At ISE, we talk a lot about hacking: how hackers think, how they operate, and how to defend against them. I talk about this stuff all day, every day, on camera: in virtual keynotes, podcast appearances, and social media content. I also take a lot of video meetings with clients, prospective customers, members of our team, and more.
However, despite being a tech guy, I always struggled with how crappy my video looked, and how crappy my audio sounded.
For years, I wanted to upgrade it – but I kept running into an incredible amount of friction trying to do so. Whenever I tried to setup professional quality video & audio, I struggled to make sense of all the different components, what was compatible with what, and how to configure it all. I was stumped by questions like what should I buy, how much should I spend, and what works for my use case. I bought so many devices that didn’t work out and later had to be returned.
Every guide I found was either too basic or too advanced—nothing hit the middle ground of making professional-quality video simple and accessible.
Well, recently I decided to fully commit to figuring it out.
And I did.
I went from this:
... to this:
This guide shows you exactly how to set yours up too, without needing to be a tech expert.
Most webcam guides either focus on minor tweaks to built-in or external webcams, which isn’t enough, or go all-in on full production setups, which require too much expertise and money.
This guide is designed to balance the two: for people who want a significant video upgrade without the complexity of a full production studio.
It’s written with a few guiding principles:
If that sounds like something you’re looking for, this guide is for you.
To look good and sound good on camera, you need to focus on three things:
For each of these, you need to consider:
Let’s examine each. At the end of the blog, I’ve included a summarized shopping list for you.
Plan to budget $1,500-2,500 for this – more if you want to significantly upgrade any of the major components, especially the camera.
To look good on camera requires being well lit. I spent endless hours researching what that even means. Surprisingly, it’s not as straightforward as it should be, but I’ve figured out the simplest way to do this. Here’s what you want:
Good lighting starts with being in full control of it – to do that requires you remove all natural light sources, and then add sources you calibrate and control. You cannot control the sun or the clouds, but you can control light fixtures.
This step is essential, because without it, your lighting will change throughout the day, and will vary based on what the weather is outside. Do not skip this.
You can eliminate natural light by shooting at night, shooting in a windowless room, or using blackout shades. Let’s assume the latter.
Note: you may find yourself not wanting to do this.
For the average person whose only use case is video meetings – and not any higher end appearances like keynotes, podcasts, or content creation – you may consider it insane to shut out natural daylight. Who wants to sit in a dark, windowless room all day?
I wanted to have both: light I control and access to natural daylight. That’s why I recommend blackout shades: just draw them when you’re on meetings, and open them when you’re not. If you’re a smart home nerd like me, you can even set this up in a workflow so lighting and shades all take action at the press of a single button.
Your key light is your main source of light.
Your fill light is a supplementary light that does not change the quality of the key light and is used primarily to soften shadows that are created by the key light. Most lighting guides describe this as essential, and that is true if you want even lighting. However, if you want a dramatic cinematic effect, defined by sharp shadows on one side of your face, you achieve this with a key light only, and no fill light. (This is known as Rembrandt lighting effect and is the choice I went for. I like the look of it, and I like the simplicity of one less fixture).
(Because it is optional, I excluded from the shopping list at the end).
If you want a fill light, here’s what to do.
These are color lights that add a visually interesting element to the frame. This is not required for a quality setup but is worth exploring if you’re up for it. (Because it is optional, I excluded from the shopping list at the end).
There is a lot of artistic decision-making in what to do here, but I’ll guide you on what worked for me, was easy to configure, and was reasonably priced. Note that a priority for me was to integrate into an existing smart lighting system.
Here’s a walkthrough of what happens when you light a scene properly (and what happens when you don’t).
Once you have good lighting, you need a camera that can capture it properly. The goal is to achieve sharp focus, natural depth of field (that pleasing background blur), and high-quality image clarity.
Built-in webcams, even on premium laptops, won’t cut it. Neither will high-end USB webcams. Most external webcams use wide-angle lenses and lack the ability to create background blur, which makes them look less professional.
To truly level up your video quality, you need a proper camera. This is one of the more expensive parts of the setup—costing anywhere from four to ten times the price of a premium webcam—but it makes a huge difference.
A professional camera setup consists of two key components: the camera body and the lens. Some cameras come with an integrated lens, but I chose a separate camera body and lens for two reasons. First, it delivers the highest possible video quality. Second, it allows for future upgrades, so I can swap out the lens or camera body without replacing everything.
A camera body is the main part of a camera that contains the image sensor, processor, controls, and connections. It is the core of the camera system and determines features like resolution, autofocus capabilities, and video recording quality.
The camera body alone cannot capture an image—it needs a lens to focus light onto the image sensor. By choosing a camera body with interchangeable lenses, you can customize your setup for different shooting needs, such as achieving a blurred background (shallow depth of field) or adjusting focal length for different framing options.
For professional-looking video, a mirrorless or DSLR camera body is ideal, as it provides better image quality, more control over settings, and compatibility with high-quality lenses.
