Hello everyone,
So as of late I've been struggling heavily with audio when shooting with my Canon T3i. Let me walk you through the situation -
1. Being a student, I don't require perfect audio, I just want decent audio. One thing I've spent much time with in the past, is syncing up audio from a separate audio device. This technique has gone terribly wrong for me, since it requires a level of precision and coordination amongst my crew that, honestly, isn't there. Not to mention, I've just had difficult with syncing and finding audio files in post production when I do this. Usually a boom guy or camera guy accidentally created extra files to deal with, so I end up sitting there for hours finding audio clips and video clips that work together. This is especially hard when filming the same scene a dozen times. So, I'm ruling this method out.
2. I've resorted recently to utilizing the onboard sound of the T3i. It's surprisingly good... as long as everyone talks loudly and there's zero wind...
3. The onboard settings of the T3i are very difficult for me personally, to understand. Even though it has "manual" control, you still get a mass amount of hiss when plugging in mics. (The hiss isn't due to the mics, it happens when the audio goes silent, and the camera thinks that something is there, so it boosts to compensate. This means that quiet scenes turn into hissy scenes.) So, plugging mics directly into the T3i has proven very difficult.
4. The T3i doesn't offer any sort of sound monitoring, which is scary when using a separate mic. One of my constant fears is that if the mic doesn't pick up a scene, dies, or even unplugs on accident, you lose whatever you just shot. This would be solved if the audio could be monitored, but it can't be.
So, the overarching question I have, is how can I achieve better sound and work around these factors that are proving difficult for me? If it helps, I own both a Rode Videomic and a Zoom H1, both of which are probably better audio than the onboard, but are difficult for me to use as per the items above.
Thank you so much for any help you can provide me, it's so appreciated!
So as of late I've been struggling heavily with audio when shooting with my Canon T3i. Let me walk you through the situation -
1. Being a student, I don't require perfect audio, I just want decent audio. One thing I've spent much time with in the past, is syncing up audio from a separate audio device. This technique has gone terribly wrong for me, since it requires a level of precision and coordination amongst my crew that, honestly, isn't there. Not to mention, I've just had difficult with syncing and finding audio files in post production when I do this. Usually a boom guy or camera guy accidentally created extra files to deal with, so I end up sitting there for hours finding audio clips and video clips that work together. This is especially hard when filming the same scene a dozen times. So, I'm ruling this method out.
2. I've resorted recently to utilizing the onboard sound of the T3i. It's surprisingly good... as long as everyone talks loudly and there's zero wind...
3. The onboard settings of the T3i are very difficult for me personally, to understand. Even though it has "manual" control, you still get a mass amount of hiss when plugging in mics. (The hiss isn't due to the mics, it happens when the audio goes silent, and the camera thinks that something is there, so it boosts to compensate. This means that quiet scenes turn into hissy scenes.) So, plugging mics directly into the T3i has proven very difficult.
4. The T3i doesn't offer any sort of sound monitoring, which is scary when using a separate mic. One of my constant fears is that if the mic doesn't pick up a scene, dies, or even unplugs on accident, you lose whatever you just shot. This would be solved if the audio could be monitored, but it can't be.
So, the overarching question I have, is how can I achieve better sound and work around these factors that are proving difficult for me? If it helps, I own both a Rode Videomic and a Zoom H1, both of which are probably better audio than the onboard, but are difficult for me to use as per the items above.
Thank you so much for any help you can provide me, it's so appreciated!