60d for sound

speedjunkie

speedjunkie

Well-known member
I noticed that the 60d has manual sound controls.. for those of you out there with the 60d, how good is the sound?. it would be a great addition c-cam for sound recording and video if it records decent sound. anybody out there consider doing this.
 
Even though there is manual adjustment, the sound quality will still not be amazing at all because it records in Linear PCM. Plus there is no phantom power. Idk, for me, it just makes more sense to continue recording with the H4N.
 
J Davis, what about the 5D? It also has manual controls now. Has anyone had decent sound recording directly into it?
 
JPM Photography said:
Even though there is manual adjustment, the sound quality will still not be amazing at all because it records in Linear PCM. Plus there is no phantom power. Idk, for me, it just makes more sense to continue recording with the H4N.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you're using it for. I also have the H4N and love it. But everyone once in a while, you might forget to hit record or might not have your settings spot on. In this case, if you have a shotgun plugged into your 60D, you'll at least have decent sound.

Great for backup. Not ideal for standalone sound, especially if you're a 3-cam setup.
 
Does anyone else have anything to report about the audio quality of the 60d?

If I use a Rode NTG-1 shotgun directly into the camera (using an XLR to 1/8" cable), any idea how it will sound, compared to say an XH-A1 with the same mic?

How to handle sound on the 60d is my biggest question at the moment. If I need to get a Zoom H4N, I'm concerned about how difficult it will be to sync audio with the 60d. I'm currently using Vegas 7d, so the Plural Eyes plugin is obviously not a solution for me.

Can anyone advise? Does the 60d + Vegas + the Zoom H4N = manually syncing up every single take?
 
Metrolens said:
I'm currently using Vegas 7d, so the Plural Eyes plugin is obviously not a solution for me.
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A bit off topic but Vegas 10 was just released. They are offering an upgrade price of $139.95 until Nov 30th. Not only will you be able to use PluralEyes but they have made some significant optimizations with Canon mov files (most users are reporting the ability to edit without any transcoding).
 
rich_r said:
A bit off topic but Vegas 10 was just released. They are offering an upgrade price of $139.95 until Nov 30th. Not only will you be able to use PluralEyes but they have made some significant optimizations with Canon mov files (most users are reporting the ability to edit without any transcoding).
Click to expand...

Thanks - I stand corrected on Plural Eyes not being for Vegas. And for that price, it seems I'll finally be upgrading to Vegas 10.

Can anyone take a stab at my other questions above?
 
The manual syncing is easy once you developed a proper work flow, for example each time you start recording video you also start recording audio, followed by clap in front of camera using your hands or a clap-board. If you want to buy a Zoom, I have one in new condition used about 5 times, and it's for sell.

And can you connect an XLR mike just by using an XLR to 1/8" cable, I thought you need a converter box for this?

Metrolens said:
Does anyone else have anything to report about the audio quality of the 60d?

If I use a Rode NTG-1 shotgun directly into the camera (using an XLR to 1/8" cable), any idea how it will sound, compared to say an XH-A1 with the same mic?

How to handle sound on the 60d is my biggest question at the moment. If I need to get a Zoom H4N, I'm concerned about how difficult it will be to sync audio with the 60d. I'm currently using Vegas 7d, so the Plural Eyes plugin is obviously not a solution for me.

Can anyone advise? Does the 60d + Vegas + the Zoom H4N = manually syncing up every single take?
Click to expand...
 
RieniO said:
The manual syncing is easy once you developed a proper work flow, for example each time you start recording video you also start recording audio, followed by clap in front of camera using your hands or a clap-board. If you want to buy a Zoom, I have one in new condition used about 5 times, and it's for sell.

And can you connect an XLR mike just by using an XLR to 1/8" cable, I thought you need a converter box for this?
Click to expand...

The clap method wouldn't be good in all shooting situations, so I'm thinking of just getting PluralEyes; this seems to be a great way to sync. (They also make "Dual Eyes" for around $40 less, but PluralEyes seems worth it.)

How much are you selling the H4N for? Is it coming from France? PM me, I might be interested.
 
