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What Your Crew Expects [22. Okt 2008|07:28]
by Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D.



The following is an article I wrote a decade ago about the plight of working freelance for various industrial video, and magazine television producers. Although some of the technology has changed over the years, business practices generally have remained the same. Enjoy.

It seems like, on any given day, a person can flip open a trade magazine and read all about what producers should expect from their free-lance video crews. I think that’s well and good for many of the new producer/directors, and those articles may help them choose competent teams. However, this article deals with the flip side of the issue --namely, what experienced freelancers expect from their (often novice) employers.

Video has brought with it many changes in the realm of corporate and commercial filmmaking. Not only are there the obvious differences between motion-picture cameras and their electronic counterparts, but the new technology has ushered in alternative ways of thinking.

In the old days of Spectra light meters and changing bags, it was difficult for a person to advance to the rank of producer/director. Unless it was a family-owned business, the aspiring applicant had to demonstrate a solid background in the medium. Resumes boasted of experience: behind cameras; over flatbed editing consoles; pounding out page after page of scripts, and even of years spent chasing after what seemed like the all-important graduate degrees. People worked up the ranks. And those with the right blend of experience, creative flair, corporate conservatism and dynamic leadership eventually were rewarded with the directorial reins.

Today’s corporate way of thinking is different, though. People are being dubbed producer/director on the basis of good company politics, fine intentions and a pleasant personality. They surface, it seems, from every department except film/video production. It is unbelievable how many of this new directorial cadre know hardly anything about our industry! I don’t know where they all come from, or who approves their hiring, but it is frightening.

Similarly, there once existed a time when free-lance crews were selected on the basis of proven ability. Production companies looked for impressive credits on resumes, flashy demo reels and a good reputation. If the people were competent, it was taken for granted that their equipment would be up to the task.

Somewhere down the line, corporate and cable video has changed all of that. Now, in the producer’s eyes, the most important factor in hiring a video crew is the equipment. But since the new people in charge hardly understand anything about technology, they make a decision based on the video camera the prospective cameraman owns.

If the cameraperson possesses the one brand that the producer has heard of, he or she is considered eligible for employment. If he owns a different type, even one of comparable or superior quality, that cameraman has one strike against him. Critically important working tools such as a good lighting and grip package seldom enter into the initial conversation. Unlike his film counterpart, the question of this individual’s ability and experience only arises after the equipment category has been dealt with. The human being is considered merely an accessory that comes with the camera.

The plight of the production sound mixer is even worse. He or she has been ignominiously named the "video tech," and his/her sole responsibility is thought to be "to keep the cameraman out of trouble and to run the VTR." In his "spare time,’ he may be called upon to put a lavalier or radio mike on someone in order to record sound. (Of course, the soundtrack is always expected to be perfect, since sound editing is complex and costly in video.)

In terms of sound-recording equipment, the only "important" consideration in hiring is that the soundman have radio microphones. Other things, such as a mixing panel and a nice selection of microphones, don’t seem to matter. Like the cameraman, the soundman is something that comes along with the camera package.

As for the rest of the crew members—camera assistant, boom man, gaffer and grip - they only exist after forceful negotiation by the cameraman and re-submission/approval of the original budget. Somehow, companies are under the delusion that two people can accomplish what normally takes a film crew of at least four or five.

There is a consensus that, because television news is video and because news teams are only two people -- two are all you need for quality production. Of course, they expect better lighting than that of news, and the sound should be feature quality. Yet, only two bodies are supposed to accomplish this great feat.

But once the crew has suffered the humiliation of realizing that the primary reason for their hiring was not their Emmy nominations, but rather the fact that the cameraman happened to own the right camera, the real fun starts. In addition to doing our jobs, it all too often becomes our responsibility -- out of dire necessity -- to turn the production set into a classroom.



Point number one: The crew must be told what the upcoming shot is supposed to be. Not the history and planned future of the entire six-day shoot, but just the next shot. It sounds simplistic, I know, but describing only the single shot for the crew usually stumps a lot of the new directors. Of course, without that little tidbit of information, all we can do is stand around with our hands in our pockets and make snide comments.

When explaining a shot, especially if the director has made any slight changes, it is important to include the sound mixer -- not merely the cameraman -- in the conversation. Although the assistant cameraman, gaffer and grip can take their instructions from the cameraman, the sound mixer must formulate his own strategies for getting the best sound. A "small change" may affect his plans quite radically. If the mixer is not kept abreast of each situation, additional delays should be expected.



Point number two: Please allow us to see a rehearsal of the action before we shoot it.

Rehearsals are a funny topic with some of the new breed. Whenever the schedule is a bit behind, they think they can save time by skipping the rehearsal. That makes about as much sense as stopping your watch to save time. The crew needs a rehearsal in order to see what the shot and blocking are going to be. Without that preview of the action, we can’t guarantee the little things -- such as lighting, lens focus and miking. Yet, a lot of directors become impatient and insist on rolling the tape anyway -- even though no one, not even the talent, fully understands what it is that’s supposed to happen. What is the sense in wasting tape on something that everyone knows is going to be useless? (Note: I am not referring to those rare occasions when rehearsals are recorded for reference guide only, which can be a legitimate tool.)



Point number three: You can stare at your script until tomorrow and the shot still won’t get any better.

A director is supposed to direct. Good blocking does not happen by itself; it has to be created. A surprising number of new directors take it for granted that things and people will just naturally fall into place for the camera.

Foreground action and background action have to be choreographed for those dynamic master shots. If you want a mail cart to pass through the frame, tell the mailperson what you want him to do and when. If the worktable in the back is empty, then ask one of the woman workers if she could temporarily move to it. Wishing and looking at storyboards won’t make a good shot happen: It requires getting out there and making things happen!



Point number four: "Action? The tapes not even rolling!"

Someone has to shout "roll" and "cut:’ Crew members are not mind readers. They do not know what is going on in the mind of the director, and they work with many different directors each month. It is not always obvious when a director is satisfied with the blocking and is ready to lay down a "real one:’

All too often, we hear "Action!" before anyone has bothered to say "Roll!" Nor did anyone wait for the reply, "Speed!"

In videotape, there is a 10 to 15-second delay between the time the tape operator starts the machine and the time it is okay to begin recording the scene. Not only does it take a few seconds for the VTR to stabilize, but in the event that anyone actually plans to edit the videotape, it is essential to record several seconds of "leader" at the beginning of every take in order to allow "lock-up time" for the editing computer to do its thing.



Point number five: "Tape’s still rolling:"

"Cut!" is a very important word. I don’t know why, but directors hate to shout that word until long after they have had a lengthy conversation with the cameraman. Sometimes, they’ll even rush off to call the office first!

I realize that it may be asking a lot, but it would he nice to hear "cut;" so that the crew would know the take is over, especially in the event that the take is being stopped early.

Many times, a director will interrupt a take in order to discuss the scene with the talent. Some directors will only interject briefly, and then prefer that the tape continue rolling, since it takes fifteen or more seconds to start up again. Or maybe they just like to watch themselves in action back at the editing bay.

Sometimes, the pause turns into a long summit meeting. The problem is that the crew usually doesn’t know on which interruptions that will happen. So the VTR will continue to roll, either until the director belatedly decides to announce his intentions, or the operator has to stop anyway to reload tape.

Tape operators have been threatened with slow death for having once dared to assume that a take was over when, in fact, the director claimed to be pausing only momentarily as a ploy to achieve a once-in-a-lifetime shot. That is why they all prefer to wait for the official word before punching the stop button. Only when the director specifically instructs the crew to "roll at their discretion" will a crew take it upon themselves to make editorial decisions as to content.



Point number six: "According to the provisions of the Geneva Convention…"

If you took your best pet dog out to the desert for an afternoon, you’d probably bring along some water for it to drink. Well, If you take a crew out to the desert, don’t forget to bring water for them.

