Creating a home video studio is something that everyone thinks about once they start to shoot a lot of video – whether for business, personal or professional use.  There are expensive kits you can purchase online to convert an area of your home into a studio but, being ever-frugal, I wanted to find a cheaper way to do it.  This post covers both the equipment you’ll need for the actual studio plus the software and gadgets you’ll want / need for shooting the videos.

STEP #1 — SHOPPING FOR EQUIPMENT

You’ll need to do a teeny bit of shopping first so to make it really easy, I’ve created a shopping list for you!

Studio Equipment

• Green Screen
  • Lusy Bed Spread from Ikea ($12.99 in the US, $24.99 in Canada)
• Bright Lighting for the Green Screen
  • 500W Halogen Lighting from Canadian Tire ($39.99)
  • 1000W Utilitech Lighting from Lowe’s ($44.98)
• Lighting for Yourself
  • Lersta Floor Lamp from Ikea ($14.99)
• Surge Protection Power Bar
  • Belkin Surge Protection Bar from Home Depot ($29.97)
  • Noma 6-Outlet Contractor Grade Bar from Canadian Tire ($19.99)

Studio Gear / Gadgets

• Video Camera
  • Flip Ultra HD Camcorder at Best Buy ($199)
• Tripod
  • Vanguard Tripod from Wal-Mart ($26.76)

Studio Software

• Video Editing Software – Green Screen / Chroma Key Ability
  • Final Cut Express
  • iMovie (with advanced options turned on)

Once you have your shopping done, it’s time to setup the actual studio.

STEP #2 — SETTING UP THE STUDIO

Find a location in your home that has space available for the green screen and plenty of space to setup lighting and the tripod for your camera.  Remember, you are going to want enough room to position the tripod far enough back to get the green screen fully in the shot.  In my home, my basement has not a whole lot in it so I choose an area of the basement for my studio.

The first thing I did was hang the green screen.  Since the Lusy bedspread has holes across the top, I was able to easily hang nails at the first and last holes and add one in the middle.  Then, I took packing tape and taped the sides down, working from the top and pulling gently as I went.  Since the sides have holes and will not be caught on camera, adding the tape in that location didn’t matter either.  It won’t be in the shot.

Once I had the green screen up and taped, the next step was to iron the green screen.  It’s best, in my opinion, to iron it right on the wall so long as you take care and don’t hold the iron in one spot for too long.  Since the walls in my basement are concrete, that doesn’t matter so much for me but please do be careful if your walls are any other substance.

After the green screen is prepped, you want to setup and structure your lighting in the room.  I have one set of 500W halogen lights that will be used to primarily light up the green screen.  If you aren’t doing full body green screen work, you could also get a floor light to put on the floor directly below the green screen.  However, halogen lighting gets VERY hot so keep it at a safe distance from all fabrics.  For floor flooding lights, you might want to consider non-halogen.

Make sure the area is really well lit and that your green screen has no flaws or wrinkles.  If it does, that will cause the green screen removal in the editing side to be faulty.

Lastly, setup your video tripod and equip your camera.  Set it up at a distance away from the green screen so you don’t have the Lusy bedspread holes showing and then mark it on the floor (helpful if you want to easily position it your next go around).

STEP #3 — TESTING IT OUT

Once you have all of the above done, film a short segment to test it out.  Bring the footage to your computer, download it and add it into your video editing software.  Try removing the green screen inside of the software and adding another background.  Watch the movement to see if any parts of the green screen need to be fixed.  If it’s not quite doing the trick, you may need brighter lighting or another ironing job on the green screen.

Any other tips to add to this post?  Leave them as a comment!

Ugh, there are very few times when I let myself get frustrated by large corporations (I’ve resigned to the fact that they may just not put as much emphasis on certain things as smaller companies do) but tonight, Ikea has baffled me.

So, here’s the story.  I wanted to buy a blanket from Ikea.  Not just any blanket… a blanket that doubles as a nearly perfect green screen.  Yes, I have found this specific item and now I want it.  So, I log on to Ikea‘s website to check stock and hopefully, order online to have it shipped to my house.  Easy enough right?

Yay!  Found the blanket and now, I’ve added it to my cart.

Woot… Now, to check out and get my blanket shipped to me.

But wait.  What’s that little icon with the cross through it.

Ohhh, I can’t actually buy it online.  Darn.

So, I pick up the phone and call the Montreal Ikea and get an operator.

Me:  “Hi, I’m sitting and looking at a product that I want but it’s at the Montreal location, in stock, and I live in Ottawa.  How can I get that product?”

Operator:  “You can’t”

Huh.  I can’t get a product that I clearly see on the website.  Even though that took me back a bit, I press on.

Me: “Oh.  Well, can I get it transferred between stores?”

Operator:  “No.”

Me:  “Umm… Okay, why does it allow you to add it to a shopping cart for online shopping?”

Operator:  “Well, some people make a list, print it out and bring it into the store.”

Me:  “No, they don’t really… Do they?”

Operator:  “I don’t know.  You can buy some products online but not all of them.”

Me:  “Where do the products come from?”

Operator:  “A central warehouse.”

Me:  “Okay, how can I get that central warehouse to send a blanket to Ottawa?”

Operator:  “They can’t.”

Me:  “Why?”

Operator:  “Because they don’t carry that item.”

Me:  “Okay, so why can’t I buy it online again?”

Operator:  “Because we don’t take credit cards over the phone or Internet.”

Me:  “But you just said some items can be purchased online and hence the reason the Ikea website says Buy Online.”

Operator:  “Only some items can be bought online.”

At this point, I’m confused.  Like… really, really confused.

Me:  “So, does Ikea not want to sell any product?”

Operator:  “Well yes, if you travel to that location you can buy the blanket.”

Me:  “I need to drive 2.5 hours for a $24 blanket?  Really?”

Operator:  “Yes.”

Me:  “Wow.  Okay.  So, does Mia Cullin, the designer of said blanket, realize that she’s missing out on potential sales due to Ikea’s distribution issue?”

Operator:  “I don’t know.”

Me:  “Yeah… Okay… I’ll go find a green screen / blanket somewhere else and I’ll be sure to notify Miss Cullin as well.  Thank you though for your time.”

Does anyone else not think that Ikea has a MAJOR distribution issue?

I don’t understand why they can’t transfer stock between stores.  I don’t understand why only some items can be purchased from the warehouse but not others.  I don’t understand why they’d prefer to piss a customer off rather than find a way to get product into the hands of the consumer.

Ideas?