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At Home Production Guide for ATS Faculty

This guide details some best practice guidelines for creating video and audio content at home. There are also some equipment recommendations at the end that could be used to improve production as well.

Use an External Microphone (When able)

While your laptop or phone comes with a decent microphone pre-installed, there are higher quality microphones out there, some which you can get fairly cheap (I’ll mention a few at the end of this document).  However, probably the best reason to get an external microphone is so that you can be closer to the mic when you record, which leads us to our next section.

Get Close to the Microphone

The farther you are away from the microphone, the softer your voice will be recorded.  That’s pretty obvious, but your voice will also begin to become less distinct from other noises in the environment (more on this in the next section).

If you are able to get an external microphone, this can greatly assist your ability to be close to the mic.  If you have to use the built-in mic, try to be as close as you can to your laptop or phone while still maintaining the proper video composition guidelines that we covered above.

Cut out that (Background) Noise!

It is imperative to try to reduce as much extraneous noise in your recording environment as you are able.  Maybe don’t choose to record a video while a family member is next to you talking, or if you are outside and a neighbor is mowing their lawn.  But these are obvious examples.  There are more subtle noises that our ears tune out that the microphone indiscriminately picks up.  Be mindful of noisy appliances around you (air conditioner, refrigerator, etc.) and plan your recording location accordingly.