Webcams

Built into nearly every laptop is a high-definition (HD) webcam. Some are even built into computer monitors. If that's all you've got, start with that webcam. If you don't like the angle, prop your computer up on a stand or even a stack of books. If it seems fuzzy or grainy, be sure to turn on some lights. The resolution of most webcams is high enough that a poor image quality is more likely the result of poor light than of poor camera quality. When you use the one built into your laptop, it's with you everywhere you carry it—office, conference room, coffee shop, hotel room (for you road warriors), and beyond.

If you're wondering how “high” your high-definition webcam is, the progression of image size and quality can be seen in Figure 9.1. It applies to all cameras, so you'll see these numbers and terms when you evaluate smartphones and other cameras, too.

The more pixels in your image, the more detailed the image is. A 4K video, sometimes called ultra-high-definition (UHD), is twice as wide and twice as tall as 1080. When they're displayed in the same size viewing window, 4K looks twice as detailed as HD. 4K isn't ideal or necessary when recording personal videos; it's overkill. On the other hand, if you watch a 720-video at full screen on a 1080 monitor, it'll look a little soft and lack detail because it's scaled up. For now, 1080 HD is a good middle ground.

If you want more detail or higher quality than whatever's built into your laptop or monitor, you can buy an external webcam that plugs in by USB. There are several brands and manufacturers, but Logitech is the standard. You can get a full 1080 HD for $50 to $100 (Logitech C920, C922, C930e). For $175, I picked up a nice webcam (Logitech BCC950) with a wide field of view and a remote control to point it up, down, left, or right and even to zoom in and out. You can also go up to 4K resolution if you're willing to go up to or beyond $175 right now. Of course, all this changes quickly and there are multiple makes and models to choose from. So, don't get too hung up on specifics. Just search and browse “HD webcam” or something even more specific like “1080 HD webcam.”

A webcam is great for email and social messaging videos and for video conferences. One of its key advantages is that once you get your shot setup, it's ready to go every time you need it. Have a familiar setup for your office, your home office, a conference room, or anywhere else you'll regularly use a webcam. I leave my external webcam in one spot and my laptop built-in everywhere else. Steve uses his laptop webcam all the time.

Smartphones

The camera is a key battleground in the great smartphone wars of the early twenty-first century. Each new model from Apple, Samsung, Google, and the others gets upgraded camera hardware and software as leading features. Smartphone camera specs are key talking points in ads, reviews, and comparison tables. They've evolved much more quickly than webcams.

The same resolution measures apply (720, 1080, 4K), so here's a quick take on frame rates, which are expressed in frames per second (fps). Like films in the old days, your video is comprised of multiple still images played in sequence. A higher frame rate tends to make videos look more detailed.

• 24 fps—The standard film rate
• 30 fps—The standard video rate
• 60 fps—A high video rate
• 120 or 240 fps—Rates for slow motion video

For quick, simple videos, 30 frames per second is standard. It'll keep your file size down, which makes it faster to upload and send. Some platforms don't support higher frame rates on upload or on playback anyway. As with 4K resolution, it won't hurt to record at 60 frames per second, but it's not ideal or necessary. It'll take up more space on your phone, take longer to upload, and may not be experienced by viewers.

Your smartphone's easy to operate. It's with you everywhere you go. And it's got a great video camera. If it's not your sole or primary device for video, it should definitely be in the mix.

Other Cameras

When you go beyond webcams and smartphones, you start crossing over from “relationships through video” to “marketing through video” pretty quickly. When you pick up a Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony, GoPro, or another type of camera, you're committing to spend more time on your video. Offloading. Editing. Uploading. Hosting. Buying and learning additional equipment. As we established in the introduction and carry as a theme throughout the book, you can and should pursue this style of video. It can be great for your business. But its best use is for a large audience, long shelf life, or high-profile distribution.

