| g good audio is the most difficult challenge when | | | | next best thing is to GET CLOSE. The closer you can |
| creating Internet videos as well as videos to share | | | | get to your subject the better they will sound. |
| with family and friends — especially for those | | | | It’s simple physics. If you need to have a long |
| of us who are using consumer types of camcorders. | | | | shot for artistic reasons, you might want to shoot |
| It is easy to fool the eye but very difficult to fool | | | | the scene again - just for audio. Get close and have |
| the ear. | | | | you actors do their lines a second time so that you |
| If you make a mistake with audio, the ear will catch | | | | can get good quality audio and then later dub it in to |
| it while the eye is a lot more forgiving of video | | | | replace the bad audio. If the shot is far enough |
| problems and inconsistencies. If you spend a lot of | | | | away, the audience will never notice that their mouth |
| time on YouTube and other user generated video | | | | movements are not exactly matching the audio. Or, |
| sites, you will notice that the sound on many of the | | | | during the editing process, you can have your actors |
| videos are mumbled, garbled and often unintelligible. | | | | re-record the audio, duplicating the original dialog so |
| | | | | that it matches. You might want to use the same |
| However, there are many ways you can make your | | | | camcorder to record the audio so that the audio |
| videos sound a lot better without having to spend lot | | | | quality matches. Also, this is where room tone can be |
| s of money, go to film school or hire a sound | | | | very important. See below |
| engineer to help you shoot your girlfriend’s | | | | Most camcorders have an electronic circuits built |
| BBQ and swim party. | | | | into them called AGC or Automatic Gain Control. It |
| | | | | automatically adjusts the sound recording level so |
| TIP ONE — Use an External Microphone | | | | that the camcorder will hear something, no matter |
| | | | | how faint it is. The further you are away from your |
| First, if possible, use an external mike. Unfortunately, | | | | sound source, the more the AGC has to magnify the |
| the microphones built into most camcorders are not | | | | sound. The more it amplifies the audio, the more it |
| very good. Even worse they are omni-directional will | | | | also amplifies the surrounding noise as well. |
| pick up sound from EVERYWHERE. To the side and | | | | If you are a distance away and the audio source is |
| behind the mike as well as in front. | | | | faint, the camcorder may adjust the AGC pick-up |
| Yes, they do have a somewhat ellipsoidal pickup | | | | sensitivity so high that it picks up the sound of the |
| pattern so that their audio pickup pattern is aimed | | | | camcorder’s motors and gears. |
| more to what is in front, but you’ll find that | | | | By the way, getting close will not only make your |
| most camcorder mikes will pick up your mumbling, | | | | audio sound better, it will make your video look |
| heavy breathing, and other extraneous noises. Some | | | | better. |
| camcorder mikes do allow you to slightly focus their | | | | |
| mikes from wide angle to narrow. | | | | |
| | | | | TIP 4 — RECORD CONTINUOUS SOUND OF |
| On many camcorders, the mike is not well located | | | | EVENTS OR PERFORMANCES |
| and can easily get in the way of fingers adjusting | | | | It is a lot more difficult to fool the ear than the eye. |
| focus, activating effects and zooming in. On some | | | | This means that if there are problems or breaks in |
| camcorders, it is quite difficult to avoid brushing the | | | | the audio, it is almost impossible to cover them up by |
| sensitive mike with your fingers as you operate the | | | | using creative editing. If a visual doesn’t quite |
| camcorder. | | | | match or you get a strange out of focus shot or |
| | | | | two, it is easy to replace it with a cut-away or new |
| The good news is that digital camcorders record | | | | angle. However, with audio, your audiences will notice |
| digital sound. This means you should be able to | | | | every small change — every gap in the |
| record high fidelity, stereo, and CD quality | | | | recording. |
| sound — assuming you can get the audio into | | | | This means that when you record a performance or |
| the camcorder in the first place. This is why you | | | | event, make sure you record and capture the sound |
| need an external mike that plugs into the MIC IN jack | | | | as a continuous event, without any breaks. While the |
| on your camcorder. Most good camcorders will have | | | | camcorder is rolling, capturing the sound, you can be |
| a mic in connector as well as a shoe to mount the | | | | zooming in and out, getting different shots, shooting |
| mike on. | | | | close-us, etc. |
| Unfortunately, many of the most affordable | | | | For example, when I was in Hawaii with my kids, I |
| camcorders - especially those tiny "pocket size" | | | | taped my kid’s Hula Dance lesson. Later when |
| camcorders, do not offer an external mike | | | | I got back, it was easy to edit the video by just |
| connection at all and you need to rely on other tricks | | | | inserting shots of new video over the clean audio |
| to improve the audio. See below - | | | | track. In addition to inserting shots of the class itself, |
| | | | | I inserted visuals of the entire Hawaii trip. |
| Many camcorders also offer active hot shoes. They | | | | |
