{"id":1585,"date":"2020-12-27T11:28:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T17:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2020-12-27T12:06:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T18:06:43","slug":"ideal-zoom-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?p=1585","title":{"rendered":"Ideal Zoom Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> 2020 has been an odd year &#8211; and it has accelerated our future faster than most of us were ready for &#8211; and that includes moving meetings from the physical world to the Zoom world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"762\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ZoomSetup-Todd-2-762x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1591\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ZoomSetup-Todd-2-762x1024.png 762w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ZoomSetup-Todd-2-223x300.png 223w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ZoomSetup-Todd-2-768x1033.png 768w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ZoomSetup-Todd-2.png 1239w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As we spend hour after hour in the zoom world, I have come to recognize a number of setups including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Laptop with webcam in the crack between the bottom of the screen and the top of the keyboard &#8211; otherwise known as the nostril cam.<\/li><li>Laptop with poor webcam quality (that includes most Apple laptops) &#8211; otherwise known as fuzzy cam.<\/li><li>Laptop that stills has  plastic film over the webcam &#8211; otherwise known as the blurry cam.<\/li><li>Desks with the owners back to a bright window &#8211; otherwise known as soon to be in the witness protection program silhouette.<\/li><li>And the list could go on and on an on.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing this, I decided to design a portable zoom setup that I could use reliably for meetings.  In order to come as possible to resembling a real meeting, it needed to cover the following items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Good lighting so you could read facial expressions<\/li><li>A camera located approximately at eye level and was physically separate from my primary laptop (Macbook pro 16&#8243;) or my Zoom \/teaching laptop (Microsoft Surface book2)  or our conference room setup (Microsoft Surface 4).<\/li><li>Adjustability both in depth and height to take into account two person meetings (my wife and I had many parent teacher conferences or school meetings this way) or allowing me to stand<\/li><li>A dedicated microphone phone with a clear to read MUTE indicator<\/li><li>A dedicated volume knob<\/li><li>(and as it turns out, some sound insulation between my office and my wife&#8217;s office )<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did some quick research on Amazon and chose the following items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B07X2J15G1\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Webcam stand<\/a> &#8211; $27.98 &#8211; envision the adjustable desk lamp you might of had in your childhood &#8211; without the lamp &#8211; it has a solid weighted base, but can also be removed if you want to put small holes at different distances in your desk.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B087D1JWF8\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Dedicated webcam<\/a> &#8211; $29.88 &#8211; I wanted HD &#8211; so 1080 was minimum &#8211; and I wanted one that was adjustable.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B07Q3471S2\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">LED Ring Light &#8211; 10&#8243;<\/a> &#8211; $19.79 &#8211; if you have watched any YouTube videos &#8211; you will notice the YouTubers have a ring light around their camera &#8211; this lights up your face and is adjustable as well.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B07D561S67\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Microphone stand <\/a>with visual cue if mic was muted &#8211; $15.99 &#8211; this one has a big button on the front with a red light (that I put a sticker on to remind me that RED was Live, dark was MUTED). This has eliminated one of my largest frustrations with zoom meetings &#8211; when a speaker is speaking and they are not aware there mic was muted, or they are fumbling around in settings look for the unmute button<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B07S5KR4NZ\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Volume Knob<\/a> &#8211; $27.19 &#8211; For a long time I was using my Apple Airpods for Zoom meetings, but when I moved to the microphone and after waring our  3 sets of Airpods &#8211; I realized I needed a dedicated volume knob.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B08FLWYS4W\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">Sound paneling<\/a> &#8211; $23.99 for 6 pack that is 12&#8243;x12&#8243;x0.4&#8243; &#8211; this has worked really well &#8211; my daughter and I installed them from desk top to ceiling in my office &#8211; not only has it improved the acoustics and eliminated the odd echo I experienced on phone calls, it has done an amazing job of blocking my sometimes loud teaching voice.  My wife has her office down the hallway &#8211; maybe 15&#8242; from mine &#8211; and this has virtually eliminated any sound transmission.<\/li><li>Some miscellaneous velcro, or 3M double sided tape.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"696\" height=\"696\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebCam.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1597\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1597\" class=\"wp-image-1597\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebCam.png 696w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebCam-150x150.png 150w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebCam-300x300.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"630\" height=\"782\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebcamStand.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1598\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1598\" class=\"wp-image-1598\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebcamStand.png 630w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/WebcamStand-242x300.png 242w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"379\" height=\"708\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/MicStand.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1599\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1599\" class=\"wp-image-1599\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/MicStand.png 379w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/MicStand-161x300.png 161w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 379px) 100vw, 379px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"498\" height=\"528\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/VolumeKnob.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1600\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1600\" class=\"wp-image-1600\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/VolumeKnob.png 498w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/VolumeKnob-283x300.png 283w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"527\" height=\"432\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/panels.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1601\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1601\" class=\"wp-image-1601\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/panels.png 527w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/panels-300x246.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"439\" height=\"492\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LED.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1602\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/?attachment_id=1602\" class=\"wp-image-1602\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LED.png 439w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LED-268x300.png 268w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 439px) 100vw, 439px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For $150 to $250 (depending on how much acoustical sound paneling your office needs) &#8211; you can setup your own Zoom studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PS: I am a big believer in always having a sperate zoom computer for meetings because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Zoom is a resource hog and I have watched it melt down a laptop doing too many other things at the same time<\/li><li>Zoom constantly reorganizes all of my carefully laid out windows<\/li><li>If you screen share, you do not really want to screen share work you are doing for other clients<\/li><li>When I just need to listen in on a zoom meeting, I can roll my desk chair about 24&#8243; to the right, and be on my primary computer getting work done.<\/li><li>Speaking of that &#8211; I would add a 2nd HD webcam to your setup &#8211; my 2nd cam is not on the stand, but is located between the two monitors (for better eye contact) and I can switch to that setup when I have moved computers as it looks like I am still engaged on the original zoom meeting.<\/li><li>One more thoughts &#8211; next time you are in a zoom meeting &#8211; do a quick screen shot of your live photo &#8211; I do mine looking thoughtful &#8211; and then post it as my avatar &#8211; so I if need to leave the room to answer the door, make tea, etc. It is not disruptive to the attendees.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"495\" height=\"345\" src=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoom-Todd-Smock.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1604\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoom-Todd-Smock.jpg 495w, http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoom-Todd-Smock-300x209.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2020 has been an odd year &#8211; and it has accelerated our future faster than most of us were ready for &#8211; and that includes moving meetings from the physical world to the Zoom world. As we spend hour after hour in the zoom world, I have come to recognize a number of setups including: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1594,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions\/1594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canteraconsultants.com\/tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}