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Hi, I'm Andy Trembley. Welcome to Spartan Webex Tips episode 5, Hollywood High-Tech.
WebEx video conferencing gives you a rich collaborative environment for lectures, webinars,
class project meetings, virtual office hours and other situations where you, or your students,
can't be present on campus. All you need is a network connection, a microphone and a webcam.
Well, almost all you need is a network connection, a microphone and a webcam. You also need good
lighting.
I've got a network connection, a microphone and a webcam.
If you're lucky, your office or home office has nice big windows and great lighting to
make your WebEx video look really sharp. I know people who are lucky like that. But you're
probably not lucky.
I'm pretty lucky and have nice windows, but they're in a really bad place when I'm using
video.
Unlike our next-generation lecture rooms, your office also probably wasn't designed
with video lighting in mind. Low lights might result out-of-focus, noisy video. Windows
and lights behind you can screw up your webcam's automatic exposure and cast your face into
silhouette.
There's a quick, easy and most importantly cheap way to fix that. For around $50, you
should be able to pick up a cheap daylight-balanced LED light panel and the necessary accessories
to add simple studio lighting to your workspace. I got a Neewer CN-160 panel and a rechargeable
Sony battery from Amazon, and used some mounting hardware I had at home to clamp it to my office
shelf. You can find similar clamp mounts online, just search for "justin clamp" and plenty
of options will present themselves.
I'll turn on my light panel, and switch back to my video.
There's still a lot of light coming in those windows, and a little LED panel isn't going
to overpower it all. But it does make a difference, I don't look like there's a bomb going off
behind my head. In my old office, where I had fluorescent lighting behind me, it made
a really big difference.
If you're doing a lot of WebEx video conferencing, you should probably consider asking your department
to make a similar investment to supplement your workspace lighting. It never hurts to
look a little more serious and professional, and this is a cheap way to do that when engaging
with your students and colleagues through WebEx. Thank you, and please join me again
for another Spartan WebEx tip.