Basic shogun mic kit - will this suffice?

Grug

Grug

Veteran
Hi guys,


Being half-deaf audio has never exactly been one of my strong points, but as I'm in the process of putting together my own production kit for the first time (camera, lights, support and audio) I need to organise the sound recording side of things.


For starters I figured a basic shotgun/boom kit would suffice (I'll probably add a lav and wireless lav down the track), but I wanted to run this kit past you guys and check whether it's got everything I'll need (and whether it'll suffice for interviews, commercials and corporate videos).


My plan was to record directly into a Sound Devices PIX240. Will the controls/inputs on that suffice? Or is a separate mixer/pre-amp necessary?


Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions would be much appreciated.


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Rode NTG-2 is a good beginner's shotgun for outdoor work, but I would never use this mic indoors. ( it picks up way too much off axis sound )

If your budget can afford it, I would upgrade to the Rode NTG-3 shotgun, which is a much better mic when recording both outdoors and indoors.

You also might want to look at picking up a hypercardioid condenser mic if you want a better mic when recording indoors in smaller environments. ( Audio Technica 4053b is a very good indoor mic )
 
As TheDingo says, most of us do not recommend a shotgun as the only mic in a kit. I would also look into a hypercardioid, and the AT4053b is probably the lowest in cost unless you buy used (the Oktava mk012 is cheaper and sounds pretty good, but is very sensitive to handling noise and wind which is why I would go for the AT instead).

Also, I would skip the SM3 shockmount and get a Rycote Invision mount instead. They don't cost much more and are among the best out there. Make a search or call them to find out which model is good for the shotgun you want.

If you mostly do interviews, doc or run&gun, then that length on the boom is good, but if you do narrative work then I would get one that's at least 12'.
 
um, wait a minute. Regardless of the cost of the NTG-2 and NTG-3, they are still BOTH interference tube mics and will have the very same problems with indoor recording or recording in any exterior with lots of reflective surfaces like big flat expanses of glass, wood concrete or anything else that presents a hard flat surface.

The other factor is the distance between the mic and the person speaking. Even the best mic on the planet won't give you good results if it's too far away form the talent. So if your planning to mount any mic on your camera, that's not a good idea.

Here, maybe this video will help.

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS: The Sound Devices recorder has preamps, phantom power and limiters, so you should be fine
 
Mounted on the camera, even the NTG-2 is long enough to protrude forward enough to be seen on wide, and depending on your camera can make it a bit unwieldy. The foam windshield is ok in very light breeze, but more than that and you need to consider something a bit better (and of course, bigger).
Don't forget the headphones!
 
It seems some of the recent posts have missed that this was about working with a boom, not as an on-camera mic. It says so in the original post, and there is a boom in the list.

I forgot about headphones - they're a must! Sony 7506 is something of a standard, especially in the US, but I personally prefer something that isolates more (I use sennheiser HD25, another popular choice).
 
I would forget the Røde shockmount and get the Rycote Universal Camera Kit instead.

The shockmount is vastly superior, it does not droop or bounce, a mini basket windshield and Windjammer is included in the kit as well.

The Rycote Boom Poles are also pretty good at the price and there is a choice of aluminium or carbon fibre ones. The aluminium one is £77,80 +VAT and the carbon fibre one is £150.00 +VAT in the UK.
 
Well I picked up my basic kit this afternoon. I actually managed to find it cheaper here in Australia than I could get it from B&H (even before including shipping!). I went for the Rode NTG-3 shotgun, with the Rode Blimp, windjammer, 10' boom and a Hosa XLR cable (it all came together in a kit).

Initial tests with the PIX240 I also picked up today seem really promising.

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions guys (especially your video Ty, that was a huge help in getting my head around what different mics do what).

At this stage, I think a wireless mic will be next, followed by a hypercardioid condenser mic (though I doubt I'll be affording either of those for a while).
 
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