Quick question regarding audio...

JayBird

JayBird

I'm making a new short film and I need some good audio. Does anybody have any suggestions regarding any microphones, boom mics, etc, that are worth the price, good quality and reliable for a newb like me? :)
 
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Hey Alcove and ROC (and any other audio buffs),

I too am looking at microphones. I didn't want to start another thread (so i hijacked this one, sorry!) and am just wondering if you would recommend this mic to someone just starting out and not wanting to spend more than $200. I can upgrade to a higher quality mic later when I'm more experienced.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...GM_PDII_SGM_PDII_On_Camera_Short_Shotgun.html

Do you have any experience with it or are familiar? Does it deliver good, clean audio for recording dialogue? I will be plugging it into a camcorder with XLR inputs.

And how does it compare to

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/238826-REG/Azden_SGM_1X_SGM_1X_Shotgun_Mic.html

I'll really appreciate it if you give me a couple pointers. :) I can also provide other info if necessary.
 
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I can recommend the Rode VideoMic, which I've just used on my first feature. For the under $200 market, I believe it's pretty standard.

It good, but you'll have to be careful with its limits! Beware of the indoor echo, and use it with a camera with manual level control. Also, background noise is killer on that thing. However, with careful management you can get excellent sound.

Build yourself a boom pole, and get that thing so close to your actor's faces they start feeling uncomfortable. That's when you know you're close enough.
 
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JayBird said:
I don't really have a budget, I'm amateur. I don;t want to spend 500 on something that's crappy if you know what I mean. No need to sigh over it.
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Hey Jaybird.

I don't want to be putting words into Alcoves mouth but I think you'll find the sigh was because he's answered this question so often and not directed at you specifically.
 
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I'm sorry for that. Is should have been more specific. I'm willing to spend $200 and that's it. I don;t have any budget whatsoever, film-making is not my job (yet) and I'm fresh out of high-school so I don't really have professional experience. There have been multiple complaints on my videos that they look and sound way too amateur and I would like to fix that. I should have been clearer. But I don't have a lot of money to spend on top-of-the-line equipment so I just want something that won;t break within the first few days and that has strong sound.
 
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You're really not going to get anything with "strong sound" in that price range. That being said, there are some things you can do to get audio that will be a hell of a lot better than your camera's built-in microphone. What camera are you shooting on?
 
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JayBird said:
I'm sorry for that. Is should have been more specific. I'm willing to spend $200 and that's it. I don;t have any budget whatsoever, film-making is not my job (yet) and I'm fresh out of high-school so I don't really have professional experience. There have been multiple complaints on my videos that they look and sound way too amateur and I would like to fix that. I should have been clearer. But I don't have a lot of money to spend on top-of-the-line equipment so I just want something that won;t break within the first few days and that has strong sound.
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Hello, Jay. Your audio isn't going to change drastically with a $200.00 investment, unfortunately. You can improve it a bit, but don't count on night and day results.

This is an expensive hobby to get into (a decent boom pole goes for $200.00+ and you don't even have a mic yet) and the technology is always changing, which can be frustrating.

What type of camera do you have, inputs, etc?
 
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JayBird said:
I have a Sony HD Hanycam HDR XR100, and I recently used my brother's Nikon D5000 for better picture and manual focus.
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It looks like the XR100 doesn't have a shoe mount, but you can get a Rode Videomic and stick it on a home made boom pole, but you will be a 2 man operation from now on (which is what's going to happen if you get more serious anyway).

By the way, the shoe mount option is just for convenient recording of ambient sound, but it's not even the best option for that.

You really need to record the audio separately, especially on the D5000.
 
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price, good quality and reliable
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That starts at about $2,500. Michael gave you the link to my list. And he's right, I get the question "I want my projects to sound like a mega-million Hollywood blockbuster but I only want to spend $3.99" at least three times a week.

Good/great sound is a combination of the proper technique and the proper tools. The first required technique is getting the mic off of the camera and onto a boom-pole. The second "technique" is learning how to be a boom-op.

As far as equipment goes you can cobble together a set-up with consumer items and, as long as you have someone to work the mic on the end of your DIY boom-pole, your sound will be somewhat better than your camera mic.

The Rode VideoMic is a decent consumer mic. Your little camcorder probably doesn't have a mic input, so you will need a sound recorder is addition to a mic. So, although it's more than your budget, go with something like the Alesis PalmTrack, Zoom H1 or Tascam PR-10 as your recorder.

And that is only the first step; the next step - my specialty - is the audio post process; dialog editing, Foley, sound FX and mix, each of which is another art-form unto itself.


Just for fun, this is a photo gallery of professional sound carts and such.

http://gallery.me.com/jwsound#100220&bgcolor=black&view=grid
 
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