The right lighting can make all the difference between a professional-looking video and a barely visible one. Here’s how to set up your home studio with the best lighting for you so you can record impressive videos with Prezi Video.

Natural light is always the best

Laptop cameras and webcams are very sensitive to light. As a general rule of thumb, the more light you have, the better. If possible, try recording outside of the house! Outdoor lighting typically provides the best results, as long as the light isn't coming from behind you. 

When recording indoors, one of the easiest ways to get good lighting is to face a window as you record. Not only will this make your area bright enough, it’ll also help the light spread evenly on your face.

The right kind of lamp

Sometimes, however, the only option is to record inside a room that doesn’t get enough sunlight or doesn’t have any windows at all. But don’t worry - even without windows, you can still get good lighting because you probably own a lamp that would be fitting for this role. As you set up your room, also be careful to avoid the light coming from above, below or from one side and if you can, try using more than one light source.

In case you are using lamps as a light source, try to find lamps with similar light coloration - older, classic lightbulbs tend to have a more orange-like hue, newer LED-lights have a blueish coloration. But don’t worry if you can’t find two lamps with the same light color, the most important is that the audience can see you clearly. 

Another thing to consider when lighting, is brighter surfaces surrounding you - bright surfaces can bounce more light back and help brighten up your scene, darker, dull surfaces absorb more light. This can be helpful knowledge if you don’t have as many lamps at home.

Did you know?

Here's a fun fact about blue and orange lights: orange hue generally brings more warmth to the scene and has a calming vibe, whereas blue lighting is quite the opposite - it’s more distancing and stern, like a hospital’s waiting room. This however applies more to professional studio lighting situations - when building your own setup, use whatever you have at hand - if you act naturally and smile, gesture while presenting, the light color should not affect your presentation.

There's just one final thing to consider: don’t focus TOO much on the lighting details! Once you have an overall good-looking scene, try to forget about your setup and focus on your content and the audience! 

Want to learn more about Prezi Video and its features? Check out our dedicated Knowledge Base!