Dream Studio Course Review

In this post I’ll be reviewing my experience taking Dream Studio Course in order to create a better filming setup at home. After recently sharing my Entire YouTube Studio Setup On One Desk, I realized an in depth Dream Studio Course review would be useful.

During my office makeover I enrolled in Dream Studio Course to help guide the process. Usually I don’t take courses, but the many technical aspects of this project felt overwhelming and I knew a guide would be helpful.

Disclosure: Since I had massive success with this course and recommend it I’ve included affiliate links. If you choose to use my course affiliate links I will receive a commission. If you choose not to you can also head to dreamstudiocourse.com.

What Is Dream Studio Course?

Dream Studio Course helps you transform your home studio into a professional looking set.

The 6-week course provides expert guidance, community & feedback in a semi-guided program that walks through the entire studio design process.

Since it is a semi-guided course, there is a mix of learning styles:

1.  Self-paced aspects to learn at your own speed, AND
2.  Interactive aspects where you get personalized guidance from Kevin & the Dream Studio Course team

This style of course gives you time to learn, work on your studio, and then get feedback for improvement.

The Dream Studio Course covers everything you need to go from overwhelmed beginner to confident professional. The course covers everything you need to know if you film regularly and want to be taken seriously.

Who Should Take Dream Studio Course?

I took Dream Studio Course as a YouTube content creator looking to improve my video quality. I wanted to do this by creating a more functional home filming studio.

Many of the others that took the course at the same time as me had completely different backgrounds!

Most were trying to figure out a filming set up for things like Zoom calls for work and teaching online via video. People in my cohort of the course included:

• therapists working via Zoom sessions
• professionals working remotely
• teachers sharing lessons via videos
• public speakers creating new speaking outlets
• online course creators
• small business owners
• YouTube content creators

There was a wide range of people in the course with many different objectives. This created a very unique and creative experience in the cohort version of the course. Additionally, it also provided unique feedback from the course leader as he shared all the feedback for each person.

What Will You Learn In Dream Studio Course?

The Dream Studio Course covers a huge amount of material.

In the course you will learn:

• how to layout your room for the best filming set up
• color psychology that will affect what your video conveys
• interior design techniques to create a professional look
• how to create visual depth and balance for viewers
• shot composition for the best results on camera
• camera settings for beautiful cinematic results
• how to choose a camera and lens for your needs
• which lights to buy and how to set them up for perfect lighting
• ways to naturally light yourself to make yourself look attractive
• how to use your microphone and get the best sound quality
• techniques to improve any weaknesses in your unique setup

The course covers your background, video equipment, lighting, sound gear and more. You will learn about the specifics – even with measurements included – but also the WHY behind the decisions.

Learning about why things created certain results helped many of us tweak our own setup successfully.

My Dream Studio Course Review

Before I quit my job to do YouTube full time I wanted to upgrade my filming setup to something more professional. My YouTube channel had stagnated and I had been stuck at 18,000 subscribers for almost half a year.

A friend who knew Kevin suggested his Dream Studio Course and the enrollment lined up with my timeframe for improving my home studio. I enrolled in a cohort version of the class and started on the lessons.

My Dream Studio Course Studio Makeover

The before and after of my office was not super dramatic visually since I did not change many large features. However, the functionality changed dramatically as did the video quality results. Every time I step into my office I’m ready to work and have multiple clean workspaces where I can begin working.

The video quality improved drastically. I went from looking like a hobby YouTuber to a professional.

The Dream Studio Course allowed me to customize my setup with the items I already had while learning how to create a professional studio. I took a cohort based version of the course so when I encountered roadblocks or needed studio feedback I was able to get that each week.

My Dream Studio Course Studio Before And After

I filmed with my phone and a single ring light when I started taking the course. It was acceptable for me. In fact, I managed to grow a good following and YouTube income with just my phone and a ring light tripod.

However, I knew I could up my game if I had the right knowledge and guidance.

I was overwhelmed by the technical aspects of creating a filming studio, but the course made it much easier to digest these concepts.

By the end of the class I was filming videos with a much higher quality.

You can clearly see the difference in quality with these before and after screenshots.

I upgraded my camera quality by switching to a camera recommended in the course. You can see how the quality changed in the clips included in the video above.

Biggest Lessons From Dream Studio Course Studio

Additionally, the lessons learned about how to setup my studio provided the biggest changes.

The main things that helped improve my video quality:

• learning about lighting and how to position lights to make myself look the best
• how to create depth and visual interest with your video background
• positioning the lens and camera to create an angle for the effect you wanted
• camera basics like aperture and ISO to use your camera to the best of it’s ability

All of these were things I learned in the Dream Studio Course. While I believe upgrading my camera would have improved the quality aspect, the true change came from creating a studio designed for video.

I say this because when I first got the new camera I set it up on auto. I did not know which settings to use to get the best quality video.

