Okay, BEFORE I can reveal my new garage YouTube studio, I’m back in my usual spot to talk
about my old YouTube setup.
I consider myself to be quite frugal, so the decision to spend over $1,000 to get myself
out of the set-up you see now was not easy.
But, there are a lot of different variables that made this a great investment, and I want
to be transparent with those details for anyone who might be interested.
So today, I’ll be running you through how I previously shot my YouTube videos and all
of the problems that came with it, which, if you’ve seen my previous videos, you might
already be aware of.
Then I’ll tell you why investing into a more legitimate studio was the perfect financial
decision for me right now.
Finally, we’ll head over to the new studio and I’ll detail everything it took to convert
an empty single-car garage into my new YouTube studio.
This will include all the gear and equipment I purchased, how I set it up and the full
cost breakdown of everything involved.
I’ll leave timestamps below if you want to skip to the good stuff, but if you really
want to appreciate the new setup, you might wanna check out these first few minutes.
So let’s get started!
I am currently on my apartment balcony, where I’ve filmed almost 50 different videos since
starting YouTube last July.
I’ve been filming outside because I live with three other people, who all either work
from home, do school from home, or both.
Logistically it would be very difficult to film inside without interrupting someone,
so this was my best option.
When I started my channel, I just set up my tripod and filmed in natural light.
I quickly noticed that the brightness of my video would change with the sun and clouds,
which produced an inconsistent look throughout the video.
Plus, when I filmed during the day, there were tons of noise distractions from neighbors,
and living in Florida, it also got super hot.
As my channel grew, I was inspired to improve this set up.
First, I added some curtains to block light pollution from outside my balcony.
I also started shooting at night and using a basic light kit to get a more consistent
look to my videos.
I even put more effort into the background, using my girlfriend’s plants to liven up
the shot and make it more visually appealing.
I’ve been able to get a much more consistent look from my videos, but there is still one
thing that drives me nuts about this set up.
I have absolutely no control over the sound other than what I can correct during my edits.
I’m constantly disturbed by crickets, cars driving by, dogs at the daycare down the street,
or the Borden milk factory that is right next door and suspiciously operates at all hours
of the night.
I also have to hope that it isn’t windy or raining on nights when I plan to film,
because that noise also gets picked up by my microphone and causes some difficulties
by blowing my curtains around.
I should also mention that we still use this balcony all the time for just hanging out.
So everytime I shoot a video, I completely rearrange the furniture and unpack my gear,
then have to put everything back in its place when I’m done.
This adds a good hour to my video shoots, which is certainly not convenient.
But I’ve dealt with all this because my channel wasn’t making money for several
months, and I wasn’t going to invest money into it until I knew it would be profitable.
Fortunately, I’ve been monetized for about two months now and have earned much more than
I expected to from my first few months in the YouTube partner program.
And that meant it finally made sense to expand my setup into an official studio.
With money coming in from YouTube through Google AdSense, I can finally start running
this channel like a business.
From this perspective, it makes sense for me to upgrade to a studio to continue growing
my channel, the cost of which will be cushioned by writing off the expenses on my taxes.
As I explained, this outdoor setup is far from optimal.
I waste a ton of time setting up out here and it’s limiting the quality of my videos.
I knew that by moving into a formal studio, I could have an environment where my gear
remains set up 24/7.
This way, whenever I need to shoot a video, I can just pop in, turn the lights on and
hit record.
This alone is going to save me hours of work in the future.
On top of that, it’s going to ensure much better quality across the board, specifically
in the audio department.
As someone who went to school for video production, I’m probably a little more anal about this
than most of my audience, but I’m sure new viewers will appreciate the look and sound
of a more professional video set-up.
So hopefully this attracts more subscribers and regular viewers, or at least makes fewer
people leave after clicking on a video.
Finally, a big reason I was okay with spending all this money on studio space is that I can
write it off against my income.
I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t earning anything from YouTube, I wouldn’t be able to deduct
expenses from my taxes.
Since I’m expecting to make substantially more from YouTube this year than what I spent
on my studio setup, I’ll still be left with plenty of profits at the end of the year and
a studio that I can fully enjoy shooting videos in.
Plus as I was considering making this decision, my apartment complex ran a limited time deal
on garage rentals, which made it the perfect opportunity to get a low-cost studio space.
But we’ll talk money in a minute, let me take you down there and show you what it looks
like.
And - here we are.
I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t miss the old setup a bit.
It feels super great to be in a space that I created specifically to film these videos
and I am so excited to film all my new stuff in here.
Although I have to admit, it took a lot of planning to get it to come together, so let’s
break down what we’ve got going on here.
First, we’ll start with the backdrop!
I was never a huge fan of the red-orange background that I had previously, but I loved that I
had the plants around to put some green in the shot.
Obviously, as a channel that focuses on finance, green is a very fitting color - red not so
much.
So I wanted to keep that theme going, but without my girlfriend’s green thumb to rely
on for props, I just went with some artificial plant panels from Ikea.
They’re actually the most expensive part of this entire setup: I bought 56 of these
panels for $5 each, which came out to about $300 after tax.
I’m also a big fan of natural wood textures, so I also picked up these wood panels from
IKEA to break up the background and give it a little more variety.
I picked up a couple packs, which came out to about $100.
After a few hours with a staple gun, it all came together perfectly.
I’m really happy with this background because all of the pieces can be disassembled super
easily.