Cold drinks are very important to the crew. Video production is very hard work physically, especially if you have to lug around equipment that weighs more than a clipboard. Every shoot must have a supply of cold refreshment on hand. There should be sodas for a "sugar fix," as well as diet drinks and plain water to quench a thirst. Fresh fruit and candy are also good snacks. Cold drinks are as important to a production as tape stock—never forget that fact!



Point number seven: "Whadda you mean, ‘Maybe we’ll have time for lunch?’

They say that an army travels on its stomach. A crew travels in the van, but it still gets hungry. Lunch is very important to working laborers. To a producer/director who is only out in the field one day a week, the midday meal may not matter much. For a day, you can rough it. But to a professional crew that is out working most days of the week, performing hard work 10 or more hours each day, the lunch break is sacred ground.

The crew needs a chance to sit down in a clean, comfortable environment and to relax over a healthy meal. Crew members need to nourish their bodies at the same time they clear their minds.

No matter what the temptation, no matter how much you are behind schedule, never try to cancel lunch. Not only is it against the law, but your crew will get very angry. Fatigue will affect the quality and speed of work. And besides that, they will be busy figuring out ways to "get even." One way or another, the production will pay the price!

As long as we’re on the subject of lunch, it is professional etiquette for the production company to pay for the meals. When you figure the budget add a few dollars per person for lunch. Let’s face it, the production company is going to end up paying for the meals directly or indirectly, so they might as well be nice about it and earn a lot of good will with the crew.

Bathrooms are also nice to have around. Usually, small production companies only think about personal conveniences if there are important actors. Crews are just supposed to fend for themselves. If you are planning to be out where there is nothing but ugly streets and locked buildings, or in the boonies somewhere, then arrange for a motor home or honey wagon.



Point number eight: Don’t tell your doctor how to hold a scalpel.

A professional crew likes to be told what they are supposed to do, but not how to do it. A director working with an experienced professional—cameraman, sound mixer or gaffer - must trust in that individual’s ability to do the job in the best manner possible.

Professional freelancers practice their trades day in and day out, under a wide variety of conditions. They know the limits of their equipment, and they’ve executed exotic techniques more times than they care to keep track. A professional knows what tricks will work, and when. He or she has the experience to eyeball a situation without a monitor or a set of headphones and intuitively predict the end product.

As an experienced production sound mixer, I hate it when a director tries to tell me how to mike a situation, especially when it is clear that he doesn’t possess more than a student’s rudimentary knowledge. I’m not impressed when a director tries to show off by saying "shotgun mike" or "RF mike" There’s a lot more to this job than knowing a little vocabulary; or of having played soundman once or twice on a student project. Ask me polite questions, and I’ll be happy to educate. However, try to tell me how to do my job, and you’re on thin ice and could come out looking like the fool.

All of this is not to imply that a director cannot ask the crew for something other than what he is getting. We all have different tastes, or perhaps the scene description was a bit vague. It is fine to ask for a change in lighting, or makeup, but communicate in terms of the end product. If you want more of a low-key, shadowy look on the face, just relay that to the cameraman. Don’t tell him where to move his lights, or tell the grip how to flag it. Describe to them the effect you want, and let them figure out the best way to accomplish it.

If you don’t have confidence in a professional’s ability—fire him! Otherwise, let him do his job.



Point nine: A shooting schedule can be easier typed than done.

It is amazing how simple it is to make movies on paper. Kodak and Sony really ought to manufacture word processors instead of film and tape.

For instance, some of the things that a producer can accomplish with a few ink marks often leave working professionals speechless. Not enough money for a six-day shoot? Turn it into a four-day shoot by adding twenty more setups per day. Need to have the crew shoot in one location in the morning, and then be way across town for an important interview? Just pencil in one hour for wrapping out of the first location, loading up the truck, driving forty miles in heavy traffic, stopping for lunch and being set up and ready to roll at the second site.

By only allocating a single hour for what, under the best of circumstances, would actually require at least two and a half hours, a producer can keep his show "on schedule;" even if it means delaying some unimportant transplant operation.

Setting up camera and lights takes time. Changing locations -- even if it’s only two doors down the hall -- takes time. Loading and unloading the truck is no split-second feat of magic. Getting through traffic, and then trying to find a suitable place to park (producers hardly ever pre-plan for convenient parking) also eat into the clock. You can’t schedule a shooting crew to be in two places without an ample interval.



Point: number ten: Just because we get our hands dirty doesn’t mean we’re not educated.

There is a common practice for producer/directors to think of their crew as nothing more than glorified ditch diggers. Because we work with equipment, some people assume that (while they went to college) all we ever did was read comic books and learn a mechanical trade.

Surprise! An awful lot of us attended film school, and we have our bachelor’s and/or master’s degrees hanging on our walls the same as the producer/directors do! At various times in our careers, many of us have worked in an assortment of production capacities, perhaps including editor, writer, cameraman and even producer or director.

So why are we working as specialists on the crew? A number of reasons, varying from individual to individual. The money is good. The freedom of not being dependent on one employer. A lot of us enjoy working in a creative technical capacity.

Not everyone plans on remaining a specialist, either. Many of us are struggling along with the great unsold screenplay or are in the midst of producing our own pet projects. In the meantime, though, we make decent livings by supplying the chiefs with Indians.

A director should feel free to ask questions or solicit advice from members of the crew. An inexperienced individual will find that his or her crew knows a lot more about good filmmaking than might be suspected.

In fact, one novice director that I know recognizes her own limited television background, so she frequently turns to her crew for advice. Many times, the cameraman will select the angles and choreograph the action while she just sits back approvingly and concentrates on content. We don’t mind helping her and it’s easier on us to not be running around repeating setups. Because she knows when to step back and ask for help, the stories tend to be shot in less time and with better overall coverage. Her shows are considered among the best that any staff director in her parent company has delivered.



Point number eleven: We’re not in it just for the fun and glamour. We expect to get paid.

We are professionals. That means that we do this sort of work for a living. We really don’t care why a producer wants to make this or that project, nor are we impressed by the chance that it might lead to future work. We were hired to do a job, and once we have done that job to the best of our abilities, we rightfully expect to be paid in return for our effort.

As for overtime. we get time and a half (or more). And the crew is entitled to every hard-earned penny. We did not invent the schedules, nor is it our fault that the call sheet reflected someone’s unrealistic fantasy of what a crew can get done in a 10 hour day.

Ten hours is a long time. If you did nothing but sit home on a couch and watch television for that long, you’d be exhausted. Working can be even harder! Travel time is another bone of contention. Many producers don’t seem to feel that a crew deserves to be compensated for hours spent getting to and from a location at the beginning and end of a day. If the location or meeting place is more than a half hour’s drive, we expect to be paid for our time and mileage.

I have a simple rule of thumb for determining when I’m on the clock. Either I’m free to make plans and do as I please, or I am constrained in the service of the producer. That includes traveling, working, production meetings, site surveys, arranging for out of the ordinary rentals, and sitting idly by the telephone all morning waiting for last-minute instructions. Depending on the specific circumstances, I may not charge him full rate, but I will invoice him for the loss of my time and freedom.

A free-lance crew assumes that they will be promptly paid. If a producer is not in a financial position to guarantee immediate payment, he should make that known up front to the people he is hiring. We are not large corporations that can afford to wait 60 or 90 days to be paid. Quite often, not only are we out our salaries, but we’ve had to front money for rentals and expendables. Had we planned to become investors in the project, we would have asked for agreements of limited partnership!

If the shoot is on speculation, for charity, or for a client that is slow in paying the production company -- tell us before you contract our services. Give us an opportunity to work out a deal that is fair for all parties involved. Who knows, maybe we will be moved enough to donate our services to a worthy cause. But, unless negotiated otherwise, a crew expects to be paid in full, promptly. Please, don’t hire us if you can’t pay us!