My camera was obviously a step up from my phone, but it did not provide the best quality automatically. I didn’t get the amazing look until after I had adjusted my lighting and accurately changed the settings on my camera.

Dream Course Studio Pros & Cons

Every course I’ve ever taken has pros and cons and Dream Studio Course was no different.

Hopefully by sharing some of the pros and cons it will help you determine if this course would help you.

Dream Studio Course Pros

• lessons were easy to digest and quick to move through
• you are given rounds of feedback on your setup to help troubleshoot
• multiple studio examples are provided to copy and get started instantly
• camera settings are discussed with the full picture in mind
• technical aspects are broken down into easy to understand concepts
• office hours gave one on one question and answer time that was incredibly valuable
• cohort based course I took provided peer feedback which was invaluable
• throughout the course more resources were added as students asked new questions
• bonus “Camera Basics” provided to help you learn how to use your camera

Dream Studio Course Cons

• there is a LOT of info and you might not finish the course
• you need to buy new items unless you already invested in gear
• the speed of the course can be too fast if you delay in purchasing gear for the setup – if you have trouble making buying decisions you might feel rushed

Some of the cons with this course are similar to many others I have personally taken. I rarely finish a course in full unless it is short and sweet. With a meatier course like Dream Studio Course I found myself skipping lessons and never returning as I found the ones I needed most.

Filming Setup Before & After

My office makeover began with a basic filming setup. I was using an iPhone to shoot all of my content and wanted to upgrade my filming setup for both quality and practicality.

I was inspired for this project by this video about setting up a YouTube studio on a desk.

While I didn’t follow the original plan exactly, the idea sparked a great feedback session with Kevin and the Dream Studio team. He helped me work through reusing as much gear as I could since I already had a few lights. However, the concept was exactly what I wanted – an easy setup ready to go every time I sat down at my desk.

Thanks to being enrolled in the Dream Studio Course at the same time as this project I was able to ask questions when I wanted to customize something to my situation.

I created a modified version of the YouTube Studio setup on one desk with a standing desk on wheels to make it portable.

I played around with creative lighting sources after learning about in the course. I knew from the lessons in the course that lighting could make a huge difference in my videos.

One of my favorite office additions was the lighting behind my bookcase.

The colorful lighting and different filming setups made a huge difference in my office.

I felt more professional and happy any time I walked in to the room. I had very little setup time required and was able to walk in and begin creating immediately.

This process truly helped create a better filming workflow in addition to creating a beautiful space to film YouTube videos.

A faster workflow along with better YouTube video planning has led to ever increasing YouTube income.

YouTube Studio Office Gear

Now when I share videos I get questions asking what equipment I’m using to create my videos.

In an effort to make it easy for someone else to copy this setup or quickly buy any of the cool stuff in my functional and fun office, I’ve created a list of all the items used.

YouTube Studio Setup On One Desk Gear List

Here’s the list of everything used to set up my filming studio on a desk:

• Camera: https://amzn.to/3D0o9ye 
• Lens: https://amzn.to/3D2tmp9
• Microphone on camera: https://amzn.to/3geuSeg 
• Voiceover microphone: https://amzn.to/2WdrSHY 
• Tripod ring light: https://amzn.to/3y4vn0p 
• Standing desk: https://amzn.to/3gcFbPV
• Desk wheels: https://amzn.to/3CZB8jz 
• Tall mount stand: https://amzn.to/2W1UFQ0
• Mounting arm 1: https://amzn.to/2W12hSR 
• Mounting arm 2: https://amzn.to/3D3EJxh 
• Monitor mount: https://amzn.to/3swePNC 
• Camera monopod: https://amzn.to/3z1tKC4 
• Tripod ball head: https://amzn.to/2XKXBkx 

Office Gear List

Here’s a list of everything else in my office!

• Laptop stand: https://amzn.to/2W1msjx 
• Laptop: https://amzn.to/2W8OZDI 
• Apple Ipad: https://amzn.to/37WpaZE 
• Ipad cover: https://amzn.to/3CUhbdY 
• Ipad screen protector: https://amzn.to/3stHKSA 
• Apple pencil: https://amzn.to/3CZEq6p 
• Salt lamp: https://amzn.to/3iZCdzW 
• Fairy lights: https://amzn.to/2WaSGsh 
• Industrial bookshelf: similar: https://amzn.to/3sxedqX 
• White cube shelf: https://amzn.to/3y1uENq 
• Long desk:  https://bit.ly/3mcarCq 
• Drawer units: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/alex-drawer-unit-white-00473546/ 
• Chair: https://amzn.to/3kboAwP (bought used in 2014)

Hopefully this list of items used in my office will help you create your own unique set up!

If you are considering the Dream Studio Course, I definitely recommend it if you are a beginner or get overwhelmed by the idea of pulling together all the different aspects that go into creating a filming studio.