Equipping a Studio for Web Video Production: Three Models to Match Your Budget

The $15,000 Webcast Studio

The middle $15,000 option allows a lot more budget room to add capabilities and flexibility that is much needed when your boss gets it and gives you a proper entry-level budget to start with. But that money goes quickly, and even with this larger budget, I still have to accept a few trade-offs.

Cameras

The HD-SDI vs. HDMI decision is one that will cost me $1,000 extra on the camera side (given that I’m going to a 2-camera setup), but I’m building a professional studio and my video switcher selection dictates that my cameras need HD-SDI outputs. Two Canon XA25s will fit the bill and the budget nicely at $2,499 each.

Camera Support, Audio, and Lighting

I’ll stick with the same Manfrotto 502HD tripod and Adorama Flashpoint softbox 2-light kit, but will need two of each this time.

Instead of the single-channel Shure PG lavaliere system, I’ll opt for the dual channel Shure BLX188 wireless lav system (Figure 6, below) with a slightly larger single-base station that receives the transmission from both wireless lav mics in this set-up. The dual-channel system saves me $50 over two single-channel systems and seeing I’m sticking with a budget, every little bit helps. It also ads a frequency scan feature to help avoid busy RF frequencies.

Figure 6. The Shure BLX188 dual-channel wireless lav system

Webcast Encoder and Editing System

Honestly it is too complicated in this scenario or the next to design a computer build that is appropriate for webcasting as there are so many options in processors, CPUs, RAM, motherboards, graphics cards, and deciding if you are going to use an internal (PCIe) video capture card or an external USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt one. Likewise, discussing Windows vs. Mac or laptop vs. desktop vs. workstation would require their own articles. So I’m going to design this build to not require a computer-based webcast encoder, and stick with the Teradek VidiU I suggested in the $5K build.

If you do want to go the webcast encoding computer route then you will want to check out Videoguys.com and their DIY video editing builds. They have specifically been designed for video editing, but when you add a video capture card, the latest builds will be more than sufficient for your webcasting needs. I personally use the Teradek Cube 155 as my secondary encoder, but I couldn’t squeeze that encoder into this budget.

I also built my own webcast encoder in late 2012 with a Core i5 CPU for a little more than the VidiU. It’s usually my primary encoder. I would share the exact build but my decisions were based on value/performance trade-offs calculated in December 2012, and many of the components might potentially cost more today than a newer and faster current component. Instead, I will share a few tips I have learned over the years when building my own video editing systems.

I don’t often start with the case, but my latest one gives me reason to. I wanted my webcast encoder to be portable because I need it for field work, and it gets moved frequently. I actually rebuilt my system in mid-2013 when I upgraded the case to the Corsair Vengeance C70 mid-tower gaming case. What sold me was the pair of solid steel handles mounted to the top of the frame. Few cases come with handles, and I was constantly afraid of dropping my webcast encoder as I bear-hugged it when moving it in its old case.

Ultimately, the video capture card is what differentiates a computer from a webcast encoder, but you don’t need to spend a lot to add that functionality. Blackmagic Design makes the $145 DeckLink Mini Recorder for HD-SDI inputs, or the $199 Intensity Pro if your workflow terminates with an HDMI output—but ours doesn’t.

USB 3.0 is pretty-much standard in new computers but Thunderbolt isn’t, although a TB upgrade opens a lot of possibilities as so much professional video gear is built around this connection standard.

Subscriptions

I’m not going to change my $99/mo Ustream Silver package selection in this package, but I will increase my Adobe subscription to the full $49.99/mo Creative Cloud membership so that I can benefit from Photoshop, which I’ll use to create my lower third-titles and graphics via a Photoshop plug-in with my video switcher.

SD Cards and Batteries

The number of Sony SD cards and Rechargeable Ansmann 9V batteries I require will increase from 2 to 4 as I move to a two-camera setup, but I’m going to compromise by not upgrading the battery charger to a model that supports 4 batteries at a time as I intend on using only two at a time and keeping the other two as spares.

Video Switcher

The $15,000 budget level allows us to expand our webcasts to two-camera production, which means we’ll need a video switcher. My selection for the video switcher is the ATEM 1 M/E 4K Production Studio for $2,495 (Figure 7, below). I chose it over the ATEM Television Studio because it lacks any Aux outputs and doesn’t support 1080p frame rates, while the ATEM Production Studio 4K lacks DVE effects and I at least want the ability to offer PiP effects, although flying-in stinger transitions can be a nice touch too for a little sizzle factor.

