I added video production to my repertoire as a radio creative services director nearly four years ago.  In that time, I graduated from manipulating still images and animated text to filming HD video and using chroma key (blue & green screens).  Since I saw a need for it before my company did, I couldn't get management to foot the bill for the equipment I needed.  So I took on the burden of purchasing the necessary equipment to take my videos to the next level.  In the next few paragraphs, I'll share my trial and error with you to help make your case to management on what you need to make awesome web videos.

First, you'll need a camera.  The easiest camera I've found for shooting video for radio websites is Cisco's Flip Video Camera.  The Flip Share software is easy to install and use.  The videos can be saved via Flip Share or copied directly to your computer's hard drive.  The native AVI (SD) and MP4 (HD) formats are accepted by most video editing programs so there's no need to pre-render.  My personal favorite is the UltraHD because you can swap out the lithium-ion battery pack for regular alkaline batteries if you run out of power during a shoot.  The Flip UltraHD retails for about $199.99 and shoots in 720p HD with a capacity of 4 hours or 8GB.

The only drawback to the Flip is its lack of external microphone input for professional use.  To overcome this, I employ a Sony ICD-UX70 MP3 recorder (the latest version is the ICD-UX81 at $149.95).  This 2GB capacity recorder has an external mic input and fits in one's pocket.  Used with a $30 lavalier microphone I purchased on eBay, I can mic my talent and get longer shots without sacrificing audio quality.  It has a built in USB and transfers just as easily to my PC as the Flip Camera.  From there I just match up the wave forms and mute the camera audio.

Now that I have audio and video, I need to cut it up.  Enter Sony Creative Software's Vegas 10.  Vegas has been my primary editing software for audio since I switched from the Orban Audicy in 2004.  The budget version is Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum, which retails for about $99 and limits you to only 10 tracks of audio and 10 tracks of video, but it should be plenty sufficient.  My two favorite features of this software are the "Explorer Window" and "Render As".  The "Explorer Window" of Vegas allows you to navigate the files of your hard drive, preview audio & video, and drag items into the editing timeline all within Vegas.  No need to import here!  The "Render As" function allows you to render separate tracks down without "bouncing" them in real time.  A big advantage, especially with audio rendering. 

So far, we have $199.99 for a HD camera, $149.95 for an MP3 recorder, $30 for a lavalier microphone, and $99 for editing software.  That's just under $500 for just the basics.  The next few items really will take your videos to the next level.

Lighting.  If you can't see it, it ain't worth watching now is it?  A decent pair of lights will really make your subjects pop, especially if you want to shoot green/blue screen.  I got a hold of a pair of compact fluorescent soft box lights for under $200.  They break down very easily and are portable for location work.  I also have a framed green/blue screen from Digital Juice called a Chroma-Pop.  It basically works like a sunshade for your car, going from a 2' diameter circle to a  5' x 7' background that's green on one side and blue on the other.  The attached Velcro straps make it easy to secure to the frame of my drop-tile ceiling in my studio.  The Chroma-Pop is available at www.digitaljuice.com for $99. 

Other items that will make your productions look as good as your radio station sounds are video animations: lower thirds, backgrounds, transitions and wipes.  Digital Juice carries a number of libraries that retail for as low as $49.95, and with their monthly specials the prices can drop dramatically.  These items can give the polish that your current imaging SFX library lends to your station's sound.  After all, lasers, zaps and rewinds are out of fashion in audio production, so why would you produce videos that look like a 1980s cable access show (unless you're making "Between Two Ferns with Zack Galifianakis"). 

Here is the final tally:

HD Flip Cam:            $199.95

MP3 Recorder:         $149.95

Lavalier mic:              $30

Editing Software:       $99

Lighting Kit:              $197.99

Chroma-Pop:            $99

Video Animations:     $49.95

 GRAND TOTAL:    $825.88

So for under $1,000, you can have a pretty well equipped TV studio in your radio station for creating quality web video content for your station's websites and social media pages.  Plus that thousand bucks could be easily recouped by doing a view video shoots for sales to create streaming pre-rolls for clients or other specialty video.