如果您正在考虑创建自己的YouTube 频道(YouTube channel)，那么您一定想知道所涉及的成本、复杂性和硬件(complexity and hardware)。碰巧的是，我们最近接受了建立YouTube 工作室(YouTube studio)以创建YouTube 内容(YouTube content)的挑战，那么为什么不与我们一起踏上旅程，或许从我们的错误中吸取教训呢？
我们想“按预算”建立一个YouTube 工作室(YouTube studio)，但一开始并没有具体的预算。我们的目标是在不花费任何不必要的钱的情况下建立一个能够产生我们想要的内容质量的设置。
因此，让我们来看看我们遵循的过程。
考虑您的内容类型(Think About Your Content Type)
您需要考虑的第一件事是您想要制作什么样的内容。这种特殊的YouTube 工作室(YouTube studio)设置专为“会说话”的头部类型技术解释器视频而设计。
主体将从腰部向上或更紧密地构图。这将是“A-Roll”镜头，剪辑的主要镜头，即主持人对着镜头讲话。支持所说内容的“B-Roll”片段将单独拍摄或从其他来源提取。
我们也可以利用这个空间来制作一些B-Roll，使用折叠桌(folding table)作为展示事物的地方。但是，也将使用屏幕录像或新闻片段(press footage)，以及在外面拍摄的场景。
除非您计划制作完全相同类型的内容，否则您需要仔细考虑您自己的内容风格(content style)将如何影响有关获得什么装备以及如何设置它的决定。
Lighting!
获得看起来专业的素材的最重要因素是 YouTube工作室照明(studio lighting)。真的(Really)，即使你的相机不是(camera isn)那么好，也可以很好地照亮你的主题，它看起来会很棒。即使是最好的相机也无法修复不良照明。
三点照明(Three-point lighting)是正确照亮主体的标准。你需要一个主灯、一个背光灯和一个补光灯(fill light)。我们实际上最终得到了一个四灯设置。有两个漫射柔光箱LED 灯(LED light)，一个LED 聚光灯(LED spotlight)在天花板上，然后是一个带谷仓门的电池供电LED 灯。(LED light)
聚光灯从顶部照亮主体，两个主灯用漫射光填充空间，然后使用最后的LED 灯(LED light)消除由于两个主灯照射在主体上而产生的一些不需要的阴影。
我们不得不根据我们的可用空间调整照明，这是相当狭窄的。购买一个普通的三点照明套件是很好的开始，但您可能会注意到在您的特定工作室空间(studio space)中可能需要更多。
由于我们使用的是色度键屏幕，因此在主体和屏幕本身之间添加两个额外的银行灯会是最佳选择。空间限制使这成为不可能，但唯一真正的影响是调整色度键需要更多的工作。最后的结果(end result)还是可以接受的。
我们使用的特定照明套件是安多尔摄影套装(Andoer Photography set)，第三盏灯是永诺YN300 III ，它在(Yongnuo YN300 III)摄影棚(studio space)外拍摄时也可以作为出色的相机安装灯。
绿屏(The Green Screen)
说到色度键“绿幕”，由于我们永远不会拍摄任何(film anyone)全长框架，因此获得具有所谓“无限下降”的绿幕是没有意义的。
那是一个从框架顶部到地板的屏幕，以便您的拍摄对象可以站在上面。这不仅是一种痛苦，而且维护也非常糟糕。
相反，我们发现了这个很棒的 Elgato 绿幕( Elgato green screen)，它就像投影仪屏幕(projector screen)一样工作。我们在墙上放了一些钩子，连接了屏幕，现在它在需要时会滚下来。我们的主体在构图时完全被绿色包围，所以效果很好。
音频很棘手(Audio Is Tricky)
信不信由你，在YouTube 工作室(YouTube studio)制作视频最难的部分就是正确播放音频(audio right)。观众会容忍不完美的视觉效果，但没有什么比糟糕的音频更能让人转向(someone move)另一个视频了。
这个问题有两个要素。一个是房间的音响效果，另一个是你的麦克风。
我们不一定要“隔音”房间。这是一项庞大而昂贵的工作，我们可以通过使用不会吸收太多外部噪音的麦克风来解决这个问题，并在事情安静时简单地编辑问题或拍摄。
更重要的是房间的声学处理(treatment)。特别是在反射率(reflectance)方面。那是从源发出的声音在房间里反弹的时候。减少这种情况的最佳方法是在房间里放置密集、柔软的材料。沙发(Couches)、窗帘等。
这就是为什么这么多播客在壁橱里录制他们的作品的原因。衣服吸收了所有的混响，产生了可爱的干录音。您不想完全消除反射率，因为走得太远会使录音听起来毫无生气。在我们的例子中，房间的一端是绿屏，另一端是木制的，还有一块地毯。
反射率是侧面两堵光秃秃的墙壁之间的问题。我们使用的解决方案是在镜头的两侧挂两个厚窗帘。这减少了反射声音。
然后我们使用了有线领夹式麦克风(wired lavalier microphone)，它不会太强烈地拾取远处的声音。您当然可以在(course use)离机支架(stand off-camera)上使用麦克风（或在相机上，您可以选择），但请记住，每种类型的麦克风都有其优缺点。动臂(Boom)麦克风也是一种选择，但它们确实倾向于拾取更多的房间噪音(room noise)。
相机和提词器设置(Camera & Teleprompter Setup)
在我们的 YouTube 工作室中，我们使用了基于智能手机的(smartphone-based teleprompter)提词器，结合了优雅提词器应用程序(Elegant Teleprompter app)和我们放置在身边的旧智能手机。脚本在Google Docs中编写，然后直接导入提词器应用程序(teleprompter app)。