They key to 2 system audio is not the clap with your hands, nor the clapper board, not plural or dual eyes. The real trick is to develop a system of audibly naming your files so at the end of
several days shooting when you have 30 shots at 50 takes a shot you can quickly locate the correct audio file for that take you select when in your prelim edit.
 
J Davis said:
They key to 2 system audio is not the clap with your hands, nor the clapper board, not plural or dual eyes. The real trick is to develop a system of audibly naming your files so at the end of
several days shooting when you have 30 shots at 50 takes a shot you can quickly locate the correct audio file for that take you select when in your prelim edit.
Click to expand...

Interesting. This is my concern; having a zillion unnamed audio and video clips to have to sort through and manage.

So you're saying Plural Eyes doesn't actually solve this? What if you just roll continuously on sound, creating a huge audio file which you drop into the timeline along with all your footage. Plural Eyes can't chop that huge audio file into smaller sections, and marry them to the video? (This may also be a dumb idea to begin with.)
 
Actually - I just watched the Dual Eyes demo on their website, and it seems to do exactly what I mention above. Which is to say, a single huge audio file can be synced to multiple video clips, and the good audio replaces the scratch audio, basically creating automatically synced video/audio clips. Can anyone confirm this? Does Plural Eyes also have this functionality, or just Dual Eyes? (J Davis your point is still valid; assuming you have more than one long audio take, you would still need to verbally slate at the head of each one).
 
Metrolens said:
Actually - I just watched the Dual Eyes demo on their website, and it seems to do exactly what I mention above. Which is to say, a single huge audio file can be synced to multiple video clips, and the good audio replaces the scratch audio, basically creating automatically synced video/audio clips. Can anyone confirm this? Does Plural Eyes also have this functionality, or just Dual Eyes? (J Davis your point is still valid; assuming you have more than one long audio take, you would still need to verbally slate at the head of each one).
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm whether Plural Eyes does this too, or only Dual Eyes?

Also - is it possible to run a Rode NTG-2 directly into a 60d, using a XLR to 1/8" cable? Or is some adapter like a Beachtek needed?
 
yes, plural eyes does do what you are asking. i downloaded the trial version to try it out and was kinda surprised to see that it worked as advertised. However, you would be wise to heed J Davis' advice because the software works best when you manually order the clips on the timeline in the proper sequence. Also, the software can't fix drift at all (shouldn't be a big concern with the canon 12 min limit anyway, just saying).

i didn't buy it because i can sync faster by hand.
 
ajcourtney said:
... i didn't buy it because i can sync faster by hand.
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agreed.

also at 24p your audio clip can only start at 1/24th of a second increments which means it could be up to 1/48th os a second out of sync (ahead or behind)
not sure if plural eyes can do this FCP can set audio in points at the sub frame level.

Simply open an audio clip off the timeline into the viewer. Zoom in on the in point so each frame is clearly visible. shift-click and drag the in point to between frames.

Now there's a neat FCP trick for you DSLR freaks.
 
J Davis said:
agreed.

also at 24p your audio clip can only start at 1/24th of a second increments which means it could be up to 1/48th os a second out of sync (ahead or behind)
not sure if plural eyes can do this FCP can set audio in points at the sub frame level.
Click to expand...

I believe Plural Eyes and Dual Eyes can do subframe syncing. Vegas can do it too, correct?

I am amazed that you guys are able to hand-sync all your clips faster than these programs. What's the trick? Do you slate every single shot?


And, any answer to my previous question:
Also - is it possible to run a Rode NTG-2 directly into a 60d, using a XLR to 1/8" cable? Or is some adapter like a Beachtek needed?
Click to expand...
 
I slate every shot while my 1st AD takes notes on wether we thought the take was good or bad, if there was a flub or ADR needed because a fire engine siren etc.
Then when it comes to the prelim edit we use the written notes to go to the best takes first. (my last project had 30-50 takes on some shots, minimum of 8-10 on simple shots).
On the 2nd system audio, I don't leave the audio recording to one huge file, I have a separate .WAV file for every take with an audio slate (1st AD calling out).
!st AD's notes from set are written in chronological order and so are the filenames on the wav files so its piss easy to locate.
When the project it edited, I use media manage to collect all the used files and the unused files hang around for 3-4 months before getting deleted.
(I don't use media manager to truncate files as I've had this error on me).
 
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