Lights camera lipstick!
Here’s how I have set up for videos over the last 8 years in business, and the best part? It’s not expensive and you don’t have to set up like a professional video producer. Here’s how to set up for social media videos without breaking the bank or going down a rabbit hole of technical mumbo jumbo.
My set up for recording and livestream from my desktop
Use this set up for:
- Facebook live
- screen recordings for training or customer support
- YouTube videos
- LinkedIn videos
- Webinars and Zoom meetings
- Online course videos
Includes my Logitech webcam, RODE USB mini and sometimes I use the big soft lights but I sit with the window facing me so there’s loads of natural light.
My set up for portrait videos with my phone
Use this set up for:
- Instagram reels
- TikToks
- Live on instagram
- Stories for Instagram Facebook and YouTube
This includes my Kogan selfie stick tripod and my phone and sometimes I’d add the big soft light and maybe the videomicme from RODE, but honestly a lot of the time you won’t need a mic with your smartphone
What to do if you want to publish in all the places
Let’s say you have a video that you created on your desktop but you want to share it to Instagram and TikTok?
You can do that. Each platform looks slightly different. For example here’s Instagram feed with a landscape video then a portrait video:
You can see one takes up more space vertically in the newsfeed. But honestly? If you have the video still post it. It just looks different so its not the end of the world!
To add to stories, your landscape video takes up the middle third (you can zoom but it can change what you actually wanted to show from the video) compared to your portrait video that can take up the whole screen. So you can decide what works best for you.
What about the other way around?
Posting a portrait video to platforms that prefer landscape can chop off the top of the portrait video and look like this, which isn’t great. If it’s going to crop you square you need space above your head!
Sometimes I have found it quicker to record the longer version say for a blog like this one, then re record a few snippets in portrait. It’s faster and needs less editing so win win for me!
How to set up for social media videos – a free guide:
I put it into a pdf if you would like to download it here. It comes with a video tutorial, and you’ll get all the links in an email (so check your spam folder just in case). See you online really soon!
