Studio Setups: Behind the Scenes with Tanya Smith

[2:47] Tanya: Hey, I'm super excited to be here. Ian. It's so good to see you.

[2:51] Ian: It is. It's so good. It's so good. It was so fun to meet you, at the Creator Camp. this was Ecamm's Creator Camp back in last year. That was, a lot of fun. And I have to say, I love your bio, because, you've got the, what is it? You, first of all, you've got the soothing voice in there, which I have to admit, you do have a soothing voice, which is great.

[3:16] And it's something we've talked a lot about on the show before, which is about. The importance of, voice. maybe we'll come back to that when you come back on the show, we're talking about, confidence and communication, but in today's episode, we're going to talk about tools and gear and all that kind of fun stuff. And I have to say, your setup looks awesome. If you're listening to the podcast, you need to go and watch some of the video and look at some of the, background that Tanya's got. but just tell us a little bit more about you, about you, highlighting your background. And what makes your studio setup unique?

[3:54] Tanya: Gosh. so a little bit about me. I am a Mom first, so mother of two daughters, but as a result of me really just trying to find a way to stand out online, I finally decided to embrace live video. It was not something that was my first. It was not my first choice because I'm a super introvert, to be honest with you, Ian.

[4:21] But as a result of me venturing into the world of live streaming video a few years back, It opened up a lot of doors that I didn't expect to open. And one of the things it allowed me to do is to really dive into my creative side and to create or put together this space that I like to call my sacred space.

[4:42] it gives me energy. It gives me affirmation and validation about what I'm doing on camera. It helps to support me to feel empowered when I go on camera to talk about the things that I know. So yeah, I'm excited to share a little bit of how I've put things together. But as a video marketing strategist myself, I now am able to talk with other people and to work with other entrepreneurs to use camera.

[5:10] When, like I said before, that was not my first choice, when I made the decision to actually go live, it was because I was noticing that a lot of the work and efforts that I was putting into my business, which I've actually been coaching for 20 something years now, a lot of the effort that I used to put into my business through social media posting and through audio events.

[5:34] Was no longer working and I needed to find a way to actually niche and I needed to find a way to

[5:41] stand out and live video became that avenue for me. And because it worked for me, I now teach and share what I know with other people.

[5:52] Ian: That's really cool. And you're not the only introvert that's been on this show.

[5:58] It's funny, isn't it? That, I don't know what it is you'd think that live video in particular would be like the last thing that an introvert would do. And, I've said many times on this show that I could have called myself the reluctant live video guy because like it was the last thing that I wanted to do, but here we are.

[6:16] Tanya: There we are.

[6:17] Ian: Here we are. This is not live, but we, obviously we, both of us do a lot of live so that's really cool. It's great to hear that background. so let's do a deep dive into your studio setup. I'm excited.

[6:30] To have you back on the show, actually, to talk about some of those, things to do with, being an introvert, so we will come back to that, but, let's look at your, the audio, first of all, because we've talked a lot about the visuals, but microphone and audio, what, microphone do you use and what's your setup and why do you, why did you choose what you have?

[6:49] Tanya: So I went through a ton of different microphones. I probably have a microphone graveyard, but to your point, and I've heard you say this many times, Ian, and I recognize it as well. You have to find a microphone that really fits your voice, your personality, and the Shure MV7 is the one that I landed with. I want the big boy, the new one, I don't really need it. I know this. But I love this one because it really helped to, enhance my voice to, allow it works well. Excuse me. I'm losing my voice because I've been talking so much, but it works well with my Rodecaster Pro 2. So I have that set up. I didn't like, I used to have one of the overhead arms that kind of just stood, you know, at the top. I ended up with a low profile one so that I could move it out of my desk space. So I have the Shure MV7. I have an Elgato low profile mic arm. I use this in conjunction with my rodecaster Pro 2. I'm trying to think of other things with the setup that you might want to know. but this is my primary. I do have other backup mics as well.

[8:04] Ian: It's, funny what you said about the microphone graveyard. Yeah, I think we, many of us have got one of those, but, I love the low profile thing. So I've not got one of those. So my microphone is a lot more in shot, than yours is a lot more subtle, but so I think the low profile mics, particularly for, video, if you're doing video primarily is really good. And I am very tempted, like you are tempted to upgrade your microphone. You don't really need to, it's the same with me and boom arms. But how do you, get on with the RODECaster Pro II, because I've got that too. And a lot of people that I've spoken to get it and then they're completely overwhelmed because it's quite complicated to use. What was your experience with that?

