In regards to the Audio For Beginners thread... (mixers, recorders, costs, etc.)

S

Steve33825

Member
Hi everyone, new here.

I'm working on my first low budget and am still considering different funding options. But at the moment, I'm currently looking to how much, exactly, it will be if I were to purchase the equipment myself. Now my question is audio/budget related, but let me just get this out of the way first...

Here's what I have so far... (remember this is equipment alone, before tax of course)

$2700 - DVXA100 Camera
$1200 - Adobe Premiere

and from the sticky thread here (Audio for Beginners):

Sound kit #8 - $1280
Cables - $75 maximum
Sony MDR Headphones - $100

That's $5355 so far. I'll leave lighting out of this for now because the sticky thread for that was very very thorough. However the sticky thread for audio beginners is very open ended. It only mentions half the stuff you will need, but leaves out mixers, recorders, and whatever else is needed. So I've been looking through all these posts on here hearing different things from everybody about which mixer to get, etc. and I don't want to get frustrated.

Here's what I'm trying to find out:
-What mixers, recorders do I need?
-How many of each will I need?
-How much do they all cost?
-What are the "other tools" I will need and how much will they cost?

Any help would be great, I just need to get this cost stuff and what type of equipment off my chest. Thanks :)

P.S. This is for a feature length, 90 min. low-budget film I am going to do, a comedy/drama, in case anyone is wondering. I've estimated that it could cost between $10k-$15k to make based on equipment, entertainment lawyer, food expenses, and film insurance. Now most of this stuff I can find out but its the equipment part that is becoming a huge barrier for me because for one, everyone is saying different things, and two, I'm not very knowledgable (but am learning very fast) and I'm a first timer at all of this.
 
My advice is don't buy any of it. Hire a DP with a camera or rent one that the DP knows and will work for your project. Hire a sound person with there own equipment. You may need to rent some extras but you will get better results and why do you want to own a bunch of equipment that is going to go out of date and lose value faster than a new car. If you don't buy you will be able to hire people that know what they are doing, much better choice. As a producer/ director/ writer you don't need this equipment and not to be harsh but if your reading the stickies you don't know enough about the subject to be dropping 10 - 15 grand in equipment. If you wanted to be a sound man then maybe it makes sense but not if that is not what you want to do.
 
I should have added the editor also. Don't go and buy Premiere. For one thing it is not a standard editing app (for film anyway). A serious editor is much more likely to know and want to use Avid or FCP. Also many editors working in low budget films own there own rigs.

Remember that filmmaking is a team sport. Get your team, them get what equipment your team needs.
 
110% agree with Noiz. If you are getting this for a movie then renting will take you much farther for your dollar. You could scrape up enough cash to buy a bare minimum of equipment, shoot your movie, and then have it sit around and collect dust (and lose it's value) while you work on post and pre for the next project.

Guys/gals who can afford to spend money on production gear as a luxury and not a business expense can do what they want but unless you have a business plan to make money with your gear, renting is the optimum path.

We have the range of choices of mixers already listed in here, do a search. The SD 302 is the most popular price/quality/channel choice.

Recorders, you don't NEED one, but can drastically improve your audio quality if the rest of the chain is just as strong. Consider buying this piece of gear of last, if at all. Your needs determine this.

Wireless are always a huge benefit. Matt just started a thread recently on how not having enough of these will screw you. Of course you can't use more wireless then your mixer will allow so plan ahead.

A good sound starter kit would probably come in the range of $4000 to $6000. More if you end up buying gear that doesn't work for your needs. One of the reasons it is recommended you rent your kit when just getting started.

Cheers
 
I agree as well. That money is better spent on getting a kick ass crew with gear, or renting the gear.
 
The concept behind the audio for beginners thread was very simple:

Audio for Beginners.

A beginner, just getting into sound will not need a mixer or an external sound recorder. A beginner is someone who comes in here and asks which mic to buy to upgrade over the on camera mic. Someone looking at investing in mixers, external recorders, time coder clap boards, and other gear is not a beginner but rather someone looking to make a professional investment to make this into a career right away.

On top of that... and maybe most importantly, someone who asks how many mixers or external recorders they need to purchase has the answer already, none. They need to rent or hire someone. It's just liek the question: Should I shoot on video or film. If you ask then it's video because if you want to shoot on film then you will know when the time is right (this is me paraphrasing Barry Green, but it's true).

-Jeremy
 
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