Studio Layout & Overview of Equipment

• III) How to Use Lightboard > a) Equipment & Workflow > Studio Layout & Overview of Equipment

Lightboard Studio Schematic

A. Studio Light Switches & Recording Switch

The center two light switches control the stage lights and the Lightboard lights. The leftmost switch controls the room light, which you will want to turn off before you start the video capture. On the other side of the doorway is the 'Recording' light switch, which turns on a sign outside of the room to indicate that video recording is in progress. 

Additional note: In the image above, there is also a dial to control the HVAC/fan in the studio. Keeping the dial on 'Low' or 'Off' will help prevent any additional noise in the room from being picked up in the capture audio.

 

B. Studio Lights

The backdrop behind and around the Lightboard is black, with lighting around the glass and instructor, including front and back lights. On the next page, there are some general tips about clothing to wear while making a Lightboard video so that the backdrop, lighting, and markers work well together for clear and crisp visuals in the video.

 

C. Glass Pane (& Markers)

The pane of glass is what you stand and lecture behind while recording video. Behind the board, there are markers available for writing on the glass itself. Markers are fluorescent so that writing is displayed with very high contrast on the transparent glass pane. You are also welcome to bring your own markers (wet or dry erase). 

As a reminder, you will write normally from left to right on the glass, as you would while facing a chalkboard, because the video capture technology interactively flips the image of the board.

 

D. Capture Workstation

At the capture workstation, you'll find a desktop computer that runs a software called Wirecast for capturing the video, as well as a lavalier microphone so your voice is captured clearly for the video. Batteries for the mic are charging on the wall behind the workstation (highlighted in the image below).

 

E. Camera

The primary camera that captures video of your Lightboard lecture is mounted about 9 feet away on the opposite side of the glass from where you will stand. The yellow sticky note just below the lens of the camera is where you should look while presenting, to simulate looking at the audience.

 

F. Reference Monitor

There is an LCD monitor placed behind the camera, but visible to the presenter, that displays a live stream of the video being recorded, so you can monitor the layout of your video capture. This is particularly helpful for you to locate a space to obtain an unobstructed view to the virtual audience, in addition to aiding your ability to reference material merged in real-time with the camera stream (i.e., an image in the upper right corner).

 

G. Confidence Monitor

When standing behind the Lightboard/in the presenter area, there is a table with a HDMI cord to connect to your personal laptop for pulling up notes, slides, etc. during your presentation. As mentioned previously and discussed in more detail on the next page, you can integrate slides, images, diagrams, or graphics from your laptop into the capture, but you can also just pull up items from your laptop to glance at while presenting. Once connected, whatever you are showing on the laptop (i.e., PPT presentation) will appear on the confidence monitor in front of the Lightboard. 

If using the confidence monitor: while presenting, be aware of how much you are looking down toward the confidence monitor and try to keep eye contact with the virtual audience (camera) as much as you can.