AC90: How to fix the missing AGC audio?
- Thread starter geani66
- Start date
Realistically, using any AGC option the cam has wont work out, so manual control is the way to go. Unfortunately, cams like this don't have very good gain control ergonomics for riding the levels.
You might want to look at a small mixer mounted below the cam, or possibly on the shoe. This would also allow for better preamps, controls, limiters and you could feed line-in to the cam. A sound Devices Mixpre-D should be at the top of that list. You might want to take this to the audio board for a better response.
You might want to look at a small mixer mounted below the cam, or possibly on the shoe. This would also allow for better preamps, controls, limiters and you could feed line-in to the cam. A sound Devices Mixpre-D should be at the top of that list. You might want to take this to the audio board for a better response.
I was thinking you were doing weddings professionally....
The original mix-pre, without the digital interface can be bought used for around $350 used. The digital interface is nice, but not needed for field recording. The analogue side of the two devices are the same. But the older model doesn't have the mounting options of the newer model. Heavy duty Velcro is your friend on this.
Really if you think about it, audio is half of your finished product. How much did you spend on your cam? Not being snarky but realistically, audio needs a budget too. The Sound Devices products are superior in most every way to anything else.
Grant
The original mix-pre, without the digital interface can be bought used for around $350 used. The digital interface is nice, but not needed for field recording. The analogue side of the two devices are the same. But the older model doesn't have the mounting options of the newer model. Heavy duty Velcro is your friend on this.
Really if you think about it, audio is half of your finished product. How much did you spend on your cam? Not being snarky but realistically, audio needs a budget too. The Sound Devices products are superior in most every way to anything else.
Grant
Ashton Lamont
Active member
As soon as you introduce a mixer or suchlike - desirable though it may be in terms of absolute audio quality - you have other issues to deal with that in wedding type scenarios introduce other undesirable compromises. For example its more and bigger kit for you as a - I assume - solo operator have to keep on top of; again its a bigger quantity of kit with which you are approaching people who are not expecting and not wanting to be video'd. One reason why dSLRs can be so successful in these scenarios it that it can be possible to be stealthy with them, not frightening the horses and giving yourself the best chances of obtaining natural footage.
Instead of auto levels you could try two different levels settings, one of each channel. Have a shotgun mic going into XLR input two whilst the onboard mic stays as internal. I use a Rode NTG2. Then in post choose which channel you wish to use at any point. In my NLE - Vegas Pro - that is only one right click away and the chosen channel goes to both left and right. The NTG2 does not need phantom power as it can take an AA battery instead, but you could provide phantom power to a mic that needs it using the AC90 settings.
Another easy solution it to put a lightweight audio recorder on the hotshoe such as a Zoom H1. That can be set to auto-levels. You then sync it in post with the cam's tracks. Syncing is a doddle using Pluraleyes. You don't need to keep switching the audio recorder on and off all the time . You can leave it running all the time if you want and then simply sync that one big long track with multiple shorts from the cam.
Pete
Instead of auto levels you could try two different levels settings, one of each channel. Have a shotgun mic going into XLR input two whilst the onboard mic stays as internal. I use a Rode NTG2. Then in post choose which channel you wish to use at any point. In my NLE - Vegas Pro - that is only one right click away and the chosen channel goes to both left and right. The NTG2 does not need phantom power as it can take an AA battery instead, but you could provide phantom power to a mic that needs it using the AC90 settings.
Another easy solution it to put a lightweight audio recorder on the hotshoe such as a Zoom H1. That can be set to auto-levels. You then sync it in post with the cam's tracks. Syncing is a doddle using Pluraleyes. You don't need to keep switching the audio recorder on and off all the time . You can leave it running all the time if you want and then simply sync that one big long track with multiple shorts from the cam.
Pete