Hello, I just bought myself a Sony DCR-HC38 which was a step up from my 17 year old JVC camcorder =). This Sony was 300$ which is all I can afford but the audio pretty much bites. I'm making some short films myself just for fun playing around and the audio kills all of it. You can hear a loud buzz from the camera motor and when you talk it sounds like it's coming from the quality of a phone. I'm wondering if I can get a reasonable microphone even thoe I don't have a hotshoe to add any shotgun mics, is there one thats reasonably priced to, this Sony wiped my whole wallet out. Thanks! :thumbsup:
Onboard Microphone Bites
- Thread starter Fusion0
- Start date
You are on a very limited budget - so I would suggest to you one of the consumer off camera mics, might be what youre looking for. Just get it as close to the person speaking as you possibly can. I think thats the best you can do. Sony have some lower end consumer mics.
Do you know of a place to look for some low end consumer mics? I've tried B&H and only found an 80$ Audio Technica ATR55
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...55_ATR55_Dual_Pattern_Shotgun_Microphone.html
Do you know where to find more of the off camera ones and how do they work? I googled it and about nothing came up, does it add the audio file to a CD then you put that in computer? Do you have to buy any other things other then the mic itself? I thought my camera would be 300 but you got to buy 4 other things just to use it =P
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...55_ATR55_Dual_Pattern_Shotgun_Microphone.html
Do you know where to find more of the off camera ones and how do they work? I googled it and about nothing came up, does it add the audio file to a CD then you put that in computer? Do you have to buy any other things other then the mic itself? I thought my camera would be 300 but you got to buy 4 other things just to use it =P
That particular camera does not have a microphone input jack so to use anything other than the built-in microphone requires an external recorder.
Do some searching about "double system sound" here and with Google. As saneproductions says, a good place to start is with Jay Rose's book Producing Great Sound For Digital Video.
Do some searching about "double system sound" here and with Google. As saneproductions says, a good place to start is with Jay Rose's book Producing Great Sound For Digital Video.
Hi Bob, I see what you're saying I looked it up, so when I put the video files from my camera to my computer I just delete the audio track and use a slate to sync the recorder sound to the video sound. Which one should I be looking at? Also do they run on tapes so I need to buy a cable that goes from that to the computer or are they digital now? Thankyou.
Edit: I was looking at external microphones and found the Sony ECMMS907.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00001...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278841901&pf_rd_i=507846
Will that work or does that hook up to the camcorder? If it doesn't what do I plug it into. Very confused on this subject.
Edit: I was looking at external microphones and found the Sony ECMMS907.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00001...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278841901&pf_rd_i=507846
Will that work or does that hook up to the camcorder? If it doesn't what do I plug it into. Very confused on this subject.
Last edited:
HBlack
Underage Member
I honestly can't think of how you can do this without spending at least around $150-$200. I would reccomend buying this as a mic, as it seems to be the cheapest shotgun (the kind you want) available.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...55_ATR55_Dual_Pattern_Shotgun_Microphone.html
For someone with a $300 budget, I would assume you're no stranger to ghetto rigging things. So make a boom pole. Basically, find a way to put it on a stick. Even get a broom pole and attach it with electrical tape. Anything to get the mic close enough to the talent.
As for recording... this could be slightly complicated. If you have a laptop or could use a computer, that'd be perfect. You could record directly into it, onto a free audio editing program like goldwave or audacity. If not, I would suggest buying a decent digital voice recorder that has an external mic input and won't distort your sound (look at any electronics store). You can use a slate and record directly onto the voice recorder, and transfer the audio to your computer afterwards.
What video editing program are you using? If it's movie maker, get a new one. I'm pretty sure that only allows 2 pr 3 audio tracks, and with this extra sound track you'll have no room for music or sound effects. Torrent a version of premiere. It's illegal and probably looked down upon, but probably all you can afford.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...55_ATR55_Dual_Pattern_Shotgun_Microphone.html
For someone with a $300 budget, I would assume you're no stranger to ghetto rigging things. So make a boom pole. Basically, find a way to put it on a stick. Even get a broom pole and attach it with electrical tape. Anything to get the mic close enough to the talent.
As for recording... this could be slightly complicated. If you have a laptop or could use a computer, that'd be perfect. You could record directly into it, onto a free audio editing program like goldwave or audacity. If not, I would suggest buying a decent digital voice recorder that has an external mic input and won't distort your sound (look at any electronics store). You can use a slate and record directly onto the voice recorder, and transfer the audio to your computer afterwards.
What video editing program are you using? If it's movie maker, get a new one. I'm pretty sure that only allows 2 pr 3 audio tracks, and with this extra sound track you'll have no room for music or sound effects. Torrent a version of premiere. It's illegal and probably looked down upon, but probably all you can afford.