- So what equipment do you need to be successful on YouTube?
Well I teamed up with my buddy Nick
and we're going over some things
that you need to think about when it comes to equipment
and we're also gonna go through some practical things
that you need when you're creating videos on your channel.
(exciting musical tones)
If you're new here to this channel, my name is Jeven Dovey.
I like to do filmmaking tutorials, product reviews,
go on adventures,
and also I like helping creators find success on YouTube.
So make sure you hit that Subscribe button
and turn on those bell notifications
so you don't miss one of these videos.
So guys, we're talking about
the essential equipment that you need
to start your YouTube channel
and to find success on YouTube
and it's actually pretty simple.
You just need a camera and your phone will do,
that's essentially all you need.
I could just end the video right here.
But seriously, when it comes to equipment
you really only need to start with what you have
and I really want you to focus on your content
more than the gear.
I wanted to do this video
to give you guys some practical advice
on some things to consider
so as you're building your kit, as you're growing your kit,
as you're making more videos
and you wanna improve things like audio, like cameras,
like lighting these are some things
that you need to start thinking about
and also in this video
I'm gonna have Nick show his setup
and he'll give you some tips
on some things that you need to consider as well.
If you haven't met Nick before, he's an awesome creator
that's sharing tons of YouTube secrets
so that you can grow your channel.
- Thanks Jeven.
My name is Nick Nimmin
and I teach people how to grow YouTube channels,
make videos, and all types of other YouTube-related stuff
and I'm excited to talk about the equipment
that is needed for or not needed I should say
but partially needed here on YouTube.
- So let's talk about like the basic kit that you need
to create content.
Like I said, if you just wanna start with your phone
just go for it
but there are a few things that you should consider getting
right outta the gate.
And so the first thing is obviously your camera choice.
And so like if you have a GoPro you can use it, your phone,
you could have a point and shoot,
you could have a mirrorless camera,
like there's so many options for cameras
and it all depends on what you are trying to create
and the goals as a creator.
Now one thing you should consider
is getting a camera with a flip-out screen
because then you can see yourself.
If you have one of these cameras
where ya know the screen's on the other side,
it's gonna be a challenge when it comes to creating content
so you need some way to see yourself.
Now with the GoPro it's obviously so wide
that you can get away with
ya know not having a flip-out screen
but you are kind of guessing all the time.
You're trying to figure out the best position
to put the GoPro to get the best shot.
Now the next thing you need to consider is a tripod.
This is just a little mini tripod that I have
and this I can set down anywhere.
JOBY tripods are a great tool that you can use
because they can wrap to anything.
Right now I have a tripod sitting here that my camera is on
and this allows me to set my camera down
and sit and have it at eye level.
You need to make sure that you have your camera at eye level
because that's gonna be a good looking shot.
So when you're doing a tripod
you don't wanna be like looking down or like looking up.
So you wanna make sure that you have something
that you can put yourself at eye level
and if you just have like a small tripod
then consider using like a table or something else
to put this on so that your camera can be right here.
- When it comes to gear
another thing that is really important is the sound
because audio is half of the video experience,
so it's really important to make sure
that you're getting very good sound in your videos
because people will tolerate a video that's not amazing
if the sound is good but they will not tolerate a video
where the sound sucks and the video's good.
So because of that audio is extremely important.
So for this you have options like a shotgun mic for example.
You can put this right on top of your camera.
This is great
especially if you're doing vlogging-style content.
You also have things like a lavalier mic.
With the lavalier mic,
this allows you to hide it in your clothing
so that you can get audio from afar
or so that you can at least get it close to you.
And then another thing as well when it comes to shotgun mics
is the audio that you're hearing right now,
the microphone literally is if I do this
and then I put it to my mouth in the microphone,
I'm touching the microphone right now.
I'm actually gonna go ahead and pull it down so you can see
how close the microphone is to my mouth, right?
So the idea is that you wanna get the microphone
as close to you as possible because if it's close to you
it's gonna get more presence in the audio
and overall it's gonna help your audio sound better,
especially when it comes to processing.
