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How I Built A YouTube Studio in a Tiny Room

2024-11-19 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 31:35 · watch on YouTube

Topic: YouTube, writing online and creators · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough · tags: Sponsor segment present, Family

After moving to Hong Kong, Ali turns a room of about 2.5 by 2.9 metres into a YouTube studio, mostly from IKEA stock: camera into a corner with a 24mm lens, window light plus a soft light at 45 degrees, a rug against echo, a plant, lamp and bookshelf in the background, and a Manfrotto Auto Pole for the light and an overhead rig.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hong Kong move, the small room, and the Part-Time YouTuber Academy plug

  • ★★★ Ali has just moved to Hong Kong and has to turn a pretty small room there into a YouTube studio; this Creator Club episode shows the process. — 00:00:00

00:01:06 — The room, camera position into the corner, the 24mm lens

  • ★★ Ali's Hong Kong studio room is about 2.5 metres wide and 2.9 metres long, the smallest studio he has worked with, as space is at a premium in Hong Kong. — 00:01:06
  • ★★ The first thing Ali decides when setting up a studio is the camera position; he generally prefers to shoot into the corner of a room, which he finds more interesting than straight on. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ A blurry background is a big part of what makes a YouTube studio look good, Ali says, and the more distance from the camera to the back wall, the blurrier it looks. — 00:02:00
  • ★★★ Ali films close to the camera with a 24mm lens because he wants his videos to feel up close and friendly; a 50mm, 85mm or longer lens makes you look like a MasterClass presenter or a newsreader. — 00:03:27
  • ★★ After breaking a fancy 24mm G Master lens that cost about $2,000, Ali bought a cheap 24mm Viltrox prime lens on Amazon for about $200, saying no one can tell the difference. — 00:03:56 · Amazon

00:04:20 — Riverside sponsor read

00:05:40 — Natural window light, the camera angle, an IKEA chair and desk, no ceiling lights

  • ★★ Ali films with natural window light although it shifts with the weather: he is not after a professional shoot and likes the natural, vibey look. — 00:06:10
  • ★★★ A big part of Ali's philosophy of YouTube: if he designs a studio and filming setup he actually wants to be in, he is much more likely to film videos, which matters more than perfect light. — 00:06:10 · feel-good productivity (concept)
  • ★★ Furniture such as a Herman Miller chair would take weeks to months to arrive in Hong Kong, so Ali and his wife built the studio from what IKEA Hong Kong had in stock that day. — 00:07:28
  • ★★★ Ali's big tip for filming at home: never use the lights built into your house, such as yellow ceiling lights, because they are generally awful. — 00:09:14

00:09:55 — Free YouTube email crash course plug

00:10:19 — A rug against echo

  • ★★ Good sound is one of the big things in a YouTube video, Ali says: echo comes from sound bouncing off hard surfaces, and soft things such as a rug absorb it. — 00:10:19
  • ★★ Before he had a rug, Ali cut echo when filming by laying his duvet on the floor out of shot and putting pillows in the corners of the room, which made a noticeable difference. — 00:10:48

00:12:29 — Background: plant, lamp and bookshelf

  • ★★★ Ali's general philosophy of YouTube backgrounds is three things, a plant, a lamp and a bookshelf: with them you can't really go wrong, though you don't need all three. — 00:12:29

    “three things, plant, lamp, and bookshelf”

  • ★★ Ali sets up the camera angle before arranging a studio, because you never know what things look like until the camera angle is set. — 00:13:24

  • ★★ Ali's rule of thumb for a filming setup: don't let things in the background sprout from your body; keep the space around you in the centre of the frame relatively clear, though not as a hard and fast rule. — 00:13:24
  • ★ Lamps are one of Ali's favourite things to add to a studio setup because they look really nice. — 00:14:05
  • ★ Ali goes for a light-coloured wood look in his studio; he doesn't like a dark, moody look for YouTube studios. — 00:15:53

00:17:14 — An artificial light at 45 degrees

  • ★★ A window plus an artificial light is generally better than a window alone, Ali says, and the light lets him film at night, when he often runs workshops. — 00:17:14
  • ★★ Ali likes the Amaran F22X light because it folds down and travelled with him as a digital nomad, and prefers it to the Aputure 120D because its thin softbox suits small spaces better than the big light dome. — 00:17:40
  • ★★ Ali places his soft light at about 45 degrees to his face, which lights one side and gives a slightly dramatic shadow on the other. — 00:18:57
  • ★★ Even with a big window light, adding an artificial light makes a noticeable difference and makes the shot look way more professional, Ali says. — 00:19:50
  • ★ When shooting in a completely dark room, Ali would also add a fill light to fill in the shadows. — 00:20:35

00:21:04 — The Manfrotto Auto Pole, super clamps and the overhead rig

  • ★★★ In a small room such as his two-by-three-metre studio, Ali says a Manfrotto Auto Pole is really good: it holds his light and his overhead camera rig instead of tripod legs and C-stands all over the floor. — 00:21:59
  • ★★ Ali is renting his place in Hong Kong rather than buying, because buying a place there is insanely expensive. — 00:22:26
  • ★★ Most studios probably don't need an overhead camera rig, Ali says, but he likes having one in his. (hedged) — 00:24:21

00:27:19 — Displate posters

  • ★★ Ali likes Displate posters (not a sponsor): they are metal with a matte finish, so there is little light glare, and magnetic, so you need not drill holes in the wall. — 00:27:19

00:28:43 — Microphone and the books on the bookshelf

  • ★★ Books on Ali's studio bookshelf include Harvard Business Review Press's Emotional Intelligence books, The Happiness of Pursuit, The Power of Now, Oneness with All Life, A New Earth, and Self-Care for Everyone (as heard), which his wife wanted. — 00:29:13
  • ★★ Also on Ali's studio bookshelf: Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks, which he calls fantastic, and Meditations for Mortals, not yet read; the Gottmans' The Love Prescription, which he wants to read; Build the Life You Want, which he calls quite good; The Daily Dad; You Are Here; The Book of Chuang Tzu; and Izzy's Zen, The Simple Art of Living (as heard). — 00:29:38 · Ryan Holiday
  • ★★ Ali says he wants to be a dad someday and is getting a head start by reading Ryan Holiday's The Daily Dad. — 00:29:38 · Ryan Holiday
  • ★★ Ali's studio bookshelf also holds Cal Newport's Time Block Planner, which he has been keen to try for a while, and Sun Tzu's The Art of War. — 00:30:14 · Cal Newport

00:31:01 — Outro filmed weeks later

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Hong Kong · IKEA · Manfrotto Auto Pole

Also: People: Arthur Brooks · Cal Newport · Chris Guillebeau · Izzy Sealey · John Gottman · Julie Gottman · Oliver Burkeman · Oprah Winfrey · Ryan Holiday · Sun Tzu · Thich Nhat Hanh

Projects: Creator Club

Works: A New Earth · Build the Life You Want · Four Thousand Weeks · Meditations for Mortals · Oneness with All Life · The 7 Day Love Prescription · The Art of War · The Book of Chuang Tzu · The Daily Dad · The Happiness of Pursuit · The Power of Now · You Are Here

Organizations: Amazon · Displate · Harvard Business Review · Herman Miller · MasterClass

Concepts: digital nomad

Products: Amaran F22x · Aputure 120D Mark II · Aputure Light Dome II · Aputure MC · IKEA Fejka · Manfrotto Super Clamp · Philips Hue · Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master · Sony A7S III · Time Block Planner · Viltrox 24mm f1.8

Also centred on Hong Kong: I Got Married and Moved to Hong Kong! (Life Update)

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