And Not Only!

Have you ever thought about creating videos, be it for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or any other social media platform? You’re in the right place because, in this article, I will be talking about the basic tools you need to make a start.

Before we begin, I would like to take this moment to reintroduce myself, I’m Dom and I run the Tech With Dom blog and YouTube channel where I review and talk about my experiences with tech and productivity.

When starting up, I don’t really recommend spending a huge amount of money on expensive gear, after all, you don’t know how successful your idea will be. I uploaded my first video around 5 years ago but it wasn’t until around 2 years ago that I started getting serious about it and as a small creator with just above 2000 subscribers, I still haven’t invested in expensive gear such as a decent camera, and that’s where I want to start…

You don’t need an expensive camera for starting up!

Many of us have already got a decent camera at our disposal without even knowing it, yes I am referring to our smartphones! Smartphone cameras have advanced a long way over the years and are perfect for starting out.

On the other hand, if you already have a proper camera, such as a DSLR at your disposal, then you are ahead. If you haven’t already, I recommend learning to use it to get the best picture quality out of it you can.

No matter what you have, the trick is to always use the best of what you already have. So if like me, you record your footage using your smartphone, the camera at the back of your phone is usually the better one so use that one. Make sure your settings are set to the highest possible, to give you the best picture quality.

At present, I mainly record footage using my Google Pixel 6 Pro, which already has a pretty good camera, I mainly record using the back camera but from time to time I also record using the front camera. Both offer good quality footage, but there is a difference between using the front and rear cameras.

Sound is everything – Invest in a good microphone!

Okay, maybe I over-exaggerated, the sound isn’t absolutely everything, but it definitely does make a difference for the viewer. Look at it this way, poorer picture quality can be forgiven, whereas poorer sound quality can’t.

I mean if you are watching a video with bad sound quality, you are more likely to find another video with better sound quality. 

The good news is that modern smartphones have pretty decent mics, so the quality shouldn’t be unlistenable, but it doesn’t cost much to invest in a better mic. I currently use the Boya BY-M1 lavalier microphone, which you just clip onto your shirt. 

Priced at around £15, the Boya BY-M1 is a really good mic, used by many content creators including myself. Till today, it was probably one of my best investments for YouTube, you can really hear the quality!

When buying microphones for your smartphone, there is one thing you have to bear in mind and that one thing is your connection. Most mics come with a 3.5 mm jack, therefore you will need an adapter. As I’m using the Pixel 6 Pro, I use a USB-C to 3.5 mm jack converter. I found that this Samsung one works great. If you using an iPhone, then I recommend this original lightning to 3.5 mm from Apple.

Get a tripod!

I can’t stress this enough, get a tripod! Any cheap tripods will do when you’re starting out, you can always buy a better one later. I still have my original tripod which I use for lighting and travel as it’s pretty compact. 

The tripod I started out with is the Amazon Basics 127-cm which is actually a very good, budget-friendly tripod! Priced just below £20, it’s actually one of my favourite tripods too! Not only is it lightweight, but it’s also perfect to put in your backpack due to its compact size.

Since we’re talking about tripods, you also need a way to mount your phone onto the tripod. There are two tools I highly recommend purchasing, starting with this Neewer bracket which allows you to switch your phone from vertical to horizontal. This is ideal for recording shorts and standard YouTube videos.

It’s also a good idea to buy a frame such as this Ulanzi U-Rig, which allows you to attach accessories such as lighting or even a shotgun microphone. This rig really is a good buy, I primarily record using this as it’s just so convenient.

Light – Make sure you have enough of it!

Lighting can also make a huge difference, Personally, I recommend recording in front of a Window, with the light shining on you. It’s a good and cheap way of getting enough light in your video without spending any money.

If you prefer to get a dedicated light I recommend getting at least one softbox, it really will make a difference! Now if you have decided to purchase the Ulanzi U-Rig, you can actually attach lights to that! I would recommend getting at least one of these lights by Neewer.

Now, I have recommended a few products by Neewer, but no, I’m not sponsored by them or any brand I mention in this article, they are just brands that I have tried and tested and know to be of good quality.

Since we’re talking about lighting, I also recommend getting some sort of coloured light for your backdrop, it makes it look, just a little bit exciting. At present, I use this lighting kit quite a lot in my videos. I find that it really can make a dull background look more exciting.

Summary

Hopefully, you managed to gain a better understanding of the tools you should be thinking about using for your videos. Now, all of these tools combined can cost a lot of money, which is why I don’t recommend purchasing them all at once. I gathered the tools I mentioned in this article over a long period of time.

If I was to start out today, the only things I would be looking to get are a tripod, a mount for my phone and maybe a better mic. I would then slowly build from there.

There are other things that I find useful, such as the ability to read scripts. Whenever I use scripts, I have my iPad in sight so that I am able to provide better information. But, we’ll go into more detail about that in a later article.