Studio Setups: Behind the Scenes with Katie Fawkes

[1:28] Ian: it's great to have you. And it's, a whole different format. So we're actually pre recording these. We're making it short and snappy. That's the idea.

[1:36] KATIE: Love it.

[1:38] Ian: So yeah, Katie, we've known each other for ages, but what are you working on at the moment? And tell us a little bit about your studio? What makes your studio setup unique? And I know you're a bit different cause you actually have two in a sense. Are you at home at the moment?

[1:52] KATIE: I'm at home at the moment and in answer to what I'm working on, it's this space here. So this is not a finished product. So I'm, taking you into, my work in progress space. But for those of you who don't know me, I have a beautiful, completely like gorgeous high end studio in the Ecamm office space, which is about 15 minutes or so from my home.

[2:15] But I do a lot of live streaming and podcasting and video creation here from my house. So I've been trying to work through this space, which is a multi purpose room. So it's half studio for me, studio office for me, and then half art studio for my nine year old daughter. So it's a tricky space to be thinking through and working through, but it's been a fun project.

[2:34] Ian: I think a lot of people say, "My studio is also like my bedroom" or it's a spare bedroom or it's, the kid's space. But that in a sense, that's, at least it's almost harsh to say this. It's no excuse really, because there's still so much that we can do. So how do you manage that? Being all these different spaces all at the same time. How do you manage the different purposes that your studio has?

[2:59] KATIE: I think you have to make it as easy as possible for you to create with, right? So if you make it complicated, then you're not going to do it. So for me, it was just a real understanding that this is a small space and I need to be able to just set my laptop down, plug it in and be ready to go without my desk being cluttered with all kinds of gear.

[3:21] So this was complicated for me because I have access to, really gorgeous, brand new mirrorless cameras and huge, cool lighting equipment. I have all of this stuff that I could bring into the space, but there's not really enough room for me to be able to actually use it and maximize it to the way I wanted to.

[3:39] So I had to get really nimble with my approach. So the most expensive piece of gear I have is my microphone and that everything else is really small and really simple because I need for it to be able to stay on my desk, which I might be using for, taking notes or craft projects.

[3:55] I do a bunch of different kinds of papercraft projects. So I need to be able to push it to the side, but have it sitting there ready to go when I need to create video content.

[4:03] Ian: I think that removing that friction from creating the content as well, you want it to be ready to go, but you also want it to be multi purpose in most situations. And that's something that I want to do in my studio is to have. I, love playing around with music and I was thinking, I'll be cool if I had a keyboard here and I can do all of that kind of stuff as well.

[4:22] So you've mentioned microphones, and that's you're more expensive, higher end kind of thing. Let's start off with that. Let's do a deep dive. So this is one of the things I want to do in these interviews is do a deep dive into your studio set up at the moment.

[4:35] And we'll maybe come on to what you're thinking about next. But in terms of your microphone and audio setup, what have you got? And why did you choose what you got?

[4:43] KATIE: So I have a Shure MV7 microphone and I really like this for a couple of different reasons. The first is that it's a great mic. It captures audio really, well, but it makes it really easy because you can connect it through USB, which is what I'm doing right now. So it's literally just plugged in with a USB cable directly into my MacBook laptop.

[5:02] But you can also connect it through XLR, which will allow me when I take this mic with me, which I sometimes do, back to the office. Or if I'm traveling, I can connect it through a mixer, like a Rodecaster pro and be able to get a lot more control over my audio. So it's really versatile. It's pretty lightweight.

[5:20] This tiny little PIXI stand. So it makes it really easy for me to move it around and I can just fold it up and put it into a bag and bring it with me if I need to, be on the go somewhere. It's nice that it's really versatile and it's really lightweight, but it offers really great audio.

[5:35] Ian: love the way it's not just XLR. So, I love my microphone. I've got a Heil PR 40, but it is XLR only. So you can't just plug it straight into your computer. And you've got the best of both worlds, w ith that. And you've mentioned things like Rodecaster Pros and things like that. Have you deliberately not added like an audio interface or mixer into the mix?

[5:55] Is that something you're thinking about, or do you think that just adds too much complication to your setup? Are you happy with the way things are?

[6:02] KATIE: I'm happy with the way things are here at home. We actually downsized. It's, still a great piece of equipment, but we, in the office, we have the Rodecaster Pro, the original one. And we actually, we like upgraded, but downsized to the Rodecaster Duo, which is smaller because for the most part, we're really only connecting two microphones.

