What da hell?

Over the years, I've had many people ask me about the different mic and monitor arms I've used for mounting my Elgato Prompter. I've probably used 2 or 3 different ones over the years, and each one needed a little something different to work the way I needed. This article is a quick breakdown of how to replicate this yourself if you need.

But why?

I love putting my prompter on pneumatic gas spring monitor arms because it lets me easily move it around, change height, and change angle in seconds. I can also take it off using a quick release plate if I want. Problem is, these arms are meant for this, so it takes a bit of modding.

What hardware do I need?

I'll assume you already have a Prompter and a monitor arm. Here are some examples of hardware that i've used (affiliate links):

• Screws, Option 1: 1/4-20 Nuts and Bolts Assortment Kit

• Screws, Option 2: 1/4-20 Countersunk Socket Cap Screws

• Ball heads, Arca Swiss Plates: Hardware

• 1/4 to 3/8 adapters for ball heads

I'll explain how all this hardware goes together below.

So how does it work?

TL:DR;

• Find the bolt that needs to be loosened on your existing arm

• Get a bolt (either 1/4 or 3/8) that can go up through the hole on your arm into the bottom of a ball head

• Screw bolt into the ball head

• Mount the prompter to the ball head

• Profit

The summary of what I do is removing 1 part of a common mic or monitor boom arm, adding a long bolt, screwing the bolt into the bottom of a ball head, and using the ball head to mount the prompter.

There are many different arms that I've used over the years, In the screenshots you see below, some arms are going to look slightly different. But the strategy is the same: remove 1 part and secure ballhead to it. Also - my prompter might look different than yours. Not only did I paint my prompter, I also developed a 3D printed mod kit called the Nackback.

Parts List on Amazon if you want to see what arms I love and use↓

The “VIVO Height Adjustable Pneumatic" arm was the one I used the most, but mine is a white arm instead of black. But, still using 1 black piece from the same arm, just the black version.

Here is what you need to do

Every monitor arm that I've come across has a 2-part system where the monitor connects to the arm. The 2 part system allows the monitor to turn left and right, and tilt up and down.

There is usually a bolt that secures the VESA mounting plate to the arm. It's oriented like the red line ↑ above, or the knife below ↓ (very dangerous, don't do this)

The best way to use these arms, is to loosen whatever nut and bolt is holding these together and removing the VESA mount part. Before I was using a monitor arm, I was using a mic arm, which was slightly different but also the same. What I did, was unscrewed the mic clamp part of the VIVO arm, and then screwed an adapter onto that. The gold adapter in my screenshot is either 5/8 or 3/8, both common sizes for mic and boom arms.

BUT WHY DO DIS?

As you can see in my pictures at the beginning, I wanted to have a ball head on this mount, so I could use arca swiss mounting plates which are very popular in the photo/video word, and have the ability to make micro adjustments to the angle of the prompter. Without this, the prompter would always be at a fixed angle, which sucks.

Another option could be to tilt the VESA mount alllllllll the way up, and then find a way to use this plate to mount to the bottom of the prompter. The only issue with this is not all monitor arms have plates that tilt up 90 degress. Most of them only make it to 80 degrees, which means your prompter would always be tipping forward, which also sucks.

Most ballheads have a 1/4 or 3/8" threaded hole on the bottom, so it's just a matter of finding what bolt can pass through the holes of the arm and screw into the bottom of the ballhead.

Like this:

There are some arms that don't work great for this. Below is a WALI arm that doesn't have a clean mounting point for the ballhead. I had to use a bunch of additional washers to accommodate for the angle. AND, the ballhead didn't sit flush. Was a pain in the ass.

Now compare that to to this VIVO monitor arm, which has a bolt hold that is further away, and is straight up and down. MUCH better.

Here is what that setup would look like.

That's about it! Good luck.