It's All About The Prep: 8 YouTubers Share Their Must-Know Set Up Hacks

For many YouTube creators, filming is the easy part.

The harder, more time-consuming part of the process is what comes before pressing record: Deciding on an idea, writing a script, and getting all the equipment set up and ready to go. Take, for example, comedian Evelyn Ngugi's hilarious YouTube videos, for which hours of prep work take place well before the shoot.

The more time you spend on camera, the more comfortable you'll become, and that same ethos applies to preparing for a shoot. There are ways to become more efficient over time, taking set-up shortcuts and learning how to spread your prep over multiple days, weeks, and even months.

To speed up the process, Refinery29 asked eight well-known YouTubers how they master the art of prep. Click through to see what equipment they have on hand, how they choose a location, and where they get inspiration in the first place. Because if there's one thing almost all YouTube creators can agree on, it's that behind every good video is a lot of very good prep work.