Believe it or not, your crew wants the project to be as good as it can. We like to be able to take pride in our work. Have trust in our abilities, treat us like flesh-and-blood human beings, and your crew will go to hell and back for you!
Link

Guide to Creating a Professional Resume [22. Okt 2008|07:26]
By Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D. Here are some tricks and tips to help graduating students and novices to create a functional professional resume. Bear in mind that a good resume will not get you work. At best, it will get you an interview. Over the years, I have found that most of my employment offers originated from word-of-mouth referrals by people that I had worked with in the past. Good skills and good attitude are remembered. But it never hurts to spread your name around by sending out something in the mail. Who knows, someone at the receiving end may recognize you! To begin with, your resume should begin with your name and phone number. Address is optional; use good common sense. Single women should NOT publish their residence, since resumes may fall into many hands. Use a PO box or some other mail drop. Since you will be expecting potential employers to phone you back, erase that silly answering machine message that served you so well during college and put something more professional sounding in its place. Keep your outgoing message as short as possible, and include a first name so the caller knows they reached the right phone. Specialization. What is it that you are applying for? Be specific, just put down one thing that you want to do. For example, Production Sound Mixer", or "Assistant Editor". Be prepared to create different resumes for different positions that you may apply for. Hollywood adheres to the concept that people can only master one group of skills; if they see too large of a variety they will tend to dismiss you as inexperienced and incapable. It is a bias, but it does exist in the real world. Union Affiliation If you belong to a trade union, list the local and full name of the union, such as Local 695 International Sound Technicians of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Indicate your job classification (such as Y-1 Sound Mixer. List any offices or committees that you are involved on. Note that stating membership in the union will qualify you to apply for a union show, but will frighten producers of a low budget non-union show. Have two versions of your resume. Additional Areas of Professional Emphasis or Areas of Professional Achievement. Use this space to summarize your technical skills (don’t get overly specific) as well as to list your other types of production skills. Even though you are a production sound specialist, you may also have editorial, camera, writing, or producing experience. Professional Experience comes next. List any jobs, full or part-time that support your specialization. Create a summary listing for FREELANCE, if applicable. No one really cares that you slopped hash at the university cafeteria, but working in the Editing Lab would be relevant. Show any professional employment at production companies. List internships if you have them. You might embellish what you have done, but never exaggerate what you know how to do! Education will feature your college degrees in descending order. Indicate the college or university, city/state, and years attended. Show the degree earned, and your major. List any awards or special ranks. Embellish within reason. Dean’s List, Departmental Honors, (Greek) cinema honors societies, that sort of thing. Sounds impressive, and is often not reflected on your transcript Only list High School if you received special academic degrees or awards. Otherwise, no one cares. Production Credits No one cares about your student filmmaking experience, unless you won a major award. Show the titles and production companies of the films you worked on. Indicate the nature of the project (35mm feature film, commercial, corporate, pilot, movie-of-the-week, etc.) Indicate the capacity in which you worked (Sound Mixer, Boom Operator, 2nd Assistant Camera, etc.) Most of your credits should reflect experience that supports your area of specialization. If you need to creatively embellish, then do so. Choose a title that sounds similar to B-movies or MOW’s. But never claim credit on an actual production that you did not work on! Don’t be ashamed to list industrial or corporate credits. These are the types of productions that you would have been most likely to have worked on. A mundane training video about steel tipped safety shoes for a Fortune 500 company is a credit that no one will challenge. Claiming to have been the D.P. on Beverly Hills 90210 might raise a few doubts… Pay close attention to your time constraints. A full-time college student would not have the opportunity to work on two major features during the school semester! Maybe some industrials during the breaks, and maybe a low budget independent during the summer. Part-time employment or internships during the semester would be plausible, but do not over-do it. If you do choose to list student productions for experience, then try to make them read as non-student productions. Stretch things a little. I would suggest that at the end of your credit section, insert an entry summarizing that in addition to the above, you worked on numerous student projects during your college years. No need to be specific, since no one really cares. But it will lend credibility to your other "professional" credits, and may lead people to assume that they were not student films. Publications or Awards if you have any. Professional Affiliations is your final topic. List membership in professional associations, such as SMPTE, NAB, ITVA, CAS, and any other organizations that you belong to and are relevant. Indicate any positions or committee chairs that you hold. References furnished upon request is the tag line that ends your resume. Your completed resume may be one or two pages in length, but should never exceed two pages.
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Recording Production Audio for miniDV, Dig 8, Hi8mm, etc. [20. Okt 2008|16:01]
by Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D.

Tr81.tif (219376 bytes)

 

Small format video (miniDV, Digital 8, Hi8mm, SVHS) is being used ever increasingly for professional application. The various merits of shooting images with these relatively inexpensive, inobtrusive, and extremely portable video acquisition systems are familiar to most readers. However, interfacing these consumer and pro-sumer camcorders with professional audio can be a nightmare.
Use the consumer shotgun mic that comes with the camera (or is sold as as aftermarket accessory) and everything sounds fine. But try to plug in your thousand dollar professional microphone and the result is a lot of buzz, humm, and lower audio levels.
Let's examine why this happens and how to fix it.
Most camcorders will readily accept the industry standard 250 ohm low-impedance microphone input signal, so the problem is not that of matching impedance level so much as it is a question of proper input cables. Purchasing an impedance matching device is not the solution to your problem.
The mic input is generally a 3.5mm mini stereo jack. The output of a professional grade microphone is XLR 3-pin. Therefore, the first task at hand is to adapt XLR 3-pin output to mini stereo input. To do that, we need an adapter cable that consists of a female XLR 3-pin connector at one end feeding a mini stereo plug at the other.
Since the camcorder input is stereo, our adapter cable needs to split the incoming monaural audio over both the left and right camcorder channels. If we were to record onto only one channel, we risk serious damage to our soundtrack.
The second, empty, channel would fill with hiss and noise. When our audio is transferred from analog video (Hi8mm) for post-production, a percentage of this noise will most likely bleed into the good channel. Such is the nature of Hi8mm audio, due to the proximity of the recording tracks and head placement. Some digital also suffers from track bleed, though not as much. It depends on the camera.
In addition to audio bleed, the presence of an empty track may cause confusion or even havoc with the automatic gain control in the camcorder. Even those cameras that offer a manual audio level control will revert to auto gain if the power is turned off, tape changed, or battery changed. Unless you are meticulous, the resumption of videotaping may be with auto gain ON.
Finally, recording to just one camcorder channel makes it difficult to monitor some meter levels and to hear with both sides of the headphones (unless you use cumbersome adapters with your headphones).
Bottom line: Always feed the Left and Right camcorder channels, either with monaural audio going to both sides, or with discreet stereo audio going onto respective Left and Right. Never assume that what is on the second channel will not show up in some form on your first channel, so be very careful if recording wild questions or cue tracks that you plan on editing out.
What about the buzz?
Earlier in this article we mentioned those aftermarket micropones that the consumer manufacturers would so dearly like us to invest in. Most of those mics are of the electret condenser design, meaning that they need to see a few volts of DC power in order to function.
To power these mics, the camcorders produce three to six volts DC at the mic input jack. Even those camcorders that have a separate DC OUT micro jack alongside of the MIC INPUT jack, still root the DC circuit in the ground of the MIC jack. Unless your plug-in mic is of the precise electronic formula of the camera maker, you may experience symptoms of DC interference.
Depending on the particular characteristics of your pro mic, these DC related symptoms may be: non-existant; a loss of gain/volume; buzz/humm; or even intermittantly increasing buzz/humm. Different types of mics react differently.
To eliminate this buzz problem, the upstream DC voltage must be blocked by means of capacitors. Choose your capacitors wisely, for too little will not cure the buzz, and too much will affect the mic signal.
If you are wondering if anyone manufactures an adapter cable that remedies all of these problems, then stop your wondering. Equipment Emporium in Misson Hills, California designed their XLRH8 Audio Adapter Cable a few years ago to solve the audio problems that many law enforcement agencies were encountering with the use of their Canon LX100's and Sony's. Today's

XLR-H8/DV cable is an improved version of those cables intended for DV as well as Hi8mm/SVHS.


