Which mic for this?

G

George Loch

New member
I am often asked to shoot video in conference rooms with glass windows and lots of bouncy surfaces. The particular room shown here has the added challenge of a busy road next to it. How would you mic this? I have an AT4051B that seems to pick up all of the echo and road noise. Is this a lav mic situation?

IMG_2158.jpg
 
Yep - too many hard surfaces for any form of distant miking, and even with lavs, it will sound very odd.
 
What could help: Lavs and sound blankets where you can. And then if you're handling post and the budget can cover the time, perhaps something like a touch of De-reverb and Dialog Isolate from iZotope RX (helpful, but not miracle tools)...or similar software from another company. https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx/features/de-reverb.html

What will also help: realistic expectations from the producer (ie- let them listen to playback, but don't tell them about post software that can help a bit...). But if you're not handling post...

Sigh. Been there. Well, not there, but in depressingly similar locations.

Good luck George!
 
Yep, a lav. As much as we love using "booms", there are environments/situations, that lav's are the best choice.
 
Depends on the mic placement and pickup pattern. A few years ago I used cheap unidirectional lavs for a similar purpose and made the mistake of clipping them on one side of the shirt/etc. and didn't realize how much a person turning his/her head the opposite direction of the mic while still speaking would affect the recording.
 
Imamacuser said:
Would a unidirectional lav work better than the standard omnidirectional ones?
Click to expand...

No to probably not. Directional lavs pick up more wind and handling/cable/clothing noise. And as NorBro points out, it's really easy for normal body/head movement to result in off-axis audio problems.

I've used directional headsets in REALLY loud environments (car racetracks, specifically), but that was a headset with a fixed and very close mic-to-mouth relationship.

If you had a well-placed lav on a stationary subject who didn't move their head (e.g., pro talent), it might work. Bummer, because it would be great if it did more often. At least, that's my perspective and experience...
 
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