Makers’ Club #1: How to… Video-Call – Review

A new brigk format celebrated its premiere last Thursday: Max from brigk Makerspace invited to the first Makers’ Club. The once-a-month club is for doers, creatives, Makerspace- and Max-fans and gives innovative and creative DIY tips, tricks and tools fitting to the monthly brigk theme.   

In keeping with the brigk topic of the month – home office and remote work – the first issue of the Makers ’Club was all about the optimal video-call. Our host Max came up with some ideas for the infection protection measures-friendly workshop. He started in the worst possible video call position – with a laptop on his knees, on the couch, with the standard living room lighting switched on and a poor network connection. The picture was rather modestly illuminated, the head of the brigk Makerspace clearly demonstrated how not to do it.  

Max took his ten participants on a small journey of continuous video call improvement through his workshop. He switched to a fixed desk, showed how the correct distance to the camera and background optimizes the image section, how much quality a switch from the built-in webcam to a better smartphone camera, SLR or system camera can bring, which camera position flatters our face and which light a remedy for poor lighting – because sometimes a desk lamp is enough. 

For everyone for whom a professional video-call is important and who still lack aides such as laptop stands, headphone holders and more, a visit to the brigk Makerspace is recommended. With the on-site 3D printers, many little helpers for the home office can be implemented on your own. 3D printing novices also have the opportunity to look for templates from the Internet or to get advice directly from Makerspace. But if you want, you can also do carpentry, welding, soldering and use other tools to create and optimize your home office experience. 

The first Makers ’Club was definitly a success, the workshop participants were fully a part of the workshop, tried out a few things in real time, entered into discussions and gave additional tips themselves – the lively exchange made the good premiere a great one!  

Here is the collection of links that emerged during the workshop:  

Helpful webcam mod that enables eye-contact conversation 

Chaos Computer Club’s project on video calls in schools

We look forward to further issues! In the brigk month of March, everything revolves around the right networking. Subscribe to our brigk newsletter to stay up to date!