Tutorial: The Best Equipment for Skype Video Calls

As video becomes a bigger and bigger part of business and professional communications we’ve seen an increase in the number of requests for an “ideal” Skype or Google Hangout setup. So after extensive testing, we’ve developed what we believe to be the best all-around video conferencing setup for the average user. It’s not the cheapest, or the most expensive setup, but each piece is extremely versatile and they work equally well across all major operating systems and hardware platforms.

Skype Lighting

You wanna do this right, right? Well, I’m sorry but the first thing is also by far the most expensive. The Ice Light LED stick costs $500. But it offers a huge number of advantages:

• It’s relatively light and portable.
• It puts out the right amount of soft, pleasing light for this purpose. Not too bright or harsh. Just right.
• It’s got a built in battery so you can travel with it and do your Skype calls anywhere. It supports mspy app free trial too.
• In addition to Skype, it’s a fantastic photography light! In fact, that’s its main purpose.

So I’m telling you, you need to suck it up and get this light. I’ve tried at least 10 other types of lights, and I’m not boring you with those because none come close. This is it people. Get the Ice Light.

Now that you understand why we want to use that light, here’s HOW we’re going to use it. The Ice Light has a mounting point on each end. So you need a pair of Nasty Clamps, which will screw in on each end and then clamp securely in place on just about anything nearby. A shelf, your monitor, whatever! The goal is to mount the light horizontally illuminating your face from behind and above the camera.

Skype Cameras

Some of you right now are thinking, “my laptop’s already got a webcam”. And for you guys I say – it’s a piece of crap! Yes, Mac users, this means you too! The Logitech C920 webcam is at least twice as good. I mean, you buy one of these, plug it in, and instantly find out how bad your built-in camera was.

The C920 will give you a nice wide field of view, so you can even get a couple of people in on the screen, and most importantly – it is the only webcam around with a tripod mount on the bottom! So you can mount it on a stand and really achieve a nice dramatic effect by moving it back to capture more on the screen. Well worth the less than $100 you can get it for on Amazon.

Skype Microphones

Finally, let’s talk about the most important part of conferencing. Your voice. Rarely is video critical, but you simply can’t have a call without being heard. So we heartily recommend the Editor’s Choice award winning MXL USB conference microphone.

This microphone is going to dramatically improve your audio over your machine’s built in mic, but it’s also going to allow you to capture audio from multiple people extremely well. Jamplay is also offering skype video tutorial for guitar. You can try jamplay coupon if you want to test them.

Now the one caveat here is that we’re assuming you are going to find a fairly uninterrupted space to do your calls. But if you just can’t manage that, you need to control your voice and you need a way to hear the other end of the conversation. So in that case, you should invest in the Logitech H530/H540 headphones with laser-tuned microphone.

Ok, that’s it! If you do exactly what we recommend here, you’ll end up with the same stellar results in just about any environment as we did. Good luck, and let us know if you like it by sharing this article with others on your favorite social media site!