Post Audio Help

dre83 said:
Manager: " what if somebody falls ?"

you: "what if the earth explodes ? what if aliens attack ? What if a terrorist enters and explodes ? what if you step out of the door and a car hits you ?"

I've seen enough situations where cables are running a straight line over the floor....
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Haha!!! Love it!! I guess I have to get a little uh, "street" on him next time. If they let me tape my cords then I can get my mic on the stage and get much better audio, but, how does that play into the feed they are already running?
 
Well for sound see if you can get it from the board (mixer in house)... For the video.. the shorter the cables the better...
 
dre83 said:
and I read that maximal lengt of videocables are aroud 20m... so that's about...65 feet...
Otherwise you'll need "repeaters" that "boost up" the signal (so that there's no noise).
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What kind of video: Composite, S-Video, HDMI, SDI (probably not)? Analog (composite, S-Video) will run down a good piece(s) of coax for a LONG distance with little attenuation or high frequencty loss. Digital is a different animal.
 
dre83 said:
and I read that maximal lengt of videocables are aroud 20m... so that's about...65 feet...
Otherwise you'll need "repeaters" that "boost up" the signal (so that there's no noise).
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No, I don't think so.

I regularly run HD-SDI (1.5Gbit/s, 720p, 1080i) through my 100m (300ft) camera cables with not the slightest problem. And this is ultra-cheap RG-6 cable that costs $20 per 1000 ft. You can't even find decent audio cable that cheap. And back when I was doing standard definition analog TV, I used 500 ft RG-59 camera cables with no perceptible loss.
 
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HollywoodDreams said:
Also, they wanted the camera connected to the projectors, so there would be a live feed in the room during the show, but again, no cords on the floor.
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Ach! If they are that technically clueless, they don't deserve your help. Let them call in their idiot nephew with his handy-cam. Life is too short to deal with people who have such a tenuous grasp on reality.
 
dre83 said:
Manager: " what if somebody falls ?"
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As a former A/V rental guy, I sympathize; but can you really blame somebody, in this sue-happy world we live in, for being cautious?

And also as a former A/V rental guy, I know that taping cables down is not a magic cure-all for people tripping, especially if alcohol's being served... :)
 
Ok, it doesn't sound lousy, just more than a bit "airy" if you take my meaning. At least you didn't distort and I could make out her words. What were you using as your peak level reading?

For a poetry slam, I don't believe a totally polished sound might be all that necessary. You're not trying to shoot for an "evening news" type of sound are you, because that might sound too "pat" for something as high energy as this. At any rate, yes, the sound could be dialed in for a "closer look" without getting impossibly so.

Study up on the audio because it's a lifetime course and also one job too many as concerns visual aquisition.
 
Richard Crowley said:
No, I don't think so.

I regularly run HD-SDI (1.5Gbit/s, 720p, 1080i) through my 100m (300ft) camera cables with not the slightest problem. And this is ultra-cheap RG-6 cable that costs $20 per 1000 ft. You can't even find decent audio cable that cheap. And back when I was doing standard definition analog TV, I used 500 ft RG-59 camera cables with no perceptible loss.
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maybe I was confused somewhere....
 
I've solved this cable problem recently , in situations where the sound board is an unreasonably long distance from the camera, by using a Sennheiser G2 transmitter at the sound board and the receiver at the camera. They usually have the 1/8" adaptor cable needed to plug in. I know the sound board output is supposed to be line level, but have found lately, whether using XLR or wireless, they have been giving me more of a "headphone" level output. And it works great, just have to set the input at "mic".
 
yes is normal... mic level with G2

But be aware, the distance is not "endless". And have it high enough, or away from metal. Let the antenna be "free" (not touching metal cases or other wires)
And always listen with headphones too.
 
skyy38 said:
Ok, it doesn't sound lousy, just more than a bit "airy" if you take my meaning. At least you didn't distort and I could make out her words. What were you using as your peak level reading?

For a poetry slam, I don't believe a totally polished sound might be all that necessary. You're not trying to shoot for an "evening news" type of sound are you, because that might sound too "pat" for something as high energy as this. At any rate, yes, the sound could be dialed in for a "closer look" without getting impossibly so.

Study up on the audio because it's a lifetime course and also one job too many as concerns visual aquisition.
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I can't remember our peak level off the top of my head. I'll check with my roomie later to see if she does. I just remember the levels creeping into the red, but not maxing out. Maybe we should adjust so there's no red? Or less red? The volume is so up and down, depending on the poets and how passionate they are about their poems. I do understand what you mean by "airy". That's how I feel about it as well. It just doesn't sound as full (or close) as I'd like, but I think trying some of the suggestions here will help during the next show. It's just a lot of room noise and I think that's what's turning me off. I don't want it to sound like a big budget film, I just want more vocals, less air.
 
don't look to much to the colors as in "looking fixed with big eyes"...

