Anyone who’s worked in video production for a while has probably tapped into their inner Magyver at some point. We’re never far from a roll of duct tape, and always ready to use any available equipment in ways that the manufacturer may not have planned.

If you’ve already read my previous article on how to combine a RotoLight RL-48 with a Microsoft LifeCam Studio, you’ll know that I already think that this funky, inexpensive ringlight is a really handy piece of kit. And today, I found another reason to love it.

Autocue / Teleprompter
Shortly after the first iPad was launched, I bought one – it’s a flawed product and I particularly resent the way that iTunes acts like a surly-faced nightclub bouncer whenever I try and copy content across, but it makes a really useful teleprompter. I said as much in this article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

You still need a kit with a one-way mirror to use it inline (so your talent is looking directly at the lens as they read), but there’s a bunch of these solutions available. In a pinch, though, placing it close to the lens will do – just as long as the camera is far enough away to give the illusion of eye contact.

Working to a tight deadline
Unfortunately, there are still one or two pieces of studio kit that I’m waiting for, and an inline autocue kit is one of them. But deadlines are deadlines, and I’ve got a production that requires an autocue now. I used to carefully balance the iPad on the lens hood of my HVX202, but the XF300 I’m currently working with doesn’t have the same gap between the hood and the internal mic. So this isn’t an option.

Looking at what I had available, I had a flash of inspiration – the hotshoe mount for the RotoLight has a stem with a flat disc at the top, so I screwed it into place, and hooked the flap on the back of the standard iPad case over the top. It’s almost like it was made for the job.

A couple of points
The XF300 mic has a huge overhang, which lets me tuck the rest of the iPad cover out of the way. Most cameras don’t have this, so you may end up needing to cut the front flap off to avoid covering the lens. Your call.
This example uses the iPad version 1 – I have absolutely no idea if the fancy new case for the iPad 2 can be adapted to this technique.

So now I can fire up ProPrompter and get cracking!
Hope you found this useful,
:l