Recommended baseline settings

• FX30 #1 (anchor wide): Sigma 18-50 @ ~25-30mm — medium-wide framing, locked off on tripod
• FX30 #2 (emotion close): Sigma 30mm f/1.4 — tight portrait at 45° offset, beautiful background blur
• FX30 #3 (B-roll cutaway): Sigma 10-18 @ 14-18mm — handheld for environmental cutaways during interview

1. Studio testimonial (controlled environment)

NTG-3 boomed overhead, just out of frame, pointed at subject's mouth. Wireless lav clipped to subject. Both feed into the FX30 via the XLR-H1 handle (NTG-3 on Channel 1, lav on Channel 2). Multi-track recording.

In post: use the lav as Track 1 (always present, clear). Drop the shotgun underneath at -8 to -12 dB for body and room.

2. Run-and-gun agent talking-to-camera

Wireless lav on agent. Camera-mounted shotgun (NTG-3 on a shock mount in the FX30 cold shoe, or use a smaller on-camera mic) as backup/ambient.

Why both: if the lav fails (battery, interference, cable wiggle), the shotgun is your safety net.

3. Voiceover for hero pieces

NTG-3 into the Scarlett 18i16, into Logic Pro. Record in a closet or treated space. Process: high-pass at 80 Hz, light compression (3:1, -18 dB threshold), de-ess if needed, gentle limiter. Export WAV, drop into Resolve's Fairlight tab.

Best balance — DJI Mic 2 (~$349)

Dual transmitters, charging case, 32-bit float internal recording (recoverable from clipping), connects to FX30 via 3.5mm or USB-C. This is the right starting point for 90% of real estate teams.

Step up — Rode Wireless Pro (~$399)

Similar features, slightly more refined build, integrates with the Rode ecosystem your NTG-3s already live in.

Pro tier — Sony UWP-D27 + SMAD-P5 (~$900)

Real broadcast wireless. The SMAD-P5 receiver mounts to the FX30 Multi-Interface shoe and sends digital audio — no cable, no analog conversion. Cleanest possible signal chain. The Sennheiser EW-DP is a peer; Sony's edge is native digital MI shoe integration.

Key light

Your main light. Place at ~45° to one side of the camera, slightly above eye level, angled down toward the subject's face. Use your largest modifier (the 48" softbox) so the light wraps softly. Power: 60–80%.

Fill light

Lifts the shadows on the opposite side of the face. Place at ~45° on the other side, also through a softbox. Run it at ~30–50% of the key's brightness (a 2:1 to 3:1 ratio for soft, complimentary; 4:1 to 8:1 for moody/dramatic).

Back / hair light

Behind the subject, aimed at hair and shoulders to separate them from the background. Can be a small softbox or even bare bulb. Keeps the subject from looking like they're glued to the wall behind them.

1. Position subject 6–8 ft from background (depth = professional)
2. Key: 48" softbox at 45° camera-left, ~5500K, 70% power
3. Fill: 36" softbox at 45° camera-right, 5500K, 30% power
4. Back/hair: 36" softbox behind subject (just out of frame), 5500K, 40% power
5. Background accent: third 150c set to RGB blue/teal, low power, hitting the wall behind
6. White-balance the FX30 to 5500K manually — don't use auto
7. Watch your zebra (set zebra to 70% on skin tones for caucasian skin, ~65% on darker skin)

Static (tripod) — what you have

Best for: testimonials, agent talking-head, locked-off architecture shots, time-lapses.

Slow push-in (zoom or move)

A subtle 2–5% zoom in over 5 seconds in your edit — adds emotion to a tripod-locked shot. You can do this in DaVinci without a slider.

Gimbal (when you're ready)

DJI RS 3 or RS 4 handles the FX30 + a small lens. Game-changer for walkthroughs and movement reveals. ~$549–$719.

Slider (optional)

For controlled, repeatable horizontal moves. Great for B-roll details. ~$200–$500.

Goal

A 3–5 minute long-form testimonial that yields 4–8 short-form social cuts. Highest ROI piece you'll produce.

Camera setup

• FX30 #1: Wide medium on tripod, dead-center, 35mm or 50mm equivalent — the "anchor" angle
• FX30 #2: Tighter close-up on tripod, 45° offset, longer lens — emotion shots
• FX30 #3: Loose handheld or gimbal, capturing B-roll cutaways during the interview (hands, environment, listener reactions)

Audio

Lav on subject + NTG-3 boomed overhead, both into FX30 #1 via XLR-H1. Slate (clap once) at the start so you can sync the other two cameras in post.

