Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ConductorX]

Not only a newbie but I am totally new to sound systems.  I have been a photographer for years and I want to video productions with good sound.  This forum may be way too advanced for me.

I need the basics, I have good PC skills and I understand some electronics.  This is what I want to do.

Record live video, person in video wearing a lapel mic.  Also pick up some of the ambient sounds common in a work shop.  Grinding, welding, cutting etc.

I want to be able to record voice over to be added to the video in post production.

I don't know the terminology.  I know what a 1/4 phono plug and an RCA Jack and Plug is.  My camera has two XLR microphone inputs to record sound along with the video track.

Can some one create a simple lay out of the equipment I need and the connections between the various parts?

I would like the lapel mic to be wireless.  I was told I need a mixing board and that I need balanced inputs and stereo output to achieve the  best results.  i am at a loss there. I don't know what all of that means.   I noticed everyone seems to speak in acronyms but I need to know what they mean as well.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Gary Scurlock (real name)

[Tim Halligan]

Ok...where to begin...

Let's start at the front end.

You have a camera, and given your photographic background, I assume you can compose a frame and light for it.

What camera is it? Do the mic inputs ( the XLRs you mentioned ) supply phantom power?

Presumably the camera has it's own internal mic.

On the camera the first thing you want to do is DISABLE the automatic gain. You want/need to be in control of what is going to tape/HDD.

Next thing - microphones.

Now you have expressed a preference for wireless...which is fine...but given what you are trying to achieve, might not be necessary.

Will you be doing "walk and talk" style production, or will the talent be in a fixed location sitting or standing?

The reason I ask this is that using a cabled (non-wireless) version of a mic will always sound better than the wireless version.

If you are going to be serious about this, it would be prudent to have both...one as a spare.

So...here's a thought to get you started. Grab a Sennheiser G3 Radio mic system: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618739-REG/Sennheiser_EW_112P_G3_A_EW112_p_G3_Camera_Mount.html

Now...the microphone that comes with this is ok, but you could upgrade it to a Sennheiser MKE-2 which sounds better, and is smaller - which is an advantage in the ENG/EFP world. Grab one terminated with a plug to fit the G3, and grab another one terminated with an XLR for hardwire/fixed location setups.

Is this the best radio mic system in the world? No. But it is very good bang for your buck.

Now comes the hard bit...making it all work together.

Buy some decent headphones...and no - Beats by Dre are not decent.

You need good isolation because you will need to make qualitative decisions in a hostile environment.

Next you have to learn gain structure. This cannot be over-stated. You need to get all of these elements working together in the most efficient way. You need to make sure that the input of the transmitter is not distorting, the output of the receiver is not distorting, and the input of the camera isn't distorting, and that you aren't so conservative that you have noise issues...and given that every interview is different, there is no one size fits all setting. You have to listen and adjust BEFORE you start recording. This is why you don't do stuff in auto mode on the camera.

If you get distortion at this stage, you are quite probably fucked. Or up for some serious coin at a professional post house to fix.

By using a hardwired microphone, you remove 2 gain stages...and therefore have a better shot at making it sound good quicker...especially as a neophyte recordist. Time wasted learning how to drive this rig in front of the talent/client does not fill him with confidence. Trust me.

So...voice overs. Presumably you'll do this at your edit suite in an acoustically controlled environment, right?

Here's the quick and dirty way. Buy a decent mic, and record onto your camera. That'll get you going.

Eventually you will need a small mixer for monitoring purposes in your suite. At that point you can record directly to your edit software via that mixer for voice over.

The edit software itself is a matter of personal preference. Avid is the industry "standard", but people have got good results from Final Cut Pro (FCP) up until the point that Apple emasculated it and basically made it "iMovie Pro". Adobe Premiere CS6 is making inroads, but all of the Avid guys I know who are using CS6 are hating life at present.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Tim

PS. Do not fuck the whole industry for the rest of us by going in too cheap. It helps nobody...including you.

[ConductorX]

To answer your question about the camera. It does not have a built in mic.  It has a detachable mic and the camera supplies phantom power.  At least that is how it is described in the manual.  I am the primary talent so I plan to keep plugging away until I figure it out.  Yes I will be moving around some or the talent will.  I did not want to encumber the person with cables since we will be moving around in a work shop environment.

The camera is a JVC GY-HM150U

Thanks for the help,
Gary

[Dinogi]

It's been a while since i used a little Pro-Sumer camera so I looked up the manual on-line. I don't think you should have any trouble doing what you planned.
If you are planning on acquiring a wireless microphone be sure to get one that has balanced outputs. This simply means that there will be three conductors on the connector at the output of the receiver. These connectors may be XLR, 1/4 inch TRS (3 Rings like a headphone plug), or some form of tiny connector that will need to be adapted to an XLR for input to the camera. Generally, the output of a wireless receiver is at line level so be sure to switch the input switch for channel 2 on the camera to line. Set the CH1/CH2 Audio select switch - CH2 Input switch to Input two. This should allow you to connect the wireless receiver to input 2 and still use the detachable mic connected to input 1 for ambiance. Input one is always connected to CH1 and the CH2 switch just sends the same audio to both channels if set for input one. Set the AUTO/MANUAL switch to manual so that the cameras electronics don't try to ride the recording level. Set your recording levels to max out no higher than -12 on the meter. If there will be fast transients (sudden quick sounds) or extremely low frequency sounds set the levels lower.
I hope this helps.
oldeuncledino