after capturing audio is VERY LOW

T

TAOL

New member
I'm using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 and a DVX100. When I capture it to the computer there's virtually no volume to the audio (i.e. the waveform just looks like a straight line) and I have to boost the gain way high for it to be audible. There is also (because of the low volume) a general ambient fuzziness to the audio.

Is there a setting somewhere that I'm missing? I'm using an external mic - rode NTG-2.

I hope someone can shed some light on this mystery!
 
Did you monitor your audio through headphones while you recorded?

Did you watch the levels in the viewfinder?

Are your inputs set to line or mic?

Are you sure you didn't just record the audio that low?

I ask this mostly because there just isn't that much which can go wrong at capture. It's a 1 for 1 transfer of bits -- you've got 'em or you don't. Volume should never be affected at all.
 
Yep, always do a preflight check of your system settings and monitor your audio.
I got in a hurry once and didnt check the mic power 48v switch on channel 2.
Reviewed the tape at home and wondering why I can barely hear the audio?
One thing about the learning curve here is that you will remember your mistakes. They hurt like hell.
 
I've done an audio test with the camera. I recorded speaking directly in front of the mic, 2 feet away, and 5 feet away. On the camera with both the internal and external mics the audio is at about 50% at 2 feet away, maybe 25% at 5 feet away, and barely touching the red when it was directly in front of the speakers mouth.

I captured it to premiere and checked the audio levels in the audio mixer. Most of it was registering at about -30db and the parts recorded with the mic right at the speaker's mouth registered at -12db.

The waveform looks entirely flat except for the parts recorded with the mic directly at the speaker's mouth, which have a bit of amplitude showing, but not much. To hear it well on my speakers I have to turn both the computer volume and the speaker volume to max.

Does anybody have any ideas what might be causing this? Could it be a defect in the camera or am I missing something?
 
i have found that the best audio from the DVX is when it goes a few marks into the red. when its lower than that to me it seems too quiet but thats just my findings.
 
Whilst the pre amps on the camera itself are pretty good, I could never monitor it well from the camera itself. It's hard to keep an eye on those little meters when your shooting and even with the audio up high on your headset theres a lot of things that sometimes slipped by undetected. For example a boom operator hitting something with the boom that cause a LOW sound.

Consider a premixer. A better quality output the boom operator can monitor, he/she can pick up any unwanted sound easily. Easy to read indicators etc. That's apart from the quality of what ends up going into the camera.
 
I tried setting the gain to -60 in the menu and that seems to have helped, and I'm going to adjust the audio dials also.

What I'm wondering is whether it's normal for the mic to pick up the audio so quietly when the dials are set to the middle setting. Could it be some kind of defect or is it just normal that you have to crank the dials up high to get a high enough sound level? Seems strange to me that it would record virtually no audio with the dials set to mid level.
 
Dougyfresh13 said:
i have found that the best audio from the DVX is when it goes a few marks into the red. when its lower than that to me it seems too quiet but thats just my findings.
Click to expand...

I am a new useer of a 100b and is this the generally accepted levels to see in the viewfinder, or should I see only an occasional peak?
 
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