DIY: How to Upgrade Your Studio with a Lightboard Without Major Investments

Imagine this: you're recording a lesson or presentation, and your thoughts literally glow on the screen while you remain the center of attention. This isn't magic—it's a lightboard, a powerful tool for creating compelling content. The best part? You don't need thousands of dollars or advanced skills to set up your own studio. Today, we'll break down how to do it smartly, affordably, and effectively.

What Is a Lightboard and Why Should You Try It?

A lightboard is essentially a transparent surface (glass or acrylic) with LED edge lighting. You write on it with special neon markers, and the text glows brightly, creating the illusion of floating symbols. It's perfect for teachers, YouTubers, coaches—anyone who explains complex concepts. You don’t turn your back to the audience, you maintain eye contact, and your drawings and formulas look professional and engaging. And yes, you can build one yourself without soldering or complicated tools.

Building Your Lightboard: Cheap and Effective

Choosing the material: The ideal choice is acrylic (plexiglass). It’s lighter, safer, and cheaper than glass, and easier to work with. A size of around 50x85 cm or larger works well. Look for places that sell remnants or used sheets—often, after the pandemic, many acrylic barriers are being discarded, so you might find a great piece for pennies.

Lighting—the soul of the project: You’ll need an LED strip in white or warm white. It’s better to get a waterproof one—it’s more durable and will last longer. Don’t cut the strip right away—just carefully wrap it around the edges of the acrylic sheet using clear tape. Excess can be folded or secured on the back. Connect it to a power bank or power supply—and your light is ready!

Frame and mounting: Keep it simple. Two vertical 2x4 inch (approx. 5x10 cm) wooden beams and one horizontal beam—that’s your entire frame. You can cut grooves into the wood so the acrylic fits snugly and the LED strip isn’t damaged. Mounting the entire setup in a doorway is a genius and practical idea! Use clamps to securely fix the board at the desired height. The door frame can handle the weight, and after filming, everything disassembles easily without taking up space.

Organizing Your Space: Darkness Is Your Friend

A lightboard only works in a darkened room. Ideally, film at night or in a windowless room with blackout curtains. The background must be as black as possible. You don’t need to buy a professional backdrop—black fabric (velvet, blackout cloth), thick cardboard, or even a wall painted matte black will work. The key is to remove any distracting details and light interference.

Fighting reflections: Glass/acrylic reflects everything behind the camera. To avoid seeing yourself and the camera in the reflection, cover the area around the lens with black material (for example, make a U-shaped screen from cardboard). This masks the equipment and creates a clean, futuristic look.

Light and Camera: Affordable Quality

Lighting the presenter: The lightboard itself illuminates your drawings, but you need separate lighting for yourself. Place two light sources on either side of the camera, directed at you. These can be affordable LED panels or even softboxes. Important: use barn doors or homemade shades to prevent light from hitting the board (causing glare) and the background (making it visible). You can experiment with desk lamps and a white umbrella for reflection.

Camera and settings: Your smartphone is more than enough! Mount it on a tripod and position it opposite the center of the board. Key tip: lock the auto-exposure and auto-focus! To do this, in video mode, point the camera at yourself with the light on, tap and hold the screen until you see AE/AF LOCK. This prevents flickering and stops the camera from trying to brighten the dark background, keeping the image stable.

Audio: Your smartphone’s built-in microphone might not cut it since you’re on the other side of the glass. A lavalier microphone with a long cable is a budget-friendly and effective solution. The wire can be run under your clothes and connected to your phone via an adapter.

Editing: Magic on Your Smartphone

After recording, you just need two simple steps:

1. Flip the video horizontally. This makes your text read correctly, not mirrored. This is a standard feature in any editor—iMovie, CapCut, DaVinci Resolve.

2. Adjust contrast and color. Increase the contrast—this will darken the background and make your drawings brighter and sharper.Don’t forget to check the audio: you might need to increase the volume or add noise reduction. These basic steps are enough for a professional result.

Tips and Tricks

• Markers: Use only neon whiteboard markers—they glow brightly and erase easily. Keep a cloth and glass cleaner spray handy.

• Practice: Do a couple of test runs before recording—get used to writing neatly, not blocking the text with your hand, and looking into the camera.

• Creativity: Experiment! You can draw diagrams, graphs, animate the appearance of text in editing, or use different colors for emphasis.

Building a lightboard studio isn’t about expensive equipment—it’s about cleverness and the desire to share knowledge in a beautiful and effective way. Start simple, look for affordable alternatives, and don’t be afraid to get creative. Your viewers will definitely appreciate this format.

If you prefer a fully professional solution without needing to dive into all the technical details yourself, our company specializes in creating turnkey video studios with high-quality tempered glass lightboards. We can help with space planning, proper lighting setup, equipment selection, and training for your ready-to-use studio. With us, you’ll achieve perfect results without unnecessary experiments and time-consuming efforts.

Turnkey video studio