HVRZ7U Audio Tips

M

mixerman

Member
I have been doing sound for over 30 years and can set up audio to the pro cameras with my eyes closed but it seems that every new shoot lately has a new ProSumer camera with new menu settings.

I have never used this camera before and I know that some of these cameras have deep menu settings that can screw you up when you show up and finally get to see the camera for the first time 5 minutes before the shoot with the client standing there.

I always go mixer line out to separate split channels line in Lav ch 1 boom ch 2 for interviews.
The external settings are not a problem.
Anyone know if there are any things hidden in the menu that I need to look out for?

Thanks
 
Under the Mic holder on the "tape side" of the camera, flip the INPUT1 and INPUT2 to LINE
If you're putting the Lav on CH1 and boom on CH2, then make sure to flip the REC CH Select to CH1.

Under the handle on the "operator side" of the camera, flip the AUDIO LEVEL door open and switch these to MAN. Send tone and adjust as needed.

If you do not see VU Meters on the LCD, on the top of the camera, where the LCD screen folds into, press DISPLAY/BATT INFO to bring up the VU Meters.

Press the MENU Button, then use SEL/PUSH to scroll down to the Music notes "AUDIO SET" icon.

It's here that you can find the gotchas.

AUDIO LIMIT>OFF (use your mixer's limiters)

XLR SET>INPUT 1 TRIM>0dB
XLR SET>INPUT 1 WIND>OFF

XLR SET>INPUT 2 TRIM>0dB
XLR SET>INPUT 2 WIND>OFF
 
mixerman said:
I have been doing sound for over 30 years and can set up audio to the pro cameras with my eyes closed but it seems that every new shoot lately has a new ProSumer camera with new menu settings.
Click to expand...

Yep I have that and some history and I got labelled Junior Member too.
Wife thought it was cool but I didn't know whether to laff or cry.
Thanks to Guy.
Cheers.
 
hvrz7u Audio set

hvrz7u Audio set

I could have searched for an answer on the internet for days and never get such a perfect answer. Thank you Guy for being so generously detailed.

I am presently using the supplied camera mic on XLR1 and want to use a handheld for interviews on XLR2. How should I set these if I want to disable one and only use one OR the other at a time? I trying to eliminate loud music when interviewing so I thought of using a hand held while disabling the onboard mic. I just didn't want to have to fuzz too much while on the shoot.
Thanks
Ivonne
 
Last edited:
I'll add to the chorus of praise. Excellent post Guy.
I'm actually going to copy that and stick it in my folder of misc info.
 
I'm imagine a conversation at a productioncompanydeskroom:

- "Well the client will be there at 2PM so if the crew is there 1 minute before they have time enough."
" yeah, indeed..and besides, it's just plugging in a cable"

It must be like this :-p
 
Glad to hear that folks found the post helpful. We've since sold our Z7U so I no longer have one in front of me to give a great reply to Pevon, but I'll try. From my understanding, Pevon is not using a mixer like the Original Poster, so you would go Mic level in and CH1 would be the on-camera mic, CH2 handheld mic. In post you would mute or adjust your CH1 level down for just a touch of the ambient sound. Most all modern day NLE's will import the CHL 1 and CHL 2 audio as Mono Panned Center so your CH2 handheld will come out both Left and Right speakers although that may not be the way you hear it in your headphones while recording. It's been awhile since I've used the Z7U, you may want to check the manual to see if you can choose what you hear while live monitoring. Some cameras allow you to hear just CH1, just CH2, a mono mix of the two, or stereo. Stereo headphone monitoring in this case may be your problem as the on-board mic may be overwhelming. Another reason to invest in a mixer :) Most mixers allow you to pick what you want to monitor...well that and they certainly do a lot more. It may be worth taking a look at to make sure that you get the audio that you want on location and "bring home the bacon".
 
Thanks Guy. I didn't think there was an on / off button either but since the cam is new to me I thought I'd ask. I tried your settings instructions and it works fine by simply lowering one or the other XLR.
Thanks again for your posts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top