Greenscreen and a mic stand by myself?

B

boke

Active member
So I've set up my own greenscreen studio in my office and for the visuals its set up pretty good, a couple click and effects in AE and I'm on my way. But the sound is most definately not there. I'm doing everything on my own, so noone to help. I originally used a wireless mic set up to an audio interface(Focusrite Saffire) that was set up to my computer, then I used the onboard cameras mic waveform to line the 2 up. But I'm not satisfied with the sound, and I'm thinking if I can change to a good short or super cardioid shotgun it would really clean up the sound. But since I have no help I was wondering the best way to set that up? If they have a stand that has a pretty long boom (?) attached then I could set that off camera and point it to where I'll be standing (prefferabley overhead?). I looked at B@H but I couldn't find any stands like that. Are those available? Should I make some kind of attachment to my ceiling above the talent that I could just connect the mic to? Be sure to get a good shock mount?

Also the room has a bit of an echo so I'm going get some cheap eggcrates and put those up on the wall. Is there anything else I can do to get better sound?
 
What is your end result? Are you shooting a music video of some sort? Doing a pod cast or news cast? Is this for commercial work? Need a tad bit more of information, and I only ask because, if your going to shoot a talking head get a decent shotgun like the Oktava, if your going to shoot a music video of some sort while shooting a greenscreen (I have no idea why but you might be doing something of the sort) I would recomend something purchased at a music store like Guitar Center, GT55, look at the AKG Products... these are mics for vocals (singing) and what not...
 
Sorry, basically what I'm doing is educational (ESL) videos. So for the most part its a teacher in front of the camera explaining various points while graphics fly in and out. Very similar to news or commercial.

Occasionally we will be filming more "movie"-like scenes to highlight a certain grammar point or english conversation and I want to make those as cinematic as possible.

Most of it will be viewed thru peoples computers but we will make DVD for people to view them on their TV's as well.
 
It's tough to diagnose the problem without more info. The Saffire is a decent interface. But what wireless trans/rec were you using? Which lav? Where was the lav (tie, lapel, hidden)? What else is there in your signal chain?

What about the room? Is it very ambient or does it just sound that way? BTW, egg crates don't do anything except look like sound treatment. Sound blankets, even moving blankets or quilts, will do a much better job. Put down some carpeting, the thicker the better. I used Celotex (about $30 for an 8x4 sheet) to make a few cheap gobos and partitions (it's also behind all of my walls for sound isolation). Of course, Auralex ($100 for 24sq ft.) or something similar would be your best bet.
 
boke said:
The wireless mic system is not really very good, its the audio technica 600 series (which I don't think they sell anymore. ATW-T601A transmitter and the AT829 wireless mic.

http://onstagemag.com/ar/performance_audiotechnica_freeway_series/index.htm

It doesn't even have XRL outputs/inputs. But it was free!
Click to expand...

LOL All too often anything you get for free is worth exactly what you paid for it! In your situation a hard wired lav sounds to me like a better way to go. You're not mobile so the freedom from a tether that wireless provides doesn't enter into the picture. Given the same quality mic capsule, what is the more economic solution to get the signal from you to the camera ... a $600 wireless transmitter and receiver set or a $25 mic cable?

Shotguns would not be advisable since you're in a normal office interior. Office (and residences) tend to be very reflective and shotguns don't play well with reflected sounds. A hypercardioid, such as the aforementioned Oktava, is much preferred for indoors. Figure in a boom pole and shock mount as well. Then to position it, since you are working alone, add a C-Stand off to the side with a "boom boy" (fishing rod holder) mounted on it to hold the mic overhead. Consider the width of your shot - that means the boom pole will need to be around 8 to 10 feet long to keep its support out of frame yet reach all the way over to you.

As you consider your options, keep in mind that the mic's location is everything and even shotguns need to be CLOSE to the speaker. The working distance for a hyper is about 20 inches, while a short shotgun can be a little farther. Your boom has to get the mic to within that distance from your mouth and keep it aimed precisely at it, yet the mic and its supporting stuff have to be out of the shot. A mic mounted on the camera is useless for any quality sound.
 
If you're convinced that you want to get away from a lav, I'd recommend checking out this video. It's two Rode NT1-A large diaphragm condensers, demoing their abilities either directly run into the camera, or run through a mixer first. While that aspect may be irrelevant to you, how he mounts them, how the mic sounds, and all that might give you some good info. Worth checking out.
 
You don't necessarily need a boom with long reach. You could just garbage mat the boom/mic out of the shot. Also, if it's just a static shot with no moving background, you can grab a clean plate and use it to hide the boom and mic.

As others have said, a hypercardioid tends to work best for indoors, a shotgun for outdoors. In any case, get the mic as close as possible. This will give you the best bang for the buck, even with a relatively cheap mic.
 
RandomHero said:
If you're convinced that you want to get away from a lav, I'd recommend checking out this video. It's two Rode NT1-A large diaphragm condensers, demoing their abilities either directly run into the camera, or run through a mixer first. While that aspect may be irrelevant to you, how he mounts them, how the mic sounds, and all that might give you some good info. Worth checking out.
Click to expand...

Look very closely and you'll see the mics just sneaking into frame right in front of Guy's forehead. That's just about as far as you can let them get from the speaker's mouth - their ideal working distance is about 8 to 10 inches. The NT1-A is a very good mic - I own one of them and I like it a lot - but IMHO they're really not an optimal mic for booming an interview or dialog, especially if the talent isn't used to projecting. Guy knows what he's doing and knows how to work a mic - you can't count on an interview subject doing that. For VO work or as a vocalist's mic or in a stereo pair for recording music, the NT1-A is a fine mic. But I wouldn't recommend it for an interview mic.
 
I have one of those fish rod setup to be used with a c-stand. I find them to be more of a hassle than anything else. I instead went to guitar center and found a short mike stand (approx 8-10") and screwed onto my Oktavia MK-012 mike holder and placed it below and out of site. And since I used a hypercardioid head it was very directional and I didn't have to worry about shadows being casted on the wall.

Also to add, I record using phantom power thru a portable mackie mixer. The pre's on the mackie, sounds much better than what my Canon or Pany can ever handle. I output from the mackie as two mono lines in to my camera. With one setting a little louder than the other to handle any clipping issues. I also have and analog line that goes to my portable DAT as a backup, just in case murphy's law come into play on my camera. I find for me using audio equipment to record sound is lot more satisfying than to hope that camera companies be able to get the same results. Everytime I tried recording sound directly into the camera, it was a crapshoot and that I didn't want to take chance. Especially if you have limited funds and time.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top