Man!

Sounds like the shotgun was on the camera or a mile out of frame. Given her voice you could roll off probably as high as 200 Hz and apply some NR. Won't be great but a little better.

You sure the AC was off?

Cheers
 
It doesn't sound like an AC problem. Rather than setting your EQ parameter to rolloff the low frequencies, I suggest you to notch out specific frequencies that has the highest continuous spikes related to this sound.

I suggest you to re-record in a quiet room using the same microphone and recorder/camera to see if the problem still exists.
 
nantnee said:
Ok... i recorded this with my RODE M3. I turned off everything i could, ac, lights, tv, etc. And this is what i get. I had HPF set at -10. Any easy way to fix this.???

http://vimeo.com/927247
Click to expand...

The only way to really fix it is to apply your reshoot plugin. The M3 is an end-address cardioid microphone and that's one reason you're picking up so much room noise - it doesn't have the off-axis rejection needed to reduce the noise and reflections. There's a lot of room slap evident - looks like the room has a hard reflecting wall behind the talent and I'll bet the side walls and ceiling are equally reflecting. Sound blankets out of shot are needed. And finally - location, location, location (of the mic). This sort of mic's normal working distance for speech and vocals would be around 8-12 inches from the speaker's mouth, certainly no more than 18 inches - you couldn't have done that or it would have been seen on camera.
 
I don't think the main problem was the reflections (yes there were some, but moving the microphone closer would have solved most) , but the strange white noise that occured during recording. It's nasty. As wabbit suggested, using some kind of noise redutction to help attenuate the audio problem. As Anthony stated, AC, lights, televisions, and any other sort of electronics were turned off.
 
Alan H. Chang said:
I don't think the main problem was the reflections (yes there were some, but moving the microphone closer would have solved most) , but the strange white noise that occured during recording. It's nasty. As wabbit suggested, using some kind of noise redutction to help attenuate the audio problem. As Anthony stated, AC, lights, televisions, and any other sort of electronics were turned off.
Click to expand...

Could the noise be due to circuit noise in the camera preamp getting accentuated from having to have the gain cranked all the way up to compensate for the distant microphone placement, I wonder?

Was going to fiddle with it in Ozone to see if it could be cleaned a bit but can't grab the flash file from the website.
 
Ya... i dont know what happened. Everything that could be turned off, was. As far as microphone placement, it was at the edge of screen. I got as close as i could.

In camera, I tried 4 different types of setting. Internal 12dB on with ATT. Internal off with ATT. Internal off without ATT. Internal on without ATT. It was driving me crazy.

I still have yet to get really clean audio from the m3. I know location and such are main reasons, however, i need something to work with me in these locations.

Any way to deactivate the camera preamps in the A1?
 
nantnee said:
Ya... i dont know what happened. Everything that could be turned off, was. As far as microphone placement, it was at the edge of screen. I got as close as i could.

In camera, I tried 4 different types of setting. Internal 12dB on with ATT. Internal off with ATT. Internal off without ATT. Internal on without ATT. It was driving me crazy.

I still have yet to get really clean audio from the m3. I know location and such are main reasons, however, i need something to work with me in these locations.

Any way to deactivate the camera preamps in the A1?
Click to expand...

The edge of the screen is still a long ways away for that mic unless it's boomed overhead - As I said, 18 inches from her mouth is just about as far as you can go with a cardioid under perfect conditions, 8 to 12 inches normally.

Use an external mixer and send line level to the camera. Have you listened to just the mic all by itself - connect to a mixer and listen through the headphone monitor to see if the hiss is still there? Perhaps the mic itself is faulty or been damaged somehow, maybe a bad cable. More likely it's in the camera itself. That noise in your example doesn't sound like environmental sounds unless you were recording near a waterfall.
 
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Steve House said:
More likely it's in the camera itself. That noise in your example doesn't sound like environmental sounds unless you were recording near a waterfall.
Click to expand...


Lets see, Ive used two cables, one being 1.5ft, the other being 20ft - similiar results with both the M3 and NTG-2.

As far as my camera goes, is it normal for it to produce sound like that?
Am i the only one with a A1 that creates a "waterfall" in the BG.
 
nantnee said:
Ok... i recorded this with my RODE M3. I turned off everything i could, ac, lights, tv, etc. And this is what i get. I had HPF set at -10. Any easy way to fix this.???

http://vimeo.com/927247
Click to expand...

Well one thing I noticed is that you either made a typo or you had the pad switched on not a HPF. If it was marked -10 that was the pad and so you knocked your signal way down and had to boost it up a bunch and add a lot of noise. That may be part of the problem.
 
