How to set up your Lightboard studio.
Setting up your Lightboard studio can feel overwhelming. This visual guide walks you through every step: what equipment you need, where to place it, and how to dial in the lighting and camera so only you and your drawings are visible to the camera.
Jump to the steps
How a Lightboard studio works.
Your studio should let you film videos where only you and your drawings on the board are visible to camera, with no distractions and no clutter behind you.
To pull this off, you'll lean on a bit of camera and lighting trickery: a black backdrop disappears into camera as you darken the room, leaving the Lightboard's edge-lit glow to do the talking.
Once the room is dark and the backdrop is invisible, you've laid the foundation for everything else in this guide.
Keeping the presenter visible.
With the room dark, your camera may struggle to see you. The Lightboard itself is the only real source of light, and it's mostly catching your drawings.
Position a studio light on either side of you, equal distance from the Lightboard. Their only job is to put light on you, the presenter, and not on the board or the backdrop.
Use the barn doors (the black flaps on each light) to focus the beam tightly. A little spill on the glass causes glare; a little spill on the backdrop makes it visible. The barn doors are your friends.
Position the equipment correctly.
The measurements below are guidelines. Your setup will vary with the camera, the room, and the space you have to work with. We've assumed you're using our specialist equipment.
Add the audio.
The trick with audio is keeping the presenter clearly captured behind the glass without degrading the signal.
The simplest, cheapest fix is a male-to-female audio extension cable so your microphone can reach the recording device on the other side of the Lightboard.
Tape down or mark every cable run. A studio is a low-light room with a glass panel in the middle, so trip hazards aren't worth the risk.
Dial in your recording device.
Most modern cameras compensate for low light by raising ISO, which makes the picture bright but noisy. Instead, lower the brightness manually until everything except you and your drawings disappears. You'll be surprised how dark you can go.
Entry-level DSLR or above
Any entry-level or above DSLR works beautifully for Lightboard videos. Enable noise reduction in the menu and set the video frame rate to 24.
Switch to manual mode and start with the settings on the right, then adjust ISO up or down to taste.
- Aperture: f/8
- Shutter speed: 50–100 (do not exceed 100, as it conflicts with the LED frequency)
- ISO: 800, adjusted as needed for brightness
- Frame rate: 24fps with noise reduction on
Webcam for live or overlay workflows
Use a webcam as your primary device when you need to overlay text, diagrams, or images, or you want to present live in real time.
Download OBS Studio (free, open-source). Add your webcam as a source, then adjust brightness under Filters → Color Correction until only you and your drawings remain.
- OBS Studio as the capture and recording layer
- Brightness adjusted via Filters → Color Correction
- Locked white balance to match your studio lights
- Ideal for live streaming and screen overlays
Smartphones work better than you'd expect
Many of our customers shoot on an iPhone or Android phone. The example reference video on our site was filmed on an iPhone 6S.
You'll need an app that lets you manually control brightness (or ISO, shutter, and aperture). Most modern camera apps in the App Store and Play Store offer this.
- Manual exposure / brightness control required
- Use a tripod or magnetic mount for stability
- Lock focus on the writing plane, not the room
- If manual ISO is exposed, mirror the DSLR settings
Why you must use low-iron architectural glass.
Cheaper alternatives (clear-glass and acrylic) are weaker, less transparent, and prone to scratches that trap dirt and old marker residue.
When you reduce camera brightness to hide smudges, those scratches and residue stay visible, while the parts you do want to see (you and your drawings) start to disappear.
Our tempered low-iron glass is durable, scratch-resistant, and far more transparent. More light passes through, drawings glow brighter, and you can take the camera brightness lower without losing the parts that matter.
Have questions about your setup?
Get in touch and one of our studio experts will help you plan the room, the lights, and the camera settings for your space.