[6:24] So it allowed us more desk space. And it wasn't this large piece of equipment. here at home, my desk is not all that big. And as I said, I'm using it for a lot of different things. Sometimes my kids or my husband are using it. So as cool as the Rodecaster Pro is and as much versatility as it offers, being able to really control your audio. It wasn't making a big enough difference for me here in my home studio space to merit it taking up that much space on my desk. So I don't have it here. I don't think I will add it, but I could if I needed to, cause it's easy enough to go and pick it up from the office. But, the audio has been good enough, I, record my podcast here weekly, sometimes multiple podcasts weekly. And the USB connection is a good enough audio for what I'm doing with it here.

[7:10] Ian: Yeah. No, I think the audio sounds absolutely great. And it's funny sometimes like the real audiophiles out there can get really snobby about this...

[7:17] KATIE: yeah, I'm not that person!

[7:18] Ian: ...you can't use USB and you can't, all this kind of stuff. And if you're on the high ends, then maybe they've got a point, but your audio sounds great.

[7:25] And, I think adding all these extra bits can overly complicate it. Yes. The Rodecaster Pro looks lovely with all those flashing lights,

[7:34] but we don't it...

[7:34] KATIE: It looks cool. Yeah,

[7:36] Ian: Looks cool, but that's about it.

[7:37] Let's move on to cameras. So I'm really interested in this because, a lot of people think that you need to spend a lot of money on, cameras, go for that real high end stuff.

[7:47] Tell us about your setup.

[7:49] KATIE: Gosh. So right now I'm literally using my iPhone 12. So I don't even have the newest, fanciest iPhone, which everyone makes fun of me for. But, but it's super easy because I always have my phone with me. So I plugged my phone into my computer using USB. And I'm using a software called Camo by Reincubate.

[8:10] So you go reincubate.com/camo. And that gives me, some camera settings and control. It's a little bit more reliable than Continuity Camera, which is built right into my iPhone. But again, what I really like about it is that, I bring my phone and my computer up into this space. I plug my phone into my computer. I put it onto a tripod and I'm ready to go. Versus before I was using Sony mirrorless camera, which I love the quality of it is fantastic, but it took up an insane amount of space on my desk and I was, struggling with okay, maybe I want to move my desk like out from the wall and have it on a tripod behind or maybe I want it on a smaller tripod on my desk, but then I would have to move it when I wasn't using it, and then I'd have to get it out and set it all up and make sure the camera settings. It was just taking a lot of time that was stopping me from creating content. And the picture quality on my phone is actually great. So I've been playing around with kind of these smaller, easier options. So the phone is really great.

[9:04] The other one that I use, sometimes here and there, because it gives me a little bit more flexibility is the two different kinds of PTZ cameras. So the first is the Insta360 Link, and then the second is the OBSBOT Tiny 2. And these are, I wish I had them here. I have, I moved them into the office, but they're a really small cameras.

[9:25] They're tiny cameras, and you can attach them to the top of your laptop or onto a tripod, and they have the ability with hand gestures to be able to do things like zoom in, or, you can use them as like an overhead camera. So they're great if you wanted like a second camera angle, or if you were doing a lot of kind of demoing or, you were doing whiteboarding or trying to write something down on your desk.

[9:50] They could give you kind of some of that control without needing to be constantly fiddling with it because you can just do the, hand gestures to make it easy. And those are a couple hundred dollars versus, upwards of a thousand for some of the higher end mirrorless cameras. And they go all the way up to 4k. So they, they do offer a lot of quality for a lot less money.

[10:08] Ian: Yeah, that's, really cool to hear. And your video quality is amazing. And this is just, this is from an iPhone. I've got an iPhone 12 as well. So you're in good company and it like, don't let anyone make fun of you for having an iPhone 12. I think that's great. And I've got a, Sony ZV E10 or whatever it's called. I can never remember the name of it and it's great, but if I want to like change to a different area, if I want to go downstairs and take, I, there's no way I'm going to be taking this camera downstairs cause it's all set up perfectly.

[10:40] So using the, camera app, I use that too. It's, amazing. You just plug it in and. Yeah, there is Continuity Cam, but as you said, this gives you a little bit more stability. And there's a little mount, isn't there? That you can mount your iPhone to your computer as well.