[8:50] Tanya: I agree. As a matter of fact, I had the first RODECaster Pro before this too. I turned it back in. I returned it and said, it's too much. I don't want to deal with it. The reason why, the only reason why I have the RODECaster Pro 2 right now is my husband said, you need this and bought it for me for Christmas, Ian. And when I got it, Yes, it is overwhelming. I don't need everything that's on it, to be honest with you. What I use it primarily for, though, I love that it does have the mixer and it allows me to be able to pull in, for instance, sound from my phone if I needed to use Bluetooth. sound from goodness, all the different instruments.

[9:34] So if I want to use Spotify, for instance, if I want to do a zoom call, it allows me to do all that mixing, but frankly, the most I use it for these days, I think that the priority is really just doing my live stream and I don't use. Probably 75 to 80 percent of it I'm not using.

[9:55] Ian: Yeah, I think I'm pretty much the same. the thing I love about it though is the audio processing. So you've got those things that can make your voice sound even more kind of good quality. It gets rid of any noise, background noise and things like that. So yeah, if you're really looking to improve the sound and all that kind of stuff, then the Rodecaster Pro 2 is good.

[10:17] Although we had Katie Fawkes on the show last week, and she was talking about the slightly toned down version, which is the duo which I haven't played with yet. So maybe that's a good one for people.

[10:28] Tanya: I saw the duo pod fest recently, honestly, Ian, and I think I might end up switching over to that.

[10:36] Ian: yeah.

[10:37] Tanya: One of those things where it's like, but you already have something. Do you really need to switch? I don't know what to, but I...

[10:45] Ian: See this, is the problem, isn't it? So I'm a big believer in bootstrapping your live video studio, your podcasting studio, whatever it is over time. But we're so tempted, aren't we? Most of us with the gear, just upgrading and sometimes you just have to say, no, stop it.

[11:00] Tanya: Yeah.

[11:02] Ian: Let's move on to cameras. yeah, I've had quite a journey with cameras. So this is a problem because cameras can be either very inexpensive or very expensive. I suppose it's the same with but what's your experience with cameras?

[11:14] Tanya: Oh, yeah. I started with just the basics. Initially, I had the Logitech, which I think everybody starts out with. So I had a Logitech C920 or 922 I ended up ultimately moving to, I had a Canon T6i. which was just laying around because I used it to do shots and video of my daughter, who was at the time preparing to go to college with soccer. and so I was taking shots of her and I said, Oh, I got this laying around. Let me use it as a webcam and ended up doing all the things, you know, that you have to do. software, cam link, et cetera. But I didn't love the Canon. I love however, where I am now, which is my Sony A6400 I know everybody else has the EV10.

[12:02] I know, but I ended up at the time choosing the a 6400, which was the hot thing. I had to get a lens, the Sigma lens. I have a cam link still, of course, that helps it to be recognized as a DSLR for the webcam, but I don't know necessarily that I need to upgrade. It's another one of those things where you're like, well, everybody else has this.

[12:26] Should I go and upgrade? But that is my main camera right now, the Sony.

[12:31] The Tiny Osbot 2 has been a nice little addition for me from regular Zoom calls and that type of thing. And so I'm using the Tiny OzBot 2. I haven't made full use of that yet, but I know that it's capable of doing a lot of things. So I'm excited about playing with that.

[12:48] And then I wish I had it up here. but I also have that portable, I can't think of what it is. I'll think of it in a second.

[12:58] Ian: It'll, come back to you. It'll come back to you at the like halfway through the next question, but that's yeah. It's great. It's great. There's, like my, answer to your question, do you need to upgrade your camera is obviously no, but that's not the answer you want because like you, you do feel.

[13:18] And, thank you for your honesty, because I feel exactly the same. you see everyone else, all the cool kids are getting like this other camera, and you think, oh, maybe I need to get that. But if your camera is working. and yours is, your, shot looks amazing. So there's no reason unless there's a problem.

[13:36] And I had this issue with the, I had the Canon M50 and I did have to upgrade because it was just, it kept on shutting off, halfway through a live stream and I had other issues with it. And so it was a no brainer for me to do that, but unless that's happening, you don't need to, you don't need to do that.

[13:53] And of course, if you have a camera like that, you mentioned that you've got the cam link, so that's the Elgato cam link 4k. and that connects your, the HDMI of your camera into your computer. So that's the other thing you've got, to think about. Okay. We're on to the next question. This, is, the one that I've always struggled with.

