Shooting a Movie and need help on with audio...GRRRR

C

Crossroads Films

Active member
I had 2 questions about getting the best out of my shotgun mic

1. whats the roll off switch do and which is the correct one to turn on or off out side...I get them confused, one is a straight line and the other is a straight line with a dip

2. What are the best programs for ADRing?

I have adobe audition...can u import video into it?
 
Crossroads Films said:
I had 2 questions about getting the best out of my shotgun mic

1. whats the roll off switch do and which is the correct one to turn on or off out side...I get them confused, one is a straight line and the other is a straight line with a dip
Click to expand...

The roll-off switch is for attenuating (reducing) bass frequencies, and it's also known as high-pass (lets the higher frequencies pass through). It can help with rumble from light wind, but not very well (you need a dead cat for that). It's great for helping with extraneous, low-end sounds like the hum of a distant refrigerator or AC unit. It can also help with rumble from handling noise. There's no "use it outdoors but not indoors" rule of thumb. You use it when you need it, you don't use it when you don't need it. The straight line indicates flat response; the dipped line indicates the roll-off.

Which shotgun are you using, by the way?

But there's more to getting the best out of your shotgun than just the roll-off:


  1. Get the mic off the camera and into the action. On-camera is the least useful place for a mic to be. Put it on a fish pole (aka "boom") with proper suspension and windscreening and get the mic as close to the talent as you can. If it's on the camera, it's going to record handling noise from the camera, all the sounds directly behind the talent, and depending on the distance to the actors an overwhelming amount of reflections from the scene.
  2. Work the mic as close as you can. Most mics, for properly-recorded dialog, have an effective working distance of 20". 10" is better, and 8" is great. There's something at play called the Inverse Square Law, which basically means that half the distance between mic and actor is 4 times as loud... twice the distance, 1/4 the amplitude of the sound hitting the mic.
  3. Boom from overhead, and aim the mic at the sternum. If there are two actors, the mic will need to adjust for whomever is speaking... booming is a carefully-choreographed dance, not simply hinging the mic over the actors and assuming that it's all good. Yes, this typically takes a dedicated - and experienced - crew position.
  4. Listen as you record. You wouldn't shoot picture without watching the viewfinder, right? So it is with sound: if you aren't listening as you record, you have no idea what you're getting and are bound to be sorely disappointed in post.
  5. Understand that a shotgun mic, especially if you're inexperienced, may not be the best solution indoors. The same design principle that makes most shotguns what they are, the interference tube, makes sound refletctions from walls and cielings of very reflective rooms even worse, and muddies the direct sound. A hypercardioid condenser is a wise investment for a starter sound kit.

Crossroads Films said:
2. What are the best programs for ADRing?

I have adobe audition...can u import video into it?
Click to expand...

If you do everything above, you won't need ADR. That said, if there are shots where clear sound just wasn't possible (due to wide framing, distance, uncontrollable background, etc.), you can "ADR" with just about anything. VocAlign is a popular plug-in for ADR editing, but for re-recording you don't even have to import the video. Have a playback system with headphones so that your actors can hear their original performances. That's much more important than them seeing the video... if they can hear themselves at all from the original footage, it's easier to recreate the performance.

Things like VocAlign are used to finesse the ADR once its recorded, by stretching or compressing words and syllables to match lip movements.

There's an Audio forum here at DVXUser that's also a great place to post questions like this, and there are stickies there that have lots of good starting places on both gear and techniques. Start with Audio 101. The "Sound for Film and Television" DVD (linked in Audio 101) is also a very wise investment. And if you need to ask another question, just be sure to give details about the gear you have and how you're using it... that helps us give you more accurate answers. For example, not all shotgun mics are the same, so there may be more you need to know than what I've given you based on the mic you have.
 
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The RØDE NTG-2 is a great mic for the money, so if you're just starting out right now and not really sure what you're doing, don't sink another $1k into a mic. Work with what you've got, because you've got one of the best low-budget mics out there. A better mic won't matter if you don't know how to use it.
 
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