcorder. We have some good lighting equipment and mic's etc but I always think that it could be a lot better.

I would love to know what kind of recording equipment other use. Someone had said to me to use a DSLR camera with lapel mic which is great and obviously the camera can be used for still photos as well.

I am just interested to know if others use that configuration or if people just use your average HD camcorder with good mics etc.

Thanks

[PhilNottingham]

I use a 5D Mk III, three Arri 750 lights and Sennheiser MKE Lav mics for the DistilledLive videos - EXAMPLE

For talking head videos, I don't think there is a massive difference between using a good lav vs using a boom microphone - you can get great quality from both. Similarly, the difference between a DSLR and a good camcorder is relatively marginal as well for simple recordings. The things that really make a difference are firstly understand how to set up your lights, and secondly having some post production skills.

Lighting will be the major factor in determining the quality of your image and you need to find a way to effectively remove shadow while keeping a natural skin tone on your subject. Once you've mastered the lighting, you need to understand basic colour correction and grading - as well as how to mix and master audio tracks. For vocals, you want to cut quite heavily any superfluous frequencies at the top and bottom end that just pick up noise, as well as adding compression and a bit of reverb to bring some life to the sound.

[TimKelsey]

Great question! I've often wondered this myself and am looking forward to see what others are using.

We use a Canon 7D. I've never used a dedicated video camcorder so I'm not sure how it compares, but it definitely does a great job.

For sound, we use a lapel mic that feeds into a Zoom H4n sound recorder. I kind of want to experiment with a directional mic on a boom instead of the lapel mic. Maybe someone out there has some experience with this.

We're still pretty new to video recording and have a lot to learn. I'd recommend checking out Wistia's blog for tips.

Tim