Portable podcast setups on Riverside (laptop, iPad & pro gear)

00:00 I've recorded podcasts everywhere from hotel rooms to in my car at cafes and in this video I'm gonna share four different setups for all budget levels starting at zero dollars to getting super high quality video and audio no matter where you're podcasting from. I've been podcasting for over a decade for many of those years doing weekly shows and many times they'll be sponsors and so I have to release an episode every week. So I'm going to show you how I do it with USB mics,

00:24 software to eliminate background noise, inexpensive gear that makes a huge difference, and help you podcast no matter where you are. Alright let's start with zero dollars. What if all you have with you is your laptop? Can you podcast with just this? Actually yes you can. Believe it or not the built-in microphones and cameras especially on modern MacBooks are actually really good so I'm going to record a short clip using just the built-in mic and camera.

00:46 Now if I was going to record with a remote guest I would try to plug in some headphones or at least use my AirPods but I'm going to choose the built-in MacBook Air mic and camera. Now several things that'll make a big difference is elevate your laptop so it's close to eye level.

00:59 Don't have it just on your desk it's going to have that weird up angle. And then if you're using a Mac go up here to the menu bar and you can choose things like portrait mode which will actually blur your background. You can even go in and slide how much it's being blurred. Don't go too much otherwise it's going to look a little fake. I would stay right there in the middle. You can turn on studio light and that'll help the lighting look more professional especially if you're

01:20 in a hotel room. You can also apply center stage and it will try to focus on your face but it might get a little distracting if you're moving around the frame and it's trying to reframe you. So I actually leave center stage off but now you actually have a pretty decent camera shot here and now I'm going to record for a few moments so you can see what it looks and sounds like. And this is just the built-in microphone and camera on my MacBook Air. Now this is a

01:42 more recent MacBook Air. This is actually the M4 version but you can get this quality I'd say with an M2 or newer MacBook Air that's about a 2022 year or newer. Now this is the built-in microphone and if you're in a hotel room it might sound echoey but what you're about to hear is this audio going through AI processing and now it's going to sound studio quality. So if you want

02:03 audio that sounds this good with just your built-in laptop mic I'm going to show you how to get that in just a moment but you can do it with just your laptop. And I can still record with remote gas or solo in the hotel room or wherever I might be. Now if you want that great sounding audio even though you used a built-in microphone because I recorded with Riverside I can go into the Riverside editor and under the AI producer we have something called magic audio. I can apply this which will remove background noise echo and make that built-in microphone sound studio quality.

02:33 I can even choose how much it's processed to make sure it doesn't sound too robotic but applies enough AI effects to make it sound great. So that will set up one buying nothing just using your built-in webcam and microphone. But set up two if you're going to upgrade your mic get the Samsung Q2U. This is a $70 microphone. It comes with a little stand you need so you

02:56 don't have to hold the microphone the whole time all the cables you need in the box and it actually sounds really good. And if you have an older laptop or you're not happy with the video quality you're getting from your webcam you can get the opal tadpole. This is a $100 webcam you can get it on Amazon and it's super convenient because it has a built-in clip very portable and built-in cable. Now in some lighting conditions you might find the built-in webcam works better but if you have an older laptop and you're looking to upgrade this is a great option. And I also did a whole video comparing multiple webcams from different price ranges all the way from $40 to hundreds of dollars.

03:25 I'll link that video right here if you want to see the different quality you can get. And the best webcam is actually just the phone in your pocket and I've done lots of videos talking about how to use your phone as your webcam wirelessly. I'll link one of those videos above and down in the description too. I'm also going to plug in the Samsung Q2U microphone then here in Riverside when I'm going to record I'll choose the opal tadpole webcam and the Samsung Q2U microphone.

03:47 I'm also going to choose it as my speaker because I would connect wired headphones to this microphone so I can hear any remote guests I might be recording with. Now even with the opal tadpole connected if you're on a Mac you can still adjust things like the portrait settings and studio lighting. So you can see how it looks maybe it looks better in the hotel room with studio lighting enabled and now we can record with the opal tadpole and the Samsung Q2U. The microphone

04:10 the Samsung and the opal tadpole camera again depending on your environment that built-in webcam may do better than the opal tadpole or using your iPhone as your camera which I'll show you in a second that can work great but this is going to get you much higher audio quality and you don't have to use any AI processing on the audio if you use a USB microphone like this and this is going to get you a great quality recording whether you're in the car the hotel room at a

04:32 cafe and if you do record in a public place like that coffee shop then I would use some of the magic audio to remove the background noise anyway this way you're going to get clean audio and it's going to be great to listen to for your audience. Now real quick I'm going to switch to using my iPhone as my webcam you'll see here in Riverside if you have an iPhone and a Mac you can literally just select your iPhone as your webcam your iPhone will start looking like this because

04:56 it's in continuity camera mode you can play around with the studio lighting effect even with your iPhone as your webcam not sure if I like it better on or off I'll leave it on for now and this is what an actual Riverside recording looks like with my iPhone as the webcam and using the same USB microphone the Samsung Q2U. I think this is going to be the best video quality as you can see right now better than most webcams better than your built-in webcam and it's just using

