These days, recording a professional-looking Web video interview is becoming easier and cheaper. However, it is still easy to become things like lighting, studio set up and the background wrong. At Software Advice, we shoot a lot of Spider web video, and we wanted to share tips we've learned from trial and mistake along the way. Here are five key areas to focus on to assistance you create great Spider web videos.

Getting the Studio Set

For Skype video calling you lot'll be sitting at a computer while engaging your colleagues. Think about your shooting area as a studio and consider its various components: the camera, microphone, background, and lighting, and how you will account for each. While yous're setting up your studio, it'southward of import to limit the framing of the video to yourself and a solid background as you don't want other items in the room entering your shot.

Image Pick a Quality Webcam

While information technology may exist tempting to stick with your estimator's built-in webcam, chances are that your webcam will shoot low quality video. Since most people out on the Web are starting to expect high definition video, it'south a good idea to get out and become a webcam that can shoot in HD.

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If you lot don't have a built-in webcam that tin can shoot in Hd, we recommend checking out Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 for Windows and Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 for Mac. I advantage of these webcams is that they also record decent sound.

Get the Right Sound

In that location are several options available for getting a decent sound for your Spider web videos. The first is to utilize a adept Hard disk drive webcam (similar the Logitech models recommended above) that can record audio. If you want to get with this approach, pic on that has dual microphones as it will capture the audio amend.

Your 2d option is to use a USB microphone (see below) that can connect to your reckoner to ameliorate the sound. Nosotros similar Blue Microphone's Snowball ($68) equally it offers groovy audio for cost, or you can upgrade to their Yeti ($106) for even higher quality sound. If that'due south non your style, you can always go the route of a headset or lapel mic. One thing to note, nonetheless, is that these will likely be visible in your video.

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Lighting

Lighting is a big area of focus when trying to get your video to appear professional. If you don't have the right lighting, colors will irksome and there volition be shadows in your face. Neither is desirable.

At Software Advice, we rely on two small desk lamps that cost $23 each and utilise re-create newspaper diffusers to light our foreground. Nosotros also utilize a three-slice lighting kit to light our backdrop (run into figure in step 5). One side note about lighting: dim your estimator screen as much as possible to avoid getting lighting from your monitor into the shot. Below y'all can come across examples of good lighting versus poor lighting.

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Studio Setup

Use Skype to preview your shot (#1) and adjust your lighting as needed. You're looking to evenly low-cal your face. The main light (#two) is your chief low-cal source, while the fill lite (#3) comes from the other direction, generally less intense, to bring downwards the shadows created by the principal calorie-free.

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Two desk-bound lamps ($23 each) with re-create newspaper taped in front end of them to deed as diffusers (every bit shown below) are highly effective at providing boosted soft light for your webcam, just proceed an eye on heat. You may need upwardly to iii back lights (#4) to light your backdrop (#five). Other backgrounds can be used but avoid likewise much activeness as information technology can negatively bear on video quality.

In that location you have five areas that nosotros focus on to create not bad, professional-looking Spider web videos without breaking our depository financial institution. Practise yous have any tips you'd like to provide? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.