I need suggestions for recording audio.

F

felipumz

New member
I'm pretty new at filmmaking and I know that people can forgive bad video but not bad audio. I just wanted to hear suggestions on recording audio. I want to make my first short and I'm in the market for a Shotgun Mic. Once I purchase it, where do I plug it in? My camera doesn't have an 'IN' for a Mic. Can I use Adobe Soundbooth? or Audacity? I've also read of people using Mini Disc players that have a 'IN' for recording. But I don't want to spend the extra $100-$200, I will if I have to but prefer not to. Anything else I could maybe use?

Thanks!
 
If your camera doesn't have a "mic in" jack, to use anything except the camera's built-in microphone you have no choice but to obtain an external audio recorder. Mini-disc is usable but obsolete, a bit convoluted to use, and hard to come by. File-based recorders such as the Zoom H4n that record in WAV file format directly on CF or SD cards have almost completely replaced mini-disc on the market. $100 to $200 is not going to cut it. If you have a laptop you could get a decent audio interface for it ... the built-in soundcard is rarely adequate ... and record directly to it using audio software such as Soundbooth or Audacity as the recording software, but once again, $100 to $200 isn't going to get you much in an interface. In addition to the shotgun mic and something to record on you're going to need a boom pole, shockmount, wind protection, earphones... And shotguns typically don't sound good in an interior setting so other mics may be in the cards as well, either in addition to or instead of the 'gun... depends on where you're shooting.

You really need to study up some on audio basics before starting to spend money. I suggest your first purchase, before anything else, should be a copy of Jay Rose's book "Producing Great Sound for Film and Video" (available on Amazon) and read it cover to cover.
 
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If you badly need audio and you are on a tight budget, I'd recommend the Zoom H1 audio recorder. It is around $120 mark but won't be as efficient as the H4n. For a small budget, I think that it would be the best way forward. I once suggested an audio starter kit being the Zoom H1 with the Rode Videomic. There are some disadvantages using these (eg. unbalanced signal using 1/8' and 1/4' jacks) but it definitely somewhere to start on a low budget.
 
I'm going to repeat some advice that a fellow teacher/ filmmaker told students recently.
"You are going to make a lot of bad films. You are not here to make great films you're here to make as many mistakes as possible so you will make fewer ones when you have a budget."

You are starting out and really don't know what you are doing yet. Shoot some shorts, play with the camera, find out how to make an interesting film, focus on shooting the film. Don't spend a bunch of money now. If your camera doesn't have a mic in then use the built in mic. You will hit the wall on the limitations of the camera before you hit the wall with the built in mic. When you upgrade the camera THEN I would look at upping the whole system. This is your tricycle camera, when you get your two wheeler with training wheels then you should look at getting a mic. By the time you take the training wheels off you should probably be looking for a sound person to work with. Then they get to buy all that expensive sound equipment.

This is coming from a sound person. One of the biggest mistakes I see students make is upping the equipment package before they learn to use what they have. There is a reason that big films have large crews, it bloody complicated making a film with all the bells and whistles. Tell a story, the rest is frosting.
 
Noiz is right, first learn to crowl, then learn to crowl...then learn to crowl and then...learn to stand up... and fall again...

You can have a stupid camera, onboard mice, no exta lights at one side (A) and the best camera, every light you need at the other side. (B)

Except for the sound which will sound to roomy, if you give B to "newbees" they will make a mess with it. If you give A to people who can stand up already, they will make grate things.


Apart from this, what's important in sound is preproduction.... Be prepared for everything. When shooting you should know for example that every day at 6:30pm there's a drunk guy singing "Old mcdonald had a little farm", that there are 2 elevators which have to be blocked during shoot and that around 4 PM the traffic sound gets higher. If you know this in advance, you can save a lot of time.

Never think "we'll wait till the sound is gone" but go check out what it is, inform people... Cannibals are on another island....

Looking for a sound-disturbing-thing is NOT a waste of time. And also...find a solution to stop it.
 
There's six or seven "sticky" threads at the top of this audio forum. That would be the place to start. In particular, the new to audio thread might be helpful to you.

It's been said that 70% of a film is the audio. A lot of what people think they see on screen is actually audio -- they hear a door slam, or a telephone ring, and only then do they notice the door or the telephone. And unfortunately, the audio side isn't as easy as the video side. At least not for me.

Another source would be a book like Jay Rose's Producing Great Sound for Film & Video, or a tutorial on DVD like Barry Green, David Jimerson, and Matt Gettemeier's Sound for Film and Television.
 
Thanks guys, and girls. This has been very helpful! I really appreciate it. I think I am gonna play with what I've got and then be more informed and upgrade the whole shebang once I know what I'm doing.
 
Here's one thing that I just noticed...I found and old HI-8 camera, used to be my dad's, it does have a 'MIC IN'...its a HI-8. Can I buy some tapes for that camera and use the audio from that camera and the video from my camera and sync it up in editing? Will recording just sound on a HI-8 tape deplete the sound or make it funky in anyway? Thanks.
 
SIMPLIFY.

That pretty much sums up my advice. Yes you could use the HI-* to record sound, in fact it may have a better picture than the camera your using. BUT it will complicate your life a LOT so don't.

Part of this is purely selfish. I like working with new filmmakers. If you make the entry too complicated you will have a bad time (nothing I've seen goes south faster than a film gone bad) and stop making films. I want you to have a good time, make a bunch of films and then show up on my door with this well thought out and planned feature.

That is fun. Watching new filmmakers pile up the complexity and burn out isn't any fun at all.
 
the first rule of good sound recording is mic placement.
you can use any cheap recorder and mic, if it is correctly located (near the sound source) your recording will be ok.
so wireless lav and boompole are great for this.
if you cannot do that, then you will need higher end equipement (better mic and recorder ) but the step in amount of money to spend is usually huge.
a cheap asymmetric (mini jack 3.5mm, 1.5V battery powered ) mic. goes for less than $100 while a good symmetric (XLR plug, 48V phantom powered) goes easy for 10x the price of the first one.
unfortunately in consumer world, the microphone is usually set at the worst place (on the camera).
So buy a cheap mic, connect it on the camera and make your tests.
 
Noiz2 said:
I'm going to repeat some advice that a fellow teacher/ filmmaker told students recently.
"You are going to make a lot of bad films. You are not here to make great films you're here to make as many mistakes as possible so you will make fewer ones when you have a budget."

You are starting out and really don't know what you are doing yet. Shoot some shorts, play with the camera, find out how to make an interesting film, focus on shooting the film. Don't spend a bunch of money now. If your camera doesn't have a mic in then use the built in mic. You will hit the wall on the limitations of the camera before you hit the wall with the built in mic. When you upgrade the camera THEN I would look at upping the whole system. This is your tricycle camera, when you get your two wheeler with training wheels then you should look at getting a mic. By the time you take the training wheels off you should probably be looking for a sound person to work with. Then they get to buy all that expensive sound equipment.

This is coming from a sound person. One of the biggest mistakes I see students make is upping the equipment package before they learn to use what they have. There is a reason that big films have large crews, it bloody complicated making a film with all the bells and whistles. Tell a story, the rest is frosting.
Click to expand...

This could possibly be the best advice given from one Human Being to another. Like. Ever.
 
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