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The link above is a comprehensive list of the gear inside The Yellow Studio. Assume every link is an affiliate link.
Ironically, I chose to make this an audio, not a video. Yes, that was intentional. I hope you’ll click PLAY.
It started in 1997. This podcast. It was a handheld Olympus digital recorder. No SD card. Just built-in memory. It was less than $100 and I’d been using it for a while to dictate work notes and ideas.
Audio was easy. And cheap.
Well, recording it was easy. Getting it online was a bit more cumbersome. Getting it off the Internet to listen was infinitely more difficult because we knew nothing of MP3, today’s defacto standard audio file format. My digital recorder used some funky format, but it was still possible to hear it from a website with a domain name a foot long, comprised of a bunch of letters and numbers (a free web page that came with my Internet service provider – ISP – Flashnet). Somebody other than my family found it because my first email came from somebody in Sweden. It blew my mind.
It was all done with a digital recorder, a dail-up modem, and an Internet connection. Add in a bit of rudimentary HTML skills, so I could build an ugly website, and you had the first iteration of Leaning Toward Wisdom. I dubbed it that because it was what I was trying to do – lean more toward wisdom and away from foolishness. I was 40 years old and that was 27 years ago.
Within a few years, I got serious. I registered LeaningTowardWisdom.com and invested a few thousand dollars (okay, probably closer to three thousand) for a rack of equipment and a couple of Heil PR40 mics (an amateur radio operator friend recommended them). That was The Yellow Studio for many years, recording into a Mac computer using software I can’t remember until I found Twisted Wave, a Mac audio recording/editing software recommended by a voiceover actor friend.
I bumbled along for a few more years. My audio quality was a point of pride and I was regularly complimented for it thanks mostly to good room acoustics thanks to a ton of books AND to Aphex 230 voice processors (one for each mic, I had two). My broadcast workflow meant that whether I was on Skype (later Zoom) or recording, my audio quality was always the same.
I went for years without investing anything more. That rack of gear and those two Heil microphones were stapmles inside The Yellow Studio for years. Audio was easy. And after that initial investment, cheap. The ongoing costs were maintaining domain names and website hosting (I hosted my own audio files for years before learning I should get a media host). Eventually, I found MapleGrove Partners thanks to a buddy, Jim Collison. They would host my site and my media files because they’re podcast-friendly like that. But beyond that, I had no real costs.
People entered podcasting trying to figure out how to do it as cheaply as possible and I never understood it. I don’t hunt. Or fish. Or bowl. Or golf. I don’t collect anything (well, I once collected books…but only to read). I had no hobbies except this. That’s still the case. Buddies who were into all of those things (and more) would regularly spend hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. Most of them weren’t wealthy. They were just ordinary guys who enjoyed whatever they were in to. They didn’t think twice about investing in hobbies they loved. I loved podcasting and I had saved for a good while before buying my initial setup. Admittedly, I made a sizeable investment, but it was calculated, planned and well thought out. It stood the test of time, too. I produced untold podcast episodes with that rig.
Then Rode, an Australian company, bought Aphex, the makers of my favorite vocal strips, responsible for how my podcast sounded. It didn’t affect me…until it did. Around 2019, Rode introduced a mixer with Aphex technology built in. Wait a minute, what? My thousands of dollars in a rack that sat just to my right could all be replaced by a single little mixer that would sit on my desk. All that cable could be replaced by just a few cables. I could connect my iPhone to it and take/record phone calls. And all for less than $1000. Sign me up.
My audience here at Leaning Toward Wisdom helped me buy it. It was my first time ever asking for anything, but boy did the crowd respond. I was grateful. I knew I’d sell my rack of gear and more than offset buying that first Rodecaster Pro, but I needed the Rode mixer before I unplugged and sold everything or The Yellow Studio would be down. I didn’t want to miss a beat and the audience stepped up in a big way.
