If you’re ready to take the plunge and set up a simple TV production studio, here’s some basic info to get you started.

You have tons of possibilities. A video production studio can be a permanent fixture in your home, yet the same equipment is 100% portable in case you want to cover the county fair. Many people operate businesses taping weddings and graduations with these kinds of studios. Such a set-up would be perfect for an Internet business for product demonstration.

The overall price could be quite inexpensive if you opt for using what is essentially an adapted security camera system. I’ve seen $400 security camera systems meant for home use that would work for some video production applications.

On the other hand, a well-equipped, fully functional yet simple professional studio could add up to $70,000. Depends on what you want and how much money you have.
To qualify as a video production “studio,” we’re going to assume at least three cameras.

Today, the Blessed Angels in engineering have actually devised virtually wireless studios, a production gal’s dream come true. You can have both wireless microphone systems and wireless video systems.

Imagine this one difference in covering a high school football game: Three cameras free to set-up anywhere in the stadium. Camera operators could even move around if need be! Three stationary cameras tethered to cables that can’t stray too far from the switcher because:

Your cables aren’t that long and You don’t have ten rolls of duct tape. (Ya gotta duct tape your cables down real well or else people will trip.
People will injure themselves. People will sue. After they yell at you. Don’t forget to go to Wal-Mart and get more duct tape.)

Yeah, wireless studios are a technological wonder if you ask little ole me.

Today’s computer systems used for studio production often knock the socks off the separate components traditionally needed for video production studios. Anytime you can condense of eliminate equipment, you have made studio video production cheaper and easier.

Monitors can be part of your switcher and ten different types of graphics generators and system control functions can be run by one computer instead of twenty gizmos connected with a mass of cable spaghetti. As technology improves, so does the ease of creating a TV studio.

Most studios have at least three cameras. With vigorous and quick camera operators, three cameras can be made to look like a thousand.

The cameras don’t have to be the same kind, but they usually are. To connect it all up together, make sure you have all necessary and compatible cables that match the video output connectors. Before you buy anything, draw it all out to make sure everything is easily compatible. Study the back side of all your components for that info.

Make sure you get a switcher that can handle the number of video inputs you want to handle and the type of signal.

Generally, all the cameras in a studio are on large, studio mounts that can glide quickly and easily across the floor, but aren’t meant to be picked up and hauled to a room down the street.

But if a $25 tripod from Wal-Mart is what you have, go for it.

Big-budget studios have cranes and all kinds of awesome gizmos to hang cameras from the ceiling or swoop in a 360 degree arc to create a visual thrill. Next time you watch the open for Oprah you’ll see what I mean.

A low budget studio can still hang lights or cameras from just about any ceiling if you buy small mount adaptors that can be easily slipped under tile ceiling framework. These ceiling mounts let you hang lights, cameras, or microphones in out-of-the-way spots. Great for that high-angle wide-shot or a hair-enhancing halo back light.

If you have wireless system, think about making one camera a roving handheld. It can greatly increase your visual possibilities.

A fully- staffed yet small studio is set up with the following basic positions:

• A director who usually operates the video switcher and takes charge of the production via the off-camera audio headset system.
• Audio guy operating the audio switcher and mixing every audio source
• A graphics machine operator
• Camera operators on each camera
• A crew manager
• Tape deck operators
• Assistants and gofers as needed
• On-camera people

Various people on that staff list can easily be eliminated or replaced by robots if necessary. Camera operators aren’t really necessary with the style of many shows. Many network news studios no longer use camera operators. I’ve done small budget shows where I was every behind-the-scenes job description listed!

It was easy. The studio was already set up

• I locked down all the cameras into a standard shot I could easily repeat
• I set all the microphones
• I rolled a tape to begin the show
• Counted down the talent
• Sat down and switched the show

Even though camera people are the first ones on the street when a studio downsizes, that’s actually to the determent of the production. Remember, visual variety creates viewer excitement so the best productions get every shot imaginable. If you can afford more than three cameras, have at it! Extra cameras just add to your fun and creative potential. They use up to seventy cameras to cover the Super Bowl, the mother of all video field productions.

If you're a small operation, get by without camera people or those expensive robots so hated by labor unions. Lock down all your cameras on logical shots and repeat them. In between shots, sneak up to one of the cameras, change it quietly, sneak back to the switcher and punch up your new shot!

Video Switcher: This is the jewel that eliminates hours and hours of editing! It allows you to edit your show live, on the fly instead of piecing it together later. A video switcher is set up to have every video input in the studio running into it. All of your cameras, all of your graphics generators, all of your tape decks are fed into your switcher. A large switcher might have forty, sixty, eighty video inputs.

Small ones have four inputs, which was plenty for the small studio I ran when I taught high school TV production. Most small video switchers also accept four audio inputs. They’re priced from about $1,000 to $6,000 and on up.

For the big guys, satellite signals, cameras thousands of miles away, any video signal can be inputted into a video switcher if you've got the proper gadgets and gizmos.

The director operates the switcher, punching buttons and turning knobs on its large flat surface to control which video signal is seen and when. The viewer sees whatever video input the director wants them to and that's shown on a monitor set directly in front of the director. This is the output monitor connected to the output of your switcher.

The switcher can cut or dissolve between two signals or add any one of a zillion transition wipes.

The video switcher also mixes together all the elements you need for a chroma-key, or the green screen effect.

A switcher performs color adjustments and digital effects. In essence, your switcher is the heart of your studio.

A more sophisticated switcher can also put multiple signals on the screen at once. For example, during a wedding you have a close-up of the bride, a close-up of the groom, and an extreme close up of the ring all on the screen at once. At the bottom of the screen you could add "Jennifer & Bill, 2007.”

Audio Switcher

Many studios have an audio switcher in addition to a video switcher, but you can buy units that combine the two functions.

Studio video production involves mixing multiple microphones and other audio sources like CD players, audio from a video or DVDs, into one audio switcher that is manned by an audio specialist. This person mixes the audio sources and turns them on and off at the appropriate times.

The output of the audio switcher should be viewer ready.

Monitors

Studios have tons of monitors. Generally, every video source has to have its own monitor. Preview monitors. Output monitors. The plethora of monitors can cause a stranger to the studio to go gaa-gaa but one you get it all straight in your head it makes sense. Each camera will be hooked up to a monitor in the control room. The studio camera operator doesn’t look at the monitor; she looks at the camera viewfinder.

Lights

Professional studios have concrete ceilings with a heavy metal grid attached. High wattage lights are hooked to the grid and plugged into the ceiling. This can be cost prohibitive for the small guy, not to mention a fire hazard unless you're wired especially for this type of heavy-duty application. So you might want to consider using portables. You'll have more cables snaking the floor and portables take up valuable space, but you'll save a bundle.

My high school TV production studio wouldn’t pass fire codes so we couldn’t use grid lights!

Portables are much more practical for a small operation, especially if you also do remote shoots. Most of your portable lights will be set up on collapsible stands, but you can easily hang small light fixtures from just about any ceiling if you find the right ceiling mount. I used to carry one that wasn’t too much bigger than a finger when it was collapsed.

As technology improves, video production equipment used for mobile studios gets more and more integrated. More versatile and more functional. If you’re a lover of electronic gadgets, video production is a great obsession!

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