The basic XLR-DV cable is a short adapter that features one female XLR 3-pin connector at one end and a right angled mini stereo plug at the other. Audio is split over the left and right camcorder channels. Blocking capacitors housed inside of the shell of the XLR knock out the DC interference.
Equipment Emporium recommends slipping a rubber band around the mini connector and pulling it around the camera body like an oxygen mask, thus applying inward tension on the connector. The XLR connector of the cable should be strain relieved by tying or taping it to something sturdy on the camera body, such as the strap lug.
Never allow any long cables or any weight to tug directly on the mini jack of the camcorder; the jack is fragile and can loosen or damage easily.
We sell the Sign Video model XLR-PRO, which is also an adaper box that mounts beneath the camera body. It features two XLR inputs for mic/line, mono/stereo, and volume controls. A belt clip and extension cable are included, so that you have the option of either wearing the adapter or mounting it to the tripod leg. Price is only $159.
Equipment Emporium also sells the basic BeachTek XLR box that fastens underneath most camcorders and provides two XLR mic/line inputs. Output is a stereo mini plug that connects to the mic input jack of the camcorder. Price is approx $179. 

BeachTek also offers the DXA6 ($269.00)



which features 48volt Phantom powering for condenser mics. And their latest box, the DXA8 ($369.00) has actual mic pre-amps that allow you to RAISE mic volume.
Studio One makes the XLR-BP-PRO ($189.95), which is a beltpak adapter box featuring two XLR inputs, switchable for mic/line, volume controls (attenuation), mono/stereo, ground lift, as well as 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch inputs (which you should be cautious about using). The box features DC blocking and almost no internal loss of mic signal (unlike certain other brands).

Their XLR-BP-PRO3
is similar, but features three XLR inputs (two on one channel and the third on the second channel). Price is $218.95
Using a belt-pack has advantages and disadvantages (you be the judge). 
Disadvantage is that it does not mount underneath the camcorder, so there is one more item to deal with when you pick up or put down the camera. Be VERY careful not to tug on the stereo mini connection to your camera (strain relief it!). 
Advantages include the fact that the box does not mount underneath the camcorder. Easier access to changing tape, and more secure mounting to tripods and shoulder mounts. Any major tugging from the mic cables is absorbed by your hips, rather than causing the camera to suddenly lurch while videotaping.
A special note. Some of the new digital camcorders from Canon and Panasonic are fairly forgiving of external audio and do not require the special XLR-DV cables. All that they need is just an adapter cable that converts from XLR female to stereo mini. However, be warned, that some of the off-the-shelf adapter cables are wired incorrectly. They are set up for a stereo mic (XLR) going to stereo mini. Pin 2 of the mic goes to tip (left) and pin 3 of the mic goes to ring (right). If you plug a monaural mic into that cable, the sound will be recorded out of phase on left and right, which means that when you go to transfer the audio will be low volume or not audible. A correctly wired adapter cable will have pin 2 from the mic connected to both the tip and ring; pins 3 and 1 from the mic both go to the sleeve of the mini connector. Equipment Emporium does sell the properly wired adapter cables, as well. ($18)
Which brings us to the next topic in our Audio for DV discussion: line level feeds.
Audio coming from a mixing board is usually at 600 ohm line level, which is a much hotter and stronger signal than mic level. However, most camcorders only accept mic level external input when used as a live camcorder; when the camcorder is used as a VTR it will accept external line level video and external line level audio via the RCA jacks in the back. When the camcorder is functioning as a camcorder, the RCA inputs are disabled.
Therefore, to feed line level audio into a camcorder (which is mic level), we need to reduce the signal by 30 to 50 dB.
Some mixing boards, such as the Shure FP33, the PSC DVpromix3, and some Mackies, have a switch to reduce their outputs from line to mic level. You can't ask for more convenience than that!
Otherwise, one needs to insert a pad or attenuator between the output of the mixing board and the input of the camcorder. Shure makes a 50 dB line to mic Attenuator. Audio Technica offers a switchable -10, -20, -30dB pad. Either of these devices will work, since the camcorder input does have some range with its gain or volume.
Sometimes when you feed from a mixing board, the DC interference at the mic input jack may be a problem. Sometimes it may not. It all depends on the design of the mix board.
To play it safe, use an input cable with DC blocking, such as the XLR-DVcables.
So far, we have only discussed the logistics of getting an audio signal into the camcorder. Now, a few comments on what that signal should be.
There is an old computer programmers expression that goes "garbage in, garbage out." That applies to production sound, as well. It does no good to have a clean signal entering the camcorder if that signal is worthless to begin with!
Just because you are recording on an inexpensive medium is no excuse to be lazy with technique. Small camera or not, a tripod and lights will still make the difference between a home movie and a professional product. And proper microphone deployment and mixing are still esential if you want a professional sounding track.
Use the same mics and techniques that you would on a big budget show.
Mic your subjects from close overhead with a boompole, and use high quality ENG or full condenser shotgun mics.
If using lavaliers or wireless mics, pay careful attention to proper placement and rigging. Check for clothing and wind noise.
Adjust any cables that function as antennas. If possible, mount your receiver as close to the action as possible, any pay careful attention to antenna line of sight.
Mounting a radio receiver on a consumer camcorder can be tricky, since these cameras are not as well shielded as their professional large format counterparts. Camcorders tend to produce a lot of RF interference near their viewfinders and near the recording heads. Try moving the receiver around to find a "sweet spot" that is free of buzz or humm.
If your camcorder is equipped with an auto gain control, then your best strategy for eliminating or reducing the "hunt for some sort of noise to amplify" is to make sure that you feed a well mixed or well chosen signal to the camera.
Think of it in terms of working with a still camera that has auto light metering. Frame up on a high contrast or unusual lighting condition and you get horrible exposures. But compose a scene with some highlights, shadows, and a lot of middle tones and the exposure comes out beautiful.
It's the same way with sound. Feed your camcorder a strong signal with dialogue dominating over ambience; or sound effects dominating over background noise -- and the resultant soundtrack will be fine.
By the way, a neat trick when you are recording in mono and using a camera with manual audio settings is to use a Y cable and bracket your exposure, so to speak. Split the monaural output to both XLR inputs, and offset the volume so that one track is better for soft passages while the other track is adjusted down for the louder stuff.
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Multi-Track Mixing for Location Dialogue [20. Okt 2008|15:54]
By Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D. MBKS

Attention, did you notice that this article is NOT called STEREO sound mixing for film/video. That is because just about everything that you record on the set will be monaural, even though the headphones, mixer, and recorder all use the term "stereo".

You may have two (or more) recording tracks, but what you will be recording is two (or more) monaural tracks, not a "stereo" track.

The term stereo refers to capturing the left side and right side components of a sound, so that when they are reproduced out of a pair of left side and right side speakers, or headphones � the listener will have a sense of left and right balance or space. Sounds may originate on the left or right of the listener, and may even travel ("pan") across from one side to the other, or just park somewhere in between hard left and hard right.

Stereo is what happens when we listen to music, or a fully mixed movie. It is the finished result for the enjoyment of the audience.

But stereo is rarely recorded as such in the field. Instead, we record monaural sounds and wait until post-production is nearly complete to re-assign these sounds to the audience�s left, right, and in-between.

Until the film is edited, there is no way to know just where all of the audio elements need to end up. For instance, out on production, it might seem logical to record a car that passes from left to right in stereo, so that you can hear the "pass by" in your phones whoosh from the left ear to the right ear.

If the movie only consisted of that one angle of the car, with no intercuts, then your stereo track would be quite usable. However, in the real world, that car-by is likely to be covered from a multitude of camera angles, and then intercut with a multitude of close-ups and insert shots. Many (if not most) of this additional footage will represent screen center (as opposed to the wide shot of the car travelling from screen left to screen right).