| may use another term but what it really means is | | | | |
| that you can plug a special external mike onto the | | | | TIP 5 - MONITOR YOUR AUDIO TO MAKE SURE IT |
| shoe and the audio is transmitted directly from the | | | | SOUNDS GOOD — |
| mike to the camcorder’s electronics. You | | | | |
| don’t have to fuss with the mike cable or | | | | If your camcorder has an earphone or headphone |
| plugging it in. | | | | jack, use it! Especially when recording in tricky audio |
| | | | | situations like concerts and live performances. Even |
| If you are on a limited budget, the best choice for an | | | | though you don’t want to be recording where |
| external mike is a basic telephoto or shotgun that | | | | the audio levels are too low, you also don’t |
| can be adjusted to zoom out when you want to | | | | want audio that is too loud or distorted. In concerts, |
| capture the sound from a crowd or zoomed in when | | | | it may be helpful to turn the mike away from the |
| you want to capture sound from a source a good | | | | stage and catch the sound coming from the ceiling. |
| distance away. If you have some extra money to | | | | Also, by using headphones or at least an earphone, |
| spend - go wireless and get a wireless lavaliere | | | | you can check to make sure that the sound is |
| system. Even better, get a wireless kit with a | | | | actually working. This is very important when using |
| receiver that mounts on the camcorder and includes | | | | external mikes where a dead battery or a |
| both hand held and lav wireless mikes. | | | | disconnected mike plug or cable may spell disaster. |
| The Sima MZM-1 is a camera mountable zoom | | | | |
| microphone. The MZM-1 minimizes off-axis audio and | | | | TIP 6 — PORTABLE AUDIO MIXERS |
| noise, improving range and overall sound quality. The | | | | |
| lightweight MZM-1 mounts to the shoe of any video | | | | Professional video makers just don’t plug their |
| camera and operates on a single AAA alkaline | | | | mikes directly into the camcorder and record raw |
| battery. Under $25 | | | | sound, especially when recording a concert |
| The Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact Shotgun | | | | performance. By using a mike mixer with level |
| Microphone is a professional audio solution for | | | | controllers, they can use several mikes to make sure |
| handheld consumer video cameras and larger video | | | | they get good quality sound for recording stereo. |
| cameras alike. The integrated shockmount | | | | Also, most mike mixers also provide a headphone |
| conveniently mounts the MKE 400 onto any camera | | | | jack for monitoring the audio quality as well as record |
| accessory shoe while effectively suppressing handling | | | | volume dials. On many pro camcorders, this mixer and |
| and vibration noise. Up to 300 hours of operation on | | | | volume control system is essentially built into the |
| a single AAA alkaline battery. | | | | camera. Some camcorders allow the operator to |
| TIP 2 — USE A WIRELESS LAVALIERE FOR | | | | record, control and monitor up to four different audio |
| RECORDING TRAVEL | | | | tracks. |
| | | | | |
| A wireless microphone system is usually a bit more | | | | For example, Azden and Ambient provide compact |
| expensive than a basic shotgun mike but allows you | | | | audio mixers that mount on a consumer camcorder. |
| to get much better sound. I love using these for | | | | |
| shooting travel videos - instead of capturing sound | | | | TIP 7 — CAPTURE ROOM TONE |
| from the PA system, simply pin the wireless lavaliere | | | | |
| and its transmitter to the guide’s label or | | | | If you plan on editing your videos after you shoot, a |
| jacket and then the sound of their voice will be | | | | very good technique is to capture a minute or two |
| transmitted back to the little receiver unit that is | | | | of what is known as room tone or the ambient |
| mounted on your camcorder. (You might have to tip | | | | sound of the location when nothing is happening. |
| them a bit extra but the extra audio quality is well | | | | It may sound a bit odd, but every location has its |
| worth it when you get back home and watch the | | | | own background buzz. It can be the sound of the |
| video!) | | | | surf pounding away in the distance, it can be the |
| | | | | sound of the city outside the walls of a ballroom, and |
| Sony is offering a very cool system that works with | | | | it can even be the soft buzzing of the lights and |
| many of their new consumer camcorders. Their new | | | | electronics in an office. By recording this background |
| ECM-HW1 mike is a wireless mike system that uses | | | | tone and using it while editing, you will be able to |
| Bluetooth wireless to connect from the wireless mike | | | | insert it into your video to cover any gaps in your |
| to the receiver on the camcorder. The receiver uses | | | | audio recording. By cross fading from the good sound |
| the Sony camcorder active" hot show. | | | | to the background tone, the loss of audio |
| | | | | won’t be as jarring as going from voices and |
| TIP 3 — GET CLOSE | | | | singing to deafening silence. If you are mixing in new |
| | | | | sound or recording dialog, you can help make it seem |
| If you don’t have a good telephoto or | | | | like it really belongs by mixing it with the |
| shotgun mike, or can’t afford a good wireless | | | | environmental sound. |
| microphone system, or if your camcorder | | | | |
| doesn’t have an audio input jack, then the | | | | That’s my seven audio tips. |