[10:55] KATIE: I don't even have that. I have, I wish I could show you, I don't have an extra camera, but I have the world's most embarrassingly small tripod. I think it was maybe 10 dollars, but what's nice about it is that it works really well. I have all the more expensive ones. They're great. But this one, it's just easy for me to set up. And again, it like folds flat and I just toss it to the side. So for me, it's a space thing. I really got intentional last year with saying, Hey, this is annoying. And I'm losing a lot of time constantly messing around with my desk and with my space. And I would rather be doing better updates. Like I want to be able to change up all the storage and kind of the display behind me. That's more important to me than constantly messing with things that are on my desk that no one can see, but that I need to be moving around for functionality.

[11:47] Ian: We need to think about both, don't we? What's in front of us, but also what's behind us. And the stuff behind us is actually often more difficult, I think, depending on how creative you are. Okay, we're moving on to one area, which always frustrated me a little bit.

[12:03] So I'm wondering how you've dealt with this. And this is lighting. So how did you set up lighting? For the right mood or clarity. Do you bother with lighting? Do you just use natural light? Tell us a little bit more about that.

[12:14] KATIE: I do bother with lighting. I could be better at it. So I have an Elgato Key Light Air. I think I need another one over on this side, so I'm light, like I just have lamps on the other side, so another one would be great. The room I'm in is pretty dark, so there's only one window and it's on a really far side. I think when it comes to natural lighting, you just can't. Trust that it's going to be reliable. I'm, recording at all different times of day and, and night often. and there's no overhead light here, even in this room. So I need to be, I think a little bit more intentional with lighting than a lot of people.

[12:49] But again, lighting actually can make even a really terrible camera look awesome. So being able to master lighting is pretty important and something I think many people don't think enough about. yeah, it's, but again, I'm. cheap and small because it's easy to have on my desk and easy to turn away if I need to.

[13:09] Ian: exactly. And again, you just want to, it's something that's simple. I've got the Elgato key lights. I've got two of them. I've been told that you should have a third one. And there's a, is it like a hair light and things like

[13:20] KATIE: that?

[13:20] Yeah, I don't have a hair light.

[13:22] Ian: sometimes I think you can be overly produced and make it too perfect sometimes. Okay, let's move on to computer because. This is, or this is the, device, because some people would use, like an iPhone as their main thing, but obviously you're using computer, tell, us a little bit about your computer setup or any, kind of special setup that you've got on your system.

[13:45] We're moving on, we'll move on to tools in a bit, but just the computer first.

[13:49] KATIE: Yeah, sure. I'm actually using a 2021 MacBook Pro. It's the first kind of first generation of the M1 series. So their own silicon chip versus the Intel. I made that update because it offers a ton more power. And because I work for a company that is super Mac focused. So for us, we need to be on a newer computer.

[14:09] I'm probably at a point where I should be thinking about upgrading soon to some of the kind of newer, more powerful machines. But for my purposes, it's been great so far. It's powerful enough to handle video production. And some of the kind of lighter video editing that I do. yeah, what else can I tell you?

[14:26] But I'm on again, I'm on a laptop, and I don't have any additional stuff. Things with it. So I have no, no additional displays or monitors or anything else that I'm connecting into it. And predominantly because I travel a ton. So I'm, I'm here at home. I'm, we have two offices. I'm back and forth between different offices.

[14:45] I met conferences and events. And I just, I, realized after a while that. as great as it is to have a second display and to have, a mouse connected to it, an additional keyboard and all these amazing things that make it easier if you're in one spot, getting really reliant on that. And then traveling means that I would be, it would take me a while to get used to just being back on my laptop again and having a smaller, screen space to look at.

[15:11] So I just don't use those so that I'm not reliant on them and I don't miss them when they're gone. which can be a little bit limiting here and there, but in general, it works well for what I'm doing.

[15:22] Ian: That makes sense. Okay. And then tools. So this, we've mentioned Camom which is, this, is it Mac? Or I can't, I think it's just for Mac. I can't remember this for PC as well, but

[15:31] KATIE: I think they just, I think recently they've added, I, only use Mac, so I can't entirely answer, but I think they did recently add PC, options or

[15:40] Android options

[15:41] Ian: They're, an awesome tool. So definitely check that out. But, we're going to assume you're using Ecamm, obviously for Ecamm, but, let, tell us a bit about your essential software that you use to create your video content, podcast content. Cause you, you're, creating.

[15:56] You're not just working with Ecamm and producing content for Ecamm, you're doing a lot of stuff yourself as well for fun.

