It was fun to be interviewed by Redfin and Apartmentguide.com!
Who knew the apartment rental industry was interested in what it takes to make a great self-tape setup! But they reached out to us to get some tips on best practices. We tried to keep it short and sweet, so here's what we sent them:
If you are looking to build a self-tape studio aimed at professional-level results, you need to focus on three things: Background, Lighting, and Recording Device.
For a background, we recommend either painting a wall in a neutral grey (other muted colors can work, too) or using a pop up background if that’s not ideal for your space.
For lighting, you want a soft source, which means a bigger light. A large window with indirect sunlight is ideal, but you can get great results by using a couple of softboxes. We are NOT fans of the ever-popular ring-light, as they create weird shadows and even weirder zombie-like reflections in your eyes.
For audio...most folks use a smart phone to record on (which delivers great audio) but you can up the game with a mini shotgun mic like the Rode Videomic Me C+ if you want. Lavs are fine, but can get really "bassy" sometimes and loose some of the subtly in volume as they ride the gain and make you sound "loud" no matter what. But it really depends on the lav. Some work great.
Here's the article on their site!
