Home Recording Studio Essentials

Build Your Own Recording Studio At Home

Whether you have a business where you need to make marketing videos, or social media videos, are a social influencer, or just want to make production quality videos at home, it has never been easier to do so with the improvements in technology that allow for all of us to make studio production quality videos at home.

What You Will Need For A Home Recording Studio

1. Camera 2. Lighting 3. Microphone 4. Green Screen 5. Computer 6. Computer Monitor 7. Computer Software

1.

Recording Studio Cameras

There are three main types of cameras that will work great in your new home recording studio. There are DSLR, Point and Shoot, and Mirrorless cameras available. We will go into more detail on each type below.

DSLR Cameras

DSLR stands for “digital single lens reflex.” This type of digital camera uses one lens at a time, that are typically interchangeable. They use a mirror to send the image to the viewfinder. They have a bigger image sensor that provides superior image quality. They also have a bigger image sensor that provides for superior image quality as compared to other camera types. They also have fast shooting speeds for amazing action photos. The interchangeable lenses give you a wide range of capabilities for different shooting styles.

Point and Shoot Cameras

If you are looking for great image quality, but prefer a small pocket sized design, then the point and shoot style cameras may be the way to go for you. They have many different options available including low light, long zoom, Wi-Fi, and even GPS. These cameras are great because you can take them just about anywhere because they are more drop resistant and you can even get waterproof models.

Mirrorless Cameras

A nice step up from the point and shoot cameras are the mirrorless cameras. They have DSLR like features built into a smaller, and lighter body that also lets you use interchangeable lenses for different shooting styles. They also offer fast autofocus with a quick shooting speed for those action shots.

Top Camera Brands for Your Home Recording Studio

• Canon • Nikon • Sony • FujiFilm

Best DSLR Cameras

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera

The Canon EOS 5D series camera is one of the most recognizable camera lines of the digital age. The Mark IV is looks nearly identical to its predecessor, but it has some major upgrades inside. It has a higher resolution sensor with Dual Pixel autofocus, an upgraded AF system, 4K video capture, it has a touchscreen, and improved weather sealing to give you some protection from the elements. It now includes built-in Wi-Fi/NFC, an interval timer, and GPS. It has been upgraded to a 30.4 Megapixel full frame CMOS sensor for shooting in nearly any light. It has an ISO range of 100-32000, that is expandable up to 50-102400. This camera gives you full 4K Motion JPEG video (DCI cinema-type 4096 x 2160) at 30p or 24p, and an in camera still frame grab of 4K 8.8 Megapixel images. It has video options for Full HD up to 60p, and HD up to 120p. It has a superb Dual Pixel CMOS AF for responsive and smooth AF during video or Live View shooting, with a touch screen LCD monitor. I have found that it has superb performance with up to 7.0 fps continuous shooting speed with a high performance DIGIC 6+ Image Processor for improved speed and excellent image quality.

Nikon D780 DSLR Camera

The Nikon D780 is another top quality DSLR digital camera. It is a 24.5 Megapixel that can shoot at 7 frames per second, with UHD 4K capture at up to 30p. It has a 3.2" Touchscreen. Also plenty of options for storage with it’s build in Dual UHS-II SD card slots.

Best Mirrorless Cameras

Our favorite go to camera is the Mirrorless digital cameras. These cameras are perfect for taking amazing photos, and making studio quality video for your home recording studio. These cameras have DSLR like features, all built into a smaller, and lighter camera body. The interchangeable lenses gives you just what you need for every possible shooting style. The fast autofocus, combined with their quick shooting speed, is the right camera for those perfect action shots. Our Top Pick is the Canon EOS R8 Content Creator Kit. The creator kit is a great priced camera package that includes the Canon EOS R8 Camera Body, the camera cover, a camera strap, a battery charger and battery pack with cover. It comes with the RF24-50mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens and cap. It comes with the Stereo Microphone DM-E100, a wind screen, and the Tripod Grip HG-100TBR. With this camera content creator kit you simply charge the battery and you are ready to start taking great pictures, and making amazing quality videos from your home recording studio or out on location! Our Top Pick is the Canon EOS R8 Content Creator Kit. 2. Best Home Studio Camera Lighting Now let’s take a look at lighting for your home recording studio. The most popular types of lighting for home studio’s is the key light, and the ring light. Elgato is a trusted name for high quality camera lighting. They have two sizes of key lights, the standard size key light, and the key light mini. They also have a ring light. The Key Light Mini is built more for being portable, as it is battery powered and small enough to be portable. Some people like the key light mini because they can buy two of them and place one on each side of their monitor setup to provide even lighting as well. Our Top Pick is the Elgato Key Light.

3. Home Recording Studio Microphone

When shopping for a new home studio microphone, there are several key features to take note of.

Microphone Type

Type - Condenser vs Dynamic - Condensor microphones are typically more sensitive than dynamic microphones. They will capture detail across the entire range of frequencies, but can also pick up sounds in the background that you don’t want. The best choice for home recording studios is the condensor type.

Microphone Connection

The best type of connector to look for when shopping for a new microphone is USB, for the specific type of connection that your computer, or other equipment has that it will connect to.