[16:03] KATIE: Yeah, so, all of the video creation, I'm using Ecamm and that includes short videos and things that I, that I use for promotion or to explain something to someone if I'm sending like a video note over. that's Ecamm, Camo, as we said, is helping me create better. Camera quality from my phone.

[16:22] I use a tool called Descript, which many of you probably have heard of. That's a really great, powerful AI video editing tool. I also use Opus Clip, which is similar to Descript, but what it does is allows me to literally just drop in either a YouTube link or upload a video in, and it uses AI to just create all of the best vertical clips with burned right on and ready to go for promotion, which is Magical time saving for me.

[16:52] I've recently been playing around with a lot more of the kind of video AI tools. So there's one called cast magic that I've been loving that does, just about everything with video. it can. Capture like meeting notes, transcripts. It can create, white pages and blog articles and emails and everything just from a, just from the audio from your video.

[17:16] So that's been a really helpful tool for me, but I'm newer to it. Trying to think what else? Agorapulse is a huge tool for me. I used it from the absolute beginning, made the change years back and have not regretted that as far as social media scheduling and dealing with incoming messages. podcasting, I use captivate.

[17:36] I have a ton of, I have a ton of different tools. I could probably be here for hours talking through all the different

[17:41] tools. Yeah,

[17:42] Ian: have, I've got the next few seasons sorted out, but maybe we, and the season after that, we need to have you back to talk about tools because, so

[17:52] KATIE: play around with them. Yeah. So I can see like what worked best or what, what saved. I, come at it and I hope that everyone does the same thing. Like really, every day there's a new tool and every, there's always some new thing that, that. Incredible people are talking about and using in all these marvelous ways, and I try to test that out and say, okay, but does this actually save me time?

[18:14] is this something that I can add into my workflow? That's going to make a difference for me. Maybe it's amazing for, for some of my colleagues or people that I work closely with, but it might not work for my workflow. So for me, it's amazing. It's just, it's a matter of does it save me time?

[18:27] Is the amount of time it's saving me worth the cost of the tool? And so that, that is constantly what I'm trying to think of when it comes to tools, cause I'm not doing all aspects of it. I have a, I have team members who are doing social media or, video editing or all these other sides of it.

[18:42] So it might not be a tool that I need, maybe it's fine if they use whatever works best for them.

[18:48] Ian: that makes sense. Cool. we could talk about tools for ages. I'm sure. So let's talk about your studio space and how you've, cause obviously you've got two different places. You've got your home place. You've got your, the one at the e comm offices. What have you done to make it more, personal and have you made it more to foster a place of being creative and productive?

[19:14] KATIE: Yeah, great question. I've done a little bit here in this space, but I've got a ways to go. So I, I've been, I painted this entire room and I have my, at my desk, as I said, in a really good spot. So everything you don't see on camera, I'm feeling really good and confident about here in this space. What I need to work on next is like all the behind me background that you'll see, on camera.

[19:38] And as I said earlier, a little bit more or better lighting here in this space. And otherwise I think I'll be in a pretty good spot, as far as this space goes. my main focus really has just been making sure that it's a place where it's really easy for me to Bring my computer over my phone up and be able to record content or jump on an interview fast and, look my best here when I'm at home for for whatever reason in the office, we spent a ton of time and I was lucky enough to be able to work with some really incredible people, including team members and a lot of influencers we work with to create this really, dynamic, fun, funky space.

[20:22] So we actually hired an interior. designer for the entire office space. It's a really big like open concept room that used to be a yoga studio. So there's lots of, windows and there, there's, this hardwood floor. So we really had to be thinking about, lighting, how sound bounces, off all of the windows and the floor and the walls, and might create some feedback.

[20:47] there was a lot that went into that space, including, what we wanted to be able to show behind the video. So we have in the camera room, this, this bookshelf that has a lot of our e cam merch in the back and a lot of, Mac and Apple products that. that are a little bit, vintage to just give a nod to, things that are important to the company and things that are, important to us as creators in that space.

[21:15] and right now in that space, too, we also have, as I said, we have the, Roadcaster Duo because we often will do Live streams where it's our two co founders who are, talking together. So we needed multiple microphones. We have multiple cameras. so there's just a lot, it's a lot bigger space. I, the one thing I do run into issues with though all the time, and I still haven't entirely figured out is that it's also a test studio.

[21:40] So our co founders are constantly. moving things and changing all of the settings on camera. So I lose a lot of control in that space. So I've been working really closely with team, with the team on, how to save presets within my camera, how to use gaff tape to mark where the tripods or where things are in the table.

