Which Teleprompter or Autocue should you Hire?

Choosing between a dedicated professional Teleprompter/ Autocue or a system that uses an iPad will be your first decision and then choosing the correct screen size are the two main factors that will influence the perfect model for your production  

So firstly you need to decide if using an iPad or dedicated system is right for your needs with our iPad solution you will need to download an APP from the Apple App store see below for our top choices in the software to use once you have this in hand you will need to copy your scripts across to the App on your iPad and then get started controlling the speed and direction with a remote control connected to the iPad the downfall here is that only the talent can see the script and therefore only the talent can control the speed and any editing that needs to be done means stopping the shoot and accessing the iPad to edit, change or modify the scripts which can become a challenge

The other option available is a dedicated prompting system for which you will need to connect a Windows or Mac based laptop via a HDMI cable to the monitor on the Autocue or Teleprompter again  you will need to get your software loaded again see below for the best available options the benefits here over an iPad solution are massive the assistant can control the speed of the text whilst viewing what the talent is viewing on the laptop screen as you can see in the picture of our team delivering a green screen presentation this also allows for easy script edits and loading of additional scripts there is hardly any difference in costs and the benefits of using a dedicated system far outweigh any small savings when using an iPad based prompter if you need a MacBook with the software installed to go with your Prompter then head over here to our Apple Mac Hire section

 Size is the next key consideration and biggest is not always best in the case of the perfect Teleprompter or Autocue the equation to get right here is to have a comfortable amount of text on screen that is easily viewable with out the talent needed to read left to right or down the page so if you are filming a talking heads interview then a 7″ solution is perfect like you can see in the picture above being used by our presenter Flick the system being used is an SSP7 with a 7 inch screen perfect for delivering green screen content if you are filming multiple talent or need to be more than a meter and a half away from the subjects then a 10″ system is perfect for distances of 2 meters to 4 meters from the subject and again a jump up to a 15″ system for the optimal distance of between 4 and 6 meters from the subject so you see how it works the closer the talent will be to the camera the smaller the screen size required to ensure the talents eyes are not darting around viewing the scripts and the further away the talent is the bigger the screen required so the talent can still read the text displayed so if you are filming talent close up and you use a 10″ or 15″ screen the result will be talents eyes obviously reading scripts across the oversized screen

So in summary choose between an iPad or dedicated system bearing in mind the limitations as highlighted above and choose the size that will work best for you, simple head shot of talent within a meter and a half of the cametra a  7″ system like the SSP7 multiple talent or talent at between one and a half meters and four meters the 10″ screen size and for distances greater than four meters from the camera or with multiple talent then the 15″ screen size will be needed