That said, I've set up a mirrorless camera on a tripod, turned on a few lights in our small office studio, and recorded a dozen different videos for a dozen different individuals. From there, I popped out the little memory card, dragged the video onto my MacBook Pro, trimmed off the fronts and backs of the clips, batch exported the edited videos, uploaded them to BombBomb, and sent each one out to each person. Is it worth the effort? Not really.

Microphones

Low image quality is more tolerable than low sound quality. As with cameras, use the microphone you have right now until you reach its limits. Your laptop or webcam has one built in. Your smartphone has a great microphone because it's actually a phone; it's designed to be talked at and spoken into! Don't use the fact that you've not researched, shopped for, and purchased a microphone as an excuse not to get started with personal videos.

Before you buy an upgraded microphone, use these tips:

• Bring the mic as close to you as possible while still keeping a head and shoulders shot that also captures some hand gestures.
• Use your wired or wireless smartphone earbuds to capture sound for your smartphone videos—or even your laptop videos.
• Get great sound with just a single Apple Airpod; they connect wirelessly both to iPhones and Androids.
• If you don't like the “earbuds in the shot” look, hold the earbud mic immediately out of the shot as near to your voice as possible.

In case you still want an additional microphone, we'll cover two main types: USB and 3.5 mm jack. It's not as technical as it sounds.

To upgrade the audio from your laptop or desktop computer, look for a microphone that plugs in by USB. In the $50 price range, take a look at the Samson Meteor or Blue Snowball. There are others, but we use and like both. The Meteor is especially portable. Another standard is the Blue Yeti, which is priced around $125. Before you go down this road, know that most external webcams like the Logitech models mentioned earlier come with microphones that are better than your built-in. You don't necessarily need to buy a USB mic until you've tested the sound with your upgraded webcam first.

For smartphones and other cameras, you'll look for the standard 3.5 mm jack—that short, skinny plug that's silver, copper, or gold in color and/or material. Until Apple moved to their proprietary lightning jack, all these devices used this size. For iPhone or iPad, you'll use the lightning-to-3.5 mm adapter they provide or get one that's already lightning compatible.

The wired lavalier microphone plugs into your smartphone or camera and runs over to you. It's typically clipped to your clothing, high up on your chest near your voice. The little foam ball on it helps reduce wind noise and those pops we make when we enunciate words like “pop!” These work well when you're still, the camera's still, and you're near your smartphone or other camera.

You can also buy a wireless kit, but then you've got two separate battery-powered packs that need to be synced up. One pack attaches to you; its wire runs up and the mic gets clipped near your voice. The other pack attaches to the camera, gets your audio wirelessly, and passes the sound into the camera. This allows you to move around a bit more. Wired or not, a single lavalier microphone is passable but not ideal for two-person interviews. It's better if each person has one. Wired and wireless handheld microphones are better for interviews, but they can look very old-fashioned.

To capture sound from more than one person and to avoid having the mic attached to anyone, a camera-mounted microphone is a good option. Small ones are made to attach directly to smartphone. Larger ones are made to mount directly to your camcorder, DSLR, or mirrorless camera with a standard shoe mount. Look for one that allows you to switch from the standard foam cover to a “cat tail” or “wind buster”—that big, gray, and fuzzy cover that's crucial for outdoor use. The fuzziness and hairiness dramatically cuts down wind noise, which can ruin your sound. Some of these mics are even boom-mountable, so they can be held out of the shot but closer to the people who are speaking.

The Office Setup

At a desk or in a cubicle. In an office or home office. This is the spot where you set up once and use it over and over again as needed; see some of the typical equipment in Figure 9.2. It's a familiar and comfortable space. Personalize the background with artwork, photos, trophies, diplomas, plants, or anything else that communicates that this is your unique space. There's so much people can learn about you from your office; it gives you the opportunity to tell a story about yourself.

