The gear, software & resources I personally use.
These resources have been thoroughly tested in my own creator business and have helped me get to where I am today. It is important to note that I only recommend resources that I know and trust.
The right tools can easily improve your results as a Creator.
I have these lists divided into four sections of my Creator business:
- At Home Studio - Where I film myself for that studio look
- Outdoor Setup - Gear I use to make my adventure videos and shoot outside
- Editing Setup - What I use to build my editing setup
- Software & Digital Tools - This is all the applications I use for my process
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Building a Studio At Home
I put together a video that goes through all of my setups over the last few years. This will give you a ton of ideas on some different looks and how to achieve them while also teaching you a ton about the process of filming yourself for your YouTube videos
Below is my full gear list for my studio that I’ve built in my spare bedroom.
GEAR | PURPOSE |
This camera is overkill for creators especially in an office setting, but I have one for client work so thats what I use in my office. The ZV-E1 is much cheaper and has the same sensor and will get great results for an office setup | |
Main Lens. I like the look of the 35mm because its wide but also gives you a good Shallow DOF when filming | |
Lightweight and small. Works great to hold my camera | |
Key Light. This is what I use to light up my face. If you want to see the full lighting setup Watch this Video | |
Softbox for my Key light. | |
I have a microphone right out of camera on top of the frame. I hang the Rode to get my audio. | |
This is how I hold my microphone out of frame. I can keep the light stand off to the side and extend the boom arm to the right position. | |
I use one hung on my wall for a practical light and one is above me for ambiance and a hair light. | |
I replaced my office lights with Philips hue bulbs and thats what I use for the color in the background | |
These fill my ceiling to help dampen the sound in this room. There is also carpet on the floor to cut out reverb. | |
These are cool. I have 2 up in my office. One for my key light and one for my hair light. Allows me to get stands off the ground and mount more on my walls. |
Filming Outside
I like to shoot my videos outside if possible and when I’m filming outdoors I keep all my gear in one backpack. My goal is to be light and fast with my setup while still having a very high end look.
GEAR | PURPOSE |
Love this camera. Has everything I need when I’m out filming. | |
Main Camera. Great sensor and full frame gives you a ton to work with. Watch my full Review of this camera. | |
Wide lens but gives you some really nice shallow DOF. | |
My favorite lens for B Roll | |
Perfect focal length for vlogging. I like the 1.8 so I can have more Shallow Depth of Field | |
If I want to carry less gear then I go for this lens over bring my prime lenses. The range is nice for a ton of uses and the lens is small. | |
For a camera backpack my favorite to carry everything is the Shimoda Action X40 V2. This is small enough to take on a plane but big enough for all my gear and is built for adventure. I switch between the Yellow and Green versions. | |
Sometimes I carry less gear and just need a small daypack. On those days I’ll bring my Shimoda Urban Explore 25L. | |
This is my current favorite set of wireless microphones. The 32bit float backup recording is super helpful | |
On board shotgun microphone that pairs well with Sony cameras. | |
Lightweight and straps easily on the side of my backpack. | |
These ND filters have no color cast and I love ability to stack them with the SWIFT system. | |
When I want a cinematic look I often will use a black pro mist and this one works well with the SWIFT System | |
This drone is the perfect mix of pro features while still staying super small. I love the 70mm lens to create cinematic footage from any scene. | |
This allows me to get my shutter speed to double that of my frame rate with the Air 3. | |
A small compact gimbal that will hold my A7SIII or similar size camera. | |
This ties my whole system together so I can use the same camera plate on my tripod, gimbal and shoulder mount. | |
These are the SD cards I use for my Sony cameras. I use 512gb versions. | |
These are the fastest cards you can get for Sony cameras. I get the 1TB so I never run out of space when filming. | |
The smallest camera gimbal combo out there. I use this if I don’t want to bring my RS3 mini or I want a smaller setup when filming. Watch my full review | |
If I need an action camera I prefer to bring out my 360. This allows me to shoot in a sphere and edit where its pointing later Watch how I use a 360 Camera | |
These are the Micro SD cards I use for my cameras. | |
The Peak Design Capture Clip is what I use to hold my camera on my camera strap. Works with the Shimoda backpacks. |
Editing Setup
This is the full editing setup that i use to make my videos. I work in two ways. When I’m home I have my full studio setup so I can work off multiple monitors and have all my data connected. When I’m traveling I keep it light so that I can edit anywhere.
