Getting to grips with Live video:

What I have found works for me

Hi, nice of you to drop by again and catch up on my marketing journey with live video.

This week I am going to cover my latest experiences with live video.

Where we were last time

If you remember last time we were discusing the need for video and Live video in particular.,

Such services have been popularised by Facebook, and followed up by other social platforms.

In particular we looked at the equipment required, bearing in mind that being live, there is no opportunity for recording and editing.

The post can be found here.

My Experience with video

I made a few experimental FB Live videos on my Fanpage there were a few teething problems:

• Lighting either strong lighting washing out image, or light level changes when moving about
• Obstacles, need to check out location
• Biggest problem was audio, level too low

The video problems can mostly be solved by surveying the location before making the video.

Make note of obstacles, direction of the sun and location of shadow.

And remember to hold the camera at least at eye level, preferably above (avoid the looking up the nose view). An alternative is to position the camera on a fixed object, more about this later.

My Audio solution

Lavalier microphone

The audio level during the recording with the smartphone in built microphone was at a lowlevel, hard to hear even on full volume.

I tried a pair of wireless/bluetooth headphones with following results:

• There was noticeable wind noise in background, windy day
• Sound level was not much better
• Bulky headphones did not look appropriate

Whilst looking on Amazon for something elese I came across the item to the right, a clip on Lavalier microphone with a 6 metre lead. Worth a try I thought.

As well as a long lead it can be used on smartphones/tablets and on cameras still or video as it has a switchable power.internal battery.

Smartphone/Tablet mounting options

Mounting options

I also found the mounting option, shown on the right.

There are two pieces, the middle item will hold a 10.1 inch tablet without obscuring the camera and comes with extra stick on pads to make sure your device is held firmly.

The second item is a smartphone holder, adjustable for just about any phone.

Both items contain a standard screw mounting, so can be used with a tripod.

A floor mounted tripod may be the standard solution you would think, but the use of a smaller tripod can make for a more interesting shot being located on a table or shelf.

A smaller tripod on a shelf for example, would allow some freedom of movement without knocking a floor mounted tripod over.

How are you getting on with Live Video?

What is your experience?

Do you just use Facebook or are you on Instagram?

Let me know in the comments below….

Until next week

Brian