Now, another thing that's extremely important
when it comes to making videos is your lighting,
and the reason that lighting is so important
is because you want people to be able to see
what's going on in the video
but lighting also has a second role
and that is actually designing your scene
kind of like Jeven and I do.
So if you look at what you're seeing
on your screen right now
you see that blue background that I have behind me
and then I have two lights
that are hitting me from each side.
So basically this set was designed to look this way
by using lighting,
but you do not have to spend a lot of money on light.
You can actually go to a hardware store
and you can put together a lighting kit for extremely cheap
just using work lights and daylight balanced bulbs.
- Okay, so now that we've gone over some of the basics
when it comes to the gear that you wanna use,
I'm gonna show you my setup here.
Something that I think is important for creators,
especially people that do like tutorials
and people that are creating how-to's is having a home base.
This office is my home base
and I've been working on this background over time.
You don't have to have this to start
but I highly suggest thinking about it,
like what is your setup?
What is your home base?
What are you always coming back to?
And it could be as simple as just one of your rooms
and you're facing a window and that is your lighting.
You don't have to have all the bells and whistles
to make something like this work
so I'm gonna switch over to my vlog setup
and I'm gonna just show you around my office real quick.
All right, so let me show you my office
and basically my setup is broken down into a few things.
I have my closet here, which has all my gear
and I've lit this with ya know some LEDs.
I've got a little light over here that does the award.
I've got my LEDs back here.
But the idea being is that with this setup
what I'm essentially doing is creating two pools of light.
So you basically want to create
one pool of light for you the subject
and that's gonna be lit differently than your background.
So that's one idea.
When you're creating your office
you wanna light things independently
and you don't wanna focus all your light just on you.
You also wanna think about things in your background
and that's why I use this mix of color lighting
and then I also have this guy over here,
which is an LED that's shooting on the ceiling
to just bring up the general ambience of the room.
And the reason for that is I block out my windows
and when I block out my windows
I have complete control over all the lighting in my office.
So as you learn more about lighting
and as you get better when it comes to lighting
you can start controlling the light better.
But like I said, if you just wanted to use a window
to light yourself you could set your camera down here
and use a window light, let me bring this down a little bit,
but you could do your videos like this
where you have just your window light
illuminating your face.
And then that's a great way to start
and a great way to just begin with lighting
is use windows and try to get away from harsh lighting.
Try to get away from direct sunlight.
You wanna have more soft light.
So when it comes to my setup right here,
essentially I have a microphone above,
like that gives me the best audio for my space in here
is having a shotgun mic that sits above me.
Right now I'm using my microphone on top of the camera.
This is like the vlog setup but I have one light.
This is an Aputure 120d that's lighting me for my face,
I have my Panasonic Gh5 tied into this microphone
and that's just how I have this whole thing set up.
This is like my home base
so I can shoot all of my content here
for everything that I'm doing.
So all my YouTube videos,
this is something that I could always come back to
and filter in extra content.
So if I don't fully shoot something
when I'm out in the field
I can come back here
and talk about a topic here in my studio.
Also for me I do a lot of online courses
and this is essentially my space
where I create all of that content.
This is always set up.
That's something to think about.
Can you have a setup somewhere
where you always have it set up
'cause when you have something always set up
it's easier to make content.
You can just sit down, flip on the camera, and start going.
One of the hardest things
is to always be resetting your gear
every time that you wanna create a video.
And so I highly suggest pushing you,
as you're creating more content
and as you're going down this path
of doing more YouTube videos
is finding a space that's yours.
Finding a space,
even if it's just a corner of your house somewhere,
like find a space that is you
where you can have your stuff set up
and always be able to create content.
Now Nick, let's take a look at your space
and how you have everything set up
when you're creating content.
- Now my in-studio setup looks like this.
Basically I have two different sets that I have,
technically I have three
because I just recently built this other one as well.
But you can see here
that I have an Aputure light over here that I use
as one of the main lights that you see
for this particular set.
On the other side,
remember how I was telling you
about hacking together a lighting kit at a hardware store?
Well this is just that but just one level up from that.
Basically inside of these can lights
I just have a normal daylight balanced bulb
but it definitely gets the job done
and the foundations of my YouTube channel
were built on this particular lighting setup.
