Speaking on camera can be stressful. Some people are born with that fearless gene that allows you to get that first take right out of the gate... the rest of us are not as fortunate. Thankfully for us there's teleprompters that help walk us through the process of speaking on camera. One of these popular teleprompters is the Pad Prompter by OneTakeOnly. A prompter that utilizes your portable tablet and transforms awkwardness to smooth takes.
If you're a videographer a teleprompter is one of the must haves in your gear arsenal, especially if you shoot interviews, commercials or any shots dealing with talent speaking directly into the camera. If you're a photographer and want to create some amazing and informative behind the scenes videos this tool will help you conquer those nerves and get you speaking in front of the camera in no time.
Pad Prompter Initial Reaction
Shipping the product was fairly fast with no hiccups and the product was definitely packed with care. It came in a nice carrying case which I found extremely useful in properly storing and transporting it to shoots. The build right off the bat seemed sturdy enough, with a nice soft inset to set your portable tablet in. No scratches on your tablet. The inset is adjustable to fit any tablet. It worked with both my iPad2 and iPad mini just fine.
You can get the Pad Prompter to fit either a 15mm rig setup or you can order it to fit on a standard lightstand with an aluminum plate adapter. I opted to use it mostly with the 15mm rig, and recommend that you do, as well. With the rig you can directly look into the camera while filming without having to setup another tripod for your camera. While both the 15mm rig and light stand options are both sturdy when in use, I like having the extra comfort knowing that on the 15mm rig the Pad Prompter was solid while shooting.
The Pad Prompter is built with top quality 70/30 HD beamsplitter glass and not acrylic like some teleprompter products are made with, making the text clearer and easier to read. The soft cloth hood and side panels that come with the Pad Prompter enable you to use it in direct sunlight without the worry of straining your eyes to see the text. Added bonus, with the hood you also eliminate the worry of lens flare getting into your shots from the sun or other artificial light sources. The hardware to setup the Pad Prompter is made with anodized aluminum, so again no cheaping out with parts from this product.
What I found incredible when I first tried it out was just how easy it is to assemble. I've used other teleprompters while working with an ad agency in their studio, and they always seemed to be cumbersome when initially setting up to shoot. With the Pad Prompter you'll be ready to shoot in less than two minutes. It's super lightweight and can easily fit in a backpack if you're traveling.
Software
OneTakeOnly recommends that you use the Pad Prompter with Bombing Brain Interactive's teleprompter app Teleprompt + for the iPad and I couldn't agree more. It will cost you about $15 to download from Apple's App store, but it's worth every penny. It comes with a free remote that you can download for your iPhone allowing you to trigger the app using wifi or a bluetooth connection which is great if you're having to shoot alone. The text is easy to ready and can be set to your preferred reading tempo. You can also set your background color, text color, cue points and font making it completely customizable. The two products seem to go hand in hand, and fit well together. You can now sync all of your scripts using iCloud, as well as Google Docs and Dropbox integration.
Why You Should Buy This
Towards the beginning of the article I explained why you might be interested in buying a teleprompter, let's get back to that. When I first started making behind the scenes videos for my photography business I never got in front of the camera, and I found myself editing the videos much like a music video. I realized after joining up with Fstoppers that these videos just are not very popular. People want to see you, the photographer, interact with them, your audience. Since I have received the Pad Prompter I see myself gaining the confidence needed to bring the best out in my behind the scenes videos.
Informative behind the scenes videos really capture the audience's interest. It also makes your clients realize the level of work and amount of knowledge needed to complete the shoot. Benjamin Von Wong is one of the reigning kings of behind the scenes videos in photography. Without giving away all of his secrets he interacts with the viewer and shortly explains what his goals are for the shoot. Benjamin is the one who introduced me to the Pad Prompter and he highly recommends using it.
Using the Pad Prompter will also save you all sorts of money, since the price is really extraordinary for everything that you get. Using a conventional teleprompter or a laptop can run into the thousands of dollars and with the Pad Prompter since you utilize your iPad or other tablet it actually saves you money in the long end. The materials are really high grade compared to other portable tablet teleprompters that use acrylic and not beamsplitter glass like the Pad Prompter does.
You can receive the Pad Prompter for $279 for the lightstand version or $399 for the 15mm rig version [prices reflect article publish date]. As I said before, I really recommend springing for the 15mm rig version. It's super easy to put together and break apart during photoshoots. Their customer service is also pretty incredible. If you find that you have an issue with the product or need help fitting a tablet into the Pad Prompter that is smaller or larger than the standard iPad they will assist you very quickly. At the beginning of the article I've included a video that I shot while the Pad Prompter was in use by a local college in my area along with a short interview with the coordinator of the college with his opinions on the Pad Prompter. I wanted to show just how easy and quickly the Pad Prompter can be set-up and ready to go for your shoot.
To close the review, I just want to reiterate that it really is quite an amazing product, one that will help boost your or your talent's confidence and bring the best out of the shots that you take. If you have an awesome behind the scenes video that is informative and would interest our readers send it to rebecca@fstoppers.com and it might be featured here on Fstoppers.
You can buy the Pad Prompter from OneTakeOnly's website. PAD PROMPTER BY ONETAKEONLY
great innovation!
I use a prompter people ultra light which works great. I often use it with executives and for short official or dynamic statements and if the text font and scroll speed is well adjusted (and adjustable on the fly) it does a great job. I think a 300-350 price point is fair for this kind. No more. Big bonus if the assembly is foldable and protects the mirror against damage when carrying it around. Ps now let's learn about stereo sound or at least mono on both sides!!! Peace out ;-)
I have made my own teleprompter for the laptop for a few bucks long time a go - piece of metal or wood, a nut, some screws and a piece of glass. that's it.
399USD is way to much money something that can be made at home for 10x less money and do the job perfectly...
Hello Marian Cihoň:
Kindly show me the teleprompter. I'm a novice and interested in seeing the Teleprompter that you made. You cam email the photos to cctvwholesaler@gmail.com
Cool product. Having remote operation is essential, so I'm glad to see the iPhone counterpart app works as such. For my BTS videos, I totally agree with you Rebecca– having a prompter makes talking to the camera so much easier for me. I can see the value in adding this to a kit for field talking head segments too... not too large and seems compact. Often times I have my phone and I could certainly justify getting an iPad with my business account for this :-)