In June 2021 I launched a new podcast – I had long had two, Leaning Toward Wisdom and Grow Great (my work podcast). This one was about a newly found favorite place, Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. I first discovered the Village in the Fall of 2018. We kept visiting and loving it more and more each time. It’s such a unique place I had so many questions that I couldn’t find answers to, I decided to find the answers and do it via a podcast, Hot Springs Village Inside Out. I dubbed it that because of 26,000 acres of awesomeness inside the Village and many miles of coolness outside, too. I recruited a guy who appeared to be right for a co-host, a Native Arkansas guy who lived in the Village and seemed to know quite a bit. He’d be my resident expert and I’d be myself, the naive curious guy who loved the place.
So it began. And it grew. And grew some more. In time, it was the first podcast I’d ever done that I even thought about monetizing. We said YES to two sponsors (advertisers). They help us pay the bills and provide my co-host and me with what amounts to really crappy paying part-time jobs, but we could not be happier! They’re great.
About 18 months ago I started getting itchy to elevate our show about the Village. It’s such a spectacular place audio just doesn’t do it justice. Our audience is largely folks who have never visited the place, but are interested in coming to visit. Some want to check it out to see if they might want to make it home. Besides, I wanted to capture the beauty and vibe of the place. That was going to require video.
I’m an old audiophile who spent almost all my adult life in and around great-sounding stereo systems. So it’s no surprise that audio was my cup of tea. At the same time, I have to confess that when I was in junior high I got a super 8mm camera. Fifty feet of film, that had to be professionally developed, produced about 3 minutes of video. I had a projector, too. I shot as much video as I could afford, which wasn’t very much. My video bug goes way back, but audio was just more practical, more portable and cheaper.
Hot Springs Village deserved and demanded video. I began a major research project. I asked millions of questions of dozens of photographers and videographers. I took copious notes. I kept asking questions. This was not going to be cheap! Some guys suggested gear that I knew I’d never able to operate. Others try to shoehorn me into how they’d do things, but none of them were producing the kind of show we were – and the one I most wanted to produce. I was growing increasingly frustrated with all the contradictory advice and I knew I’d also have to wrangle my extroverted, unfocused co-host so I kept pushing the research forward. All the way stowing away some money.
I decided to ask my audience if they wanted to help. Why not? I told them why. They responded. I was aiming at $1000, full well knowing I’d invest more than that. When I got kinda close to that number I stopped asking and pulled back. I was going to make this investment, Lord willing, but I had to make sure I was buying gear we’d use. And gear we’d use a lot.
During all this I was struggling to get re-engaged with my HSV Inside Out podcast. A variety of obstacles disrupted my flow with the show. Selling a house we’d lived in for over 20 years. Moving into an apartment not far from where we’d lived. Buying a house in Hot Springs Village. Moving whatever wasn’t in our apartment into the new house in Arkansas. Juggling client work, a nice problem to have. Along the way the vibe of the show about Hot Springs Village wasn’t going at all as I had planned so I was wrestling with more moving parts than I was used to. I’m focused. Purposeful. Intentional. Mostly, I’m strategic. Those weren’t things I was able to deploy with this podcast I loved so much. Instead I was taking a backseat and surrendering my original goal and vision — and I was growing more and more intent on getting things back on track. Video was going to help me do that. It was going to be a financial investment, a time investment and a major learning investment to develop skills I didn’t yet have.
Video killed the radio star, but it wasn’t a permanent death because streaming killed them both. Streaming – online content available on our phones, tablets and computers – kills it all. And yes, video is a major player. Active YouTube users are expected to grow by 346 million (+44.05%) between 2022 and 2028. Last year YouTube had almost 2.5 billion users monthly. They generated over $31B in revenue in 2023. On average, people spend 48.7 minutes on YouTube each day. The average user spends over 28 hours on the YouTube app. Over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. (Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/youtube-statistics/) Even SubStack has embraced live video.
Video is supreme. The evidence is overwhelming. But that wasn’t my motivation. Hot Springs Village is a visual place. Words can’t describe it as well as pictures and video. It was an easy, albeit expensive, decision. Expensive in money, time, learning curve and our ability as co-hosts to learn the craft of video storytelling (something I think we still do poorly, but I’m confident we’ll get better).