Now, as you can see here in this particular situation,
my camera is extremely close to my microphone
because for this standing set,
basically my microphone I have it as close to me as possible
to make sure that my sound is gonna come through okay
and of course
I have the camera and the audio recorder set up
with the microphone running through that
so that all I have to do, and Jeven mentioned this earlier,
all I have to do is just turn it on
and then I'm ready to start making videos
for this particular set.
Now this area over here that I was showing you before,
I have the camera that sits on the tripod
which is actually the camera
that I'm using to shoot this right now.
But I also have the audio recorder here
that I route my audio through
so that I can make sure that I get a good signal
and then I also have a little monitor here
since the particular Sony a6500 that I'm using
doesn't have a flip screen.
I have a little tablet that I keep here
right in front of me that I put bullet points
or notes on for the videos that I'm making,
and for the blue lights that you see in the background
I also have can lights
just like the other ones that I showed you
and instead of having daylight balanced bulbs in there
I have hue lights in there
and that way I can change the colors to whatever I want
if I wanna change the scene up.
- So let's talk about vlog style for a moment.
So vlogging is a style, it's not like a type of content
and I think a lot of people confuse vlogging
with what you're creating not how you're creating.
So YouTube in general, you need to have a specific niche.
We've talked about this.
You need to have a specific thing that you're doing.
Vlogging is not like a thing, vlogging is a style.
So right now I'm vlogging.
I'm walking around with a camera,
I have a microphone on top, I have my camera,
a nice wide lens.
This is an eight millimeter,
which is equivalent to a 16 millimeter
if you're using a full frame camera.
I'm using a micro 4/3 camera
and then I have my tripod on the bottom,
and this is essentially my vlog setup.
But a vlog setup
basically allows you to create content on the go
wherever you're going.
So you could be walking and talking,
you could be setting it down somewhere.
But like this is the kinda content
where you're on the go, moving,
and you're creating this kind of style
where you're taking someone to a place
and they're experiencing it with you
through this style of content.
So I think for YouTubers
it's important to have different styles of content.
If you have a home base that you're always coming back to
that is great
but don't make all your content from you home base.
Get outside once in a while and go other places,
and I think that's important for creators to remember
is that your home base is your home base
but that is not the only place that you wanna create content
and that's why this kind of vlog-style content
is a good thing to add to your channel
and something that you should consider adding
into the videos that you're creating.
You could always go back to your home base.
So you could be shooting content out on the go
and then if you don't get everything that you need
for a video, go back to your home base
and then you can finish up the video there
or it's just like,
you know it's that comfortable spot
where people know what to expect from this.
You have that good consistent look and feel.
But once in a while you're gettin' out
and you're doin' something different.
'Cause that's important with YouTube
is to not only be consistent with your branding
and everything like that
but also ya know bring something new once in a while
to your channel.
As you're building out your kit
and you wanna improve like one little thing,
focus on one thing at a time whether it's microphone,
your new lens, new tripod, whatever it is.
You always gotta be thinking about
what can you do to improve your videos
and get your videos looking a little bit better?
- First Jeven, I wanna say that I love that creator hat,
that's awesome, but outside of that
also when it comes to my vlog setup,
basically I use this setup right here.
It's a Sony a6500 and I connect my Rode VideoMic Pro
to that a6500 so that I can make sure
that I have really good sound when I'm out and about.
And of course when I am doing a vlog setup
I actually also prefer to go with a wide lens.
The one that I use is a Sony 10 to 18 millimeter lens
and personally I just love it, again because it is so wide
and it makes it easy for me to stay in the frame
even though I might not be able to see the viewfinder
on my camera.
And attached to that camera and microphone
I'll either have it on a really small tripod
that I can just kinda grip in my hand
or I'll put it on a gorilla grip
so that I can attach it to things while I'm out and about.
Now, the next video in the series
you can watch it right here right now,
just go ahead and click it,
but that video is about the 20 biggest mistakes
that new YouTubers make.
It's important that you make sure you watch that video
because a lot of content creators
make a lot of mistakes and it costs them their growth.
So make sure that you check it out now.
We'll see you over there.