Embedded Files
When making a video, people sometimes get so focused on equipment that they neglect to consider the environment in which they're recording. But it is, in fact, one of the most important factors to keep in mind.
It is also one of the hardest to control. In New York especially, space is at a premium, background noise is ubiquitous, and finding a space with optimal recording conditions can be virtually impossible.
This is assuming you can record in a consistent space, which often won't be possible, thus severely limiting the amount of equipment you can set up and leave in place.
Even allowing for these compromises, a solid understanding of the ways your recording environment impacts your final video will help you select the best available space and make adjustments when you record that can immensely improve your recording.
Sound concerns
Sound concerns
Background sounds
Background sounds
Sound is one of the most difficult elements to control outside of a studio environment. Microphones pick up a tremendous amount of background noise. In fact, far more than you may realize, since most of the audio you may hear as part of your normal, day-to-day communications--like phone calls, Zoom video conferences, or FaceTime--has already been processed to clean it up a bit. And in person, people normally filter out much of the background noise that would otherwise interfere with a recording.
A quick exercise:
Take a moment right now to sit silently and really pay attention to the sounds going on around you. Most likely, you will realize there's far more happening than you were aware of. If you're in a city, there'll be traffic sounds, sirens, perhaps people walking by and speaking in an adjacent hallway. If you're in the country, there may be birds and wind moving through the trees. And indoors there are myriad contemporary sounds, ranging from air conditioners to refrigerators to water running through pipes.
Its easy to miss these when you're focused on other things. But these are all sounds that an unfiltered microphone will pick up.
You won't be able to eliminate all the sounds around you, but you will want to structure your recording to minimize them as much as possible. If you use raw audio in your recording, then it will be very easy to hear things in the background. Modern audio processing doesn't offer a free lunch either. It can do a very effective job of removing background sounds, but usually at the cost of reducing the quality of your own voice. The less background noise you start with, the better.
Keep these things in mind and adjust for them as much as you possibly can when you record. If you know a location is near a lot of background activity, for example, you may want to find another place entirely.
Even when you don't have much choice in selecting your environment, there are things you can do to help improve your audio:
Close windows.
Turn off appliances or devices that make a lot of noise like air conditioners.
Getting a high-quality microphone and properly placing it can significantly reduce the presence of background sounds relative to your own voice. We will discuss that more in the Audio section.
Room acoustics
Room acoustics
Another thing to keep in mind is the acoustics of the room you are recording it. This can make a huge difference in the quality of your sound.
In general, bare rooms with parallel walls and hard surfaces will produce a lot more reverberance. Bathrooms are notorious for this; not that that would normally be the first choice for a recording.
In contrast, rooms with softer surfaces like carpeting or a significant amount of drapery--or just more furniture in general--tend to dissipate sound and result in less echo and reverb.
While it is possible to treat a room to minimize this, that is outside of the scope of most home recording setups. Nonetheless, this is something to remain aware of. It can inform what room you choose to record in.
Appearance
Appearance
Last, but not least, if you will be using a camera, you will want to pay attention to your background. This will have a big impact on the look and feel of your video. You will want to avoid distracting elements and tidy things up to make sure there's no clutter.
It is possible to replace your background in some software, but this can come across as artificial, so if you do happen to have a good looking location, it may be worth including it.
As we will discuss in the Lighting section, the light available in your room is also very important. This is especially true because you are unlikely to have much lighting equipment to significantly change the nature of the room overall.
If it is a location you intend to use repeatedly, consider how consistent its appearance will be, and whether that might pose problems over the course of multiple recordings.
Page updated
Report abuse