Equipment advice for a teacher who will be working remotely?

[LordHiler]

Hello all!

 

Not sure if this is the right forum. If not please let me know and I'll delete this and repost!

 

I am a full time public High School Social Studies teacher. I have a severely compromised immune system due to an autoimmune disease (currently recovering from a flare) and related medications (currently on three different immunosuppressants). Consequently I have already filed a formal letter from my doctor and the necessary ADA paperwork and will be teaching remotely during the coming school year.

 

My job, which used to be in person, will now be conducted via a combination of live and pre-recorded videos. So basically I will be paid to be a content creator which is something I have no background in or equipment for. 

 

My laptop (only computer) is a Dell XPS 13 with the webcam in the bottom corner. Needless to say this will not get the job done. I connect it via Thunderbolt 3 to a very nice ultrawide LG monitor and from there passthrough two USB 3 ports each to a 4 port hub. That connects currently to a mouse, keyboard, external SSD, printer, and ethernet via USB-3 network adapter. 

 

My intention was to buy a decent webcam and microphone but those seem to be largely sold out. My next idea was to buy the camera add-on for the Raspberry Pi (I own two) but that sounds like a configuration nightmare. Also, only lighting is one overhead ceiling light and one small desk lamp. There is no room behind the monitor for better lighting but I could rig something to the sides. 

 

What I figure I need:
A camera
A microphone
Some lights
Necessary software???
A lot more money (no plan for that one currently)

 

I have considered the Raspberry Pi thing, repurposing an old cell phone, and repurposing a GoPro, but I'm open to other ideas. No plan for the mic beyond finding something used. No plan for lighting at all. 

 

Side-Note: since I'm having to get set up for this any way, I'm thinking I'll try my hand at fountain pen reviews on YouTube. It's a hobby of mine. Don't expect to get any traction with that, just for fun. Heck if I ever break 100 views on a video I'll feel pretty good about it. But whatever setup I use for school I'd like to be able to use for that as well. 

 

A reasonable budget is key - there's essentially no chance my school will fund any part of this. At best it's a tax write off later. 

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you so much.

[kelvinhall05]

Amazon has plenty of webcams in stock, and most students (speaking from experience) don't care about audio quality or if there even *is* video as long as they can understand you. Hell, half your students likely won't watch/listen to the lessons. Saw this in the last few months I was doing school from home.

 

 

Even something cheap like a Logitech C270 will suffice. If you want some light, a cheap desk lamp will also be fine.

35 minutes ago, LordHiler said:

I'm thinking I'll try my hand at fountain pen reviews on YouTube

Good choice

 

I film keyboards and stuff with my C920 and it's totally fine. When I watch YouTube, I generally care more about the effort that has (obviously) been put into a video rather than the camera resolution or whatever. Don't worry too much.

[ThePointblank]

Do you have a relatively recent DSLR camera kicking around your house, with video out capabilities?

 

If you do, get a video capture card; you'll also need a dummy battery for the camera so you can run the camera without worrying about battery life of your camera.

 

Alternatively, if you have a relatively recent Canon camera, you can use Canon's software to use it as a USB webcam. Exact models compatible are listed on Canon's website here:

 

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-webcam-utility/

[GDRRiley]

Video: get a camcorder with an clean HDMI out (almost all even back to 2015 or so should have them) I'm running an canon HF M40

an HDMI cable that adapts cameras size to full size HDMI

order 2 of these (they may fail so good to have a spare) https://www.amazon.com/Capture-USB2-0-Record-Camcorder-Cam、Broadcast/dp/B088D3QPN5/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3HG38BO1OBE27&dchild=1&keywords=usb+capture+card&qid=1594704000&sprefix=usb+capture%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-9

 

audio: Blue Snowball ice should do fine

lighting, I like Quasar Science Q15 T8 5600K 2ft or 4ft

mount it to the wall with a pair Quasar Science Q-Block T8

 

software OBS and learning from EpoxVos should do well

 

50-150 video setup

50$ for audio

50-100$ for lighting

software free

 

150-300$

[LyondellBasell]

20 hours ago, LordHiler said:

Also, only lighting is one overhead ceiling light and one small desk lamp. There is no room behind the monitor for better lighting but I could rig something to the sides. 

The above recommendations for cameras and mics are great, so I'll just add in the lighting section: It's okay if you don't have room directly behind the monitor for lights. If your setup backs up to a wall, you can point the lights at the wall. Bounce lighting will be nice and soft but will still work to add more light to your setup and make your camera's job easier.