然后将手机安装到提词器上，使用我们使用的佳能 80D(Canon 80D)相机通过镜子观察。80D 是一款出色的全能型专业相机(prosumer camera)，特别适合用作摄像机(video camera)，因为它具有自动对焦和人脸检测功能。
提词器可与各种相机配合使用，它甚至在相机侧(camera side)配备了智能手机支架(smartphone mount)。这意味着使用两部智能手机，您已经拥有完整的设置。将领夹式麦克风运行到正在录音的智能手机上，您就做好了。
最终产品(The Final Product)
现在，一切就绪，您可以在这里看到最终产品。
https://youtu.be/Q8pSrIQS26k
从这里背景需要被键入。大多数流行的视频编辑应用程序都内置了此功能。这包括Adobe Premiere Pro、Final Cut Pro和许多其他应用程序。
对于这个项目，我们使用了一台运行Luma Fusion的(Luma Fusion)iPad Pro 12.9 英寸平板电脑，这是一款适用于 iOS 的桌面级视频编辑应用程序。
这是最终的YouTube 工作室设置(YouTube studio setup)的样子。
这是一个廉价的家庭设置(budget home setup)，但只需花费相对较少的投资和一点时间和精力(time and effort)，您就可以制作更注重细节的视频，并为您的观众带来更愉快的体验。
当然，这些只是您需要的原始工具。大部分工作发生在工作流程的其他部分，例如脚本、编辑和相机本身的实际性能。
即使是最专业的YouTube 工作室(YouTube studio)也无法让您成为更好的内容创作者(content creator)，而最好的内容创作者(content creator)可以用最基本的要素制作出引人注目的东西。
Putting Together a YouTube Studio On a Budget
If you’re thinking about starting your own YouTube channel, then you must have wondered abоut the сost, complexity and hardware involved. As it hаppenѕ, we’ve rеcently taken on the challenge of setting up a YouTube studio for crеating YouTube content, so why not come on a journey with us and maybe lеarn from our mistakеs?
We wanted to build a YouTube studio “on a budget”, but didn’t have a specific budget in mind at the outset. We aimed to put together a setup that would result in the content quality we wanted without spending any more money than necessary.
So let’s take a walk through the process we followed.
Think About Your Content Type
The first thing you need to consider is what sort of content you want to make. This particular YouTube studio setup is designed for “talking” head type tech-explainer videos.
The subject will be framed from the waist up or tighter.This will be the “A-Roll” footage, the main footage of the clip, which is the presenter speaking into the camera. “B-Roll” footage that support what’s being said will be filmed separately or pulled in from other sources.
We can also use this same space to make some of the B-Roll, using a folding table as a place to demonstrate things. However, screen recordings or press footage will also be used, as well as scenes filmed outside.
Unless you are planning on doing exactly the same sort of content, you need to think carefully about how your own content style will affect decisions about what gear to get and how to set it up.
Lighting!
The most important factor in getting footage that looks professional is YouTube studio lighting. Really, even if your camera isn’t all that great, light your subject well and it will look awesome. Even the best camera can’t fix bad lighting.
