Mics and Digital Camcorders
Camman
NEW! England Icrontian
Hey all, its me, again.
We'll, we're currently FINALLY getting some stuff together over at the Double-P, I think some of you might enjoy it, a little show we're putting together called The L33T Factor, it's gonna be pretty ridiculous.
Unfortunately right now for audio I have to use the onboard Mic because this camera doesn't support external mics. But anyway, I saw this camera,
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=Jz17NLQDENJ7OPRImMpxP_sOxS0nVZI0kpA=?ProductSKU=DCRHC30&Dept=dcc&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_MiniDVHandycamCamcorders
which has a 1/8th jack for external Mics. I saw some wireless lavs on ebay for like $28.99. I figure I can get one of those 1/8th splitters at radio shack so I can run two lavs for two seperate people into the one audio source. Does this sound like it will work good? I've never done this type of stuff with a camcorder before because the only ones ive used have had the built in mic and that was it.
Also, that camera is pretty good, but if you guys have any in that price range $600 or under. That have the same type of functions (external audio is a MUST, thats the big reason why I'm switching cameras) let me know, because I'm just going with the Sony because I know its a good quality camera and has the features I want. My one qualm is with it's size, its SOOO tiny, unlike people who just wanna grab the camera and go, id rather my camera have a little bit of size to it. Thanks for any advice and help!
We'll, we're currently FINALLY getting some stuff together over at the Double-P, I think some of you might enjoy it, a little show we're putting together called The L33T Factor, it's gonna be pretty ridiculous.
Unfortunately right now for audio I have to use the onboard Mic because this camera doesn't support external mics. But anyway, I saw this camera,
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=Jz17NLQDENJ7OPRImMpxP_sOxS0nVZI0kpA=?ProductSKU=DCRHC30&Dept=dcc&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_MiniDVHandycamCamcorders
which has a 1/8th jack for external Mics. I saw some wireless lavs on ebay for like $28.99. I figure I can get one of those 1/8th splitters at radio shack so I can run two lavs for two seperate people into the one audio source. Does this sound like it will work good? I've never done this type of stuff with a camcorder before because the only ones ive used have had the built in mic and that was it.
Also, that camera is pretty good, but if you guys have any in that price range $600 or under. That have the same type of functions (external audio is a MUST, thats the big reason why I'm switching cameras) let me know, because I'm just going with the Sony because I know its a good quality camera and has the features I want. My one qualm is with it's size, its SOOO tiny, unlike people who just wanna grab the camera and go, id rather my camera have a little bit of size to it. Thanks for any advice and help!
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Comments
Most professional media is audio track mixed last, then merged with video.... If you record audio live, you might lose the best part of the audio while cutting out bad video. I would record audio separately, but that is just from someone who helped debug a 15 mic input system in a church and figure out how to use radio mics from building to building on campus. Basicly, we used a Yamaha sound mixer panel as main panel, with two aux mixer\blender panels leading into it, result went to amps and to camera with a line level convertor from the standard RCA to a 1\8" jack and with soem resistance built inline to keep from having overload. You do not want to know what the main mixer panel cost, the minister kinda decided we could use it later in the Family Life Center and bought a 3 foot by 6' panel with layers of mixing adn EQ and it had 36 channels in capability. The one we used before that was 24 channel in capability, hooked to an aux with 18 channels (all channels stereo).
What you are doing sounds like a job for remixing, but easiest way would be wireless mics with receiver line-leveled and fed into the the aux-in of computer. The wireless audio receiver will do some overload filtering for you.
John D.
As for the mics, you are going to need a mixer. You will never get the level and balance right without one. But it can be real cheap.
I have a Sony TRV-250 (the lowest of the Sony Digital8 cameras available right now), it doesnt have the audio input features I need, its big brother, the TRV 350 DOES have input but if I am going to upgrade, the miniDV one offers better resolution and manual white balance anyway.
And ageek, the whole point of it is I want the audio and video on the tape on the camera, thats why I need the line input, so I dont want to do it seperate. Because, if I was going to do it seperate than I wouldnt need to upgrade my camera to begin with.
I also need it to be a fairly portable setup, throwing a mixer in here is going to make it kinda clunky, thats why I was thinking of using the y adapter..
It will push your audio into the next realm - that of semi-professional sounding video.
I know a guy who does video for a living, and he's not the only one who I've heard say this before: The biggest seperator between amateur and professional video is the audio. It's his mantra, and he pays more attention to the audio than the video. It definitely adds that truly "professional" touch to a video if the audio is clear and doesn't have wind noise and tape hiss.
Tape hiss just screams "ghetto!"
dude, we're talking about purposeless here...noone screams ghetto louder than us
but in all honesty, I just want to have two people with lavs on their shirts and maybe sometimes a regular microphone...do I really need all this mixer stuff...... I really just need something that would balance the signal of two 1/8" inputs into a single 1/8" input. I dont want to use a different audio source and mix it together later...keep in mind here the final format of this show is a DiVX video for posting to the web...not a high-def home theater system
As for camcorders, i just spent like 3 hours searching, I think im just going with the Sony TRV-350, I already have lots of D8 tapes now, I like the setup and layout. I looked at some more expensive models that I liked, in particular a Panasonic 3CCD camera that really caught my eye, but apparently when you get into the "Prosumer" or "Serious Hobbyist" categories of digital camcorders, they are above using "night shot" style features and things of that nature. Yes, in most cases night shot does produce a poor image, but it's a fun addition for some of the stuff we do and I think an important thing for me to have. Basically I'll just be upgrading some stuff by switching to the TRV-350, mostly adding audio input (which I need BADLY, as you no doubt understand, onboard = sux) and some other things.