indoor microphone

I found out i pro. want a hyper cardoiod pattern, and on other blogs the two main ones around 500 (give or take some $) and are the rode nt3 and oktavia mk-012. However, does the oktavia need phantom power? I dont know what to use for phantom power, buit, according to you all, it's something to avoid. Alos, I cannot find a site to possibly purchase it in the u.s., or if it comes with all those capsules or if those are bought seperatly. Is the rode better, or easier? Any other good indoor mics, or im buyin because ive spent enough hours on this. I f I also get a xlr to mini plug cable, homemade boom pole, headphones I already have, is that all I really need? Ill prob. be working with consumer camcorder with mic input. Please just tell me what I should buy!
 
I'll toss you a few thoughts I have on the microphone issue. However, I'm not an expert.

I went with the Rode NTG-3, which is a shotgun microphone. I use it for outdoor and indoor, and I've had no issues with it at all. The best thing about this specific microphone is that it is, as far as sound quality and reception goes, nearly identical to the Sennheiser MK-416, which of course was the shotgun of choice for years for a lot of people. The Rode NTG-3 is cheaper, so there's no reason to get the MK-416.

I think I'd use a hyper-cardioid if I was doing like a street interview, or something of that nature, personally. I've found the shotgun to be more than adequate for all filming situations that I do (mostly narrative).

Phantom power is something that will be supplied to your microphone from whatever you plug it into, if that specific piece of equipment has phantom power. If it's a consumer camcorder, odds are it will not have phantom power (in my experience, that is).

As far as 'what you should buy', yes a microphone on a boom pole and earphones to monitor with from the source is about all you need for sound, it's all I use or my sound guy will use when recording.

In the end, it's really up to what you want, and what you can fit into your budget. Obviously you want the best bang for your buck.
 
re

I think so. Basically a filmmaking mic. for indoors, although, if I find out how, I may want to somehow record a little ambient noise, but now it's focusing mostly on vocies, yes, if that was your ?
 
Both the Rode NT3 and Oktavia MK-012 are vocal mics. These are used
for recording singers in a studio. They need to be an inch or less from
the performer.

These mic's are not good for filmmaking.
 
NT-3 is a singing or instrument mic (possibly ADR). Maybe you mean NTG-3.

I can personally vouch for this mic: AT835b
 
It might be important to define “filmmaking”.

The Rode NT3 is a vocal mic. It is made for singers in a studio or
on stange. It must be held inches away from the mouth. For
filmmaking, in a studio setting, (not a sound stage) doing ADR or
recording some sound efx, it can be a fine mic.

On a set or location this mic is not good for recording dialogue while
the camera is running. Again, the mic must be very, very close to
the speaker - less than one inch - so it isn’t good for shooting a movie.

So, if by “filmmaking” you mean recording dialogue while shooting on
set indoors, this mic is not what you need. If by “filmmaking” you mean
post production audio, this mic is fine.
 
yes, sorry i wasnt clear. I did mean for filming on location with a camera, or "on the set"/
It's cool.

That's what I thought. So my advice stands. The mic's you mention are not
good for filmmaking. Indoors or outdoors. What you are looking for is a shotgun
mic. That in itself is a generic term that means any long barreled mic. You
want a good condenser (externally powered) mic with a “lobar” pick up pattern
to put on your boom pole. Lobar pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick
up to a narrow area. This is why you want to use a boom pole to get the mic
as close the the actor as possible - you’ll get clean dialogue tracks with less
ambient noise.
 
re

Thanks for all the help! I guess all those other posts are incorrect. If I order that, make a boom pole, get a converter cable (xlr to mini for my camcorder) is that all I need? Also, wheres the best place to get the accesories. I'm thinking bout b and h for the mic itself, huh?
 
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Actually, the NT3 IS a good mic for filming. The pick up pattern for it is hypercardioid which is not as directional as an NTG 3 or MKH 416. Shotgun mics don't always sound good indoors.

The mics also sound quite good in terms of price to performance ratio

http://dvestore.com/theatre/mics_guide.html

This microphone shootout done by dvestore demonstrates the differences in performance. The NT3 and the MKH 416 (in my opinion) sound the best out of what was tested.

I know these microphones were awfully close to the VO person so here is a youtube video of some people using these mics for their cameras.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEa7uGyXl-8

This one was put on a boom about a foot and a half above the subject. Close but hardly a few inches in front of the mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T813-ugJfR8

Here is another example of the NT3 replacing someone's internal mic on a DVX100A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETX_nBG9zvU

This is another promo video from dvestore explaining why hypercadioid in some ways is better than shotgun for indoor use. (I'd like to state that I have no association with them, they just have the videos that are easiest to prove my point).

If you look you'll find other videos like these all over the internet.

For professional broadcast or film audio it's not unusual for an audio guy to carry

Lav mics - for wide shots that would expose a boom mic (if you don't just ADR it)
Hypercardioid mics - for indoor environments
short and long shotgun mics - for outdoor or indoor

The truth is a lot of schools (even some film schools) beat the idea of a boomed shotgun mic so thoroughly into students heads that they assume any other way is wrong.

Granted you still need a shotgun mic for the outdoors but for indoors I wouldn't hesitate for a second to pick a good hypercardioid microphone over a shotgun (be careful however when booming, hyper mics are usually heavier than shotguns).
 
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For professional broadcast or film audio it's not unusual for an audio guy to carry

Lav mics - for wide shots that would expose a boom mic (if you don't just ADR it)
Hypercardioid mics - for indoor environments
short and long shotgun mics - for outdoor or indoor

The truth is a lot of schools (even some film schools) beat the idea of a boomed shotgun mic so thoroughly into students heads that they assume any other way is wrong.

Granted you still need a shotgun mic for the outdoors but for indoors I wouldn't hesitate for a second to pick a good hypercardioid microphone over a shotgun (be careful however when booming, hyper mics are usually heavier than shotguns).

Excellent advice and spot on. Different shots will call for different techniques and mics. It is best to have a kit of the above available during production.
 
so if I film while picking up dialogue, an nt3 is ok for that? The indoor locations will have fairly small rooms, like an average house. That's okay? Just one more thing, too. I looked up some of the other sugg. that other people gave me, like the ntg series, etc. In their product descriptions they say they're good for indoors. Should I get this instead so I can use it outside, too, or is the nt3 (or hypercardiod) the best? Thanks 4 da help, and sorry for all the questions. I keep getting contradicting advice, and I do not know what to believe and go wiith.
 
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