Set up, Equipment & Software to Live Stream

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  • Recommended equipment
    • Essentials
    • Lighting options — Great to have
    • Optional
  • Equipment to avoid

Essential equipment

Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic

Most people don’t realize that good audio quality is MORE important than good video quality. Poor audio can cause people to stop watching, whereas most people are willing to tolerate moderate quality video.

Logitech C922x Pro Stream Webcam
Use a rubber band to attach the webcam to the mic stand. Being lightweight, the webcam will sit just fine in an overhead view. The angle of the webcam can be adjusted without having to move its position.

Amazon Basics Tripod Boom Microphone Stand
An inexpensive stand that allows for tons of flexibility,  as well as an overhead view that is stable and easy to adjust in any direction or angle.

Blue Painter’s Tape
Use tape to mark the position of your chair in relation to the set up. Make sure you are sitting in a chair with no wheels so you can mark the position of the chair.

Watch How to Set up a Live Stream Art Demo and learn how to set up your live stream equipment.

Watch OBS Studio Tutorial for Art Demos and learn about how to set up the software for a live stream.

Lighting options — Great to have

Genaray MonoBright Daylight LED 750

(use with the Neewer soft umbrellas & the Impact Light stand)
Even lighting that is color corrected is a gigantic hassle without a daylight lamp. This lamp is well worth the peace of mind that your lighting will be consistent and even.

Neewer 2 Pack 33″/84cm White Translucent Soft Umbrellas

(use with the Genaray MonoBright & Impact light stand)
Attaching a lighting umbrella to your daylight lamp ensures that the lighting will be even, soft and diffused.

Impact Heavy-Duty Light Stand (Black, 9.5′)

(use with the Genaray MonoBright & Neewer soft umbrellas)
Mount your daylight lamp to this stand.

YICOE Softbox Lighting Kit
Soft box allows for diffused light that spreads evenly. Comes with remotes that have settings for warmth and brightness.

Optional

2nd Computer Monitor
Not required, but really helps when you have OBS, YouTube, and other windows open simultaneously.

Equipment to avoid

DSLR Camera
Overkill & is much heavier than a webcam, which limits your options for how you can position it. A DSLR really requires a very large, high end tripod to allow for flexibility of camera angles while keeping the DSLR securely mounted.

Octopus Tripod
Appears very flexible, but is impossible to get into a stable position that you can replicate consistently, making it very inefficient and unpredictable.

Smart phone
Battery power is a problem, tough to adjust camera
angle because you have to reposition the entire phone, not easy to connect to OBS: requires an app you have to pay for, plus a plugin that you have to install into OBS.

GoPro
Tripod is very too short. GoPros have a wide angle lens, which creates a fisheye effect, so your videos will have lot of distortion, making it tough to see accurately.  The closer you get to an object, the greater the distortion.GoPros are make for fast action, they are not effective as stationary cameras.

IPEVO Document Camera
Very limited in terms of accommodating  doing art demos where the project is large to small. Not much flexibility in terms of adjusting angles on the demo area.

Easel
Camera angle is impossible with you standing in front of the easel. Either you draw in a position that is unnatural to accommodate the camera angle, or you draw naturally with a poor camera angle, neither option is good!

Cell Phone Holder, BENKS Universal Flexible
Very unstable, moves extremely easily at the slightest touch or movement. Especially problematic if it’s attached to your table; any slight movement you make during the demo creates shaky camera movements during your video.

C Stand
Overkill & really expensive. (~$120) A C-stand is for pro video shoots for holding very heavy equipment. You CAN use it, but why spend that amount of $ when you can get a mic stand that is better and 1/3 the price?

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