GH4 Audio for interview out in the field

stoneinapond said:
The audio recording straight to camera with the internal mics is really very good. I wouldn't want to use it for everything, but listen to the voice in the beginning of this test. Also listen to the audio in the final clip. Other than wind noise in other parts, I'm impressed.
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The difference between not bad for a single shot and useable for an entire documentary is huge. I only watched the beginning of your clip, but I heard all the traffic noise. Try recording your friend talking on a busy street and I doubt it would be useable for a documentary where you'd have to edit a bunch of voices together and have them sound consistent.
The Tascam DR60, the one that can mount to the bottom of the camera sounds like a much better option. You can still feed the camera and that recorder can be your safety, and even double safety since it can record two copies with one being lower level to save you from distortion if someone suddenly starts yelling. The key is that it can be attached to your camera so that it's not another piece of gear to set up and carry around.
For interviews audio is too important. If it was just a skateboarding video or camera test, sure, use whatever you got.
 
https://vimeo.com/94266360

The audio was captured internally with a Sennheiser 2000. I also tested a new Rode Lavalier that I just got plugged direct into the GH4 and was surprised it actually sounds pretty good. I also bought the 10 foot cable. Nice little lav mic!

Rode Lav.jpg

Rode Lav cable.jpg
 
Andrius Simutis said:
The difference between not bad for a single shot and useable for an entire documentary is huge. I only watched the beginning of your clip, but I heard all the traffic noise. Try recording your friend talking on a busy street and I doubt it would be useable for a documentary where you'd have to edit a bunch of voices together and have them sound consistent.
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You are quite right. There is no way I would use the internal microphones for any serious interviewing work. But that wasn't my point. What I was trying to show was that the sound capabilities of the camera have been improved, and that will apply equally to any external input.

But if I was stuck and needed ambience audio, with the right setup internally (I didn't do any yet) and with some tweaking in an audio editor, I could get some very decent results.
 
Erik Naso said:
I also tested a new Rode Lavalier that I just got plugged direct into the GH4 and was surprised it actually sounds pretty good.
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Is there a model number for this new lav, or is it all still "hush hush" ?

...Out of curiosity, how many takes did you have to do of the handful of cards falling ? ( I'm sure this was not one take )
 
TheDingo said:
Is there a model number for this new lav, or is it all still "hush hush" ?

...Out of curiosity, how many takes did you have to do of the handful of cards falling ? ( I'm sure this was not one take )
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I bought it from Amazon. Its the Rode LAVALIER Condenser Microphone What little testing I did I liked what I heard. Small like my Sanken COS11. The interchangeable ends are a great idea. I picked up the MiCon-2 Connector for 3.5mm. MiCon-5 3-PIN XLR and the MiCon-9 Sennheiser SK 2000. One mic for a lot of different applications. Check it out on Rode's website


As for takes. I did a bunch. It was windy and the cards just didn't play nice with me. It was a lot of fun. When the one hit the lens I was done. Had the keeper. I wrote a little write up on the shoot and grading. HERE The tighter one was easier.
 
Just in case anyone's wondering, I tried using a 3.5mm splitter cable directly into the camera (connected Rode VMP and Sennheiser G3), camera recorded both lines however did not split them up into proper right and left channels, instead just mixed them together as one stereo channel. Tried to separate them in FCPX using dual mono but both channels had the same audio. Looks like this camera cant do true dual audio recording.
Just fyi, don't know if anyone else has had different results. If so let me know.
 
alexmeadeint said:
Just in case anyone's wondering, I tried using a 3.5mm splitter cable directly into the camera (connected Rode VMP and Sennheiser G3), camera recorded both lines however did not split them up into proper right and left channels, instead just mixed them together as one stereo channel. Tried to separate them in FCPX using dual mono but both channels had the same audio. Looks like this camera cant do true dual audio recording.
Just fyi, don't know if anyone else has had different results. If so let me know.
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Did the same cable work on your GH3?
 
alexmeadeint said:
Never tried it on the GH3 and don't have mine anymore. I used just a standard headphone splitter.
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Sounds like your headphone splitter is mixing the 2 sources before it even reaches the camera. A headphone splitter does not split the channels of a stereo source, it take a single stereo source and split it into 2 stereo signals.

Therefore, if you're going in the reverse direction (2 sources into 1, which a headphone splitter is not specifically designed for), even if you're pushing 2 mono sources, the splitter will mix them together on to both channels. With the VMP, it's a mono source, but outputs the same signal on both channels of it's plug, so it'll be on both channels when you push it through the headphone splitter.

A simple "Radio Shack" way to get 2 mono signals into the camera's single 3.5mm input is to use a 3.5mm stereo to dual 3.5mm mono splitter. This will take in 2 mono sources and map them to a single stereo output.
 
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Like the OP external audio recording to me being a crew of one is not worth the trouble. I use the Sennheiser G lav system and set camera, transmitter, receiver all to -12. I also bought the sennheiser phantom powered butt plug for my MKH 50 boom mic and that is my preferred method of recording an interview. Clamped to a light stand or held untethered by an assistant.

If you require two channels the Sound Devices MixPre D is really the best option by far and though a bit expensive worth every penny. When you think about it it's the same cost as a decent lens. If you want superior results spend the money you won't regret it. Your stuff will sound and look better than the guy with the Canon and the Zoom.
 
I have a Zoom H4n and the audio is quite good, but I rarely have used the external mic and had to rely on the preamps. I still think they're fine when I've used them with phantom power, but it drains battery pretty quickly when used that way. When you get down to it though, a little bit of background noise is not really much of an issue here compared to the other factors like mic placement.

You absolutely should have a lavaliere on anyone being interviewed out in the field, and then it's a good idea to have an external shotgun as well, even if it's mounted on the camera, for ambient sound. I have the Videomic Pro and it's nice and light but if the person isn't right in front of you it's not useful by itself for anything except ambience. Better to have a real shotgun microphone if you can manage it. I like to use the Sennheiser K6 power module with ME-66 capsule for shotgun or ME-64 capsule for indoors. The K6 is battery OR phantom powered. You'll have to have a good shockmount solution if mounted directly on the GH4 though because they are a bit on the large size for this. It can be done and I have but only on a tripod so I don't have to swing around a lot.

But if you can only afford to do one thing then definitely go for the wireless lav on the interviewee. Loop the wire on the clamp right next to the mic to take up the slack, to avoid jostling noises, and hide from the wind. Use the mic's limiter if you need to, but you'll have more pronounced sibilance to deal with later in post.
 
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