As the finished sequence is built by the editor, it might start with a long shot of a car coming towards the screen, some left to right angles, maybe some more dead-on angles, some shots of the driver, inserts of gas pedals, shifter knobs, angles on the passenger, sheriff�s car lurking, woman with baby carriage about to cross the street, and�. You can see where this is going: it is certainly not a simple pan the sound from left to right situation. The editor would not want the audio to ping pong rapidly from screen left, to center, to left, to right, back to center, etc. The flow of the audio has to be paced with the changing perspectives of the shots; with full audio pans carefully and strategically employed for full effect, but not as meaningless distraction!

The solution is to record all of the sounds as monaural (center screen); and to let the editors re-mix and re-assign those sounds to various surround positions during post-production. Also, keep in mind that professional films are not two-track stereo presentations, but are at the least, surround sound six-track (aka 5.1 surround). Audio has to be positioned amongst screen left, screen center, screen right, surround rear left, surround rear right, and sub-woofer effect!

Therefore, if we are recording in two-track in the field, we do not think in terms of left track and right track. Instead, rename these connectors (in your head) as Track One and Track Two. You have two places to store the recorded audio; and the audio in these two places should be different, so that the editor has maximum flexibility to select/adjust one track over the other.

Professional mixing panels intended for film/video applications often lack variable pan settings. Instead of a rotary knob, the operator is given a three-position sliding switch (track 1, track 2, or both/mono). There is no such thing as "panning" a mic so that it is somewhere in-between!

If your mixer has a fully variable pan pot, then get into the habit of assigning each input to either the full left or full right positions. Never allow an input to "straddle" both tracks, since it would make it impossible for the editor to make independent adjustments.

There is one exception to this rule: stereo background sounds. Because all of the dialog and action sound effects will be recorded as single track (monaural), editors often like to work with stereo renderings of a constant background ambiance that they can mix under a complex scene. For example, a beach scene may consist of numerous dialogue shots from several angles, but a constant wild track of beach noise (waves, surf, wind, seagulls) could be played continuously under the sequence to give it some sense of continuity and temporal frame. Even though the camera angles may jump around from character to character, the editor will take some poetic license and anchor the stereo background effects to give the scene some stability in terms of speaker placement. Sync dialogue will be anchored (for the most part) at screen center, except for some isolated off-camera "wild lines" that may show up as surround, since the characters creating those lines do not suddenly appear somewhere else on screen a few frames later!

So what audio should go on which track of your two-track mix? It is really up to the sound mixer; there are no hard and fast rules. However, as much as possible, try to be consistent � it really helps the editor or the film lab (transfer house). Keep good notes (aka sound reports).

Think like an editor: What audio elements are most likely to edited or kept as a group and what elements should be kept separate?

If you are mixing most of the scene with a boom mic, and also have a plant mic or lavalier working � then it might make sense to separate the mics that are most likely to overlap and create a phasing issue. When two mics both hear the same audio, unless one mic is faded down, they will interfere with each others sound waves and create hollowness & echo. By recording these two mics onto separate tracks and NOT blending them onto the same track, no interference will occur during the recording on set. However, the editor will have to be careful in post to avoid phasing when the tracks are mixed together, but during post one has more time and control to get things just right.

If two actors are both on lavalier or radio mics, it is a good idea to record them onto separate tracks. That way, if one lavalier gets hit with clothing noise or static, at least it won�t ruin the other actor�s audio.

When there are uncontrollable sound effects, plus dialog, it is logical to keep the dialog mix separate from the effects. The effects are more likely to distort; or the editor may want to dump the location sound effects and replace them with something better later on.

If you have to record an actor who tends to be unpredictable in his/her performance/volume (in other words, goes from whispers to shouts without notice) � use both tracks to record the same dialogue. But offset the volume of the second track, so that if the actor shouts loud enough to distort on Track One, the editor can simply cut to the non-distorted, lower record setting of Track Two. It is like bracketing your exposure in Photography: at least one of your settings will be optimum for an unpredictable situation.

The same approach works well for recording loud sound effects.

We�ve covered some of the basics of two-track field recording. Now let�s briefly examine some four-track situations.

To begin with, picture editors often prefer two tracks rather than four, six, or more audio tracks. Why? Don�t more tracks mean more control for the editor? Well, yes, IF YOU ARE A SOUND EDITOR.

But for many "picture" editors, there just isn�t enough time to deal with multiple soundtracks while the Director and studio are exerting insane pressure to see a "completed" rough cut of the movie! Many non-linear editing systems can easily handle two embedded tracks of sound, but increasing that number to four or more takes much more handling during capture/transfer and timeline management. Although a good editor could handle that if he or she had the time� (can you spell "ulcer")

Which is why the great deity of the universe created Sound Editors! After the Picture Editor has massaged the timeline to the stage where the Director and Studio Henchmen have decocked their pistols, the audio portion of the project is turned over for "sweetening". It is during this sound editing phase of post-production that poorly recorded (or poorly spoken) dialogue gets repaired, replaced, looped, or even hidden under sound effects and music!

How does our multi-track recording scheme fit into all of this?

If we are shooting in HD video, and recording straight to the camera, chances are that the editor is NOT going to have the time nor the opportunity to deal with four independent soundtracks. Two tracks is more than enough for that stressed situation. Four tracks just becomes more of a creative burden, rather than an asset.

But the Producer counts the four inputs to the camcorder, and wants to know why we are not recording in four-track. Never mind that the budget probably does not cover the increased expense of a four output mixing panel, nor additional soundcrew and equipment to take advantage of the four tracks.

Remember how we learned to "bracket our exposure" by mixing one mic feed into two audio channels at offset volume settings� Do that with two tracks of audio output! Send Track One from the mixer to Inputs One and Three of the camcorder, and offset the volume. Do the same trick with Track Two from the mixer, going to Inputs Two and Four.

This will make the Editor happy by not having to do as much audio wrangling/mixing during the basic edit; and provides two alibi tracks in case of unexpected overmodulation/distortion. The Producer sees all four of the HD inputs being used; and the Editor doesn�t have to roleplay as Sound Mixer.

What if this is not a low-budget HD shoot? In that case, odds are that we will be recording our audio "double system" onto a multi-track digital recorder. A Denecke timecode slate will be used to provide a timecode reference as well as a failsafe clapstick sync mark for lining up the production audio with the production picture.

If the production company wants audio recorded onto the camcorder as well, it would be for the purpose of screening "dailies" or playbacks; as well as for the basic rough cut of the movie by the Picture Editor. When the picture cut is approved, the project will be turned over to the Sound Editors for cleaning up the soundtrack. At that point, they will want to replace the two-track version of the soundtrack (that we recorded onto the video) with the soundtracks that were simultaneously recorded in multi-track onto our audio recorder.

Some Sound Mixers will deploy two audio recorders on their soundcarts during production. A two-track with timecode, for recording audio for "dailies" and the "picture cut"; along with a four (six, or more) track multi-track timecode recorder to lay down "isolated" tracks, intended for the Sound Editors to use later on.

The rationale that these Production Sound Mixers give for using two recorders as opposed to just one "mega-track" is that they want to keep it all simple and uncomplicated for the lab and the picture editor. If they were to turn in all the tracks at once, there is a greater chance for third parties to muck it up and transfer the wrong tracks (iso�s rather than the basic two-track "dailies" mix) or to improperly take advantage of the isolated tracks. By recording onto two machines, the Production Mixer can insure that the basic mix goes where it is intended, and that the complex "isolated tracks" do not end up where they are not intended!
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Selection and Use of Lavalier Microphones [20. Okt 2008|15:49]
written by Fred Ginsburg, C.A.S.

A brief history:

Originally, the term "lavalier" referred only to the "neck-worn" or "body-worn" class of small microphones. These days, the working definition of lavalier has been extended to include virtually any miniature microphone small enough to be worn on the body and/or hidden in the set.

The first lavaliers used by our industry were large, dynamic microphones about the size of a cigar tube. These mics were traditionally worn around the neck by means of a lanyard (lavaliere). The mics were very rugged, but had a very short pick-up range and had to worn close to the mouth. Because of their relative insensitivity to sound, they were very feedback resistant. Units manufactured by Sennheiser and ElectroVoice were very popular in their time; many can still be found at garage sales, priced to go at almost free.

