Stereo Signal!!!

M

Magicchildfilms

Active member
Hey I recently bought at Rode NTG2 shotgun mic for my DVX and I was wondering what would be the best/easiest way to acheive a stereo signal?

Thanks very much hope someone can give me a tip.
-MCF
 
Shotguns are mono. There are some "stereo" shotguns but they are really stereo or shotgun (or so I'm told by folks who use them - and it makes sense since the functions are rather opposite). Why do you want stereo? As a general rule production audio is mono. Sometimes it's multi track but it's still usually mono. All the stereo and surround content is added in post. FX are often recorded in stereo, and the mixer places sound in the surround field.
 
Using a figure of eight microphone could be a possibility, you could arrange the shotgun and figure of 8 into an MS pattern.
That way you would be able to control the stereo width and you could always be certain that MS is mono compatible.

Not a suitable technique for every recording situation though.
 
i need an answer to this as well...i have a rode ntg1...how do i keep it from only coming from one right or left channel? am i missing a simple function on the camer? i am total noob but trying to learn...i realize the camera designers are assuming you'll place the signal somewhere within the stereo field in post production, but i don't have the software yet so i'm dealing with imovie. (don't laugh, i've gotten good products out of imovie.) any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
Any dialogue recording should be done in mono. It sounds like you need to check out Jay Rose's books... See the advice here

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=91167

M/S stereo recording (Mid/Side) involves using two mics. The mid mic can be any type of mic. Many hollywood types use a Sennheiser 416 shotgun for this. The side channel involves the use of a figure 8 (bi-directional) mic (many filmmakers use the Sennheiser MKH30). An advantage to this type of stereo recording is that the width of the recording can be adjusted after it is decoded in post. A disadvantage is that it can be confusing to monitor the recording if your mixer doesn't suppor M/S stereo decoding (the SD302 does have this feature). If you want to find out more about stereo recording, I suggest you check out taperssection.com. Read the stickies there and get well educated before you start asking questions. This is an expensive proposition and I would suggest concentrating on other areas until you are ready.

There are many other types of stereo recording that require two matching mics. A shotgun is usually not the best choce for this type of recording.

Get Jay's Books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Audio Technica has the AT-835ST stereo microphone, which has three switch-selectable pickup patterns: Mid/Side, Stereo Wide, and Stereo Narrow. When used in Mid/Side mode, one XLR output gives you the Mid channel, the other XLR gives you the Side, so you can adjust the results in post as saneproductions described. That's one possible hardware solution.

The cheaper (possibly free) solution would be to get the stereo in post using a free VST plugin. The Classic Chorus plugin from Kjaerhus Audio for instance will do that.
 
Magicchildfilms said:
Hey I recently bought at Rode NTG2 shotgun mic for my DVX and I was wondering what would be the best/easiest way to acheive a stereo signal?
Click to expand...

1) Add a second NTG2 and arrange them in a stereo array (eg. X-Y)

2) Add a figure 8 mic with matching frequency response characteristics, align them as an M-S pair, and decode them either using a mixer or in post-production.

3) Duplicate the mic signal onto the other channel (either in post-production or using a Y-cable), which will give you a centre-panned mono sound.

4) Use the "take left" or "take right" feature in a non-linear editor and centre-pan the resulting mono track.

5) Use a "chorus" plugin or otherwise manipulate phase relationships to simulate a wider stereo image (caution: this may have unpradictable results in a Dolby Stereo or Pro Logic mix).

6) Put down the NTG2 and record using any of a number of phase-accurate stereo techniques and single-mic stereo solutions (eg. the Sennheiser MKH418).
 
I'll go with Mike and ask a basic question - why do you want to record a stereo signal? Dialog is almost always recorded mono and the stereo mix is done in post.

Phil
 
saneproductions said:
You didn't say that it is probably not what this person really wants to do!
Click to expand...
I can't really speak to a person's motivation... but yes, recording phase coherent stereo production sound is typically a bad idea. That said, having a on-camera stereo pair can be pretty tempting when you're shooting establishing shots and non-dialogue sequences, though the actual execution is pretty complicated.

If MCF's intention is to start building up a library of stereo effects recordings, then I reccomend starting with mono. Most specific effects can be recorded quite adequately in mono rather than stereo, and even mono background atmospheres can be stacked up to give the impression of a stereo image. For example: cut in a 3 minute atmosphere loop and pan it right, copy it to another track, offset the loop one minute, then pan the offset copy left.
 
when using your NTG-2 plug it into input 2 on your DVX. Then set both channels 1 and 2 to input 2. Its not stereo but sound comes through on the left and right track.
 
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