But if you're not completly in red, you should be fine... But then your source going to that also has to be good...
 
HollywoodDreams said:
I just remember the levels creeping into the red, but not maxing out. Maybe we should adjust so there's no red? Or less red? The volume is so up and down, depending on the poets and how passionate they are about their poems.
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Dialog for TV/film/video should be averaging around -12dB. On the DVX, that's the reference mark indicated by the last white segment (which is a cross instead of a dash) before red. Dialog can peak as high as -6dB, or even -3dB, for shouts and sudden, loud noises. It's hard to gauge that on the DVX since there are no numbers on the meters, so as long as you aren't peaking you're fine. Trust your ears more than the meters to tell you that the sound is clean and free of distortion/digital clipping.

HollywoodDreams said:
It just doesn't sound as full (or close) as I'd like, but I think trying some of the suggestions here will help during the next show. It's just a lot of room noise and I think that's what's turning me off. I don't want it to sound like a big budget film, I just want more vocals, less air.
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Just get the mic close to the talent, whether by wireless or wired feed directly to the camera. Some room is good, and as I said earlier a mic on a stand near the camera can capture some of that to the second channel. You can then mix the stage mic with the room mic when you edit, and blend them to taste to give it that "live" feel.
 
A simple solution is to have an external recorder ( like a Tascam DR-40 / 100 ) patched in to the room sound system. Even if it means that you start the recorder running before the show, and let it run during the entire show, and then turn it off afterwards. The sound synch should be fairly simple, even if you have to adjust the synch timing between your video camera and the digital recorder. I do this all the time when shooting theater shows / business conferences / medical lectures.
 
HollywoodDreams said:
I can't remember our peak level off the top of my head. I'll check with my roomie later to see if she does. I just remember the levels creeping into the red, but not maxing out. Maybe we should adjust so there's no red? Or less red? The volume is so up and down, depending on the poets and how passionate they are about their poems. I do understand what you mean by "airy". That's how I feel about it as well. It just doesn't sound as full (or close) as I'd like, but I think trying some of the suggestions here will help during the next show. It's just a lot of room noise and I think that's what's turning me off. I don't want it to sound like a big budget film, I just want more vocals, less air.
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The only other thing I could suggest at this point is the "snipers solution"- a good shotgun mic. Yeah, expensive, but if you look around, you might be able to nab one used for about $200 or so. In light of the fact that there appears to be no pro at the mixing desk, this might be your only way out.

A curiosity here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_DOG2-A9yg

The host is not wearing a mic at all ( according to the poster) and the only thing picking up his voice, is the camera mic, which normally would sound like crap but sounds more than decent in the video.

In the end though, I think you need someone to get close with an off board mic connected to some sort of "sync box" if thats the correct term-something that will lock audio and video dead on together so that you can use a quality mic...
 
skyy38 said:
The only other thing I could suggest at this point is the "snipers solution"- a good shotgun mic. Yeah, expensive, but if you look around, you might be able to nab one used for about $200 or so. In light of the fact that there appears to be no pro at the mixing desk, this might be your only way out.

A curiosity here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_DOG2-A9yg

The host is not wearing a mic at all ( according to the poster) and the only thing picking up his voice, is the camera mic, which normally would sound like crap but sounds more than decent in the video.

In the end though, I think you need someone to get close with an off board mic connected to some sort of "sync box" if thats the correct term-something that will lock audio and video dead on together so that you can use a quality mic...
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That sounds pretty good, but we have the Rode NTG3 mic and it's normally pretty good when it's at an appropriate distance from the talent. There's another show next week, so we're leaning towards the Tascam solution (preferably) or aiming the mic towards the speakers. We really don't want to shell out more money for new mics, but thanks for your response and for sharing the video.
 
TheDingo said:
A simple solution is to have an external recorder ( like a Tascam DR-40 / 100 ) patched in to the room sound system. Even if it means that you start the recorder running before the show, and let it run during the entire show, and then turn it off afterwards. The sound synch should be fairly simple, even if you have to adjust the synch timing between your video camera and the digital recorder. I do this all the time when shooting theater shows / business conferences / medical lectures.
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Thanks for this! We're going to go with this solution, provided we actually can tap into the sound system. That will solve our problem for sure.
 
skyy38 said:
A curiosity here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_DOG2-A9yg

The host is not wearing a mic at all ( according to the poster) and the only thing picking up his voice, is the camera mic, which normally would sound like crap but sounds more than decent in the video.
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I guess that depends on your definition of "more than decent". It still sounds distant and reverberant, and his voice trails off when he turns his head away from the camera. It's cleaner than the video from the OP, yes... because it's from an open-air amphitheater, as opposed to a reflect-o-matic indoor club. But it still sounds like on-camera/in-camera mic.
 
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