By the way, it is worth noting that the author still keeps a vintage ElectroVoice 649B dynamic lavalier in his sound kit for use as a slate mic or as an "expendable" sound effects mic.

The technology of the sixties saw a miniaturization of the lavalier. The Sony ECM-50 became the broadcast standard. The ECM-50 was an electret condenser, omni lavalier. Compared to the older dynamic lavs, the ECM-50 was considered miniature, even though it was almost one inch long by half an inch in diameter. The ECM-50 was far more sensitive, and its greater bass response complimented the golden throated newscasters of the era.

Years later, Sony introduced the ECM-30, a smaller and less expensive version of the ECM-50. Film and video people took a liking to it immediately. The ECM-30 was much smaller and easier to hide. More importantly, the mic lacked the extended bass response of the ECM-50, which translated into less wind noise and rumble when used outside of a studio.

(Sony evolved the ECM30 into the ECM44; and the ECM50 became the ECM55.)

Of course, over the years, other manufacturers entered the marketplace with lavaliers of their own. Witness the ElectroVoice CO-90, the TRAM TR-50, the MiniMic, the Sennheiser MKE-2, and others.

Which brings us up to the present.

penny    AT803    ECM44    B3    EMW    MT350    TRAM    ECM77    MT830    penny

Modern lavaliers can be described as being either "Proximity" or "Transparent".

A Proximity type lavalier is defined as a microphone that works best when kept fairly close to the source of the voice, emphasizes that voice, and suppresses background.

A prime example of this sort of lavalier is the ECM-55 (the current successor to the ECM-50).

Proximity lavaliers produce the "lavalier perspective"; emphasis of the voice in a "tight close-up" sort of way. You know -- the newscaster, stand-up reporter, on-camera narrator, radio interview, voice of authority kind of sound.

Proximity lavaliers are the best way to go if you desire an authoritative sound with minimal background noise. They are also the mic of choice if there is simultaneous sound reinforcement (public address), since they are not as prone to cause feedback as other more sensitive mics.

Transparent lavaliers are defined as sounding more like omnidirectional recording studio mics. They are very sensitive to sounds, and their volume vs. distance characteristics are far more gradual than that of proximity lavaliers. Transparent mics can be deployed at greater distances; and are far more forgiving of talent turning their heads away from the mic.

Transparent mics sound much more natural and less forced than proximity mics. Used on a video set, these mics will intercut much easier with overhead boom mics.

The drawback to transparent mics is that they are much more sensitive to background noise, and also require greater skill to hide under clothing.

As mentioned before, the Sony ECM-55 is a longtime standard of the industry and is a proximity type lavalier. It is cylindrical in shape, measuring roughly 1/2" in diameter by 1" long. This mic has a pronounced bass response, and is excellent for audio interviews, narration, and public address. It is not as useful a mic to use outside of the studio, due to its sensitivity to wind and rumble. This mic is not very forgiving of off-axis voice; when talent turns their head away the sound level drops off considerably.

On the border between proximity and transparent is the Sony ECM-44. The ECM-44 is probably the most popular all-purpose lavalier on the market. It is more open sounding than the ECM-50, but still does a good job of suppressing background. It is somewhat forgiving of head turns. The mic exhibits a slight warmth in the middle frequency range, which promotes the clarity of voice over background. Also, the ECM-44 does not have the bass sensitivity of the ECM-55, making this a better sounding microphone to use in the field. Very similar in soundquality, but less expensive, is the Audio Technica AT803b.


Moving towards the transparent group of lavaliers, we come to the TRAM TR-50. This very tiny microphone differs from the Sony�s in that it has a front facing grill. The Sony�s have their openings on the top.

Remember, all of these lavaliers are omnidirectional, so it does not matter which way the mics or their grills are oriented. Just pay attention when you are rigging them so that you don�t accidentally block up or tape over the hole.

TRAMS are famous for their wide array of mounting clips and tricks. In addition to the traditional tie bars, TRAMS also offer "vampire clips" (not TRAM's designation, but a nickname that has caught on), boundary plate style plastic mounts, leather tapedowns, and a host of goodies.

The sound of TRAM is very good. It is more transparent and natural sounding than the ECM-44, but not quite as open as some of the other transparent mics.

Countryman and Voice Technologies make some interesting lavaliers. The Countryman mics are offered in a flat faced configuration (EMW) as well as a miniature round top (B3). Countryman also makes a super miniature round top not much thicker than a spaghetti noodle (B6). Voice Technologies offers a flat faced configuration. What makes both of these brands interesting is that they are proximity mics (short range, strong rejection of background) but with a very natural sound. Originally created for Broadway shows, these mics are useful to filmmakers who need to mike actors within a noisy environment. But they are not good as plant mics.

AT 899 lavalier, available in black or beige, shown with its accessory kit. This is one of the author's favorite mics.

My favorite transparent lavaliers to use are the Audio Technica AT899 & MT830, Sennheiser MKE-2, and the Sony ECM-77. All of these lavaliers are extremely sensitive, and work very well as plant mics or body mics. They sound very natural, and intercut perfectly with overhead boom mics. They make excellent plant mics hidden in sets. They also allow the pickup of other persons near the actor wearing them; very handy in a documentary or covert situation.

Their drawback, however, is their sensitivity: sometimes they can hear too much background. They also require more care in rigging under clothing. But they do sound great!

 

Rigging Lavaliers

Outside the Clothing

In many situations, it is permissible for the microphone to be visible in the shot. Needless to say, this simplifies the process of rigging the little devils quite a bit!

To begin with, you should be familiar with the proper technique of using a tie bar type mounting clip.

Secure the mic capsule (head) in the clip as one would expect. Then, loop the mic cable around in a "J" so that it circles upward and re-enters the tie clip. The cable should pass freely through the closed end side of the clip where it hinges (the side farthest away from the jaws). With the tie bar in place on the clothing, continue the mic cable up and around so that it completes a circle behind the clothing. Bring the cable back down (still behind the clothing) and secure it inside of the spring jaws of the clip. The action of the metal clip will serve to eliminate conductive cable noise from being transmitted to the mic capsule. It will also strain relief the mic from any tugging or pulling on the cable.

The remainder of the lavalier�s mic cable should be hidden behind talent�s clothing. Although it is acceptable for the microphone itself to be visible to the audience, there is never an excuse to see a sloppy cable!

The thin cable of the lavalier terminates at some sort of XLR connector/power supply. This supply should be hidden either in a pants pocket, waistband, or at the ankle. Never encourage talent to drag this XLR connector around; you risk great damage to the frail cable and electronic connections. Instead, always secure the connector end to talent, and simply plug a standard XLR mic cable into it. At the end of a take, simply unplug the heavy mic cable from talent and they are free to roam the set without risk to your lavalier mic.

I have found that a heavy duty rubber band with a safety pin works well to secure the power supply inside of a waistband if there are no convenient pockets to use. A heavy sock (or at least the ankle portion of one) works well at the ankle; as also does an ACE bandage or a salvaged ankle holster. Even a strip of gaffers tape works well, but remember to line the ankle with cloth or toilet tissue first. Velcro straps are fine on males, but will destroy fine hosiery and stockings.

Clip-on lavaliers are often attached to the center chest opening of a shirt/blouse or to the necktie. They can also be attached to the lapel of a sports jacket.

If attaching to a lapel, make sure that you attach to the side most likely for talent to turn towards. (Towards the interviewer, towards the projection screen, etc.)

Although the lavalier is visible to the camera, it does not have to be conspicuous. Remember that in a wide shot, the lavalier is very tiny on screen. In a close-up, the lavalier will be framed out of the shot.

Just a little judicious camouflage will make the lavalier all but invisible. Cover the visible portions of the mic and clip with small strips of white camera tape. Color the tape with magic markers to match the color and pattern of wardrobe.