Microphone Pattern

Omnidirectional means that the microphone picks up sound equally from all directions, so it does not matter which direction the microphone is pointing. Directional - Cardioid - Directional means that the microphone picks up most of it’s sound from directly in front of the microphone. The most common type of directional microphones are the Cardioid mic. A cardioid microphone is perfect for excluding background noise and room reflection than an omnidirectional microphone. Stereo microphones have two microphone elements that are designed to give you a wider, and more immersive sound field than the old style mono microphones. Bi-Directional microphones pick up sound from behind and in front of the microphone. This type of microphone is great if you want to pick up sound from both an audience and the speaker.

Sample & Bit Rate of Microphones

The sample rate and bit rate are important factors to give you the best quality sound that is recorded by your microphone. The bit rate is a measure of how much data is processed for each second of sound. The higher the bit rate, the better quality of the recorded sound you will get from your microphone. The sample rate is the number of audio samples recorded over each unit of time. The higher the computer samples the analog information, the more accurate the reproduction or playback of the voice or sound will be. Our Top Pick is the Logitech Yeti X.

4. Green Screen

A green screen is not needed if you have a nice background for your videos in your home recording studio. But if you don’t like your background, you can add a green screen to cut out your background and replace it using your software. The green screen is a solid color that is different than what is being recoreded so it is easire for your software to select it in it’s entirety to pull it out of the video and replace it with whatever you like. There are a lot of cheap green screens on the market that are hard to setup, that are not stable. You want a green screen that is quick to setup and easy to use. The screens surface needs to be flat with no wrinkles and waves. It needs to be stable and not moving during your recording. For this reason, we chose the Elgato Screen XL because it is setup instantly and easily. The screen is tight, straight, and wrinkle free due to the design of the stand. Our Top Pick is the Elgato Green Screen XL.

5. Computer

For the computer in your home recording studio, the best processor in your budget, a large SSD hard drive, with lots of memory, and ultra high speed graphics for the serious work you will be doing in creating and editing your videos. For the computer specs, you will want to go with the highest number that is within your budget. The more you spend now, the longer you can go without having to replace your system, so it all works out in the long run. More is better. Hard Drive - Recommed SSD for storage due to dependability and durability. SSD stands for solid state drive. There are no moving parts like their are in the standard hard drives. The SSD drives are quicker, and more durable. Less risk of losing data in a catastrophic failiure. Memory - The higher the number the better, to speed up your video editing. Today’s applications, especially video editing apps, are memory intensive. Having more memory on a system makes it run faster when working with memory intensive apps. Processor - Always go with the latest and the best. Intel is highly recommended. The faster your processor is, the faster your apps and your system in general will run. Always go with the highest end processor that fits your budget. Our Top Pick is the HP Victus 16 Gaming Laptop if you need to be mobile, or HP Victus 15L Gaming Desktop if you will have it at your desk or table.

6. Computer Monitors

My favorite computer monitors are the latest from Samsung. The Odyssey series is amazing. If you are into gaming, or working with lots of video, these monitors are the best I have seen. For their clarity, and refresh rate, and the huge display size with a super high resolution, there is nothing I have seen in person that beats it. Some people like to go with a smaller size and have two monitors side by side, but if these huge 55 inch screens are in your budget, I highly recommend it. Our Top Pick is the Samsung Odyssey Ark 2nd Generation Monitors.

7. Computer Software

When thinking about software for your new home recording studio, two types of software are a must. A good web design software so you can build your own website, and a video editing software to edit your videos so you can post them up on your website, or on youtube, and even on your own website. Xara Designer Pro+ is my top pick for website building software. This software comes with a full desktop publishing suite where you can edit videos, build websites, create great marketing material, and so much more. It’s pretty much an all in one solution. I like the Xara Cloud Pro Plus option because it comes with the locally installed Designer Pro+ software, and the online cloud resource where you can upload your website to as an extra backup. It comes with thousands of templates for all your desktop publishing and marketing needs, as well as easy to customize website templates to get your website built in no time! Check out a couple of my websites that I built below using this software and the included website templates that comes built into the product. ViralStudioX Mendenhall Outdoors Lunker Hunter Pinnacle Studio Ultimate is my top pick for a video editing software. It has so many built in template for quick drag and drop convenience for adding titles, transitions, and more. It only took me a couple of hours to learn the program, and have my first professional studio quality video to publish to my social media and youtube accounts. I am amazed with this software. There are so many training videos online to learn both beginner and advance features. You will be a pro in no time. Check out one of my YouTube channels where I use this software to edit and publish videos at MendenhallOutdoors. If you are looking to buy or sell a business, buy or sell a commercial property, or lease a commercial property, we recommend that you reach out to Michelle Mendenhall. She is a professional business broker, and Commercial Real Estate Agent. She has the expert industry knowledge of local businesses to get you the best price, and to bring in the right buyers and sellers for you to be successful. Michelle Mendenhall Professional Business Broker, IBBA Commercial Real Estate Sales & Leasing Associate Phone: 916.459.7526 DRE #02116152 LocalGirlGoesCommercial.com michelle.mendenhall@localgirlgoescommercial.com michelle.mendenhall@expcommercial.com At ViralStudioX, we highlight products and services that you might find interesting. We frequently receive free products from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you, and does not impact the purchase price of any products that you may purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.