Canon t3i + Rode VideoMic Pro...NO HISSING?

C

croman5

Member
Hey gang,
I'm looking into buying an external microphone for a summer film project that doesn't necessarily have to be PROFESSIONAL sound (since it's supposed to be a mockumentary) but I would like to get one that doesn't make any of that annoying hissing sound for which DSLR's are notorious. I don't have a very big budget, and I have done a bit of research but I keep getting conflicting results. Thus, I have come to you guys, the almighty experts, for some help.

I've seen videos where the Rode VideoMic Pro makes the hissing even MORE prominent. This video proves the opposite and actually sounds amazing (towards the end):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQSJLLhNB3A

I've heard people say you can get rid of hiss with a pre-amp but you need different audio other than an external microphone and something like a Zoom H4 but I would prefer to have something that I can walk around with at all times.

My real question is...is the HISSING, excessively loud background noise, an unbeatable characteristic of the t3i or can I conquer it without spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars?

If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. Right now, my head is about to explode.

Thanks so much!
 
You can walk around with the Zoom H4 if you use the DSLR with a Cinevate Simplis and screw it onto the side (see stillmotion's video on Vimeo). I hear using MagicLantern will help in that you can control your audio input better, but I shoot with two 7D's so I have no experience with the hack.
 
croman5, I'd suggest that you look through some of the threads in the Audio forum here at DVXUser. There's lots of good information about sound, mic choices, and mic placement.

You say it doesn't have to be "professional", but at what point do you consider it "just good enough"? The job of production sound is to get clean and clear dialog. Everything else is added in post.

Magic Lantern is a third-party firmware plug-in that offers many enhanced features for Canon EOS cameras. Three of these regard audio features that not all Canon EOS cameras have: AGC disable, manual audio level input control, and on-screen audio metering. These certainly improve the situation, but you're still up against a few things.

The biggest cause of hiss in DSLR audio is from AGC, or Automatic Gain Control. This is a feature designed to make pretty much everything that hits the mic as loud as possible without digital clipping. Quite frankly, all it does is serve to render the audio useless.

That brings us to DSLR audio in general which, while it can be greatly improved over out-of-the-box factory settings in some cases, it's still not the greatest. Maybe it'll hit your criteria of acceptability, but know that you're still dealing with audio circuitry in the camera that is fairly low quality. I have heard audio recorded straight to DSLR that is impressive, for what it is. That requires that AGC is turned off or otherwise disabled, along with some extra equipment (not just the mic) and a bit of skill.

Further, just purchasing an external mic for your camera will not solve all your issues. That mic must be placed close to the talent, and not located on the camera. Plus, the record levels must be set properly and manually. Last, you must monitor your audio as you record, same as you always look at the monitor/viewfinder of your camera as you record, so that you can hear problems as the happen and fix them on the spot, rather than being unpleasantly surprised when you start to edit footage.

Monitoring is the other challenge with DSLR audio. Using ML, and a special cable for the USB output, one can have monitoring from the camera. If you're going to record to your T3i, this is a must.
 
Last edited:
Alex H. said:
croman5, I'd suggest that you look through some of the threads in the Audio forum here at DVXUser. There's lots of good information about sound, mic choices, and mic placement.

You say it doesn't have to be "professional", but at what point do you consider it "just good enough"? The job of production sound is to get clean and clear dialog. Everything else is added in post.

Magic Lantern is a third-party firmware plug-in that offers many enhanced features for Canon EOS cameras. Three of these regard audio features that not all Canon EOS cameras have: AGC disable, manual audio level input control, and on-screen audio metering. These certainly improve the situation, but you're still up against a few things.

The biggest cause of hiss in DSLR audio is from AGC, or Automatic Gain Control. This is a feature designed to make pretty much everything that hits the mic as loud as possible without digital clipping. Quite frankly, all it does is serve to render the audio useless.

That brings us to DSLR audio in general which, while it can be greatly improved over out-of-the-box factory settings in some cases, it's still not the greatest. Maybe it'll hit your criteria of acceptability, but know that you're still dealing with audio circuitry in the camera that is fairly low quality. I have heard audio recorded straight to DSLR that is impressive, for what it is. That requires that AGC is turned off or otherwise disabled, along with some extra equipment (not just the mic) and a bit of skill.

Further, just purchasing an external mic for your camera will not solve all your issues. That mic must be placed close to the talent, and not located on the camera. Plus, the record levels must be set properly and manually. Last, you must monitor your audio as you record, same as you always look at the monitor/viewfinder of your camera as you record, so that you can hear problems as the happen and fix them on the spot, rather than being unpleasantly surprised when you start to edit footage.

Monitoring is the other challenge with DSLR audio. Using ML, and a special cable for the USB output, one can have monitoring from the camera. If you're going to record to your T3i, this is a must.
Click to expand...

hey Alex,
I actually read through the entire DSLR audio sticky thread haha, but it feels to me like a lot of those contributors, while offering a bunch of helpful information, are focusing on a high standard of audio recording.

to be honest, the main reason for my audio is personal projects, and while i'm looking into buying an external mic for a film project, that project itself is not supposed to be "professional." to give you a basis, it's in the vein of the blair witch project. yes, i want good audio but it doesn't need to be perfect as part of the film is an amateur filmmaker trying to make a film that goes awry.

after this project, i won't have much really professional reasoning behind getting a microphone, so i figured, for the convenience and price, the rode videomic pro would be my best bet.

i have not really thought about tinkering with magic lantern because i just got my camera and i have watched some videos that sounded good to me without using green lantern, but if it is an absolutely necessity, i will look into it.

thanks again for your help, and i hope to hear back from you. thanks everyone!
 
It's always been my understanding that you can get decent audio from a Rode VideoMic Pro because of it's +20dB preamp. On the T3i you set the AGC to manual and the recording level to one notch above zero.

Am I mistaken?
 
As every audio guy will tell you, the sound is MORE important than the video. People will watch something that looks kind of crappy if the story is good, but semi-intelligible dialogue, a ton of background hiss, volume that goes up and down, and people will reach for the STOP button in about 30 seconds.

Ideally, you should have as much invested in the audio side as the video side. Spending $3K on a camera and lenses and $300 on audio is movie malpractice.
 
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