 

The Newsman's Loop

Proper use of the tie clip

1. Insert the mic head into clip.

2. Bring cable up and thru the hinge, and then continue down thru the jaws of the clip. The jaws serve to mute cable vibration.

3. Frontal view. The mic cable curves around and up thru the hinge. Then it continues behind clothing downward thru the jaws of the tie bar.

4. Seen from behind the clothing. The loop continues up from the mic and then loops down thru the jaws.

Hiding Lavs Under Clothing

Hiding a microphone under clothing requires much more attention to detail. Not only must the mic be hidden from view, but you must also contend with the problems of clothing noise.

Clothing noise comes in two varieties: Contact and Acoustic.

Contact clothing noise is caused by clothing physically rubbing against or striking the mic capsule or mic cable. The best means to eliminate this type of noise is to immobilize the clothing around the mic. If the garments cannot move in relation to the mic, then they cannot rub or strike the mic!

Different sound mixers have different techniques for accomplishing this feat, but my preference is the use of sticky triangles (often augmented with pins).


But first, we have to eliminate cable noise. Do this by forming one or two complete loops of the cable just below the mic capsule. The loops should be around 1/2 inch in diameter. Tie the loops in place with a piece of thread or dental floss, or even a thin strip of camera tape sticky side out.

The loop should be secured loose enough to open and close freely when the cable is tugged. This becomes your strain relief.

Secure the mic capsule within two small triangles of sticky tape. I make these triangles from a 1" wide by 2" long piece of camera or gaffers tape, folded corner to corner several times like a flag, sticky side always out. The mic is centered within the two triangles. Be careful not to tape over the grill or holes of the mic. Round top mics are easier to rig, since they can be surrounded by the tape, with only the top grill exposed. Flat facing mics require more care, since the stocky triangles need to be offset so as not to block the side port.


This sticky triangle rig can be placed just above a button of a shirt/blouse. The cable loop falls opposite of the button itself. The next inch or so of the lav cable should be taped directly onto the shirt, with the tape lengthwise between buttons. Any tugging of the shirt or cable with be strain relieved by this strip of cable. The floating loop isolates the tugging from the mic capsule. The sticky triangles anchor the clothing on either side of the mic. A couple of straight (or safety) pins may be used to secure the triangle tips if humidity or long duration are concerns.

   

Another technique is to use Moleskin strips and a safety pin to anchor the weight of the mic and cable. This is very useful if the actor will be rigged for an extensive period of time, or if moisture (perspiration, humidity, rain, etc.) tends to loosen the hold of sticky tape. Cut some adhesive backed Moleskin (found in the Foot Care dept of any supermarket or drugstore) into french fry size strips. Wrap a strip (adhesive toward the mic, softside out) completely around the body of the lav, insert an open safety pin, and continue the wrap.

The pin will securely hold the mic, but you may need to add sticky triangles to prevent clothing noise.

When wiring a female equipped with a bra, the sticky triangle can be re-angled so that it is flatside up, pointy end down, and can be placed inside of the bra, in the cleavage at the "cross your heart" point. The swell of the bosom acts as a shield against clothing noise, and results in excellent sounding mic placement.

The other type of clothing noise is that of Acoustic noise. Acoustic noise is created not from clothing rubbing against or striking the mic, but instead from the clothing rubbing against itself.

Static Guard works very well to lubricate clothing, such as jackets rubbing over shirts. Heavy starch conducts noise, so it is best dealt with by applying or spraying a little water mist around the mic placement area, as well as in any other areas that would not appear obvious to camera.

As a rule of thumb, cottons and woolens are the quietest clothing fibers. Synthetics and silks are very noisy and should be avoided as much as the situation allows.

Lavaliers can also be hidden in other areas than just center chest. Under the collar works well with sweaters and sweatshirts, or women�s blouses. Going under the collar of a dress shirt on a male may create a problem if beard stubble is present on the neck.

Less conventional mic sites include under the brim of hats, or hidden in the hair at the forehead. Small lavaliers can also be hidden on the frames of eyeglasses.

A very useful trick is to hollow out a plastic pen, and hide a lavalier inside. With but a very small incision in the back of a pocket, a pen mic can be planted in full visibility to the camera, with no clothing noise, and still remain completely "hidden".

A relatively new mic design on the market is the Pin Mic. Although this mic is worn outside of clothing, it is extremely concealable. The concept of the PIN MIC is so simple that it is brilliant. Instead of fussing around with tie bars, vampyre clips, unsightly cables, and awkward mic placement � just poke the pins of the backplate thru the wardrobe and cap it with the microphone capsule! Because the microphone is outside of clothing, there is virtually no clothing noise to contend with. Since the mic capsule mates to its electronics via PINS, you can position the mic almost anywhere on talent. You are no longer limited to lapels and center button-up openings. T-shirts, pullovers, and dresses are not a problem anymore.

On the camera side of things, all that is visible is a nondescript round capsule about the size of an aspirin. Using just the black or white sleeve covers that go over the mic capsule, the PIN MIC usually just blends into wardrobe on its own. But if you need better invisibility, you can attach whatever you want onto the face of the mic sleeve (the PIN MIC has ports on the circumference, so that the face is okay for mounting things to).

For example, you can cover the PIN MIC with a spare shirt button. Hide it under a corporate or station logo jewelry pin. Cover it with a snippet of cloth. Mask it with colored tape, or use a colored marker to paint some plain tape. One mixer that I know shoots & prints a digital picture of the wardrobe, and then pastes a snippet of the print over the mic to make it perfectly blend in.

Wind Noise

There are two types of wind noise: Contact and Acoustic. (Sound familiar? Did you pay attention to the article about Shockmounts & windscreens?)

Contact wind noise is the one we most frequently associate with microphones. That is the distortion caused when wind strikes the diaphragm of the mic itself.

The solution is to use a good windscreen. Which you will have to make yourself, because the flimsy little puffs of acoustic foam that come with most lavaliers are merely breath pop filters, not real windscreens!

The simplest tool for blocking wind is to salvage the foam booty that makes up the working end of a video head cleaning swab. After you service your video heads, save these sticks! Believe me, the micro dust collected from a video head will not affect sound quality on a windscreen.

Pull the foam tips off of the wooden sticks, and then slice them open at the base to form a foam cap. Slide the foam over your favorite lavalier, and instant windscreen. Since these screens are disposable, feel free to color them with markers for less visibility.

If rigging under clothing, feel free to sandwich them inside of your sticky triangles. So what if the tape destroys them!

A greater level of wind protection can be achieved by placing an oversize metal grill (such as from an ECM-55) over the foam.

Another trick is to wrap a layer of cheesecloth over the foam and the mic. For visible mics, snip the fingertips off of a pair of wool knit children�s winter gloves, and pull the wool "caps" over the cheesecloth. With a layer of wool, cheesecloth, and foam � you�re very well insulated from wind noise.

When hiding lavaliers inside heavy winter coats, a good technique is to bring the mic to the outside of the coat (to avoid excessive muffling) and to hide the mic under a patch of cloth or felt. These patches are readily obtained as "sample" swatches from any fabric store. Cut the swatches into a random pattern, so as not to be conspicuous. Rub some dirt over the patch to help blend it in.

The other type of wind noise is Acoustic. That is the sound of the wind howling through the trees or between the buildings. It is a form of background noise, like traffic noise, and cannot be eliminated by the use of a windscreen. Your best solution is to keep the mics close to talent. Rolling off the bass frequencies also helps a little, but wind howling is often all over the frequency spectrum.

Lavaliers as Plant Mics

The best solution to clothing noise is to keep the lavalier off of the body entirely.

Lavaliers are too stupid to know whether or not they are attached on the body, or just near one.

It is a simple matter to hide lavaliers onto many handheld props, such as purses, clip boards, flash lights, cups, etc.

Remember to use a wad of sticky tape to "float" or shockmount the mic capsule so that it is not directly against a hard surface that might conduct vibration.

