How to Build a Video Podcast Setup

Video podcasts are growing in popularity with Spotify integrating with many podcast hosting providers. Podcast video clips are often shared to social media and YouTube is encouraging podcast creators to make more video content. Should you start a video podcast or add a video component to your current show?

Well, before you invest in equipment, make sure you have the bandwidth and tools to edit a video version of your podcast. If you record using Riverside, you can actually export a high quality up to 4k video of your show with your cohost displayed side by side automatically. Plus you can export vertical clips for social media or TikTok, and we'll cover how to do that at the end of this video.

If you're ready to jump into a video podcast, here are some equipment options at starter and advanced levels for all budgets. You should also consider your recording space and whether it's conducive to quality, video and audio content. We have an entire video walking you through building out a home studio, and you can check that out at the link above.

Now, when it comes to a video podcast, you still wanna start with great audio, a quality mic with a boom arm or mic stand is necessary for any podcast, video or audio only. If you're just starting out, I highly recommend this microphone. This is the audio Technica ATR 2100 . It is a USB and XLR microphone, meaning you can connect it directly to your computer with just one cable and it has that XLR input.

If you're gonna expand, add multiple inputs at an audio interface, you'll wanna put a windscreen. You can get these on Amazon, pretty inexpensively and it'll help a lot with explosives and percussive sounds hitting the microphone too hard. For an intermediate option, I would suggest the Shure MV7, it can also connect via USB or XLR, and it has a really good sound for the price point around $250.

It's kind of the baby brother to this microphone which is the Shure SM7B. This is the microphone you see on pretty much every video podcast. If you see clips on social media, this is the microphone they're using. It's $400, but you need an expensive audio interface to really drive this microphone. So this is kind of an advanced and pro level option for your video podcast and because the microphone will be on video, you might want to consider something that looks cool or at least appeals to you.

Another advanced option is the Earthworks Ethos. I really like how this microphone looks. So if you're doing a video podcast, I think it's pretty appealing on camera, but it is pretty expensive around $750 to $800.

You don't need an expensive audio interface to run it. You can run it with a pretty simple Scarlet, two R two, or cheaper audio interface and it does sound incredible. You're also gonna need an arm to hold the microphone while you do your video podcast. This is the Rhode PSA1 arm. Having the arm means you can place the microphone where you need and if anything taps the arm, it won't get picked up by the microphone, which is really useful.

A couple other options is the Thronmax microphone arm. It has a built in XLR cable, which is really nice. Also, Elgato has a low profile arm if you're doing a video podcast and you have a desk or table, and you want that arm really close to the table and not kind of sticking out or sticking in from the side, that's another great option.

Or you can just use a floor stand microphone. You see a lot of this where people are in couches or sitting in chairs on a video podcast, and there's just a microphone staying on the floor. Now if budget allows to invest in some lighting for the video podcast, you can start with some cheaper LED lights around $30 or $40.

You can put these pretty far away from your subjects and try to light the scene again, $50, maybe get two or three, if you can, you can also use ring lights, but again, that could be pretty harsh depending on where you place those. I would recommend the Elgato key light airs. Those are great options. You can control brightness and color temperature, and you can put them just on a regular stand. And if you're looking for an advanced lighting option, I would recommend one of the Aputure 120 D lights or the Amor and 200 X with the Light Dome, the Light Dome 2, getting the larger version. We'll give you a lot of great soft light covering a larger area and if you could get two of those, so you can cover multiple guests from different, hat's really the best option for lighting your video podcast.

Then one of the most important aspects after lighting is video, how are you capturing the video of multiple in-person guests for this video podcast? You can actually use your iPhone and Riverside has a great feature called secondary camera where you can connect multiple devices in a Riverside recording and actually get all of those angles recorded.

As separate video tracks, we have a whole video explaining how to do that. You can check the link above. Maybe it's just one camera because you're recording with remote guests or you need multiple, the Sony ZV-E10 is a great option. You can actually get interchangeable lenses and it has great auto focus, which is a big deal when coming to video podcasts and you don't have someone monitoring all the cameras in the focus.

You want something with great auto focus and the Sony lineup of cameras is one of the best. The ZV-E10 can be paired with a Sigma 14 millimeter 1.4 aperture lens. That means it can do really well in low light because the aperture can open very wide. Lets lots of light. And you get a great Boca, which is that blurred background effect.

If you wanna step up and really go for the advanced level, the Lumix S5 is a good option. I love the look of that camera and the video it produces, but the auto focus can be a little unreliable, which again, you need excellent auto focus for something on video where you're not monitoring the cameras.

So for an excellent auto focus at the advanced level, you can go for the Sony A7S3, one of the industry standard video cameras and the Sony A74, which is actually what I'm using right now to record this video and would serve really well in a video podcast. And of course, for those cameras, you're gonna need tripods.