Shooting Audio

skratchiechan

skratchiechan

Well-known member
hello guys and gals im shooting a video for my advanced video class and i had a question.

ok so im gonna be shooting with one shotgun mic and i will put that into input 2(channel 2)... but with input 1(channel 1) should i shoot wild/ambience with that channel or should i just slide the input 1 into input 2 (so that it will only record, with the shotgun mic) and record ambience/room tone afterwards?

thanks in advance
 
I use that same setup at a recent gig. Along witha stereo mic/md recording other sounds, crowd. Seems to work fine. The set-up with Channel 1(shotgun) and Channel 2 (internal) gives you more options later in post.
 
maybe it's just me, but when I use the mic imputs on my dvx channel 1 and channel 2 mean left and right respectively. Meaning that if you hooked the ambient input to channel 1 and the shotgun to 2, then all the ambient sound would come from the left and the shotgun sound would only come from the right, which is a problem. I'd love to know if there is a way to change this, but my searches lead me to believe that this is the way it is. So unless you plan to do some tedious audio editing to expand each track to the other channel (or maybe you have some nice field equipment), it seems that you should either use one mic or the other, and not mix the two on the seperate inputs.
Of course, I could be wrong about the left and right thing.
 
If you use the on camera mic for ambient you are in danger of getting camera and crew noise. Also there can be synch issues between the boom mic and the camera mic if the action is far from camera. Just some things to watch out for.

Another thing some people do is send the boom to both channels but tweak the dbfs down 6 to 12 db in one channel to provide a backup if the primary channel gets distortion.

Phat, when send audio to channel one and two the plan is to mix them in post. At it's most basic, panning a channel to the center in your NLE is a 5 second job. Hope that helps.

Good luck.
 
Its tough trying to get really clean audio even when you have the best of gear. That's when you happen to be shooting with me. I always have bad luck with sound. There just always a plane,train, rice rockets,and crazy drunks interfearing. That's why, 90% of the time I have to ADR( Audio diaolge replacement) which to me is the best way. This way I have full control of every channels,levels, etc. The down side of course is that your actors have to come back and re-record all there diaolge agian. But the end results can be amazing. Do the best you can and make sure your mic placement is consistant with. Have your shotgun pointed to your subject as close as you can with it not being in the shot. And make sure you record room tone before or after. Just make sure its quiet enough.

Ight keep skratchin away! Peace! Hope anyof this helps/.
 
I would definitely use the shotgun for both channels with 6db less gain on one channel. Just make sure your boom operator can hold the mic still (had problems with this before). Ambient noise (Not to be confused with room tone) should probably be recorded in a more controlled enviornment and mixed in later.
 
yes, i think i will record all shotgun on both channels... how do i do 6db less gain on one channel?

with the knobs or do i have to go to the settings within the cmaaera?

i will record ambient and room tone and just lik eyour name says fixitinpost
 
wabbit said:
Another thing some people do is send the boom to both channels but tweak the dbfs down 6 to 12 db in one channel to provide a backup if the primary channel gets distortion.Good luck.
Click to expand...

Very cool tip Wabbit. I recently started a Sound Design class at 911Media and the teacher (Jake Perrine) mentioned the same exact thing. I will definitely use this next time. Also learned more that shot-gun mic needs to be pretty darn close to be used effectively. I had set-ups at a recent highschool play gig: Stereo Mic (AT822) to MiniDisc and a Camera Mounted (ack!) shotgun (AT4073a) to DVX channel 1. Left the channel 2 mic on Internal. So I have 3 choices right? In case one of the tracks suck. Well the sound in that room was horrible to begin with.

They used a PA that the kid running the sound didn't know how to use. He couldn't find the EQ so it was all mid/high range sounding. During Act 1 I had the stereo mic facing the audience to get a little better crowd reaction, experimenting, I had never did that in the past when shooting in this same space. I thought I'd try it. At Act 2 I turned the stereo mic around and that saved the sound for 1/2 the edit. I did the best I could in Post for Act 1 but for Act 2 it was so much easier to edit because the Stereo mic picked up the dialogue so much better cause it was closer and captured the vocals so much more naturally than the further (shotgun) mic. Yeah I know what a waste of the shotgun placement. I'm still experimenting with the new 4073a. I'm learning the boundaries of my mics. But I do know that the 4073a creates some amazing sound if at the right distance. So far I'm liking this investment. I just had to learn how to use right.
 
911 Media Arts...what a great resource. I use to go there all the time. I regret not having the time anymore to be more involved with them; truely a place with tremendously talented and passionate people. I haven't yet had a chance to check out their new location.

I can't imagine starting out as an indie filmmaker in a town that doesn't have a resource like 911.
 
wabbit said:
911 Media Arts...what a great resource. I use to go there all the time. I regret not having the time anymore to be more involved with them; truely a place with tremendously talented and passionate people. I haven't yet had a chance to check out their new location.

I can't imagine starting out as an indie filmmaker in a town that doesn't have a resource like 911.
Click to expand...

They are a super resource. I took my first classes in Premiere and After Effecrs (back when it was on a MAC) there. It is a little scary how in debt they are after the move to the new space. The space is amazing by the way. Check it out soon! They need to improve sound proofing for the editing rooms but that'll come. I love 911Media. :beer:
 
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