Griffin Hammond over at Indy Mogul has a great video about how to build a $35 DIY teleprompter. That is pretty awesome compared to the cheapest one I found on B&H which was $449.
For anyone who’s wondering what a teleprompter is, it is a device that allows you to read text while looking directly at the lens. It is made with beam splitter glass positioned at 45° with a camera behind it and running text below it. The beam splitter does not block the camera from seeing as you look at it, while reflecting text that you can read. It is all explained in the movie after the break.
If you were afraid of a hard build, the video shows just how easy it is to make a teleprompter.
Prompter vs. Below Camera Monitor Comparison
If you missed that part in the video or just wanted to see exactly how reading off a teleprompter looks so much better than reading from, say, below camera monitor, here is a head to head comparison taken from the video
Getting Nicer Glass
The first video uses picture frame glass that works. But there is an update about getting better grade scrap glass, which is more reflective and less blurry, that you may wanna check out.
Teleprompter Software
On the video Griffin uses Prompt! Light FREE but this requires a laptop to run off. If you are carrying an iPad (or some other tablet), here are some alternatives:
- Android Prompter is a free prompter software for Android (duh)that has most of the features you’ll need (i.e. scroll speed, mirror mode & font size)
- Teleprompt+ for iPad – While not cheap, this is a really well designed piece of software. Aside from all that you’d normally expect from a prompter you can also import/sync files into it.
Not Convinced yet?
If this was not enough convincing for you, Ben has a short video that explains why he uses a teleprompter
[How-to: $35 DIY Teleprompter for LCD or iPad | Indy Mogul]
