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Solutions for Camcorder/Location Audio |
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Tutorials Home
MUST SEE VIDEOS • Camcorder Selection for Audio
TUTORIAL CATALOG
Location Audio Principles • Managing the job • Location
Equipment • Microphones • Specifications • XLR Adapter/Preamp • Camcorder Selection for Audio
Microphone Placement • Booming • Planting • Lavs
Recording
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The effectiveness of your message is greatly enhanced with good audio. Poor audio distracts and fatigues your audience, leaving your message compromised.
Effective dialogue requires a high signal-to-noise ratio.
Noise can be in the form of electronic noise, background noise, echoes from interior rooms, or even the audio noise from the camcorder tape drive.
The first step in increasing the signal level recorded is to get the microphone close to the source. This also reduces noise from echo or the camcorder tape drive.
Hear the difference in the video (right). |
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You don’t need to buy $2000 mics for great audio. But, let me explain where you should ABSOLUTELY NOT cut corners.
GET MICROPHONES WITH BALANCED XLR OUTPUTS.
Balanced signals are more immune to noise and interference compared to unbalanced signals (the cheap microphones with minijack connectors).
The video (right) will give you a brief introduction on the difference between XLR and TRS, and why balanced signals are superior. |
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Have a message that you are trying to communicate? Are you interested in making your videos more effective? Well, you’ve come to the right place! The first step in effective communication is to capture great audio in your camcorder from the start.
There’s TONS of material covered in these tutorials. Before you dive in, let me give you a quick overview with some abbreviated videos with the key things that you need to walk away with … |
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OK. Now you understand that you need to get the microphone close to the source.
You’re going to need an external microphone, and one that has the flexibility to be taken off of the camcorder and put on a stand or boom, so it can get really close to the subject. Really close to the subject means no more than 1.5ft away.
90% of great audio has nothing to do with the name brands on your mics. It’s about picking the appropriate tools, and using them the right way. This tutorial series is going to teach you about both. The right type of mic for the job, and how to use it the right way. It’s also going to show you where you can save a ton of money, and where you can’t afford to cut corners. |
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While camcorders will change formats/compression every couple years, the designs for quality mics can last a lifetime. With audio, buy right once, and avoid buying twice to make an upgrade. So, I’ll say it again. This isn’t a place to cut corners. GET MICROPHONES WITH BALANCED XLR OUTPUTS.
Now, of course, you’ll need some other equipment. If you’re in the process of purchasing a camcorder, then here are that are musts for you to have, plus others which you may want to consider.
CAMCORDER SELECTION FOR AUDIO • MICROPHONE INPUT JACK: Obviously. However, only the most expensive camcorders costing many thousands of dollars have XLR inputs. You will probably be looking for a pro-sumer level camcorder which has a minijack microphone input. Don’t worry. There are XLR Camcorder Adapter/Preamps which convert your XLR mic to the minijack input of the camcorder. Using these products allow you to use quality XLR mics with pro-sumer level camcorders, so you don’t need to spend many thousands of dollars for a pro-level camcorder to get good audio. • HEADPHONE JACK: You need to have the ability to monitor your audio. You wouldn’t shoot video without looking at the LCD screen, would you? Meters don’t give you any information about signal-to-noise. Your meter could be telling you that your signal level is just fine. But, your audio could sound like crap, because you’ve got lots of echo or background noise. • MANUAL OVERRIDE OF AGC: Camcorders have circuitry/algorithms which turns up the gain for low input signals, and turns down the gain for high input signals. This provides a wide range of input signal levels that your camcorder can accept, and ensure that the internal A/D’s won’t overload. This is sometimes called the “Automatic” mode, or AGC (Automatic Gain Control). This is great for environments with unpredictable and widely varying signal levels (say, a birthday party). However, camcorder amps are noisy. You can get lower overall system performance by putting the camcorder on “Manual”, and using an external low-noise preamp (such as XLR Camcorder Adapter/Preamps). So, get a camcorder that has manual override of AGC (if you already have a camcorder which does not have manual override of AGC, then that’s OK. XLR Camcorder Adapter/Preamps are still a benefit to you). The tutorials will teach you how to implement this technique. • AUDIO LEVEL METERS: These are not an absolute must. But, they are really nice to have. • FULL-SIZED ACCESSORY SHOE: If there are occasions where you will be mounting your shotgun to your camcorder, then this is nice to have. Note, some smaller camcorders have an accessory shoe, but it is not full-sized. So, you won’t be able to fit a microphone shockmount in it. It’s not a must to have, because there are some aftermarket brackets you can purchase to add it later. Remember, when your mic is on your camcorder, it is not in its optimal orientation. You should be frequently getting your shotgun mic off or your camcorder anyhow. • THREADS FOR WIDE-ANGLE LENS: • For times when you do have your shotgun mounted on top of your camcorder, you can use a wide angle lens to get the mic closer to your subject. However, the wide-angle lens does add spherical aberrations. Remember, when your mic is on your camcorder, it is not in its optimal orientation. You should be frequently getting your shotgun mic off or your camcorder anyhow. • RECORDING MEDIA: DV tape drives are often make a lot of audible noise. So, when your mic is close to the camcorder, it can pick up that distinctive tape whine. Other recording media are much quieter (flash memory is silent). But, there are other considerations such as video format and compression that need to be considered with recording media as well.
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