Hey there — folks have been asking me what tools I use to create our weekly videos, so I thought I would spell it out for you.
Here’s the equipment I use. My criteria for anything I am using is that it has to be durable, reasonable small, and lightweight because every week, I am throwing it all into my suitcase and taking it on the road (except for my phone!)
And I did not want to spend an arm and a leg. I’m sure you could go higher quality, but this works for me.
Camera: My iPhone X
Microphone: Shure MV88 iOS digital stereo condenser microphone (plugs into my phone) $149
App for the filming: Shureplus MOTIV video (get in app store)
Tripod: Fotopro Phone Travel Tripod $23 (I needed two — one for the camera & one for light)
Lights: Rotolight NEO on-camera LED light $149
15 foot extension cord: Amazon recommended $7
I use an app on my iPhone (Shureplus MOTIV Video — tied to the microphone) to record the video. For a long time, I was relying on natural light but some of the videos were just too dark so I decided to invest in a light (hence the 2nd tripod and extension cord) box which is about 4 inches square and about an inch and a half thick, so easy to pack.
I don’t use any sort of teleprompter. Honestly, I don’t script these out. I have an idea of the main point I want to make and I just shoot from the hip. Usually, I shoot it a couple times before I’m happy with the flow of the message, but I am rarely shooting for more than 10 minutes.
I use the online software Wave to trim the video (you don’t need to see me turning the camera on or off) I also place the AMI logo at the end of the video in wave.
Once I’ve trimmed the ends off the video, I upload it to the SaaS platform Splasheo. (If you are an AMI member — they have a discount inside the AMI marketplace)
I also upload the music track, which is the same track we use for the podcast, so I’ve had it forever.
After I upload the video and music bed, I choose which of their frames (they call them templates) I want to use. Through their simple interface, I choose the colors for the template, type in the title and closing message and hit upload.
They transcribe the video (real people do it, not AI), embed the captions and put my video in my chosen template within 24 hours.
75% of the time, the transcription is perfect the first go around. Every once in awhile, I have them edit something (like don’t put that word in quotes), I just email them the minor corrections and they fix it and send it back.
I choose to get the videos back in two formats (portrait and square) so it’s the preferred layout for IGTV, Facebook and Linkedin. Splasheo works on a credit system and it costs 5 credits for the first video and half that for the second format of the same video.
But it’s always done within 36 hours.
Then, I am all set. It takes me about five minutes per platform to upload the videos.
All in, I spend about 30-45 minutes per video from ideation to sharing. My initial spend on equipment (not counting my phone because I certainly did not buy that to shoot videos)was around $357.
They’re not going to win any Oscars for Best Cinematography, but they work for sharing a weekly tip or trick!