[22:01] and so I'm able to set up. how I want the shot to look when I'm doing podcasts for the company, or if I'm joining as an interview guest, or if I'm even just doing like a meeting or, pitching a new client. So that part of it, I think is challenging. And I think a lot of things that I learned in that space are really applicable for many of you watching that even something as simple as just.

[22:25] putting a piece of tape down as to where something goes will make it faster and easier for you to be able to set back up later and knowing how much time that takes too. So I know in that space, I probably have to start getting ready for a live stream or for a video 30 minutes beforehand to factor in enough time to reset everything up and do my sound and tech check versus here.

[22:46] Maybe it's 10 minutes because I know I can just sit down. Plug and play. It's very simple and easy. So it's understanding the different spaces and the limitations within

[22:56] Ian: that makes sense. That makes sense. So just very briefly, what for, beginners, what would be the first piece of equipment you would advise, beginners to invest in?

[23:07] KATIE: Microphone. So people, people will put up with bad video quality. And as I said, you can use your phone, you can get started with your phone or, a built in camera on your computer. but if you have bad audio, it's immediately noticeable and people are not going to stay. if they can hear you, they might put up with your picture getting pixelated or, things happening here and there, but, they need to be able to hear you.

[23:31] And so it's really important to invest in a good microphone.

[23:35] Ian: Very true. particularly if it's a podcast, if you don't have good audio, then you're not going to be good. we've, now got a new section. This is very exciting. This is the first... You're my guinea pig. I'm going to ask you questions. We've got a minute And just you have to do it as quickly as possible. But not too quickly because I've only got a limited number of questions and I'm hoping we're not going to run out of them let's see.

[23:54] Let's this is all new. What could possibly go wrong? Okay, here we go

[23:59] KATIE: Oh! The pressure.

[24:01] Ian: So first question teleprompter yes or no,

[24:04] KATIE: No.

[24:06] Ian: okay

[24:08] KATIE: Not for me.

[24:09] Ian: Number two green screen or natural background

[24:12] KATIE: Natural background.

[24:14] Ian: Headphones yay or nay

[24:18] KATIE: Always. Please.

[24:20] Ian: Of course, Number four, coffee or tea while recording?

[24:23] KATIE: Coffee.

[24:25] Ian: Love the e com, Mac. Number five, Stream Deck essential or optional?

[24:30] KATIE: for me, optional.

[24:32] Ian: Good, good. okay, this is an easy one for you, Mac or PC. number seven. Microphone in or out of shot?

[24:42] KATIE: In the shot so it works its best.

[24:44] Ian: Love it. Good answer. Acoustic panels, aesthetic choice, or acoustic essential?

[24:49] KATIE: my goodness. This one's hard. Technically an essential, but I don't have them here in my space,

[24:55] Ian: Okay, number nine. One big monitor or dual monitors?

[24:58] KATIE: one big.

[25:00] Ian: Cool. Awesome. You got nine. You got nine. I think I had about 15 or 16

[25:05] KATIE: Oh no!

[25:06] Ian: No, but that's good. That's good. It's a difficult round. You listening or watching, we'd love to know what your answers would have been in that. There's no writer wrong. I'm sure some people will say they are right and wrong answers with some of those.

[25:17] But thank you, Katie, for being my first guest on this new season. It's been awesome to have you on. So tell us where we can find out more about you, where listeners and viewers can connect with you. And, yeah. And tell us what, what's next, what you're working on at the moment.

[25:33] KATIE: Oh my goodness, you can find me under all of the Ecamm channels, so E C A M M. We're on all the social network platforms, and certainly YouTube. You can find us there. I am a co host for a video podcast called The Flow. We record live every Tuesday at 12pm EST on YouTube, and you can listen and watch wherever you'd like.

[25:56] and then on the personal side, I do, a 90s movie review podcast with my best friend. We record live on Thursday nights at 9 pm eastern, or again, you can catch that show, any, anywhere you want to listen or watch. That's called the VHS club pod. You can reach us at theVHSclubpod.com. Yay.

[26:16] Ian: Awesome. thank you, Katie. It's been so fun to have you on. and you'll be back in the next season, which is very exciting. So thank you, Katie. that is it for this time. Thank you so much for joining, for plugging us into your ears. We really appreciate it, but until next time, we encourage you to level up your impact, authority, and profits through the power of confident live videos.

[26:37] See you soon.