Lighting

3-point with Amaran 150c. Subject 6–8 ft off background, 48" softbox key at 45°, 36" softbox fill at 45° opposite, back light behind, plus colored RGB accent on background.

Question prompts (don't read literally — use as prompts)

• "Take me back to when you started thinking about [buying/selling]. What was your headspace?"
• "What were you most nervous about?"
• "Walk me through the moment you decided to work with [agent]."
• "Tell me about a moment in the process when you thought 'this is going to be a problem' — and what happened."
• "What surprised you?"
• "If a friend was about to start this same journey, what would you tell them?"
• "Describe [agent] in three words and tell me why those three."

Goal output

One 3–5 min YouTube/website piece, plus 4–8 short-form cuts (the "money quotes") for IG reels and TikTok.

Structure

1. 0:00–0:03 Hook — strong visual or sound. Agent walking, a beautiful door opening, a city skyline, anything that stops a thumb.
2. 0:03–0:10 Setup — agent voiceover or to-camera: "I'm [name], I help families in [neighborhood]…"
3. 0:10–0:30 Why you — the unique value. What makes this agent different.
4. 0:30–0:50 Proof — visual proof points: showing a home, meeting clients, signing papers, handing keys
5. 0:50–1:00 Call to action — "If you're thinking about [buying/selling], let's talk."

Shot list (B-roll bank)

• Agent walking toward camera (slow-mo 4K 60p)
• Agent on phone, animated
• Agent reviewing documents
• Agent shaking hands with clients
• Drone-style aerial of neighborhood (rent a drone if you don't have one)
• Architectural detail of a recent listing
• Key handover close-up
• Agent laughing in a kitchen

Build a B-roll bank you can reuse across multiple agent intros. Reshoot the to-camera/VO portion for each agent.

Anatomy of a strong reel

1. Hook (0–2 sec): Bold visual or text overlay with a question. ("This kitchen has a hidden feature most people miss.")
2. Pattern interrupts: Cuts every 1–2 seconds. Never linger on a static shot.
3. Vertical 9:16: Shot vertically OR shot 4K 16:9 then reframed for 9:16
4. Burned-in captions: 80% of viewers watch with sound off.
5. Strong cover image: the still you choose makes or breaks discovery.
6. Trending audio: use IG/TikTok trending tracks, but match the emotional tone.

Content angles that work for real estate

• "3 things I look for in a [neighborhood] home"
• "What this listing's price actually buys you"
• "Most overlooked feature in [house style]"
• "Walk this house with me in 30 seconds"
• "Buyers I helped this month" (montage with permission)
• "The mistake every first-time buyer makes"
• Behind-the-scenes of an open house
• "My favorite [neighborhood] coffee/restaurant/park" (lifestyle adjacency)

1. Edit your long form first

Cut your 3–5 minute testimonial as a polished horizontal 16:9 piece. This is your hero asset for YouTube and your website.

2. Identify the highlights

Watch back with a notepad. Mark every moment that is:

• A self-contained idea (makes sense without context)
• Emotionally compelling or surprising
• Quotable in one sentence
• Between 15 and 60 seconds long

3. Duplicate the timeline

In Resolve: right-click your timeline → Duplicate Timeline. Rename "[Project] — Short 1," "Short 2," etc.

4. Reframe to 9:16

In Project Settings → Image Scaling → set to 1080×1920 (or change the timeline resolution). Then for each clip, use the Transform tool in the Inspector to scale and reposition the subject into the vertical frame.

5. Trim aggressively

Cut every breath, every "um," every dead beat. A 60-second short that "earns" its time beats a 90-second short that drags.

6. Add burned-in captions

Resolve Studio has auto-captions. Free version: use a free auto-caption service (kapwing.com, submagic.co) or type captions manually using the Text+ tool.

7. Add hook overlay

Text overlay in the first 2 seconds: "She thought selling her house would take 6 months." or "This is the question every first-time buyer asks." Hook = thumb-stop.

8. Export and stagger release

Export 8 shorts. Release one every 3–4 days across IG/TikTok/YouTube Shorts. The hero long-form lives on YouTube + your website. Each short links back to the long form.