[Kevin Delano]

Hello, if You going to make some visual + audio content I made nice hardware list for You.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3TKY0D7H6MDHP?ref_=wl_share
 + OBS for display and cam recording.Its enought,i think. Maybe better microphone would be good,but only if You have enough money. I have the same,but using only office software (Skype,Trello,WorkTime) so can not be sure about micro.

[bowrilla]

On 7/14/2020 at 4:27 AM, LordHiler said:

My intention was to buy a decent webcam and microphone but those seem to be largely sold out. My next idea was to buy the camera add-on for the Raspberry Pi (I own two) but that sounds like a configuration nightmare. Also, only lighting is one overhead ceiling light and one small desk lamp. There is no room behind the monitor for better lighting but I could rig something to the sides. 

I wouldn't go that route. At least the older Pi camera was really poor and definitely inferior compared to your XPS. The new cam seems to be okay (still not great) but you have to factor in the lens as well and the hassle to get it all working. I wouldn't go that route.

 

On 7/14/2020 at 4:27 AM, LordHiler said:

repurposing an old cell phone

That works with Android and iOS devices. I've used DroidCam with my Android phone. Works pretty well and can easily be integrated with OBS for example. I think it would also go potentially directly into Skype or similar devices but I'd use OBS for the sake of more control. And it would be the same setup when you record stuff.

 

You basically have 4 options varrying in price (video-wise):

1. Get a stand for the XPS and adjust the webcam to a better angle, work solely on your external monitor
2. DroidCam or a similar app to use your smartphone (it will run pretty warm and you'll want to keep it plugged in for the sake of charging
3. some generic webcam, the Logitech StreamCam and the Logitech Brio are great, the C922 or C920 also get the job done. It's a matter of stock and price at this point, many vendors upped their prices by 100% and more on those cams; costs: 60-??? (that's what they cost last year, this year they probably doubled)
4. some DSLR or mirrorless camera. Canon and Fuji released a software that will allow most of their cams to be used as webcams without the need of a capture card/box. Saves you ~100 bucks or more (again, availability is an issue, look for Elgato or AVerMedia stuff if you do need a capture card). The supported Canon and Fuji cams go directly into your video conference app of choice (or into OBS), with a capture card you have to go via OBS; costs: 300-??? (camera) + 80-??? (capture card if needed)

On 7/14/2020 at 4:27 AM, LordHiler said:

No plan for the mic beyond finding something used. No plan for lighting at all. 

Sound in my opinion is the most important thing with all these video conferences and even more so with videos. A choppy video quality is one thing, it can be tolerated and sometimes it might not even matter at all, poor sound quality makes me want to switch it off within seconds.

 

5 options here

1. internal mic of your XPS - will work but won't be good
2. analog mic that uses analog audio jack inputs (that is if there are any on your XPS) - quality is probably not that great but at least an improvement, you can get closer to the mic (always good) but the internal audio circuit is usually not that great and there aren't really that many good or decent mics available with regular audio jacks unless they're intended to be used with smartphones; costs: 50-??? bucks
3. USB mics - they cost more, have usually a solid to even good (for the money) audio quality but if one part breaks they're garbage and there can be some driver issues, you're also limited to the mics gain levels which I found to be sometimes quite too low (for me this was the case with the Snowball - really didn't like it, the drivers were a mess and the gain was too low); costs: 100-??? bucks
4. some XLR mic and a mic preamp - surely the priciest option but also with the best quality for the money, you could upgrade if needed and the mic preamps / external audio interfaces usually also have a headphone amp built in - nice addon; costs: 50-???? (mic) + 70-???? (audio interface)
5. Some headset - varrying audio quality from terrible to sort of usable but not great for the money.

 

Audio is a very individual and personal thing and preferences varry. I recommend the YouTube channel Podcastage to find a mic you like. 

 

If you don't use a lavalier mic you should invest in a boom arm and ideally a shock mount. It keeps your desk free of clutter, absorbs annoying shocks (putting your hands down, dropping a pen, typing, putting down a glas ...). Can be had for like 20-30 bucks onwards.

On 7/14/2020 at 4:27 AM, LordHiler said:

Some lights

Some generic LED panel from ebay. I have a Viltrox one with adjustable white balance and optional battery mount for like 30-40 bucks from ebay. Gets the job done. Your video quality very much depends on lighting

 

On 7/14/2020 at 4:27 AM, LordHiler said:

Necessary software???

OBS. It's very powerful especially for a) recording b) managing different inputs c) having control over the compression settings and it is also necessary when using a capture card.