[Updated] Keep Making TV & Radio from Home

So this is a wild time.... no way around it. And with PhillyCAM currently closed to the public, we're all going to have to get creative to keep making content for TV and Radio. So how do we do it? Let's dive right in.

First, these are only a handful of suggestions. There are so many different ways to make content. If you've already got your favorite setup, apps etc that you know works for you, then forget me here and just go for it! But if, like me, you've spent the last week wading through the endless sea of programs and apps that are out there for creating content from home, here are a few gems we've pulled out.

ZOOM: For simple recording of interviews it's hard to beat Zoom. Check out our mini turotial at the top of the page. The free version allows up to a whopping 100 guests at a time but does limit each session to 40 minutes, so you may have to schedule multiple meetings just to record one episode. When you hit record during a meeting it does all the switching for you, cutting to whoever is talking based on the audio it detects from their mic. This makes it very easy to operate overall, but does mean your control over who you see when is very limited. For more great Zoom tips check out this great video from The Verge.

STREAMYARD:  If you want more control and generally higher quality than Zoom, this browser-based interface offers a super simple and (mostly) elegant solution for recording 1-6 guests at once. It works best being set up on desktop, but your guests can join from their phones right from Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android without having to download any apps themselves. The free version does include at ugly watermark, but it's not so giant that you can't easily crop it or cover it with your own logo. Unfortunately, recording is limited to the paid version which starts at $25/month. There is a workaround though using youtube which we go over in the video at the bottom of the page. You can see our full tutorial by clicking here, or click here for that special part two on getting the most out of the free version below.

FILMIC PRO: This app is the gold standard for shooting mobile video on iOS or Android. It's not free, but at $15 it has enough features to justify its cost. But you can also shoot great video right from your phone's default app. For more info on how to also do all your editing on your mobile device, check out this video for iOS or this video for Android. If you need to edit on desktop for free, check out iMovie on Mac and Windows Photo on PC.

OTHER FREE RESOURCES:

Audacity - This is one of the best free editing programs for audio/radio/music. For way more great info, check out Allison from WPPM's blog post about audio recording.

Davinci Resolve - This is a pro-level industry standard editing/color grading suite and it's FREE. It does have a learning curve, but there are lots of good tutorials on youtube about it.

Adobe Creative Cloud - So this one ISN'T free normally, but in a roundabout way they've agreed to make it free during the crisis. Here's a blog post where they go into more detail about how to capitalize on it.

So there's just a few. We'll keep posting more links as they come across our radar. Join us for our weekly water cooler talks and share your own findings. And stay creative during all this!