GEAR | PURPOSE |
No issues editing with this computer. Its lighting fast. Specs: Macbook Pro M1 Max, 2021, 64GB Ram, 4TB hard drive | |
My top monitor I use for color grading | |
This is my workspace. I like having a wide curved monitor so I can see my editing timeline bigger | |
This mouse works so much better than the apple mouse. Few extra buttons plus it charges from the front | |
Works great with my setup | |
Holds my monitors in a top & bottom configuration. Top monitor is full screen preview and lower monitor is my workspace | |
I have 2 of these. One is built as a 98TB hard drive with 1 drive redundancy. The 2nd I use for hot swapping drives | |
Lots of space and able to hot swap using my OWC enclosure | |
What I use when I’m not in my office for backup and data storage. These have been the most reliable of the ones I’ve worked with. | |
How swappable cartridges for both ssd & card readers | |
Dual SD card reader | |
CFexpress A Reader for my Fast cards | |
This holds all my computer equipment. I have it configured so that I can attach my laptop and work in the office using all my equipment or I can remove easily | |
Backup battery incase the power ever goes out. This way I have a few hours to close down projects and backup before I run out of power. | |
This shows how many subscribers I have right now. Fun to have in the office. |
Software & Digital Tools
The hardware and gear is only half of what makes a YouTuber successful. Below are all the tools that I use to run my business and build out all the components to make everything work
Software | PURPOSE |
There are lots of options for video editing and I suggest you pick one and learn it inside and out. I've been using Final Cut Pro for years and its a complete video editor that has so much creative potential. If you want to learn how to use FCP I have a in depth course on the Creator Film School that teaches you everything about the software. | |
I built the Creator Film School using Uscreen and this is where I house all my digital products and video membership. Uscreen makes it easy to setup and start selling fast. There are a ton of marketing tools that allow you to build your business and increase your revenue. | |
Notion is a 2nd brain that allows you to build databases with tons of information organized in a way that you can access everything you need to know about a project fast. I keep track of all my to do lists, past videos and current projects in on place. | |
The easiest way to setup an email list and build lead pages so that you can grow your list. There are plenty of automation features that allow you to setup email sequencing so that once you have it all setup you can let it run on its own. | |
So many features to help creators grow their channels | |
TubeBuddy is a complete suite of tools for YouTubers. I’ve been using them for years to find topics and keywords to target so that I can rank #1 on YouTube & Google. Also a great tool to compare channels and deal with everyday management of my channel as a solo creator. | |
I sell all my footage online with multiple stock agencies. Blackbox makes it easy by allowing you to upload once and Blackbox will distribute it to multiple stock agencies. You save a ton of time when you use Blackbox. Once your footage is online then it can continue to make sales and you don't have to do anything. | |
This tool is essential for me to run my creator business. Every link I make gets turned into a GeniusLink. One super useful feature is that I can change the links inside GeniusLink so I don't have to go back through old videos if I need to update a link location. Saves me so much time with all my links | |
This is what I use to make all my graphics and thumbnails for videos. | |
A super time consuming part of editing is color grading. I've developed different looks over the years that I can use on any of my footage so that I can speed up the edit process. This is my set of LUTs that I use on all my videos. | |
This set of SDFX isn't like anything else out there. The collection is focused on being useful in a variety of settings. There are 7 distinct categories (Time-lapse, Slow Motion, Transitions, Loops, Drones, Risers, Ambiences) | |
Artgrid is the perfect solution when you need some additional stock footage in your videos. They have a subscription that allows you to use everything for one price. Lots of Cinematic looking stock footage on this platform. | |
I use Musicbed as another source of music for my videos. The music is different than you'll find on other platforms and works well for storytelling. | |
Epidemic is a perfect resource to get all your music for your YouTube channel. To be monetized you need to have music that has been licensed properly. Epidemic makes it easy so you only have to pay a single fee and then get access to 1000’s of music tracks to use in your videos | |
These Plugin packs allow me to edit faster. Every aspect of these graphics are customizable so that I can make them fit my branding and channel. | |
Reliable way to transfer data from cards to my hard drives and have everything verified. | |
This is how I built this site you’re currently using. You can build websites off of Notion databases so all you need to do is edit your Notion page and it automatically updates on the website | |
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If you have any questions for me about my gear or some suggestions for your own setup then head over to the Creator Film School Community
Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in are affiliate links that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.