3 Advanced Virtual Magic Elements to Take Your Virtual Magic Show to the Next Level! (For Virtual Magicians)
3 Advanced Virtual Magic Elements to Take Your Virtual Magic Show to the Next Level! (For Virtual Magicians)
Happy Tuesday virtual magicians! A few months ago we covered the minimalist magic show; the three items you absolutely need to perform a virtual magic show. This month we have graduated from that and focus on three more advanced technical elements to consider when upgrading your online magic show. Enjoy!
Lighting for your Virtual Magician Show
Obviously, a very important aspect of a virtual magic show is lighting, for most visual magic effects people have to be able to see the magic to appreciate it. Three point lighting is well known by many and the key to a well seen performance. If you don’t know what that is - three point lighting is when you light the subject (in this case yourself and the magic) from the sides with two lights and directly from the front with a 3rd light (hence the name). Bonus points if you have what is called a “back light” for above and behind your setup (which would make it 4 point lighting).
Many of us are aware of lighting directions, but I want to introduce another lighting aspect: hard vs soft lighting. Hard and soft light are different types of lighting that are commonly used in photography and filmmaking. Soft light is light that tends to "wrap" around people or objects, projecting diffused shadows with soft edges, whereas hard light is more focused and produces harsher and more extreme shadows. It’s important to know the difference. Soft light is more flattering than hard light. It's more natural-looking and makes your subject appear warm, welcoming, and better. Soft light is more forgiving than hard light and requires less retouching later. It can help smooth wrinkles, hide acne, and bring out the light in someone's eyes. I highly recommend transitioning to a show that primarily utilizes soft lighting. You can buy a soft lighting kit with 2-3 lights for under $100 easily on Amazon. Soft light examples are: northern/southern window light, a cloudy day, light with a shade, or photoshoot style lights like this:
2. Video Streaming Software for Your Virtual Magician Show
Want to take the production value of your virtual magic show to the highest level? Learn live broadcasting software! There are many options : Splitcam, Cam Twist, OBS Studio, Streamlabs, WireCast and more. Personally I recommend you try OBS -Which stands for “Open Broadcaster Software”. OBS is free and is an open source tool for live streaming. It is absolutely perfect for doing live virtual magic shows. One of my favorite things about it is that it works for both Mac and PC computers and it is very user friendly. Be sure to make sure you have a high power computer with a good graphics card, because not all computers can handle running OBS. For example, a macbook air can’t but my Razerblade Gaming laptop can.
OBS Studio allows you to record your video, connect to any live streaming or video conferencing platform such as Zoom or Webex, and use any number of digital cameras for live streaming. You can set what are called “scenes” within OBS and these are markers for certain moments in your show. To jump to different scenes you can set up what are called “Hot-keys”.
A hot-key is a fancy term for keyboard shortcuts you set up to switch to certain moments in your show or trigger other tech elements. An OBS scene can include any number of types of media such as photos, live video of you and audience members, pre-recorded videos, frames for the videos, sounds, music backgrounds, and over laid PNG files (like if you want to have your name in the corner with fancy letters). The possibilities are endless!
Virtual Magicians have even created software specific magic tricks that delay a participant's screen when spotlighted so you can seem to predict what they will do. There are also tricks that will mask over your video with a partial photo so you can do sneaky things without anyone ever seeing you make moves at all. If you do this trick ( just like with black art) - make sure the lighting in the photo and video matches. Some wonderful software based virtual magic tricks I recommend for online shows are: Facade and Timeshift.
3. Stream Deck for Your Virtual Magician Show
Saving the best for last we have by far my favorite virtual magic show investment: a Stream Deck. There are many types of Stream Decks but I highly recommend the Elgato Stream Deck. They come in many different sizes ranging from 6 buttons to 32 buttons and are usually $100 dollars or more, but are relatively easy to find used at a decent price. Check magician buying and selling groups on Facebook to find a used one. A Stream Deck is essentially a physical switcher with buttons. It’s a box with “hot-keys” on it. Except the hot-keys are labeled buttons you program yourself. The buttons allow you to do things like change your cameras, switch between scenes, mute yourself… mute loud screaming children all at once (my favorite feature) literally anything you want to set it to do. It’s very easy to connect to zoom, OBS, and other software.
The reason you may want to have a stream deck, as opposed to using your computer keyboard’s “hot-keys”, is because in order to use your computer you need to be next to it. This is a problem, because most magicians that do virtual shows have to be pretty far from their computer and camera in order to get their face, body, arms, and hands in the camera’s frame. This is important to make the magic more visible and fooling. If you have a stream deck connected to your computer then it can have a long cord that stretches so the buttons are close to you. It also simplifies your effort in the middle of a show to just have a single button you press that you can label with an image and a word so you know what command you're using. It makes it far less confusing and more streamlined . You can even program it so the buttons have adorable pictures:
These 3 simple advanced elements can really upgrade your show and set you apart from other online performers. It’s important to always be getting better and working on your performance. If your virtual show looks higher quality you can charge more as well. It’s a win-win. If you ended up using any of these tips I’d love to hear about it. Or, if you have any questions about putting a virtual magic show together feel free to email me anytime and I’m happy to help! My contact info is: magicalkatrina@gmail.com
