Home Audio/Visual Setup

I was asked for a post detailing my home A/V setup. So this post will outline the equipment in my office that I use for video conferencing and recording videos.

Desk

One of the best things I did for my office was to switch to a standing desk. I was spending way too much time sitting in a chair and a standing desk helped to alleviate muscle pain. It also kept me in a bit more active mood if that’s a thing. After doing a bit of research I decided to try the Terra 2 desk. My biggest concern with a standing desk was hiding cables in a desk with no front. So I added the cable chase which did help. It does block the front of the desk top though so if you want to mount anything like a monitor/camera/light mount beware that with the cable chase on, you can’t use a clamp.

Camera

I upgraded my Logitech c920 webcam to a Sony Alpha a6400 camera a few months ago. I just stepped into a new role in Technical Marketing, and expected to be doing webinars, and videos so I invested in a good camera. I use the camera for web conferencing as well, but it was a bit tricky to get working in this fashion.

To setup the camera with web conferencing software like Zoom, I needed to purchase an Elgato Camlink adapter. I also found that when I had my video on, I couldn’t use my Streamdeck when it was plugged into the second Thunderbolt port on the same side of my Macbook Pro. I assume I was pushing too much data through the bus.

Teleprompter

I have been creating videos for KubeAcademy.com and had a problem when creating videos. We wanted to have our instructors visible in the videos as much as possible. Now I don’t have a problem talking to people without a script, but for a professional video, I don’t want people to have to listen to my word flubs (and scattered thoughts sometimes, I can admit it). So for a professional video I often read from a script. I know that doesn’t make it seem like I’m sharp enough to do it in my head, but in the end I’d rather have a concise message the listener can understand. I also didn’t want to look like I wasn’t looking at the camera.

The answer was a teleprompter that I can use with my smartphone. There are several teleprompters on the market but I went with a Glide Gear.

The Sony Camera mounts directly to the teleprompter and my smartphone acts as the prompter. I purchased an iOS app called “Prompt Smart” which lets me type or upload a script and then run the program.

The software lets me mirror text (for the teleprompter) and flip horizontal/vertical etc. It also uses the microphone, so that when you are reading the script, it will scroll for you. I will admit that sometimes I have to redo stuff because it scrolled too fast for me, or probably got confused by computer jargon. The software can also just use your phone’s front facing camera if you would like.

Green Screen

I had a background that I had been using for KubeAcademy, but it was painful (for me anyway) to setup and put away. Mainly folding the backdrop up each time was like trying to plug a USB-A cable. It would always take 3 or four tries.

So I picked up a new one and while I was doing it, I thought it might as well be a green screen so I can use some backgrounds and things. So I purchased the Elgato Green Screen. It packs away fairly well, its portable and its really easy to setup.

Flip open the cover and pull it up until it locks. When you’re ready to put it away, push it back down into the case. It works very well for my purposes.

Lights

My office has pretty poor lighting. A single light fixture in the ceiling that doesn’t put out much light. I’m usually OK working in a dimly lit room, but when recording videos you need a bit more light. And if you plan to use a green screen, I found you you could use a LOT of light. Initially, I only planned to buy a single light but when I started using my green screen, found out that the shadows or light differences would really affect the ability to overlay backgrounds on my video without bleed.

So now I have two Elgato Key Light Professional lights mounted to the sides of my desk. (Remember, that my cable chase prevents mounting anything to the front of the desk.)

These lights work great, are simple to adjust and the software can adjust both the temperature and brightness. You can even set it so whatever you set for one light, the other lights will match it.

Stream Deck

I was gifted an Elgato Stream Deck and think its pretty neat, but at this point it feels more like a toy than a tool. The Stream deck has lots of cool features but I’m barely scratching the surface. Here are a list of some of the hotkeys I’ve got setup.

• Elgato Lights – Brighten, Dim, On/Off
• Smart Home – Turn on Smart Home Devices connected to my hubitat hub.
• Mute/Unmute – Sometimes really necessary on zoom.
• Luxafor – The luxafor light so that I can set a DND on my office door.
• Camtasia – I’m in the process of setting up some Camtasia hotkeys so I can complete repetitive tasks.

Microphone

I had done some training videos from Pluralsight a few years back and when I did that, I got a good microphone. I purchased a Rode Podcaster which is a dynamic microphone and I’ve been really happy with it. I put it on a swing arm so that I can move it around.

Summary

Thats my home setup. It’s really nice that I can use all of these tools while in my house and can do it sitting or standing at my desk. I’ve never really gotten into audio or visual setups before. It just wasn’t something that interested me, but as I’ve done more educational work, I wanted to have something I could build quality content with. The last thing someone trying to learn a new concept wants to deal with is a poor audio or video feed. Hopefully I’m preventing that from happening.