As video podcasts have exploded in popularity, it's crucial to establish the best camera setup to capture your content. In last week's blog, we talked about the importance of video for podcasts. This week, we're focusing on quality setup, so your video will look as good as your podcast sounds. Keep reading for our top tips on what camera setup to use for your podcast video.
1) Camera 1: Wide Angle
The first camera to set up is your wide shot. This is the one shot that has all of the podcasters and guests in frame (assuming you're all filming together in the same space). While it's tempting to open your aperture with a low F-stop and let in more light, that's actually not the best route. Instead, we like to adjust the F-stop to a slightly higher number when setting up wide shots. The higher the F-stop, the more depth of focus you have. "Depth of Focus" means how much is in focus based on how far away from the camera it is. A shallow depth of focus is when only one subject/object is in focus, and everything behind it is blurry. A deep depth of focus is when both the subject and the background are sharp. Deep focus comes especially in handy when filming a wider area with multiple people in frame. With the added depth of focus from a higher F-stop (like an F4 or F5), even if subjects are sitting different distances from the camera, they can all still simultaneously be in focus. Be sure, of course, to make sure you have a quality light setup, as wide-angle shots often end up dimly- or unevenly-lit.
2) Camera 2 and 3: Close Ups
Obviously, if your whole video is just the one wide shot of everyone talking, it's going to get very boring very fast. That's why you'll need some closeup shots. There are a few strategies for this depending on how many people are on the podcast. If you just have hosts and no guests, each person can get their own close-up cam. However, a 1:1 ratio of people to close-ups can make your video feel jumpy and segmented. When there are more hosts or guests, find different ways to break up the shots. If you have two hosts and one guest, one camera would be a two-shot of the hosts and one would be used as a closeup on the guest alone. On the flip side, you could arrange for a collective guest closeup and a one-shot of the host. This is the ideal set up if you have one host and multiple guests.
3) Filming in 1080 vs 4K
We always recommend exporting your video in 1080, and it's often our go-to for filming as well. Any shots that are not going to be zoomed in and cropped during post should be filmed in 1080. This helps keep file sizes manageable, allowing editing to go more smoothly. However, we do suggest filming in 4K if you do not have enough cameras to give each person a closeup. The beauty of 4K footage is that it can be zoomed in 2x, while maintaining the same HD quality. This is perfect if you have a 2-shot that you want to turn into a single closeup. It's crucial to note, however, that 4K footage is larger and much more cumbersome to work with (hence our preference for 1080). It will slow down your computer processing to edit, and it will take up more storage. That's why we only recommend using 4K when you know you'll be punching in on the footage.
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