Guide to Hiring a Video Camera or Camcorder for a Conference
Your powerpoint presentation has been timed to absolute perfection and your crisp white shirt is on point. The invitations have all gone out and your ready to make an impact with your conference the croissants have been laid out fresh from the oven and the smell of freshly brewed coffee is in the air as you check over your powerpoint one more time.
The conference has had months of planning and is one which you want to make an impact and it is being videoed in a video to be captured so anyone who cant be in attendance can watch it and it can be referenced for years to come.
We have put together this quick guide to filming a conference so you know what to expect and what to look out for as you will want the video to reflect the impact the real life event will have.
We have been filming conferences for more than 20 years so it’s fair to say that we may have learned a few things along the way some easy and some we’ve learnt the hard way but they may come in useful when it comes to conference day and assist you in getting the very best results and help you decide on the company to use when you hire your conference filming equipment.
Choosing Which Equipment to Hire
Our advice on choosing the best video camera model to hire when you need to film a conference is to stay within your comfort zone you will have enough to contend with without worrying about how to do simple tasks with the video camera so if you are new to video then first tip is stick with the easy to use packages on offer and if you know your way around a video camera then choose the professional package that is designed to excel when filming a conference.
The main choice to be made is the format of video you will record in and that will dictate the conference package that you settle on whilst HD is beautiful, and 4K is incredible remeber the chances are your conference video will be delivered online and therefore the final output will most likely be HD so do you really need 4K footage in the first place and remeber 4K footage is at least three times larger than HD footage but 4K footage will look better but then so would 8K after all if your looking for a sharp clear good looking video HD will work.
Crane shots and drone shots would all look incredible but do you want to take the risk of something going wrong and whilst adding an extra dimension to the conference video may seem like a good idea its important to remember the viewer is watching the video first and foremost to take on board the presentation and messages from the presenter so keep it simple and all focus on the content forget the gimmicks.
Cost constraints impact the equipment choice and gear you will hire for the day and our perfect package for a conference would be a minimum of HD and will, of cour you will use on the day. My ideal package would be your main camera, a tripod and a set of headphones to make sure you are capturing great audio along with a directional mic to get the very best audio pickup all of these are contained in any of our conference shoot it yourself packages.
Using lapel mics is always a highly recommended option as these will cut all background sounds out and dramatically enhance the audio you will capture but we cover more about audio capture in the following sections.
Best audio equipment for conference video filming
In your package we supply a directional mic but to improve the audio you capture as mentioned earlier we would always recommend wireless lapel mics so if the venue that you are having your conference will be suppling mics to goo to a PA system you can tap into the venues PA system and take whats called a line out and connect this directly to the video camera this will give you perfect audio from the presenters on the day.
If the venue is smaller and there will not be a PA systen then you can hire lapel mics that you can mic up the presenter with and the reciever will connect directly to the camera its a nice easy process and if you need any help getting it all up and running then we are on hand to assist you dont need to be tech savy to get the system up and running.
And don’t forget always use the supplied headphones so you know what audio is being recorded a conference with no audio doesn’t really work so monitoring the audio on the headphones is a must.
Lighting for conferences when filming
Ok so the chances are the stage will be well lit if you have a small venue or its a conference or board room you are filming in then the supplied camera top light will help bring clarity to the subject you are filming and stop the subject having nasty shadows from over head lighting.
Tripods for conference video production
As most conferences last a considerable amount of time a tripod is an absolute must and you will find a sutitable tripod for each of the video cameras supplied in each conference package after all you cant be expected to hold a video camera stable for up to an hour at a time.
Top Tips
Ok so you should have a good idea of the type of equipment you will be using to film your conference and pretty much be good to go however here is a quick few tips to get the most from your conference footage.
Decide on the final output of your videoed conference and work backwards from there so if its going to be shred via you tube or vimeo at 1080P as a web stream then save your self time converting the video footage later and film in that format from the get go.
Are you familar with the location? try and get to the venue as early as possible become best friends with the AV team as they can make your life so much easier if you require a power cable to be run or a feed from the audio desk these guys are key to making your life easier and most AV guys are very receptive to any reuests if you make them feel important.
Try and find out how many presenters will be presenting at any given time and a schedule of timings so you are well prepared to be in the right place at the righ time.
Make sure you have prepared the equipment ideally the day before in case of any issues do you know how everything works and have you got enough storage space for the event.
Dont forget to film just about everything it can all add great value to your final edit inclusing establishing shots out side the venue people meeting and greeting, having coffee oh and those toasty croissants we mentioned earlier name badges all nicely lined up and any banners with the event name on if its there film a snippet you may or may not use the footage but we guarantee you will use some of it at some stage.
Any questions then please take a look below we hope we have covered everything so you can make an informed decision or reach out to us we would be delighted to help in any way we can but if you feel your good to go then good luck getting your conference videoed and do let us know how it all goes.
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