Three-point lighting is the standard for lighting a subject properly. You need a key light, a back light and a fill light. We actually ended up with a four-light setup. With two diffuses softbox LED lights, an LED spotlight on the ceiling and then a battery-powered LED light with barn-doors.
The spotlight lights the subject from the top, the two main lights fill the space with diffuse lights and then the final LED light is used to eliminate some unwanted shadows that result from the two main lights shining on the subject.
We had to adapt the lighting to our available space, which is rather cramped. Buying a normal three-point lighting kit is fine to start with, but you may notice that in your particular studio space more may be needed.
Since we are using a chroma-key screen, it would have been optimal to have two additional bank lights between the subject and the screen itself. Space constraints made this impossible, but the only real effect of this is that tuning the chroma keying takes a little more work. The end result was still acceptable.
The specific lighting kit we used was this Andoer Photography set and the third light is this Yongnuo YN300 III, which also works as an excellent camera-mounted light when shooting outside of the studio space.
The Green Screen
Speaking of the chroma key “green screen”, since we are never going to film anyone framed full-length, it would have been pointless to get a green screen with a so-called “infinity drop”.
That is a screen that goes from the top of the frame onto the floor, so that your subjects can stand on it. Not only is this a pain to light, the maintenance is pretty awful too.
Instead we found this awesome Elgato green screen that works like a projector screen. We put some hooks on the wall, attached the screen and now it just rolls down when needed. Our subject is completely surrounded by green when framed, so it worked out pretty well.
Audio Is Tricky
Believe it or not, the hardest part of making videos in a YouTube studio is getting the audio right. Viewers will tolerate imperfect visuals, but few things will make someone move on to another video than poor audio.
There are two elements to this problem. One is the acoustics of the room and the other is your microphone.
We don’t necessarily want to “soundproof” the room. That’s a massive, expensive undertaking that we can work around by using microphones that won’t pick up too much external noise and simply editing out issues or filming when things are quieter.
What’s far more important is the acoustic treatment of the room. Specifically when it comes to reflectance. That’s when sound emanating from a source bounces around the room. The best way to cut down on this is to have dense, soft materials in the room. Couches, curtains and the like.
It’s why so many podcasters record their work inside a closet. The clothes suck up all the reverb, making for that lovely dry recording sound. You don’t want to completely kill reflectance, because going to far the other way can make recordings sound lifeless. In our case the room had the green screen at one end, a wooden closed at the other and a carpet.
Reflectance was an issue between the two bare walls to the side. The solution we used was to hang two thick curtains on either side, out of shot. This cuts down on reflected sound.
We then used a wired lavalier microphone, which doesn’t pick up distant sound too strongly. You can of course use a microphone on a stand off-camera (or on camera, your choice), but keep in mind that each type of microphone has its own pros and cons. Boom microphones are also an option, but they do tend to pick up more room noise.
Camera & Teleprompter Setup
In our YouTube studio, we used a smartphone-based teleprompter, combined with the Elegant Teleprompter app and an old smartphone we had laying around. Scripts are written in Google Docs and then imported directly into the teleprompter app.
The phone is then mounted onto the teleprompter, with the Canon 80D camera we used looking through the mirror. The 80D is an excellent all-round prosumer camera and is especially good as a video camera, since it has autofocus and face detection.
The teleprompter will work with a variety of cameras, it even comes with a smartphone mount on the camera side. Which means with two smartphones you already have a complete setup. Run the lavalier microphone to the smartphone that’s recording and you’re set.
The Final Product
Now, with everything in place, here you can see the final product.
https://youtu.be/Q8pSrIQS26k
From here the background needs to be keyed out. Most popular video editing applications have this function built in. This includes Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and many others.
For this project we used an iPad Pro 12.9” tablet running Luma Fusion, a desktop-grade video editing application for iOS.
This is what the final YouTube studio setup looks like.
It’s a budget home setup, but with just this relatively small investment and a bit of time and effort, you can make videos that reflect greater attention to detail and produce a much more pleasant experience for your audience.
Of course these are just the raw tools you need. Most of the work happens with other parts of the workflow, such as scripting, editing and the actual performance for the camera itself.
Even the most professional YouTube studio can’t make you a better content creator and the best content creators can make something compelling with the barest of essentials.
