How to Record High-Quality Video From Your Home_Faireprod

How to Record High-Quality Video

From Your Home

A full-blown, in-person production with a professional crew, lighting, audio, makeup,

wardrobe – you get the idea – will always produce the highest quality results.

However, there are plenty of ways to capture content from the comfort of your home or

oﬃce with readily-available equipment like the webcam on a computer. There is more to

it than simply hitting record, though.

This guide will walk you through 5 steps to recording a high-quality video to make sure

you’re putting your best foot (and face) forward.

1. Setting up Your Home Video Equipment

The ﬁrst step to capturing a video on your computer is making sure you have the

required software and audio/video equipment.

This includes a webcam or an external camera that mounts onto your monitor.

In general, if you can, use an external and high-quality webcam, smartphone, camera

and microphone, a higher quality device is always recommended. If you want a better

picture, make sure your video device is at least 1080p. For some reason, if we have to

crop the image, the original deﬁnition must be as high as possible.

If you already have/ can obtain an external webcam :

Here are 3 external webcam options we recommend:

●

Logitech C930e is the best option if you need to record from a wider angle since

the camera has a 90-degree ﬁeld of view.

●

Logitech C922 Pro is the best option for most people as it’s easy to use, has a 78-

degree ﬁeld of view, a glass lens, and 2 omni-directional microphones.

●

Logitech BRIO is an expensive option but will produce the highest quality video

due to its 4k image sensor, HD 5X zoom, automatic adjustments, and more.

Software to Record Videos

From there, you’ll need the software required to record from your webcam. There are

plenty of ways to do this, including but not limited to:

●

OpenReel is a remote capture platform that allows you to record high-quality

video natively through a web browser on a computer or a phone app. VMG

Studios now utilizes this platform for our remote video productions as we believe

it oﬀers the most features and produces the highest-quality product.

●

Camtasia is a screen recording and video editing software that’s compatible on

Windows and Mac. Camtasia, which is a TechSmith product, oﬀers a free 30-day

trial. There are individual, business, education and non-proﬁt pricing options

available.

●

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is a free and open-source software for video

recording and live streaming on Windows, Mac or Linux.

●

QuickTime Player This application only applies to Mac users. It has 3 diﬀerent

options for recording: Movie, Audio, and Screen. If you’re looking to ﬁlm yourself

on-camera, you’ll want to do a Movie recording which utilizes your webcam. A

screen recording will capture the content on your computer monitor.

If you are not able or allowed to download and install third-party applications, check

with faireprod : cecile.courreges@faireprod.com

Once you have your recording software installed, make sure you’re conﬁguring your

computer and webcam appropriately.

●

Check your audio and camera inputs to make sure you’re using the correct ones/

grant permission for your application of choice to access the computer’s camera

and microphone.

●

Turn oﬀ system notiﬁcations or any other computer sounds or pop-ups, like the

ping you hear when a new email hits your inbox, that might play or display.

●

If you are doing a screen recording, clean up your desktop. A messy or busy

desktop could distract from what you’re trying to show on-screen.

If you have (or can get) a smartphone :

First of all, go to the video settings to record ideally in 4K or at least in 1080, install your

smartphone on a tripod and use the back camera of your phone.

Here is a series of objects options we recommend for your recording: 
To watch what you’re ﬁlming 
- Reﬂector - https://www.airsquirrels.com/reﬂector  
APPS 
- Filmic Pro  
- Filmic Remote 
- (cheaper alternative) Movie Pro Bundle   
Audio equipment and tripod  
- Micro Canon (inside) Shure or Rode cheaper 50 € 
- Micro Cravate ( outside) even cheaper 20 € 
- Tripod amazon 25 € or Joby 75 € 
-  Câble lightning 2m 
-  Stabilizer DJI Osmo Mobile   
2. Recording Audio for Your Video 
How a person looks on-camera is important, but how they sound is just as, if not, more 
important. Bad audio (muﬄed, scratchy, quiet) can lower the quality of a video. 
The internal microphone of your computer captures decent audio, but if for this project 
we’re looking for a higher quality sound. 
Here are two options we recommend: 
●
Blue Yeti USB Mic Features include gain control, mute button, and zero-latency 
headphone output. 
●
USB Lavalier Lapel Microphone Includes a sound card that is compatible on a PC 
or MAC and a built-in headphone jack so you can listen to yourself in real-time. 
Try to avoid recording where ambient noise is loud, such as the front room of your 
home or oﬃce that’s close to a busy road or next to the laundry room when the dryer is 
running. Pick somewhere quiet with little to no bounce in the room. A microphone 
"hears" everything. 
If you’re recording outside for some reason, stay out of the wind as much as possible. 
                                     4

3. Location and Placement of Your Home Video Shoot

Once you have your software ready to go, you’ll need to ﬁnd a good place to record.

Where you record your video can make a big diﬀerence in professionalism.

