How to record a video at home [tips de nuestro videomaker]

Many of our infoproducers ask us, day in and day out, the same question: How to record a good video? What camera do I buy? The answer is also the same: It depends.

The audiovisual market is becoming larger and is available to more people every day. The tools we work with were unthinkable just 10 years ago, at least much more expensive. The same thing happens with telephony or computers.

Returning to the question, everything will depend on the use you are going to give the camera. In the same way that it would not make sense to buy a Ferrari to drive it on a dirt road, we should know in advance what we are going to use the camera before buying it.

But what if I told you that the camera is not the most important thing to record a quality video?

In another post we have talked about , so if you have read it you can already imagine that to obtain a good result it is not necessary to invest too much in the camera itself.

Knowing how to record a quality video is based on joining different pieces of a puzzle where each and every one of them is equally important.

Today there is a large number of models of cameras, lenses, microphones or lights, or what is the same, so much information ends up resulting in a mass of misinformation.

But today here we are going to give you a hand in the most technical section. Of course, focused on getting quality video recording for your .

Camera

Shall we start with the camera? If you have a budget amount designed to invest in your recording studio, do not allocate most of it to this part. You know, the camera is just one more piece.

Today there are 2 that are most used: reflex cameras and evil, csc or mirrorless cameras (yes, this second class has too many types of names).

You may wonder where the usual video cameras are and why I have not mentioned them.

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The price of the latter does not vary too much and the quality at which the former can perform is really good.

Also, the fact that you can change the lenses depending on the kind of recording, makes them more flexible.

But we’ll talk about that later. Of course, both reflex and mirrorless cameras are still cameras that also record video.

And what does it mean? For these cameras to continue to be considered photography cameras, they have a set limit of 29 minutes of continuous recording.

But the truth is that going back to the infoproduct format, this should not be a problem for us.

Some models that may be interesting are Canon g7x, Canon 4000D, Sony a6000 or Nikon D5500.

Some are more compact and have a folding screen, elements that must also be taken into account depending on the type of info product that we want to record.

The second piece of the puzzle is the lens or objective. Many of these cameras come in the form of a kit with lenses that we will not be able to get the most out of our camera’s sensors.

In most cases they are very basic lenses. That is why I recommend a specific lens that is cheap, bright (with little light in the room we will be able to squeeze it) and also we get the long-awaited bokeh or blur effect in the background of our shots.

Whether you buy a Sony, Canon or Nikon camera, all these models have a 50mm 1.8 lens. In addition to being light, its focal length will create a natural effect without distorting the image.

Light

Let’s go with the light. Do you know the difference between a mobile phone camera and a high-quality cinematic camera in a darkened room? None! That is why we have to value in its fair measure the importance of .

With just a couple of LED light sources directed at 45º to each side of the subject we are recording, and ambient lighting, if possible also LED, it will be more than enough to achieve really good results.

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An example treated with the same camera. On one side with natural light and on the other with controlled artificial light.

The natural light that enters through our windows would be another good option, but if we are going to record for a whole day, it is advisable to have the lighting controlled to our liking.

In this way we will not depend on the outside color temperature (morning and afternoon light are not the same) or simply that clouds appear during the day, and consequently, that the light changes throughout our recording.

Nowadays, LED lighting is much cheaper than a few years ago, and it also does not give off heat, something important if we are going to record for hours.

An interesting model for quality-price ratio and that also does not take up too much space:

Sound

And what about the sound? A quality video enters through the ears. It is useless to obtain a good visual quality if the audio is not at the same level afterwards.

The feeling that we will have when watching the video will be that it does not have a good result. The same as if the image is not the best, but the audio is well treated, our feeling will be that we are watching a quality video.

It seems like something not to dwell on too much, but believe me the difference is really substantial.

Another drawback of cameras that record video is that not all of them have built-in sound input and output. Therefore, we will not always be able to add a microphone directly to the camera.

In case your camera does support it, I advise you to add a belt-pack microphone like this: . This way you will have more freedom of movement.

And if not, you can always connect a smartphone microphone, record with any app and sync audio during editing, like the Rode SmartLav.

Another option would be to add a shotgun mic, as long as you’re recording in a room with little reverberation so it only picks up in the direction of your voice.

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And here we come to the second phase of the sound and another piece of the puzzle. It is useless to have a good microphone if there is a lot of reverberation where you record.

As we talked about in previous posts, try to “cover” the room with soft elements that absorb the echo, such as sofas, rugs or curtains. And if possible, add absorption panels.

You don’t need to put them everywhere, especially if you want your room to still look like a room after recording. Adding some panels to the ceiling will suffice. There are very discreet ones with the same colors as the walls themselves.

One last tip that I give you and that will save you hours and hours of recording in front of the camera is that you buy a teleprompter like this: .

It works with an app and is attached to the structure that connects to the camera. You invest time in writing what you want to say in front of the camera, but in return you will not have to be repeating it over and over again if you had to memorize it.

In addition, you do not notice anything that you are reading.

Ready to shoot professional-quality videos?

And this is how we would put all the pieces of the puzzle together to achieve quality videos at your fingertips with a much lower budget than it might seem after seeing the great results you can achieve.

Now that you know how to record videos in your home or office with professional quality, discover .

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