What do you need to put a video studio together? You’re about to find out!
High quality videos depend on two processes: the pre-production (when you record everything, audio and image) and the post-production (when you edit what you recorded to create the final video).
In this post we cover all the tools you need to set up a video studio that will be equipped for pre-production and post-production.
By following the checklist ahead, you can build your studio anywhere, even at your home!
Let’s see what’s the ideal video production studio equipment list.
1. A good camera
The heart of your video studio hardware is its camera. And just so you know: a camera that takes awesome photos also shoots awesome videos.
So you won’t need one of those big filmmaking cameras used in movies that require a camera operator to hold it (the cameraman).
Simply get a nice everyday camera and you’re good to go. That’s all.
But how to choose?
Well, in case you want a professional feel for your videos, you can get a DSLR Camera or a Mirrorless Camera. They’re both great for shooting videos because they deliver HD images (“HD” means High Definition).
You also can get a Point-and-Shoot Compact Camera, which is usually cheaper than the DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras. They work fine too, just remember that their image quality is a little lower than DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras images. But if you pick a Full HD Compact Camera, you’re good to go.
Another option is choosing a HD Webcam for Video Conferencing and Online Meetings to use in your studio. They’re named “Video Conferencing” Webcams, but are also great for recording YouTube videos, game streaming videos and similar videos!
So, HD Webcams for Video Conferencing or other types of Online Meeting are the best choice if you’re building a studio to record videos to post on platforms like YouTube or Twitch, for example, or even on your own website. In that case, another good choice is to use a powerful Smartphone with a HD Camera.
It’s up to you to decide!
2. External microphones
External microphones are what their name promises, a microphone device made to work alone, outside of the camera. They make your videos sound much more professional!
It’s important to have external microphones because some cameras like Compact Cameras and Smartphone Cameras deliver good images, but they don’t really deliver good audio. So, by combining external microphones with a good camera, your videos will improve a lot! This way, you can record high quality videos with high quality audio.
Choose your external mic based on the main purpose of your studio. If it’s for recording Vlogs, YouTube tutorials, video courses or anything that involves recording people talking, then you should use Condenser Microphones.
If you’re recording gaming videos for Twitch, YouTube Gaming or similar platforms, you should use Game Streamer Microphones.
If your studio is for music videos, such as recording you or someone playing musical instruments or singing, then you should use Music Recording Microphones.
You decide what’s best!
3. Production accessories
After you have a camera and an external microphone for your video studio, it’s time to get some Production Accessories to make your recordings easier!
If you get a DSLR, a Mirrorless Camera or a Point-and-Shoot Compact Camera, you will need either a Standard Tripod, a Travel Tripod or a Mountaineer Tripod. They can be attached to any of those camera types. In case you’re wondering: Travel Tripods and Mountaineer Tripods are professional camera gear for traveling, but they are very useful for a video studio!
That’s because Travel Tripods and Mountaineer Tripods are very resistant (especially if you’re using a Carbon Fiber Tripod). They can be transported from place to place with no damage risk. This way, you can record videos inside and outside your studio and be sure that nothing will get broken!
If you’re using a HD Webcam, then you should pick a Webcam Tripod.
And if you’re using your Smartphone Camera, you need a Mobile Tripod to hold your phone.
A few lighting tools can really improve the quality of your videos! It doesn’t matter how great a camera is, if the lighting is incorrect, you can still have bad results. So, consider getting a LED Ring Light or LED Light Panels to use in your video shootings.
Another useful accessory is a Green Screen, this can be great for recording videos and changing their backgrounds to any image you want with editing software, which is a very popular and nice effect to implement.
Finally, you can get Spare Lenses for DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras that have extra zooming/focusing features. That’s a way to improve your DSLR or Mirrorless Camera instead of buying a new camera. Actually, it’s common to have one camera and many lenses to use with it.
4. An audio interface
Audio Interfaces are the next step to build a very professional video studio! They’re optional, but again they can improve your video studio a lot.
Audio Interfaces is another name for I/O Interfaces (“I/O” meaning Input/Output). With an I/O Interface, you can capture, monitor and output music and audio.
That’s a great acquisition if you’re planning to record music videos (with vocal singing or instrument playing) because you can combine an I/O Audio Interface with an Audio Editing Software such as a Digital Audio Workstation (we’ll talk about those right ahead).
You can also connect your external microphone and musical instruments to an I/O Audio Interface to improve their recording features while you shoot your music videos.
This way, your music videos will have much better audio with professional quality!
5. A computer + peripherals
So far we’ve seen the pre-production items of this video production studio checklist. Now, let’s see what you need for post-production.
The core of post-production is video and audio editing (we’ll talk about editing software just ahead). After you get a good camera, a good external microphone and some nice recording accessories, you need a good computer to edit all your videos.
Also, if you invest in Production Hardware, you need a computer to work together with your I/O Interfaces.
Editing software is very demanding in terms of computer performance, so you need to make sure that you have a computer with the correct hardware pieces to perform well in editing and avoid system crashes (when the system freezes completely and you need to reboot the computer).
Continuous system crashes can damage your machine very quickly, so take your time to understand what hardware pieces you need to edit videos smoothly! We cover this topic in detail in our post 5 Essential Computer Requirements for Video Editing.
When you’re all set with your computer, you can get peripherals to improve your editing experience even more. Peripherals are Input and Output devices, like a headphone and a keyboard.
Some peripherals for video post-production you can get are:
- Spare Monitors
- Professional Headphones
- Computer Speakers
- Ergonomic Mouse
- Ergonomic Keyboard
Give peripherals try, they’re worth it!
6. Production software
The cherry on top of every video production it’s definitely the editing phase! That’s when you apply all the Special Effects to your videos, add sound effects to your audio recordings and also choose and add the background music.
You need a Video Editing Software to cut and organize your videos, as well as add color filters, manage color grading and add music to it.
Check our Advantages Guides of popular and powerful professional Video Editing Software Programs:
You may also need a Video Compositing Software for more complex Special Effects that involve 2D and 3D elements. And last but not least, you can benefit a lot from an Audio Editing Software, especially if your studio is for music video production.
Digital Audio Workstation (or DAW) is another name for Audio Editing Software. They are very powerful and are used for recording, mastering and designing sounds.
Also, you can use a DAW combined with a Video Editing Software to create the perfect video!
See our Advantages Guides for many professional Digital Audio Workstations to improve even more the audio quality of your videos:
7. Stock media assets
There’s one more thing you can do to improve your post-production process: use professional Stock Media Assets to develop even more professional videos.
Stock Media Assets are individual media files such as Sound Effects, Music Tracks, Vector Graphics and Artistic Illustrations. They can be used to create nice special effects in your videos!
Check our posts below to see where you can download literally HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of free media assets for your video projects:
- Where to Download Icons for Free (good for illustrating narrative videos and for creating motion graphic effects)
- The Best Sites of Free Photoshop Graphic Assets (good for creating graphic visual effects, many of those assets run on other software programs that aren’t Photoshop)
Conclusion
Great! Now you know how to build a video studio for pre-production and post-production! So don’t hesitate to start putting things together and choosing your equipment. You’ll be creating awesome videos very soon!
You can also share your thoughts in the comments below!
