One of the most exciting aspects of filmmaking is putting together your video production equipment list. Making sure that the quality of your videos is vital to the success of your business. Corporate videos are used to communicate with your clients, train employees, or announce new products and product updates. However, you must ensure that the videos are of the highest quality. Here’s a checklist of video production equipment you need to use:

Video Camera

A DSLR or mirrorless camera is the most affordable way to get into creative filmmaking. For news or events, a prosumer or pro camcorder may be more manageable. On a bigger budget, you could get a cinema camera. For work, travel, school or family use, choose an easy-to-use camera: a basic camcorder, iPhone, iPad or compact still camera. Use an action camera or Osmo camera or a stabilizer for outdoor activities and sports.

3-point Lighting System

If you want a well-lit video, it is essential to use a good lighting set-up. Three-point lighting is one of the oldest lighting techniques used in shooting video and essentially it consists three lights such as a key light, fill light and backlight. The primary light is the key light. It’s there to bring light directly to your subject so that whatever you are filming, the subject is well illuminated in the shot. Key lights should not be placed directly in front of the talent or subject, but instead slightly off to the side. The fill light fills the dark side of your subject. The fill light allows you to control the overall feel of your shot depending on how much you dim or lighten the fill light. A dim fill light will give you more of a harsh, film-noir type of shadow, while a having the light brighter will help give your subject a more even look. A backlight is also called a rim light that will put another element to the image of your talent and will push him or her off from the background, again adding another dimension. For this, all you need to do is place a light behind your subject pointed at the back of their neck and high enough to be out of frame.

A Tripod

Panning is vital in taking stunning action shots as it allows you to really capture the movement. Having a tripod makes planning much easier and more fluid. Tripods don’t just hold cameras, they can hold camcorders and also serve as a light stand that holds flash units, slaves, and reflectors. Using a tripod when using a camcorder will dramatically help picture quality as it will allow you to pan smoothly making your movies look much more professional.

Camera Slider

The camera slider is an important accessory that attaches to a tripod and allows a video camera to smoothly slide along a short track. The setup can even be used with two tripods. The slider offers just enough camera movement to result in an engaging yo-yo image destined to catch the eye of the audience.

External Sound Recorder

There are a variety of reasons to have an external recorder depending on the size of your production. A big advantage is the number of audio inputs and the ability to record each of those inputs as separate tracks, allowing you to do the mixing in post. External audio devices also give you better control over gain and have better support for audio monitoring.

Editing Software

In video editing, one of the most common and most effective ways to achieve the perfect flow is through cuts. Cutting in and of itself is not difficult once you choose a start and end time and there you go, it is gone. But that is not all that goes into a cut. To make your video’s flow ideal, you have to cut shots at the perfect time.