[14:12] And, but your lighting looks amazing. So I'm really interested that you've got the, you've presumably got lighting in front of you that we can't see, but you've also got some cool lighting behind you. So tell us a little bit more about your lighting setup.

[14:26] Tanya: And I did remember that third camera, but I'll tell you

[14:29] later.

[14:30] Ian: Okay, tell us now. Tell us now.

[14:32] Tanya: It's the DJI Pocket 3.

[14:36] Ian: Ah, yes.

[14:37] Tanya: Yes, very excited about that. But I'm just starting to get into that. So I can't tell you a whole lot about it other than it's great for portability. I love carrying it in my purse and just taking it around with me everywhere so that you can still have functional functionality of your phone and not use that as both your video and all your communications.

[14:57] So I do love that. lighting. This is fun. So lighting. I will tell you honestly, Ian, And since we're, we're kind of also talking about the whole idea of Making sure you balance yourself and don't go out and spend a ton of money on things that you don't necessarily need. When I first started, I actually went to a Home Depot.

[15:19] I don't know if you have those where you are. But I went to Home Depot and I purchased lights that you use in your garage when you're working on your car. That was what I started with. And it was sufficient at the time, but it wasn't great. I did then go to a ring light. And I now today. Use a small rig globe lantern.

[15:43] So that's my big boy light. That one is at the, it's at an angle sitting up here and just pointing down at me. I also have a single key light on the other side at the corner. So I don't have anything directly facing me like this anymore. My ring light used to do that. But every now and then I'll put on glasses and I don't want that that light in the frame.

[16:07] I don't want the ring or. You know, the reflection there. So I have both of my cameras at an angle behind me just to help increase or improve the depth perception. I do have a small, what do they call it? An Einstein light and a couple of, fairy lights that are in the background to help with the branding. Since most of my stuff is raspberry pink.

[16:33] Ian: It looks great. I love the background. There's a, you've got a little bit of greenery there. You've got an on air sign. Love that. but yeah, lighting is one of those things you just need to work on. It takes time and you've clearly done that. That's, it's been a, presumably quite a long process to get to where you? Are today with that. How long has that taken you?

[16:53] Tanya: You know what I actually, over the last three years. have just added here and there. there was a period of time for about two weeks where I got upset because I kept asking, look, if my husband sees this, he's going to be mad at me. But he and I was upset because I had this, this area up here where we are as in my family room, nobody was using it.

[17:20] The kids are grown, so they don't care about using games and all that kind of stuff. And I had been asking for years, can you just get this out of here so I can just use this whole space as my personal studio? Nobody was hearing me. So this was a fast forward period of two weeks, meaning that I got a lot of the stuff in my studio done in a span of about two weeks because my husband travels overseas quite often.

[17:48] And one week. When he was home, he pulled out everything from those huge, giant entertainment systems that we used to have with the big TVs that had the giant rear, like, he pulled all this stuff out on the floor and then left for Asia. And when he left, I was so ticked off because it's my studio area. This is where my videos are being done. And I called the next day, I called a junk mover and I said, just come get this stuff. And then I went on a binge and just for the next 14 days, completely turned this whole area around. To be honest with you, Ian, a lot of the things that I've done to this space here, it was during that time, during that 14 days.

[18:36] But I've added things to it over time.

[18:39] Ian: I love that. So it sounds like you went to almost like a hyper focus binge on sorting it all out. But sometimes you can do that and sometimes it will take a long time and it sounds like it's been a mixture. just before we move on to the next section, I want to ask you about your computer setup.

[18:56] So tell us what your computer is. Maybe your display are using one or two or three displays. I'll ask you that question And, then we're going to go onto tools.

[19:05] Tanya: Okay. So I have an iMac and that is my, main computer that I use for streaming. I do have a Mac book pro, but it's very rare, honestly, that I use it because I keep it downstairs and forget to bring it upstairs. So I have an iMac. I have a, I have two main displays. Well, one additional display besides the iMac itself.

[19:30] I do have another display monitor over here, but I hardly ever use that for purposes of this type of work.

[19:37] Ian: Yeah.

[19:38] Tanya: I have,

[19:40] wow, I've got a lot of stuff up here. Here's the thing, this is the number one thing I'll tell you about my computer. I have a, Really simple keyboard. I do like the, I like ASMR, so if you I like to hear the click of my keyboard but I realize that that was a bit too much for people when I'm on my live if I'm typing something.