For years I’ve watched one person who stands out for me because a) he’s not an attention hound, b) he’s always telling stories of people, cultures and places (which is congruent with what we hope to do at HSVInsideOut.com) and c) he’s a one-man band (except his wife does all his video editing). He’s always alone while shooting his stories and he often goes where people would shy away from some big video production. That’s why he uses an old GoPro action camera and two small wireless mics. He’s got a selfie stick and that’s it. No lights. No tripods. No cameraman. And the videos are outstanding. Mostly because he focuses on the subject and fades into the background. He’s focused on telling the best story possible and doing justice to the people, their culture and the place. He’s only in frame as needed. Instead, he keeps his subjects on screen. He takes the audience everywhere he can. The only times we aren’t tagging along is when people forbid him from shooting, which rarely happens because he’s so respectful. His wife’s video editing is extraordinary because his videos are all long-form, often running over an hour. I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching him closely to learn. He’s got years of experience over us so I’m not expecting to match his skill, but I do aspire to emulate him in ways that fit our situation. His name is Peter Santenello. You should subscribe to his channel.
Here’s a short of Peter explaining why he uses a smaller, old GoPro action camera. Then there’s some video about his early journey becoming a successful YouTuber. You’ll see why I consider him a mentor, somebody I want to emulate – and take whatever value I can to apply to what I want to do.
The more I studied the more I knew an action camera was the right choice for our show – and The Yellow Studio. I’m not a photographer or videographer. I knew we’d be out and about, in nature and settings like boat docks, rear decks, golf courses, lakes, parks, trails, and other nature settings – action cameras are ideally suited for all that. Additionally, if we did have a guest I knew some big video production would be a constraint. Intimidating.
That began the research of action cameras. There are a BUNCH of them. About the time I’d think, “This is the one,” a new model would be released. I quickly learned new models were coming out all the time. So I focused on the features we’d most need, including how easy they were to use and how reliable they were over time. By the time I had enough powder saved up to buy something two models stood out: DJI Osmo Pocket 3 (a slick gimbal-controlled camera with insanely great video quality) and the Insta360 Ace Pro (a more typical GoPro-type design with a swivel screen). I wanted two because I have a co-host and I knew if we had one set up and wanted to record different things we’d always be chasing the gear. Additionally, I knew there’d be situations where a two-camera angle would be helpful, especially whenever we did sit-down interviews with guests, or whenever the two of us did shows without a guest (something we were intent on doing more of).
I purchased both along with a Rode Mic Pro wireless mic set consisting of two mics and one transmitter, to connect to your smartphone or camera. The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has a single wireless mic that can automatically connect to that camera.
I gave my co-host the Insta360 Ace Pro and Rode mics to use. I put it all in a hardshell backpack along with a ton of accessories making it easy to schelp around and use. I started “filming” with the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 doing trail walks, drives and other videos that I hadn’t been able to do with just audio. It was a major step up, but we weren’t very good at the craft yet. I knew it would take time and hours of work. Mostly, I knew it would require a commitment on our part.
Few things are more powerful than a mind made up. That was, and still is, THE work. Making up our minds that we want to excel at telling better stories that our audience will find valuable. We’re late to the game. In terms of how many audio shows we’ve produced, with Zoom as our only source of video…and in terms of how old we are. My co-host and I are both in our 60’s, but we’re both technically very savvy. Both of us are eager to learn. So I’m confident we’ll figure it out, but right now things are a bit painful because I see the future. I can easily envision where I want our show to be. I have to determine to drag us to where I want us to be!
These are exciting times. We were taking baby steps that felt like giant leaps. Audio was easy, even routine. Video is more difficult and we had yet to establish a routine because we didn’t know enough. I had used iMovie for years and knew I needed to step up my video editing game. That began another research project of people touting Final Cut Pro (an Apple product) or DaVinci Resolve (a Windows or Mac product with a free or paid version). Some videographers enjoy both. Many are preferential to one or the other. Almost all are heavily involved in doing fancy things we’ll never do (at least I don’t see us doing it). Things like color grading and shooting at the highest resolution possible. I wanted to shoot in 4K and have things work as seamlessly as possible. I wasn’t interested in behaving like I was some professional photographer/videographer. Never mind that I watched hundreds of hours of big-time YouTube photographer channels (I must subscribe to at least 100 or more of them).
