Voice Over

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xnoresponse

New member
I tried searching for my question with no lucky. What is the easiest way to do voice overs and interviews. I have access to some mic's/studio equipment. I am doing a professional video for a healthcare company and I need to interview several executive type people along with have them do some voice overs. What types of mics etc. I personally don't have a shotgun yet, but I'm sure my boss (wedding videographer) would let me borrow one.
 
VO and interviews are different beasts. For VO usually a nice big studio mic is used. RE20 or the new Heil PR40 are good choices. For interviews it sort of depends on the situation. A lot of times it's done with lavs. A shotgun indoors is often not the best choice.
SK
 
my friend has a studio that I think I will use for the voice overs, he has a nice condenser vocal mic that we use for recording bands. That should be able to get the job done. I will have to borrow a clip on mic from my boss then. Sound like I'm on the right track? I have a vx2000 so I would also need my bosses xlr cradle but the interview will be easier than vo's I think. Thanks for the replies.
 
yup, but interviews are usually harder than vo's if you're inexperienced - theres no take 2 on an interview.
 
If you get a shotgun mic right up to your mouth, literally almost eating the thing, you can get some good results. On the inexpensive side, I have used the RODE Videomic at $149 with nice results - and you don't need an XLR adapter for your VX2100.

The Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun is a popular VO mic - you can rent one of these or see if you can borrow one if your boss has that kind of nice gear. You'll need phantom power though.

Have the "talent" wear the headphones so they can hear what they sound like. Consider getting some kind of splitter/amplifier for around $30 so you can hear too. You can also get a cheapy Behringer mixer for $50-60 that would supply phantom power and give you line out for your camera as well as a heaphone out for your talent. You would monitor at the camera end.

Me, personally, I use the RODE NT2-A. It is a large diaphram condenser mic - about $399. You'll definitely need phantom power for this bad boy. A pop filter too. If you're doing a lot of these projects, I would get a NT2-A. Otherwise, borrow a few different mics and test 'em out. Just make sure to get into a quiet room. Toss some blankets on the wall if you can't get into the studio. Record a few tests and see what you like. I did the same you can hear the mics here:

http://www.dvestore.com/theatre/mics.html

Hope this helps,

-Guy
 
the 416 is very popular, and the nt2a is a good mic, but just dont think its the only mic - you may want to look at the Heil and the re20 noiz mentioned earlier in the post too. blankets are your friend, yes indeed.

one thing i DONT recommend is a cheap behringer mixer - this will add more problems than it solves. they are just too noisy to be of any good on a VO.
 
Just an editing tip - crossfade the audio for your VOs and interviews in and out, it will do a lot to hide your noise floor.
 
or use the temporal masking trick, which is actually more effective than fades when used right - basically, try and change your amibiences/noise floors by starting them with a loud sound - like someone speaking. the loud sound masks the change in softer sound.

psychoacoustics..
 
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