You’ll want to ﬁnd a clean, uncluttered, and pleasing background to not distract from the

subject in the video. Examples of good backgrounds, in either an oﬃce space or your

home, include:

●

A solid wall at an angle. Brick also looks great on-camera.

●

An elegant lobby or lounge space.

●

Larger spaces or rooms with soft textured décor, like throw pillows and blankets,

help prevent echo, so try to avoid really small and stark spaces.

Once you ﬁnd a good background, you’ll need to place your computer accordingly and

at an appropriate distance. In general, the computer should be about two to three feet

away from the subject. The subject should be close enough for the microphone to pick

up their voice but far enough away that their face isn’t an overwhelming presence in the

picture frame. The camera lens should be at eye level.

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a good one to follow: mid-abdomen to mid-chest and up (never just

from the neck up).

●

Presentation to camera rule of thirds

This is probably how you picture recording yourself on-camera: framed center and

looking directly at the lens.

The host is looking into the camera from the center of the screen, body is aligned to the

center, and the eyes are on the upper third line.

Use this framing if you are presenting.

4. Lighting Your Home Video

This is where things can get a little tricky since you might not have professional lighting

equipment on-hand, but lighting is extremely important when it comes to the quality of

your video.

Here are some tips on how to best light your video when recording from home.

●

Natural light

This is the next best thing besides a professional lighting set-up. Find a window that

brings in the most natural light throughout the day. It is most pleasing if this is splashing

on your face at a 45-degree angle.

●

Avoid backlight

This is any light that is shining on you from behind. It can cause you to silhouette.

Natural lighting is the best, but do not shoot yourself with the window (or sun) behind

you.

●

Ring light

This is a simple lighting tool that you can easily set-up anywhere. It helps reduce

shadows on the subject’s face and you can adjust the color temperature. Here are some

that we recommend:

1. Ring Light Pixel 19-Inch Pro

This includes a light stand, 3 color ﬁlters, wireless remote, Bluetooth selﬁe

remote, and a phone carrier.

2. Pixel 19-Inch Bi-Color Ring Light

This includes a light stand, white ﬁlter, wireless remote, Bluetooth selﬁe

remote, and a phone holder.

3. Inkeltech Ring Light

18-inch LED ring light kit with a stand. Includes a remote control, selﬁe

control, phone holder, and camera holder.

4. LED 6-Inch Ring Light

This is a smaller version and comes with a tripod stand, a cell phone

holder, and 3 light modes.

●

Neutral or slightly warm light

If you can’t get good access to natural light, this is a good option. Overhead lighting is

not ideal as it can cast odd shadows and be sure to avoid ﬂuorescent lights if at all

possible.

5. Preparing and Shooting the Video

Once everything is in place, you’ll next want to make sure you are camera ready. Dress to

make an impact. Think about your target audience and the message you want to convey,

and dress appropriately.

Once you’re ready to say action, there are a few more things to keep in mind to ensure

your on-camera performance goes oﬀ without a hitch.

IMPORTANT : Before starting to ﬁlm to record the image please clap your hands

strongly and in front of the camera lens ,to allow us to synchronize sound and images.

●

Do not touch the laptop or table it is sitting on

This will jostle the camera and make the video shaky

●

Make eye contact with the lens.

It’s easy to ﬂick your eyes down to your own image or to your script but try to keep your

eyeline on the camera itself.

●

Speak clearly and slowly

It’s easy to get nervous and start speaking too quickly, which can lead to stumbling over

your words. Slow it down.

●

Record multiple takes

As long as it’s not a live-streaming event, it’s okay to record a second or third take if you

stumble over a line. Just make sure you backtrack a bit so it can be seamlessly edited in

post-production.

●

Be careful reading your script

If you can, try to memorize as much as your script as possible to avoid reading your

script on your screen while recording. Why? Because the audience will see your eyes

moving since you’ll no longer be making eye contact through the camera.

●

Practice, practice, practice

This is simple. Practice your script ahead of time and try to memorize it as much as

possible. You’ll feel more comfortable and natural the more you practice.

●

Prompter

The use of a prompter can be very useful. FreeTeleprompter is one of the best online

prompter and it is totally free. It is very easy to use and has few options which makes

the tool quite intuitive. Here are the options it oﬀers:

- Changeable screen resolution

- Writing size

- Reading speed

- Mirror option

- White writing on black background or black on white background

Once you have entered your text, click on "start teleprompter". The screen changes and

your text starts to scroll. All you have to do is read your text! Of course do not forget to

place the camera in the right place, test and repeat if necessary.

Wrapping Up Your Video

When you’re done recording your video, make sure you save your project or ﬁle right

away. The last thing you want is to lose all your hard work.

After saving your work, please send us to editing at : cecile.courr[email protected]

Utilizing the techniques and technologies listed in this guide ensures you can capture

video content anywhere, anytime.