I’ve been in the Apple Mac ecosystem since 1984 so it wasn’t a tough decision for me. I chose Final Cut Pro, figuring if I was going to learn one…that’d be the best one for me. Besides, a test flight of DaVinci Resolve proved their dashboard was overwhelming. Maybe it’ll do fancy things Final Cut Pro won’t, but none of that matters to me.
Next, I needed a training course to learn Final Cut Pro. That was an easier solution as most people referred me to Ripple Training. No, I’ve not yet jumped into the pool on that, but it’s coming up quickly. I need to learn it and I’ve watched enough to know I made a good choice.
About this time Sony released an updated version of a popular vlogging camera used frequently in the studio of thousands of YouTubers, Sony ZVE10II. More YouTubers suggested the first version than any other camera. Photographers recommended cameras costing three times as much. They would! 😀
When the Mark 2 of the Sony ZVE10 was released people lost their minds at the updates. It went up in price significantly, but people thought it was worth the price. More and more people were telling me I’d done good with my action camera choices, but “you’re going to want a studio set up” (a camera set up inside The Yellow Studio that says in place, always ready to go). Keep in mind, I do other shows and they felt we’d could use this for our Hot Springs Village show and I could use it for my other shows, too. But that was going to be another $1000 – more if I got a secondary lens for closeup talking head videos (with a blurry background). With accessories, and this other lens, I was looking at investing another $2000 or so. That was without investing in a good quality video light for The Yellow Studio.
Truth: I had been ruminating on this in studio set up long before thinking of action cameras. I had researched single light stand set ups where everything could be mounted on a single rolling stand, kept in place and easily rolled around to change camera angles. That was a rabbit trail I hopped down for the better part of my 18-month research journey. I had found the ideal solution, finally. StrobePro made exactly what I thought I’d get IF I ever got an in-studio camera setup.
I saved more money. All the while reminding myself that I hadn’t invested in anything really since the newest Rodecaster Pro II (replacing the original). Okay, I had indulged in a new mic every now and again, but my mic collection wasn’t too crazy (I basically have four, plus two that I use for field recording if I want XLR mics). But this felt out of control. I was investing more money than I had ever invested, including the $3000 or so to build the original Yellow Studio.
About a month ago I pulled the trigger on the Sony ZVE10 II and the assorted things I needed to construct an in-studio setup, which included the StrobePro stand. Now, I’m so far beyond what I thought I’d do, and far beyond where I thought I’d be when it comes to being equipped to do good video storytelling. Thousands of dollars. Thousands of hours. And not because it’s all necessary…
The necessary part is investment, and not just money. It’s skin in the game. It’s commitment. It’s seriousness. And it’s time invested in the pursuit of something important.
An iPhone is plenty good enough to have a YouTube channel. So if you’re listening to me, don’t mistakenly think you need to invest a ton of money to begin anything. Just do it with whatever you have like I did with a handheld digital audio recorder in 1997. Keep in mind I’m not just starting out. I may be starting into video more deeply, but I’ve been at this content creation and storytelling online journey for 27 years now.
Is it overkill? Of course, it is!
Will I use it? Of course, I will. I’ll make certain.
And that may be the point. To make certain. To live without any excuses. To produce shows without any excuse, other than my limitations, most of which stem from a profound lack of talent.
An intensely narrow focus. That’s my current objective. And I know how to do it because I’ve lived most of my life exercising those muscles. For a long time, I thought it was commonplace. Life has taught me how distracted most people are. Chasing their tail. Running around like cats chasing laser pointers. Then wondering why they’ve not accomplished more. Wondering why so many pursuits die on the vine, nowhere close to being ripe enough to pick.
I’m still learning. A lot. Not just about video, but about — people, storytelling, achieving my vision, adding value – mostly, being remarkable for an audience. No matter how small. It’s why the parable of the starfish depicts one of my main north stars.
Thank you for being on the journey with me.
Please tell a friend about the podcast!