Part of my own plan is to record myself playing acoustic guitar and singing, both my original songs and covers, to post to YouTube / Instagram / etc.
Also, to pay the bills, teaching online (with a webcam) is necessary. Good lighting offers more professionalism and a better experience for the student in this situation. Or anyone else on the other end of a Zoom meeting (for potential music industry meetings, etc.)
Lighting is important because although you can have a good camera, with bad lighting you might as well have used a potato.
I spent a lot (read: too much) time researching lighting for videos… there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and for a good while I thought I needed one of those “ring lights” to record myself.
Those aren’t a bad choice, but after digging around, I realized 3-point lighting should give the best effect, and during the day just opening the windows covers one of those points. It isn’t too hard to achieve, you just need 3 sources of light strong enough to light you up. And they should be more or less the same color temperature.
Ring Light vs Other Lighting
Ring lights have become popular it seems only because they provide that “ring” light effect inside your pupils – they seem actually to be geared more toward makeup review videos and such. I might still try a ring light one day, I think if you could only buy one light, or have limited room, it should work – but I found a good 3-point light setup for $50-$60, I figured I might as well pay a few extra bucks and get something decent I’ll actually be able to use.
(I got the $60 version, which comes with wall-socket adapters for the USB plugs, since I figured it would be a pain to connect all 3 to a USB hub).
You can also go more high-end and get something like this, it depends how professional you want things to look.
(To understand how 3-point lighting works, I recommend this tutorial to break it down).
What Camera Should I Get?
Best would be a DSLR (before going into the realm of super-expensive quality gear), however if you’re on a budget like me, that’s not an option at the moment. (However if you do want higher quality, consensus seems to say the best two options for DSLR video are the Canon Rebel T7 and Sony a6000 series).
For cover/original videos I’ll be using my iPhone XS, and recording into my Scarlett 2i2 with a MCA SP1 Condenser Mic and a Shure SM57 Dynamic Mic with windscreen.
For meetings and online classes (to make extra money), I needed a decent webcam, and after much research, I recommend the Logitech C920. You can also use your phone as a webcam, but it’s sort of a hassle, and I often find myself using my phone during meetings, to take notes or contact someone. So using my phone as a webcam for classes wasn’t an option, for me at least.
Conclusion / TLDR
- Just get the $60 3-point lighting setup by Obeamiu
- Learn how 3-point lighting works
- In general, don’t mix light temperatures (ie. 3000K light with a 5000K light)
- Use your iPhone camera (or whatever phone you have). Check our our article to learn more: How to Shoot Cinematic Video with an iPhone
References
- How to Get the Perfect Lighting for Video – TechSmith
- How To Use Your Smartphone As A Webcam for Free – Think Media
- Video Lighting: Everything You Need To Know – Restream