Webcams are an easy and convenient way to record video footage, but the quality often leaves much to be desired. In many cases however this isn’t a problem with the webcam itself per se, but rather the result of the conditions of the recording.
The good news is that you can do something about that, and there are several ways that you can make significant improvements to the video quality that you’re able to capture using a webcam:
- Make improvements to the lighting
The ideal lighting to record videos via a webcam is when the room is brightly lit, but the light source itself shouldn’t be in the frame or directly behind you. If you have access to several portable lamps you may want to arrange them in roughly the positions of a three-point lighting solution for best results.
No matter what you do make sure your monitor isn’t the only light source in the room, or you’ll find that your video looks grainy and has a strange hue to it.
- Position the webcam at eye-level
While you’re recording try to make sure the webcam is positioned at eye level to avoid the image looking skewed. If the webcam is fixed and its height can’t be adjusted, try to adjust your position, or at very least fix your gaze on the webcam and not on the screen.
- Adjust the webcam settings
Most webcams will provide you with the ability to control the recording settings, and if so you should take advantage of it. The two settings that you should increase are the resolution and the frame rate, as both will affect the quality of the video and make it look clearer and smoother respectively.
- Place something white in the frame
As far as possible there should be something that is white in the frame that the webcam is recording. That will allow it to focus on that and use it as a reference point to adjust the white balance of the video – which will definitely make it look much better. For example you could wear a white shirt, or record against a white background.
- Clean the webcam
Honestly you’d be surprised how often the only problem with the quality of webcam videos stems from the fact that its lens is dirty. Before you record you should dust off the lens, preferably using a can of compressed air to make sure nothing is left.
In addition to the steps listed above there may be other improvements that you can make using your webcam recording software. For example Movavi Video Editor will let you both capture webcam footage and edit and improve it afterwards.
All said and done however you should find it much easier to record high quality videos via your webcam if you take the right steps. In fact you may even be surprised by just how good your videos start to look once you have made the necessary improvements.