Recording sound on 5D directly from shotgun mic for b-roll

M

mrl72

Well-known member
Hey all

I'm aware of all the nuances of recording sound on the 5D, specifically with the AGC, which is why I record all my sound on a H4N and sync up with Pluraleyes in post. However, I'm getting to the point where I'm using a 2nd shooter now for b-roll and I'm going to mount an AT897 on top and thinking of recording directly to the 5D and skip having to purchase another H4N. Recording directly will be easier than having my b cam operator fiddling around with an external recorder and risk not getting sound.

Just wondering if anyone has done this and if the audio recorded directly is acceptable for background/b-roll footage? Or is Magic Lantern a must?

Cheers.
 
IMO....

If the audio is going to be used in the film then you need an audio guy there with the same level of gear as the A roll audio guy. Otherwise it will result in "why did that one section have such crappy audio?". When I think "B Roll" I think "Hey go get an establishing shot of the building" or "Get a cutaway of the telephone on the table" the kind of thing where the audio would come from the main sound recording or where you created the audio in post.
 
The issue is more than differences in audio quality; a different mic plugged into a DSLR is going to sound markedly different that a boom mic to a dedicated recorder; you could spend a lot of time in post just getting them close.

But sticking a mic ON the DSLR... just seems like a "why bother" scenario - that audio is only going to be useful for synch unless you have a really lucky day.

Why do you need dedicated audio for B-roll? is he shooting a separate setup in another location? Even a highly budgeted pro shoot with 2, 3 or 7 cameras may still have only one boom op.

And the H4n has dual inputs, right? That can be recorded as two independent tracks (vs. stereo)? You could have a 2nd boom op, lavs, plant mics, etc if you're in a situation where you need mics in multiple place - and have one guy monitoring it at the recorder.
 
My idea of b-roll may be different than what is used for feature films. I produce mainly web commercials/promos that typically have a music track so most of my b-roll is low level stuff, maybe some people chatting in a room, or someone on a phone, or someone typing on a keyboard even. Most of this stuff I have been shooting through the H4N, mainly with the shotgun mic on the camera, or occasionally via boom. Since this audio is really just ambient background stuff and overlaid with a music track it doesn't have to be excellent quality audio, hence my question about recording it directly to the 5D.
 
I see where you're coming from... I'd still be hesitant, maybe I'm thinking more like a "purist", but I'd want to capture things (in this case that I'd think of as effects) as clean as possible with little room sound. I guess my fear would be getting bitten in the butt during edit.

Your best option (which in most cases is the best option for everything) is to test; see if on-camera will serve your purposes. I'm no stranger to having a "do what it takes" attitude, and often being a one-man-band, I'm in control of my content from capture to edit, so in a case like this, I wouldn't have an editor telling my client that the b-roll audio sucks (audio that he'd likely be putting a room reverb on and sucking-it-up himself to fit). In this economy, sometimes you have to do strange things to meet a budget or make a project profitable.
 
Yeah I think I'll have to go out and do some testing. Is Magic Lantern necessary though should I decide to go straight to the camera?
 
mrl72 said:
Yeah I think I'll have to go out and do some testing. Is Magic Lantern necessary though should I decide to go straight to the camera?
Click to expand...

the current firmware of canon already has manual control of audio. For a single mic in the firmware is ok.
Magic Lantern will help you with the headphone monitoring as it will give you audio out to a headphone via the av cable with controllable volume.

Also ML will allow you to split the channels so you can assign one channel to external mic and the other the internal built in mic. This can be useful as a backup in case that something happens to the external source.
 
Even a cheap audio recorder will get you better quality than the audio recorded by the 5d.

Audio shouldn't be an afterthought.
 
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