Setting Up Your Physical Mic & Camera Rigs for Teleprompting
Looking at the camera lens keeps your audience engaged.
Traditional teleprompters put a reflective beam-splitter glass in front of the lens. They work, but they are expensive, heavy and fiddly to set up.
VocalScroll takes a different route. Switch on Camera and set Camera view to Behind text, and your picture sits softly behind the script. You can check your framing without looking away from the line you are reading.
Your microphone and webcam still need good positions. This is the gear reference.
1. High-eyeline webcam alignment
To look straight at your viewers:
- Mount center: place your webcam on top of your monitor, centered.
- Keep eye movement small: keep the line you are reading near the top center of the screen, just below the webcam lens.
- Wide monitors: on a large widescreen, put the prompter on the side nearest your camera so you do not look far off to one side.
2. Choosing your microphone rig
VocalScroll's on-device speech recognition works best on a clean, undistorted signal. Different rigs suit different jobs:
| Microphone style | Connection | Best suited for | Pro / Con |
|---|---|---|---|
| USB desk condenser (e.g., Elgato Wave:3 MK.2, Blue Yeti) | USB cable, plug and play | Desktop video creators, solo podcasters and home studios. | Pro: easy to set up. Con: picks up desk vibration and keyboard clicks. |
| Lavalier lapel mic (e.g., Rode SmartLav+) | Clip-on to shirt | Presenters who move, stand up or gesture a lot. | Pro: keeps a constant distance from your mouth. Con: the cord is visual clutter if not hidden. |
| Shotgun boom mic (e.g., Rode VideoMic NTG) | Overhead stand | Cinematic creators and tech reviewers. | Pro: the microphone stays out of frame. Con: needs a boom stand. |
3. Isolating your sound
To keep keyboard clicks and desk bumps out of your recording and your voice tracking:
- Use a boom arm: a suspended boom arm holds the microphone closer to your mouth and away from keyboard vibration.
- Add a pop filter: bursts of air on p and b sounds can trip up speech recognition. A mesh pop filter a few inches from the microphone breaks up much of that air.
- Use a shock mount: an elastic suspension mount absorbs mechanical rumble before it reaches the microphone.