You don’t need a huge budget to produce high-quality live videos and compete with big corporations. In fact, you can create fantastic live videos on ANY budget, today!
From product demonstrations and webinars to remote meetings and virtual training sessions, live video production can be the fall of many small businesses. Since virtual presentation is a crucial part of today’s business world, this is often where it gets nearly impossible to compete with giant corporations, budgets, and productions. Or, at least, that’s what many people think. But, we are here to tell you otherwise. In this blog post, you will learn how to leverage the resources you already have to produce high-quality live videos on any budget.
Want all the live video tools you need? Check out ManyCam today and download it for free!
What separates high-quality live videos from the rest?
Unlike videos on demand, live videos allow for real-time interaction and engagement. Regardless of the budget, the host must constantly interact with the viewers to establish a relationship with them. A few ways to interact are through:
- Q&A moments (questions and answers)
- Polls
- Raise of hands
- Ice breakers
This relies on the presenter’s ability to captivate the audience and drive engagement. Unfortunately, many people overlook this, and it could be the single reason why their live videos don’t perform well.
But, this isn’t why you are here, is it? The question of how we can compete with the big-budget live video productions remains.
Key Components of Video
There are three main components that we have to take into account when producing live videos:
- Image quality
- Audio quality
- Lighting
These components can be drastically improved through minor adjustments without spending $40,000 on a camera.
Image Quality
There are fantastic webcams nowadays capable of capturing in Full HD and even 4k. Contrary to popular belief, they cost less than $100 and will deliver great quality video for your live video conferences and streams.
But how about spending zero dollars and using the resources you already have?
The majority of recent smartphones have excellent built-in cameras, and you can use them to your advantage. With ManyCam, you can connect them as your webcam to any video calling app, stream, or platform.
Plus, this means you don’t have to be stuck to your desk throughout your presentation. More on that later.
Audio Quality
High-quality audio is crucial to retain viewers’ attention and interest. The best way to ensure that is to find a quiet location and use a lapel mic. It will cost you around $15, and we highly recommend the investment. You can also use your phone’s microphone, but the quality might vary.
The lapel mic can be connected to your computer or phone and then linked to ManyCam so that you can use it on any platform.
Lighting
Most people take for granted how vital lighting actually is to video production. So, here is something to keep in mind: an “okay camera” can produce excellent results with the proper lighting, while the best possible camera will give you nothing with poor lighting.
Ideally, you would have lighting sources that you can control. For example, many video producers buy softbox lighting kits, which are lamps with diffusers attached to them. The price ranges from $50 to hundreds of dollars, but they ensure that you control the lighting’s positioning, temperature, and intensity.
More often than not, sitting near a window on a cloudy but bright day will give you the professional lighting you are looking for. Then, if you need to make adjustments, ManyCam will come in handy. It allows you to control your webcam’s brightness, contrast, and saturation.
The secret to professional live videos on any budget
Adjusting the three components will significantly affect your overall results with videos in general. But we’re not quite at the high-end level yet.
Have you noticed that huge productions always have a lot of people behind the scenes, working on different camera angles, using multiple resources as if they were in a TV newsroom production?
Well, this is precisely what you need to level up your production, minus all the people and equipment expenses.
ManyCam is built to be your very own “newsroom” video switcher. You can create your one-person show for product demos, webinars, and remote meetings with the click of a few buttons.
Multiple Scenes
To create your newsroom experience, you can add various sources to ManyCam as scenes. So, let’s say scene one is your webcam view, scene two is your PowerPoint presentation with your webcam in the corner, and your third scene is a second mobile device, like a tablet, filming a close-up shot of your product.
While live, you can transition between these scenes to engage your viewers and get your message across. You could even add a fourth scene with a pre-recorded video of customers’ testimonials. How amazing would that be?
The best part is that ManyCam is easy to use and integrates with any other software so that you can run your own show anywhere.
Picture-in-Picture Layers
Within each scene, you can add multiple layers, including images of your logo, different points of view, and speakers via an NDI® connection. This means viewers will be even more engaged, and your videos will always highlight your brand, which is critical when competing with big companies.
Remote Control
Remember we mentioned before that you don’t need to be stuck to your desk? On ManyCam, you can connect a mobile device as a remote control, which allows you to switch between your scenes (presets) without using your mouse or keyboard shortcuts.
Key Takeaway
We could go on and tell you about all the other ManyCam features that would transform your live videos, such as the crop tool with rounded corners, virtual backgrounds, lower third graphics, whiteboard, and so on. But how about you give it a try instead?
Download ManyCam for free today, connect it to any video calling or live streaming platform and boost your live production value to compete with the big brands.
