This overhead video setup is a set it and forget it workflow for any heavy camera like
a dslr. Not only will you be able to film cool overhead shots, free your hands, and
continuously film without having to change batteries, but if you implement the technical
setup I am about to show you in this tutorial, you won't even have to remove your
SD card to transfer your footage to your editing computer. Let’s tech it out.
Hey nametags and welcome this is Ash from HealMyTech helping you go from newbie to techie.
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This is not a sponsored video, but you will find amazon affiliate links to everything
mentioned in the description below.
Let’s start with the main component of this overhead video setup which is this Heavy Duty
Twin Monitor Arm Desk Mount from 1Home. I bought if off Amazon for under £19.00 on
a lighting deal, normal price is £25.00 or $30.00 at time of writing.
The installation was really easy, as you are given 3 mounting options, one for a desk clamp
setup like this, and 2 types of a grommet base style install. The provided cable clips
allow for decent cable management, but what I found really interesting was this included
additional clip holder for allen keys. That’s a feature I wish every manufacturer would
include in their design. Over the years you end up collecting a bunch of allen keys that
you can’t link to any furniture, but this solves the problem..
The monitor arms allow 2 monitors up to 27” to be mounted. You can easily adjust its height,
and the monitors can be rotated 360 or tilted to your viewing angle.
The reason I went with a heavy duty arm is to mount heavier cameras, as many youtube
tutorials seem to only cater for lighter smartphones or simple point and shoot cameras. Another
problem I have seen is that many diy overhead frames are made from PVC, or placed directly
on top of the filming desk. The problem is that unless your desk is really stable and
sturdy, any desk movement will vibrate and pass through to the camera, resulting is shaky
or jittery footage.
You don’t want a setup like this and still have to go into POST to stabilise your footage,
so the key is to mount the camera away from the desk. I made this mistake first time round,
as I used this other DIY workbench which I screwed into the bannister. So I swapped the
desk for this freestanding one and left a small gap to the bannister, problem solved!
The desk in question is a modified Ikea Fredde Workstation for which I did a review on the
channel, watch the video here. I removed the top, middle, side and bottom shelves to accommodate
this overhead video setup.
If you need a nicer looking background for your top down filming than your plain desk,
you can use something like this cut piece of wood effect vynyl obtained for free from
a carpet shop to provide a base on top of the desk. You need to pick one which is not
reflective so you don’t have extra glare in your footage.
I used one of the arms to attach this Canon EOS 650D dslr. You can mount it directly onto
the included screw mount for the monitor bracket, but I had this little standard sized 1/4“
male to female thumb screw from a different camera kit which I used as an optional mount.
I then attached a quick release plate from Andoer to mount the camera. Yes I know this is going
to be a permanent setup so I am not planning to remove the camera, but having a quick release
plate is always handy.
Now the whole point of a setup like this is to provide continuous shooting without needing
to change batteries. So here I am using a compatible ACK-E8 AC power adaptor for Canon,
and the frustration of stopping filming and dismounting the camera for battery changes
becomes a thing of the past.
On top of the camera I mounted a ball head hot shoe adaptor to attach a microphone. Here
I'm using the Rode VideoMic Go, but I am not recommending you get this model, there are
some interferences issues with this particular model, review on that in a future video. Its
okay for reference audio, and if you insert a better microphone on this ball mount then
you could get better audio quality with either a sitting or standing posture. However the
advice is to always record your audio separately like into this Zoom H1 and then sync in post..
But since you are so close to the camera anyway, the reference audio from the on board audio from the camera
should be good enough if you will better record audio separately.
As for the lights, you can use anything really, provided you do not mount it parallel to the
camera as that would give you light glare in your footage, and if it doesn’t ruin
your footage entirely, it will provide unwanted ugly distraction. Either mount the lights
at an angle or on the sides. To the left I am using a standard light stand with 4 CFL
daylight bulbs, and to the right this DIY led cake pan light I made for £12 or $15,
video link on the channel. This light is mounted on a microphone scissor arm, with a ⅜ to
¼ inch adaptor to fit another ball head hot shoe that allows me to direct the light where
I need. You have plenty of options for lights, even stick an LED panel light on a clamp like
this and mount it onto one of the arms, or even get a desk lamp.
The monitor I'm using is a Benq 1080p 22 inch monitor which I already owned. I initially
thought it would be too big but its working out just fine, plus this will double as my
main monitor for other work when I'm not filming top down videos since it has 3 types of video
ports at the back, VGA, DVI and HDMI.
Now you could connect the camera to the monitor using a mini hdmi to hdmi cable, but I chose
to connect the camera directly to a computer underneath the desk and use the Canon EOS
utility app instead. This is far better than physically changing camera settings, but it’s
still within my reach to zoom in or manually focus if I need to. When I’m done, I can
even choose to send the footage directly to a shared folder on my network to my main editing
computer. This is far more convenient than removing the SD card, and it's not too difficult
to set up a shared folder on the same network between two computers.
Now due to the way I positioned the camera, the flip out screen will show a180 flipped
video image, and so will the EOS utility on the monitor. If it bothers you, you can simply
rotate the image 180 in the EOS utility when monitoring the video, but when you transfer
the footage to your video editor you will have to flip it 180 again to get it back to
normal. This is not a huge problem for me, but you can always mount the camera with the
proper orientation, which is what I did in my previous top down filming area, link to
that video above at the end or in the description below. So let me know if you want a tutorial
on this in the comments below.
As a bonus, you could even get a dual hot shoe mount bracket and mount a second camera,
like a webcam, and that will give you multiple filming angles at the same time. Alternatively
you could just do a standing position video by tilting the camera up without too much
effort.
There are only 3 minor gripes about this heavy duty monitor arm. 1 is that is is not a mobile
solution obviously so you are pretty much stuck to one area of filming, so plan carefully
before you setup. Secondly, it's not tall enough for some types of videos I may do in
the future, like for bigger computer desktops drop down filming or big TV repair tutorials.
And thirdly, you cannot adjust the height of the two arms individually.
However these are minor gripes, and if you do have other needs, consider looking for
more expensive models with more flexible mounting options.
If you have a different setup to mine, check out this video playlist for different top
down filming I did in my previous place and if you are looking for a microphone solution
to improve the audio of your videos, I also have you covered with this playlist down here.
Remember to subscribe and click the bell icon and use my amazon affiliate links and I will
see you in the next one, go tech it out!