[20:02] So I have something that's a little bit more moderate. But here's what I like about my desk space overall. I am a minimalist as much as I possibly can be. So I like to keep everything off of my desk. So my monitors are on my arms. Everything on my desk pretty much is on arms on the edge of the desk and it moves with me.

[20:23] You're probably asked this question, but I do have a sit stand desk. So I want everything to be able to move with me if I choose to stand up or sit down. So everything, my whole, all my displays, any accessories that I have are attached with arms so that they'll, they're easy to, you know, move.

[20:43] The displays are huge, which is great for my maturing eyes.

[20:50] I need them. But I do also every now and then use an iPad. I do have an iPad 13 inch that sometimes I use as a display as well. and it just with the, I can't think of what it's called the infinity. Something or other that you can attach with your iMac.

[21:07] Ian: Yeah,

[21:07] Tanya: It's not my favorite. So the main, the emphasis I think would be on the two, the iMac itself and then the other additional display that I

[21:16] have.

[21:17] Yeah.

[21:17] Ian: good. That's cool. That's cool. love love all of that. so just very briefly, and we can spend a whole episode on this, but if you could choose one or two

[21:28] of the tools that you use on your computer, what would they be? What, is the kind of essential stuff? and we're talking here like video creation, podcast creation, that kind of thing.

[21:37] Tanya: Okay, so software on my computer. I will tell you and I know that some people will get a little antsy about this because there was a lot of drama around it, but I will tell you I use the Wondershare Filmora app. I do primarily use that for editing. in terms of doing live streams, it makes it easy for me not to have to do a lot of production or editing, but I use the Filmora app to help do with do minor editing.

[22:04] I also use, I'm taking a look at the ones that are my priority. I use something called Time Bolt, which easily takes, it creates cuts for me. Very fast. So if I need to create, for instance, from a 45 minute live, if I need to cut that down to a 10 minute or so video, it creates super cuts. And it makes it really easy for me to go in and pull out content and just move quickly to make edits and produce them in record time. Timebolt has been probably one of the secret weapons I have because not a lot of people have heard about it and I got it for a lifetime deal. because I'm always looking for it.

[22:45] Ian: That sounds good. All those lifetime deals are great as long as they stay lifetime because there was one tool that decided to reverse all of that and yet we had to end up paying monthly which was not good, but I'm gonna check that out. That sounds awesome. so let's move on to Personalization of your workspace.

[23:06] And you've covered this a little bit. You've talked about the fact that you're a minimalist. I think I would like to be, but I'm not doing very well in that department. But what have you done to make your studio space uniquely yours? And you could talk about what's in front of you. So the what we can't see, but also what's behind you, about your background as well.

[23:27] What, have you done to put some personality into it, but also to foster creativity?

[23:34] Tanya: You know, honestly, this is when I was thinking of my sacred space and the reason why I was able to move so quickly during that 14 day binge is because I always had a vision after the first couple of years of me doing live and trying to figure out where in my house could I do this because I try to walk in closet.

[23:56] I tried a really messy office that we have downstairs. I've tried all these different spaces, but I started to build on that vision of what I wanted this thing to be. And part of it for me was about the idea of making sure that when I walk in and I'm ready to hit the go live button, that I felt that sense of confidence.

[24:17] I felt ready. I felt empowered to say what I was going to say. So I do have, and I actually have photos of this because I did a whole walkthrough of my studio, probably about a year ago, Ian, that has a lot of the pictures that will show you what I've got. But I have a picture of my grandmother directly in front of me.

[24:36] She's one of the biggest influences, in my entire life. She was my role model. She was my. She was my, my girl. so I have a picture of her. I have, lot of totems. I don't know if you've noticed that I have this Wonder Woman theme going around here, but that was intentional. I decided that I wanted to, and I've always collected Wonder Woman.

[25:03] things, but I decided that I wanted to make this space my own personal space. I wanted to look around and see things that made me feel, hey, you are a strong woman. And so the intent behind having the Wonder Woman totems, as I call them, is to keep reminding myself, no matter what happens when trolls, when trolls pop up in the chat, when things go wrong, technically, if anything starts to make Chip away at my confidence as I'm doing the live.