Once you have the camera body, the next step is choosing the right lens. Your goal is shallow depth of field – that soft background blur that makes a person look professional grade on camera. For that, opt for a fixed focal length (prime) lens with a low aperture (e.g., f/1.8 or lower). The ideal focal length depends on the available space behind your desk—the longer the focal length, the farther away the camera needs to be positioned. To achieve the best background blur effect, position the camera as far away as possible while using the longest focal length your space allows.
If you’re using a Mac, there’s a built-in feature that can add background blur and studio lighting. While this can be a budget-friendly alternative to a proper camera and lighting setup, it doesn’t produce the same quality. However, it can still enhance an existing setup, depending on how it looks in your environment.
To enable these effects, open a video app like Zoom. Click the video icon in the toolbar to access the dropdown settings. From there, you can toggle options for studio lighting and background blur.
There are some notable drawbacks though. These features rely on software-based effects, which can sometimes look unnatural. The blur can be noticeable around the edges of your profile, especially in areas like hair. It may also distort with certain clothing colors, patterns, or quick movements, such as hand gestures. Because of these limitations, it's best to rely on proper lighting and a good camera whenever possible.
However, feel free to experiment with these settings to see if they improve your setup.
Now that you look great on camera, it’s time to sound great too. That requires a few components:
It should be obvious, but the key to sounding good is having a good mic, properly positioned close to your mouth.
Once you have a quality mic, you’ll need to fine-tune your audio for the best sound. An analog mixer is a great way to do this. While mixers have many advanced features, the key functions you’ll use are:
Most mixers include extra features you won’t need, but that’s fine—you can ignore them.
Software-based alternatives exist, but I prefer an analog mixer for its simplicity and reliability. It doesn’t require updates, avoids compatibility issues with new operating systems, and is a one-time purchase instead of a recurring subscription.
Headphones let you hear your audience and any sound effects or notifications without your mic picking them up and creating an echo. They also allow you to monitor your own audio when needed to check levels and sound quality.
I’ll assume you already have headphones, so they’re not included in the shopping list. The key takeaway is simple: use them. Don’t be the person with the annoying echo.
If you prefer not to use headphones, you can lower your speaker volume and mic sensitivity to prevent feedback. Another option is muting your mic when others speak, though this requires more effort and can disrupt natural conversation. While optional, headphones make everything easier and more seamless.
Once you have the core components (lights, cam, and mic), there are a handful of additional ancillary items you will need. These are items that don’t come in the box of the core components, but you nevertheless need.
why look like this: when it could look like this:
Here is a summary of what to buy, and what to budget. I have no affiliation with any of these and am not getting and referral fee for sharing this – these are just what worked best for me. Hopefully they’ll work for you, too.
|
Category |
Item |
Budget |
|
Lighting |
$110 |
|
|
Lighting |
$140 |
|
|
Lighting |
$80 |
|
|
Lighting |
$35 |
|
|
Cam |
$300 |
|
|
Cam |
$450 |
|
|
Cam |
$100 |
|
|
Cam |
$25 |
|
|
Cam |
$15 |
|
|
Cam |
$20 |
|
|
Cam |
(included above) |
|
|
Mic |
$230 |
|
|
Mic |
$90 |
|
|
Mic |
$15 |
|
|
Mic |
$10 |
|
|
Mic |
$65 |
|
|
TOTAL |
|
$1,685 |
I suffered through this endless flow of boxes to open, unpack, repack, and return… so you don’t have to.
If you’re like me, you may be wondering, “What is the single most important thing I need to know?” To wrap things up simply and clearly, here’s how to think about each component:
Lighting: the most important thing is control. You need to eliminate natural light and then add in artificial light that is properly calibrated and properly positioned.
Video: the important thing is shallow depth of field. This is the soft background blur that puts the subject (you) in a position of visual prominence. To achieve it requires the right hardware, properly configured, and properly positioned.
Audio: the most important thing is proximity. You need the microphone close to your mouth, in order to (a) capture the full range of your voice, especially the baritone, and (b) enable you to shape the sound to reduce or eliminate room echo. Too many people make the mistake of buying an expensive mic and then placing it too far away.
Upgrading your A/V setup beyond a basic USB webcam can feel overwhelming, especially without professional AV skills– but there is a way. This guide shows you that way. The advice in here is based on many, many, many months of buying, trying, returning, and repeating. My goal with this was to fill a gaping void: a guide for people who want to level up their on-screen audio-visual, without production level AV skills.
For a full, behind the scenes walkthrough of my setup, check out this video.
Hopefully this gives you the shortcut to go from lame to fame on screen. Let me know how it goes for you!
~~
Ted Harrington is the #1 bestselling author of Hackable, and a TEDx speaker. He is the Executive Partner at ISE, and co-founder of both Start VRM and IoT Village. Learn more at https://ise.io
[1] To further nail this eye contact concept, you’d want a teleprompter. This goes above and beyond the stated simplicity of this blog, but is worth considering. If you go that route, consider the Elgato Prompter, an all in one device.