05:18 the phone you already have in your pocket. Now you can use your Android phone and a Windows laptop or mix and match any of them using the app called Camo from Reincubate I'll link it down in the video description but then you can use your Android phone as your webcam or use your iPhone with your Windows PC. Alright before we get to the top end setup with the most professional camera and microphone can you do it with just an iPad? Absolutely. Both of the microphones I

05:42 mentioned in this video you can actually connect directly to your iPad and use the Riverside app on your device to record in high quality. I'm going to take the same Samsung Q2U microphone open the Riverside app on my iPad I'll go into my studio to start recording then I'm going to plug in the USB microphone and you should see a pop-up right here on your iPad. When you see this it might seem counterintuitive but you actually want to select headphones because you're going

06:04 to plug in wired headphones to that USB mic and use it here in Riverside. You should also see this pop-up asking for a wired connection. If you didn't see this unplug your microphone and plug it back in right here in the Riverside app before recording and then tap no. This way you can use the microphone as both input and output. And here's what it looks like just to record with my iPad and a USB microphone connected to it. Now using the back camera would be higher

06:28 quality and better frame rate but then you won't be able to preview your video. Now there's some great accessories for that as well. I'll link a video above that I talk about some wireless monitors you can use with your iPhone or your iPad but even your iPad you're going to get great audio quality you can record with remote guests and you can get that podcast episode done wherever you are. And finally for the highest quality audio and video on the go use the Shure MV7 Plus

06:52 microphone. I've talked about this one a lot but it has that USB connection right here you can use it with your iPad your iPhone or your laptop. And for the webcam I'm actually going to recommend the Osmo Pocket 3. This is actually a creator focused webcam with a built-in screen and gimbal for stabilization but this is actually a 4k webcam that you can connect to your computer as well.

07:14 If I connect the Osmo Pocket 3 to my computer just with a single USB cable and then once it's connected to your computer when you flip the screen to turn it on you'll actually see the option to use it as a webcam. Click allow on the computer and then you can select it from the camera drop down and then use it as your webcam. I can even reframe and zoom in on the Osmo Pocket 3 and then

07:35 I'm going to choose the Shure MV7 Plus microphone that we tested earlier. And here we are in the Riverside studio with the Osmo Pocket 3 and I'm going to start recording and as you can see the Osmo Pocket 3 looks incredible, frame rate is great, and will even work up to 4k in Riverside.

07:50 And what you're hearing and seeing right now is the Pocket 3 video with the Shure MV7 Plus audio and this is going to give you a pro level setup anywhere you need to be. Hotel room, car, cafe, and then you can use tools like magic audio in Riverside to edit this content. This is literally the setup that I have used to record podcasts lately if I'm traveling and I'm going to be a podcast movement conference soon. I record my weekly show with this setup and it looks and

08:14 sounds great. Here's an example of that podcast that I recorded with a remote guest all using Riverside. Now for that most pro setup the Shure MV7 Plus is $300 and the Osmo Pocket 3 used to be cheaper but because of some recent changes here in the US and just super high demand it's now about $800. So again that is the professional setup but this Osmo Pocket 3 I've been using

08:37 anytime I'm out of the studio and it has incredible video quality. So if you're looking for a camera that you can take with you to record vlogs, b-roll, or just be your main camera if you want to create content, this is actually a great option. It can even do slo-mo in 4k which I've done as well so can highly recommend this camera. I actually did an entire video dedicated to the Osmo Pocket 3 here on the channel. I'll link it above if you want to see that review.

08:59 And remember no matter what gear you use, use Riverside to record. This way you can edit super fast. I record my weekly podcast all in Riverside so I can apply our podcast brand with just a click. I can use the AI producer and every week I remove all silences, you can even change the pace, super fast for reels and short form video, or I leave it about there for my long form podcast. You can remove all filler words with a click. I also apply Smart Mute which will mute everyone's track when they're not speaking. I find it cleans up the audio even better listening for the audience.

09:30 And you can also apply Smart Layouts which will give you a multicam look switching between the active speaker automatically. You'll see if I preview this it'll be between the two of us on screen, go to the active speaker and then go back to the two of us in those in-between moments when there's laughter and it did it all for me in just a few seconds. Then if I need to further edit my content I can just select text here in the transcript that you get every time you record

09:52 with Riverside, click the trash cam and I've edited my content. You can even change the format to a vertical 9x16 just like that. Add animated captions in the perfect style with a single click and you can even add image, text, and video overlay and even generate AI video or upload your own video clips to the Riverside editor and then you can use them as b-roll however you'd like. I can move the captions and reframe and all of it done right here in Riverside.

10:17 Then when you're ready to export your full length episode or clips you can export in up to 4k quality and use the same edit to export an audio mp3. This way you can use that for your podcast host and RSS feeds. So those are four powerful portable podcasting setups like that alliteration that you can take with you wherever you go. Links to all the gear I talked about is down in the video

10:38 description along with videos I mentioned here in this video and if you want to see that review on the Osmo Pocket 3 I'll link it above. Don't forget to subscribe to the Riverside channel and click that like button because we help creators grow their podcasts, their YouTube channel, upgrade their gear for the best video and audio, and show you how to edit super fast to save you hours of time. Which if you want to see the editor even more in depth with all the AI tools like

11:00 magic clips for repurposing, AI generated show notes, and more check out my video on that right up here. Thanks for watching. We can't wait to see what you create.