Actually having looked up the mic I think that you probably did have the pad in and this mic is designed for up close and personal, if you were far enough out to be out of frame you were at best on the edge of usable range. The sound just sounds like room noise and city roar through a cranked pre. You might be able to take a big hunk away with NR software but it's such wide band noise that you might have a really negative effect on the voices?? Your not going to get rid of the BG so the best you can really hope for is to change the balance between voice and BG so that they don't sound like they are under a freeway overpass.
 
Noiz2 said:
Actually having looked up the mic I think that you probably did have the pad in and this mic is designed for up close and personal, if you were far enough out to be out of frame you were at best on the edge of usable range. The sound just sounds like room noise and city roar through a cranked pre. You might be able to take a big hunk away with NR software but it's such wide band noise that you might have a really negative effect on the voices?? Your not going to get rid of the BG so the best you can really hope for is to change the balance between voice and BG so that they don't sound like they are under a freeway overpass.
Click to expand...

You might be right. I had the HPF on with a -10dB. MAN! I might have to see if i can reshoot this.

If i stayed the same distance, how would you go about recording. What sort of indoor mic would you use and at what settings?
 
nantnee said:
You might be right. I had the HPF on with a -10dB. MAN! I might have to see if i can reshoot this.

If i stayed the same distance, how would you go about recording. What sort of indoor mic would you use and at what settings?
Click to expand...

What other microphones do you have or have access to? If the M3 is your only mic and you're the only person to cover all things, then set camera still and boom the mic overhead as close as possible. If you really have to stay at the camera, then just put it on a mic stand positioning it overhead. Also to disengage the -10 pad. I doubt they'll will be screaming.
 
Alan H. Chang said:
What other microphones do you have or have access to? If the M3 is your only mic and you're the only person to cover all things, then set camera still and boom the mic overhead as close as possible. If you really have to stay at the camera, then just put it on a mic stand positioning it overhead. Also to disengage the -10 pad. I doubt they'll will be screaming.
Click to expand...

I also have the RODE NTG-2. Boom would be an option. My mic stand is not big enough to go above their heads =(
 
Oh man, you better get it right...or you'll get Kappa-slapped.

Seriously, it sounds like you have the sensitivity turned up too high and the mic too far away.
 
Alan H. Chang said:
It doesn't sound like an AC problem.
Click to expand...

There is definately more then just preamp noise there. The HVAC is a possibility because this is probably the easiest and most common mistake made. People ask location manager to turn off the AC and he points them at the thermostat. In most modern buildings this does not do the trick as there is a master system at work. You really need to talk to custodial services to find out. In a large office building this will take a lot of coercion and most often cannot be done at all as you have to kill the whole building to turn off your room.

Again this is a common mistake and I am told constantly that the HVAC has been turn off when, in fact, just the thermostat was.

As to the noise, again, mic distance is your primary concern here. If you can't get it right on top of them then a reshoot will be redundant.

Cheers
 
Yes, correct. I really meant that the main problem was not 100% AC, but a small percentage is and the rest is due to high mic gain on the preamp.


wabbit said:
There is definately more then just preamp noise there. The HVAC is a possibility because this is probably the easiest and most common mistake made. People ask location manager to turn off the AC and he points them at the thermostat. In most modern buildings this does not do the trick as there is a master system at work. You really need to talk to custodial services to find out. In a large office building this will take a lot of coercion and most often cannot be done at all as you have to kill the whole building to turn off your room.

Again this is a common mistake and I am told constantly that the HVAC has been turn off when, in fact, just the thermostat was.

As to the noise, again, mic distance is your primary concern here. If you can't get it right on top of them then a reshoot will be redundant.

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
If in the case i am stuck at the location, would i be stuck to using programs such as Audition and Soundforge?

What mic would ya'll suggest for using in places like that?
 
nantnee said:
If in the case i am stuck at the location, would i be stuck to using programs such as Audition and Soundforge?

What mic would ya'll suggest for using in places like that?
Click to expand...

I don't know why the location you shoot would influence your editing software choices - you need a decent audio editor like one of the 2 you mentioned as well as your video NLE regardless. And programs/plugins like Ozone Rx can be your best friend.

As for a mic choice, my first try would be a hyper on a boom. A lot of folks here like Oktava as you probably have noticed. A/T 4053a is good, AKG Blueline SE300/CK93 is another, and you can go up from there in budget.

If you don't have a boom operator but do have the boom, get a "boom buddy" aka a gunwale-mount fishing rod holder, <$25 from a boating or sporting goods shop. Use a grip clamp to fasten the holder to the top of a sturdy light stand or Century stand positioned out of frame (sandbags to stabilize the stand!) and use it to hold your boom so as to position the mic at the proper place above the talent. That solves the problem of a mic stand that isn't tall enough to get teh mic over their heads.
 
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