Figure 7. ATEM 1 M/E 4K Production Studio

The 1 M/E 4K is a 10-channel switcher with 10 available for HD-SDI and with a single input switchable to HDMI. I’ll use the HDMI for my computer input and this switcher has room to grow with my production needs as we move to 1080p webcasting and even 4K switching. At a later date I can add on tally and intercom systems from the Blackmagic Design line if I can get more funding.

In order to generate graphics for lower-third titles, I’ll connect a laptop to the ATEM’s network and use the Adobe Photoshop plugin to add the graphics to the ATEM’s media pool. This expanded network will require a simple network switch—I’m going to have to steal one from IT as I didn’t leave any room in the budget for one. I’m going to budget $899 for a Lenovo Y510P laptop (Figure 8, below) for the graphics server and for later video editing with Premiere Pro.

Figure 8. Lenovo Y510P laptop

Your mileage will vary—at the time of this writing, Lenovo offered its 59401512 model with a $470 discount and it features a fourth-generation i7 4700MQ processor, 1920x1080 display, GT750M graphics card, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and a 24GB mSATA SSD cache. I like this model for its backlit keyboard, which important when you dim your studio lights but need to keep working. When it comes to buying a laptop for video production (or, really, any computer for any purpose), one simple lesson applies: Watch, wait, and buy when on sale.

The video switcher will be operated using the included Blackmagic Software Control Panel and I budgeted $499 for the ASUS VivoBook Q200E-BSi3T08. It has a core i3 processor, the requisite Ethernet port required to join the ATEM network, and a small 11.6" multi-touch display. Normally, I would want a higher-resolution display than the 1366x768 the VivoBook offers, but that happens to be the exact size of the software control panel window that refuses to scale or go full screen, so additional resolution would be wasted. The touchscreen allows the technical director of the webcast to choose whether to use the keyboard shortcuts or the touchscreen when switching.

This webcast setup also requires a third, entry-level $300 laptop to play back computer presentations. I’m not going to suggest a specific model, but any laptop onto which you can load a PowerPoint viewer or Office 365 subscription (not budgeted) will do. Alternatively, you can run the computer presentation from the Lenovo laptop by exporting the slides as still images and adding them to the media pool. This is also a useful way to add webcast holding slides that may not be part of the regular slide deck of your presenter.

Multiviewer

For a multiviewer (to view all of your video and media sources as you switch between them), I’m going to suggest the Dell U2713HM monitor. For me, this 27" 2560x1440 resolution monitor hits the sweet spot of price-to-performance trade-offs. It isn’t a color grading monitor, but it comes pre-calibrated and is better than your typical computer monitor or HDTV. As with the Lenovo laptop, watch for when Dell puts this model on sale. I bought mine for under $600, although I did find one at B&H for only $619.99.

Soundboard

Finally, for audio, seeing as you have more than a single audio source, you will need a soundboard. I selected the Behringer Xenyx 1204USB model for $159.99 (Figure 9, below). I like it for its 12-segment stereo LED meters so you can have a visual representation of your audio levels and make sure they're just right, and a compressor for every input so you have more tools to deal with speakers who constantly alternate between their indoor and outdoor voices. The mute button for each input is also a nice feature.

Figure 9. The Behringer Xenyx 1204USB soundboard

This soundboard’s USB output capabilities allow you to use the soundboard with your expensive microphones in case you’re required to do a low-tech Skype or Google hangouts chat. That said, you’d be limited to your laptop’s webcam, as you’d need a USB-compliant video camera signal to work with those consumer chat services, so you may want to revisit the Logitech C920 webcam I mentioned in the $5K build if you need to do these sorts of webcasts.

Total Cost

Total cost of this studio build is $15,476.74. I would have come in under budget had I not forgotten, until late in the process, to budget for an archive recorder. The $1,295 Atomos Samurai Blade (Figure 10, below) edges out the Odyssey 7 in this decision because it can use less expensive spinning-disk hard drives instead of SSDs. Plan on $79.99 for a 1TB HGST.

Figure 10. Atomos’ Samurai Blade archive recorder

I wasn’t able to keep this one within budget so there is no room for set decoration, a backdrop, or a rackmount case for the video switcher—and somehow I forgot to budget for HD-SDI cables that you will need to connect your cameras to your switcher.