Recommendations for Your Office Setup

• Keep the space basically tidy. Your background should help communicate who you are; make it personal, but professional.
• Your go-to camera here is your webcam, even though your smartphone is an option.
• Add a USB microphone if desired.
• Rely on all available natural light coming in from a window or an open door. Notice how it changes throughout the day.
• Supplement your lighting with overhead lights, a clip-on desk lamp, or a floor lamp. You might use this lamp or light only when recording videos.
• More light is always better than less light.
• Place your external webcam higher up and in a corner for a nice, wide shot. Use a bookshelf, wall shelf, or tripod for height.
• Place your built-in laptop webcam on a laptop stand, box, or stack of books to raise it up.
• Especially for live recording, a hardline internet connection is better than a WiFi connection.

The Mobile Setup

A perfect video won't convert more leads. A little handheld shake in your video doesn't mean you can't send it. Mixing up your locations by being mobile keeps video communication interesting for you and for your viewers. Being prepared to record with your smartphone means you're always prepared, because it's with you almost everywhere you go. As you see in Figure 9.3 and in the list below, you augment the arm-out selfie experience with add-ons.

Recommendations for Your Mobile Setup

• If your arm isn't long enough to produce a nice, wide shot, get a selfie stick.
• Walking and talking provides visual interest. Use a device like the DJI Osmo, Osmo Mobile, or another mobile gimbal to steady the shot.
• The cheap solution for walk-and-talk videos is to record with the Hyperlapse app, but save the video at 1x speed instead of at a 6x or 12x lapse speed. It stabilizes the video. Or search for another stabilization app.
• If you don't want to stick with your wired or wireless earbuds, search for a mobile microphone. Search “mobile microphone” or “iPhone microphone” or “Android microphone.”
• Sitting safely parked in a car is a great place to record. You often have good light and good sound. If you're an on-the-go salesperson, this is a great way to spend those five or 10 minutes between meetings.
• If you want to set your smartphone in one place, get a mobile tripod head and use it with a small or full-sized tripod.
• Countless apps are available to edit your videos, add graphics, add transcriptions, and more. Just remember to focus on speed over production.
• If you're using a video email service provider, that company should offer mobile apps for recording, sending, and tracking.
• If you're on the move, consider recording straight to your camera roll, then uploading once you're on a stable, solid internet connection.
• A WiFi internet connection tends to be faster and more stable than a cellular connection.
• If you're on the move, pay attention not to drop off WiFi by moving out of its range.
• If you're on the move, especially as a passenger in a moving car (do not drive and record!), know that cellular connections can drop your video like they drop your calls.

Note: Our mobile apps provide some protection from that last scenario. If you drop connection between cell towers, we pause the upload, then automatically resume when the signal picks back up.

The Pro Setup

Again, we're creeping into “marketing with video” territory, but we expect you may want some tips on a more traditional or “professional” setup pictured in Figure 9.4. And some of these ideas are transferable into “relationships through video” scenarios. We'll focus here on a simple setup in a small office or as a smaller part of a much bigger space.

Recommendations for Your Pro Setup

• You can use a webcam or smartphone on a tripod, but this setup is best with a camcorder, DSLR, or mirrorless camera.
• Get an on-camera microphone, a boom microphone, or a lavalier microphone to plug into your camera.
• If you experience echo, the space has too many hard surfaces that bounce sound and too few soft surfaces that absorb sound. Add soft surfaces like area rugs, pillows, blankets, soft-sided chairs, foam blocks, or similar. It doesn't have to be pretty if it's not in the shot.
• Use a plain colored wall, a tradeshow booth backdrop, a sign or logo, or another relatively clean background for your shot.
• Do not stand directly against the background. Create some distance. In a tight space like an 8′ × 12′ room, use the shorter wall as the background so you have the longer wall for depth. You can also shoot on an angle into the corner.
• Search for a three-light kit. Two good options include LED lights that are dimmable and with a sliding color temperature or a kit with at least one soft box.
• If you're not familiar with lighting a shot like this, search “three-point lighting.” Look at some diagrams and watch a video or two. It's very straightforward.
• Get a tripod. Look for more height rather than less (70″ or 72″, not 50″ or 60″). If you're not going to leave it up all the time, take note of how well it packs down. If you're primarily using it for locked-down shots, don't worry too much about panning and tilting fluidity.