[25:34] I just look around my space and feel better. I feel like keep pushing through. I also have a candle. I have a candle. That's I don't know if you know what fruit loops are. If you have cereal, they're called fruit

[25:49] Ian: Yeah,

[25:50] Tanya: But it reminded me of growing up. with my grandma at her house because she would always give me, let me have my bowl of Froot Loops.

[25:57] And so I do have a candle that's a Froot Loop smelling scent. It's kind of a fruity but flowery scent. And, I have that on whenever I go live. I have just created this space of comfort and warmth that helps me to feel ready. To go

[26:15] Ian: I love all of that. That's so good. Because being ready, just in case there is any kind of negativity, any trolls, hopefully you don't get that many, but it sometimes does happen to all of us. just being ready with that, and that's just such a beautiful story of your gran, and yeah. Thank you for that. just before we move on to the quickfire round. just very briefly, what would be your recommendation for beginners for the, what's the one piece of equipment that you'd recommend that people invest in right at the start?

[26:49] Tanya: Honestly, I think at the start, it should be something to enhance your audio. I know most people or some people will think about video first and they'll go out and invest in a camera. But if people can't hear you. If they don't understand the words you're saying, they're probably going to switch off to the next video. So I am a big believer in definitely investing in microphone first.

[27:15] Ian: Yeah. I totally agree. It's time to move on to the quick fire round. I hope you're ready, Tanya. just making sure that the tech is all ready to go. You have one minute to answer as many of these questions as possible. Hopefully you're not going to answer. I'm not gonna run out of them, so you don't be too quick, but here we go, so the first question is Mac or PC?

[27:37] Tanya: Mac

[27:38] Ian: Number two, green screen or natural background?

[27:42] Tanya: Natural.

[27:44] Ian: Number three, microphone in or out of shot? Ha

[27:48] Tanya: I don't care. I don't have a

[27:51] Ian: okay.

[27:51] Tanya: either

[27:52] Ian: Four, coffee or tea while recording?

[27:56] Tanya: Coffee,

[27:56] Ian: A coffee drinker, cool. Number five, ring lights, good or bad?

[28:03] Tanya: Mostly bad?

[28:05] Ian: Okay. good. Number six, webcam or fancy camera?

[28:12] Tanya: What's your budget? That's my answer.

[28:14] Ian: Okay. Number seven, acoustic panels, aesthetic choice or acoustic essential.

[28:23] Tanya: Acoustic essential.

[28:24] Ian: Standing desk or sitting desk?

[28:28] Tanya: Stand. I want to sit stand. I want one that's both. First

[28:31] Ian: Okay. Background music, mood setter or distraction?

[28:36] Tanya: For me, it's a distraction most of the time.

[28:39] Ian: I think so far you have got more than any other guests. You're my third guest. So that's pretty impressive. I don't know like some of those questions are really hard because you think it depends Yeah

[28:54] Tanya: Of them.

[28:55] Ian: Exactly. thank you so much, Tanya. It's been great to have you on the show.

[28:59] We are out of time. tell us, tell listeners and viewers how they can find out a little bit more about you. Where have you scattered yourself across the interwebs and the socials?

[29:11] Tanya: I'll give you two links. one would be my main site, which is getnoticedwithvideo.com. and the second would be, contentcreatorscafe.com. So contentcreatorscafe.com is where my programs are housed. I have links there to my stream, to my podcast And anything else that you might want to connect to.

[29:32] Ian: That's awesome. And so what are you working on at the moment? what's the kind of the one place that you'd like people to check out what you're doing?

[29:39] Tanya: Yeah, contentcreatorscafe.com is probably the best spot because right now we're actually getting ready to do a membership drive for stream bosses Academy, where we are working with content creators. especially coaches, but part time video content creators, audio content creators to help you to really leverage your media in your marketing in a way that's going to help you to build your brand and make more sales.

[30:07] Ian: That sounds awesome stuff. thank you, Tanya. Thank you so much for coming on to the show. We'll have you back to talk about it. Confidence and communication and all that kind of cool stuff. But, do check out Tanya's website and all her socials and stuff. And, yeah, thank you so much. Awesome.

[30:23] Tanya: All right. Thank

[30:24] Ian: you!

[30:24] That's it for this episode of the Confident Live marketing show. You can check out the show notes for this and find out if you could have missed any of those links, then just head over to iag.me/podcast and all our previous episodes are there. But that is it for this week. and until next time, I encourage you to level up your impact authority and profits through the power of Confident Live video.

[30:46] See you soon. Bye!​