When planning this out, I really wanted to make sure I would be able to use these things
again in the future, just in case I move somewhere else and need to set up a studio in a different
environment.
To complete the background, I got two rice paper floor lamps, also from IKEA, to give
the space some warmth and add a little more excitement to the background.
Regrettably, I had to order these on eBay from someone who charged triple what they
cost at IKEA, and spent $90 on the pair.
As it turns out, scalping items from IKEA and selling them to suckers like me might
be super profitable, so maybe that’s a side hustle worth looking into.
The tricky part of this set up was dealing with the terrible acoustic environment that
is a single car garage.
As soon as I stepped foot in here I knew I was going to spend most of my budget on sound
dampening equipment to make this space usable.
This was my first time doing something like this, so I’m still not sure if I did it
as best as I possibly could, but it’s getting the job done so far.
My first move was to get acoustic foam panels.
These help reduce the reverberations of sound waves so that the sound of my speaking doesn’t
bounce aggressively off the walls and back into my microphone.
From my understanding, the reverberations are most severe closest to the source, which
would mean the walls, floor and ceiling closest to where I’m speaking.
I ordered 96 square feet of 2-inch-thick foam panels from the foam factory, which ran me
about $130.
I checkerboarded them on the walls and ceiling to get as much coverage as possible in my
immediate area.
Again, I wanted to be able to take these down and use them elsewhere if need be, so I got
some heavy duty outdoor mounting tape and used as little as possible to get them on
the walls.
They’re super light so they don’t need much, but hopefully that will make it possible
for me to remove them in the future with as little damage as possible.
Next, I got a Producer’s Choice acoustic sound blanket in the biggest size possible,
which is 10 feet by 6 feet and 8 inches.
This cost about $120, but it is probably the most crucial addition to this set up.
The foam panels I put up are definitely noticeable, but this absorbs so much of the echo in the
room.
I experimented with different locations, but ended up hanging it immediately behind the
camera as close to the floor as possible.
This leaves about four or five feet of space behind the blanket to the garage door, which
is essentially wasted space, but that’s what gave me the best sound.
Fortunately, since I’m in a garage, it’s already got the infrastructure to hang it.
Last, to kill some of the sound from the floor, I got an outdoor rug from IKEA that cost $60.
It’d probably be more effective if it were thicker and softer, but I knew this would
not be a clean enough environment for that kind of rug, and again, I figured maybe I
could use it in the future on a patio or balcony.
After all of this, I’d spent about $300 for audio purposes, which I’ll remind you
is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to move to a studio space.
After setting it all up, I was freaking out because I could still hear the echo when I
talked in here, then I decided to throw an audio clip into Adobe and play with it.
Luckily, the dereverb effect in Adobe Premiere is perfect for killing the last bit of echo
and giving me crispy clean audio.
Just to give you guys a taste, this is the natural audio without the effect on, which
I would not have been happy with.
Luckily, Adobe saves the day and I don’t have to spend any more money on acoustic sound
products.
The only new camera equipment I purchased is this awesome softbox light kit from Great
Video Maker.
It’s been a while since I bought some new camera gear, but I knew it was the final piece
that would bring this studio setup to life.
My previous light kit was effective, but I didn’t have anything to soften or disperse
the light.
As a result, you can see in all of my previous videos that I have really harsh shadows behind
me, often casted from the plants in the background or my own body.
This softbox gives me a customizable color temperature with a beautifully soft light
so I can get really nice, clean lighting with the flip of a switch.
It cost me $259, but I know this is something I will continue to use as long as I am alive
and making videos.
Plus, with this new light, I have more possibilities with overall lighting by mixing in my old
light kit.
So in the next few videos, I’ll probably experiment with the light placement and see
how I want to arrange them.
The final thing I purchased for this garage studio is a dehumidifier.
If you don’t know already, a Florida garage in the summer has got to be one of the most
humid environments possible.
I might pull a fan in here if it isn’t enough, but I’m hoping the dehumidifier will at
least keep the air dry and save me from completely melting when I shoot videos.
It was funny shopping for this thing because I’ve written so many articles about dehumidifiers
on my Amazon Affiliate site, and I instantly thought of all the questions surrounding dehumidifiers
that I had answered so many times in my posts.
I ended up picking this one out because I had actually reviewed it in one of my articles,
and it gave me a weird nostalgic feeling even though I quit that project just a few weeks
ago and have not missed it a bit.
But anyways, the dehumidifier was $70.
And that is everything I purchased for this studio set up.
Altogether, I spent about $1,130 on everything.
At this point, I should also share that I am renting this garage for $130 a month.
So this month, I’ll be paying about $1,260 for the studio, but obviously my only recurring
expenses will be that $130 a month.
And when I weigh the pros and cons of this space versus my old setup, it’s a no brainer.
For $130 a month, after all the setup costs, I have a personalized studio that is the perfect
environment for shooting my videos.
I can keep my equipment set up all the time, which will make every shoot super efficient.
Most importantly, I’ll be able to produce better videos for you guys, which is what
is going to push me to further success on this platform.
And after going from making zero dollars on YouTube for months, to now making around $300
a month, I’m happy to spend some of that on a studio that improves my experience and
video quality.
I hope you guys enjoyed this look at my new studio, and I hope you like the space, because
I’ll be back in here for every video.
If you have any questions about my equipment, I’ll be happy to answer in the comments
and I’ll also leave some links in the description.
With that, be sure to tune in next week for the first official finance video in the new
studio.
Thanks guys!