To rig a car, hide a lavalier on the inside of the sun visor. Any decent transparent lavalier will pickup driver, passenger, and probably backseat passenger. The visor is padded to reduce echo, and well away from the bottom of the car with related engine & road noise.

Transparent lavaliers also work well as hidden mics in the set. A mic in the centerpiece can give you a restaurant table. A mic in an executive pen set can pickup both sides of an across the desk encounter. A mic on the inside of a doorjamb can give you that short line from a passerby poking his head into the office.

Use your imagination! A telephone booth is a snap to rig. Someone reading directly off of a blackboard or bulletin board is perfect for a hidden lavalier. The headboard of a bed for those "marital relations" shots.

Perspective

A danger of using lavaliers is to forget to take perspective into account. A proximity lavalier always sounds like a tight close-up, even when the camera is fifty feet away.

Transparent mics sound much more natural, but unlike boom mics, their perspective is fixed. Booms move from farther to closer as the frame changes; lavaliers do not.

One quick fix to the perspective problem is to also deploy a shotgun mic directed at nothing in particular. The "bleed mic" is used to capture footsteps, ambiance, and general sound effects from an angle that will not pick up dialogue (two mics capturing the same sound will create phasing problems, echo, and tinniness). For long perspective, the bleed mic is mixed (say, 30%) with the dialogue from the lavalier. As the shot narrows to a close-up, the bleed mic is faded down, so that we are only left with the close-up sound of the lav.

Another trick to open up perspective when using lavaliers is to place them a little further down on the chest than normal. This creates a noisier track with more ambiance and less forced emphasis of voice.

Two actors playing opposite each other can be miked from each other�s lavalier, again opening up the soundtrack to appear more natural.

 

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XL1 Audio Step-by-Step [20. Okt 2008|15:34]

Introduction

One of the many advantages of the new DV format is found in it�s greatly expanded audio capabilities. The Digital Video standard includes Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) audio recording. In conventional analog recording, sound waves are recorded as changes in the magnetic field on the tape. In digital audio recording, sound is recorded as 0 and 1 after it is converted in pulse codes. This is the reason digital audio is referred to as Pulse Code Modulation. The digital audio code (a series of "off or on" signals) is recorded by the drum, on a part of the tape that is separate from the video information. A provision for PCM is part of the 8mm video specifications, however, Canon has not used this optional sound track in any of its 8mm or Hi8 models to date.

Sound waves are vibrations in the air with two basic properties: the first is frequency, from low (bass) to high (treble); the second is amplitude, from soft to loud. Together they form a simple sine wave. The wave�s amplitude is represented by its height; the further the curve swings above and below its center line, the louder the signal. Its frequency can be represented by the number of times per second the wave goes through a complete "cycle". The more cycles per second, the higher the wave�s frequency. The average young human ear can hear frequencies from about 20 cycles per second (20 hertz, or 20 Hz), a very low base tone, to about 20,000 cycles per second. The distance between peaks is the wavelength, which becomes shorter as the frequency rises.

Analog Signal Digital Signal

^Amplitude ! ! ! !

Frequency > 1 1 0 1 0 1

The camcorder�s microphone picks up sound and outputs an analog signal consisting of minute voltage changes. This signal is then passed through an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. In a digital recording, the original sound wave is measured at thousands of sampling points per second, and records those voltage samples as numbers. In playback, the sampling points are recreated, and the audio is processed by a digital-to-analog converter (D/A).

The quality of the reproduction depends on how detailed the blueprint is, and how well the reconstruction is done at the playback end. The amount of detail mainly depends on the number of samples per second (which controls frequency response) and the number of binary digits, or "bits" per sample (which controls noise and distortion).

Most sound waves are complex mixtures of simple sine waves. We only need to record two points per cycle of such a wave�s highest frequency to be able to reconstruct the wave in playback. The sampling frequency (the number of times the signal is measured per second) must be high enough to ensure at least two samples for every wave of every audio frequency�at least 40,000 samples per second for an audio band going up to 20,000 Hz.

Digital systems measure in steps, but the analog signals they�re measuring are continuous. An analog signal that ranges between +1 and -1 volts goes through an infinite range of values between those points, but a digital system can record only a finite number of those values. The more digits it has, the more steps it can distinguish and the more closely it can match its readings to the variations in the original signal. Because digital systems use finite means to record infinite signal variations, some mismatch is inevitable, and every such mismatch adds noise and distortion to the signal.

Digital systems use the same binary numbering systems found in computers; that is, each digit only has two possible values, 0 or 1. Each digit added doubles the number of possible values the system can handle: a one-digit number has two values (0 and 1); a two digit number has four values (00, 01 10, and 11; a three-digit number has eight possible values; and so on.

Every time a digit is added to a digital recording system, the amount of its inaccuracy�and, therefore, its noise and distortion�is cut in half. This increase in accuracy is equivalent to cutting noise and distortion by 6 dB; so you can roughly gauge a digital system�s dynamic range by multiplying its digits, or bits, by six. For example, a fourteen-bit system has 84dB of dynamic range, and a sixteen bit system (such as the compact Disc) has 96 dB.

The number of bits in a system, limits the dynamic range. Slight signal overloads don�t cause slight increases in distortion, as they do in analog. In digital systems, they cause sudden, intolerable distortion. Weak signals, no stronger than the system�s noise, are simply not recorded at all. Even though the digital system�s dynamic range is firmly limited, its limits are far wider than those of most analog systems. At 96 dB, those limits are wide enough to accommodate the entire dynamic range of music.

When you copy a signal, you degrade it. In analog, this limits frequency response and adds noise and distortion. There is no degradation in digital reproduction.

Digital has another virtue�no wow or flutter. The tiny speed variations that cause wow and flutter in analog tape recorders are also present in digital ones, but you never hear them. As samples are read off the recording, they�re fed into a buffer circuit, which smooths out the speed variations.

The XL1 offers three digital audio modes:

The device responsible for changing an analog signal into a series of numbers is the analog-to-digital converter. It measures (or "samples") the strength of the changing voltage at regular intervals, generating a steady stream of numbers. Two parameters directly affect the quality of the resulting audio: sample rate and bit depth. The converter�s sample rate dictates how often it measures the signal to generate a new value. The more frequently the converter measures the signal the more accurate the resulting data. Sample rate corresponds directly to frequency response�the highest frequency a digital system will capture is exactly one-half the sample rate. To capture the full audio spectrum up to around 20,000 cycles (or 20kHz), a sample rate of 44.1kHz is common. Higher sample rates make for increased treble response and a more "hi-fi" sound. Low sample rates sound duller and darker.

Bit depth affects how many bits the converter uses for each numerical measurement of the signal. More bits equal a more accurate measurement, which explains why 16-bit CD audio sounds so much better than an 8-bit multimedia sound file. A low bit depth allows the converter the measure the sound with a yardstick marked only in inches. A higher bit depth allows the converter much greater accuracy (a yardstick marked in 1/8th inch increments, for example).

16 bit (48kHz, 2 channel) for the highest sound quality. "16-bit" refers to the amount of data recorded and the range of the data (16-bit converted to decimal numbers means that there are 65,536 different numbers that can represent any sample). 16-bit represents the most data for the truest and fullest range of sound. DV specifications call for a sampling rate of 48 KHz (48 thousand times per second), 44.1 KHz or 32 KHz. (DAT uses 48KHz sampling and CDs use 44.1 KHz sampling).

12 bit stereo (32kHz, 2 channels) records on two of the four available channels (Stereo 1), leaving two other channels (Stereo 2) available for the addition of sound, music, narration, etc. 16 bit sound produces CD quality, two channel sound on one track. The 12 bit mode divides the audio track into two, recording two channels on one track while leaving the remaining track open for post production audio recording with separate editing gear. In other words, you can add new sound later using a DV VCR. You cannot add new sound to a tape using the XL1.

12-bit stereo (32kHz, 4 channels) for simultaneous recording on four channels (Stereo 1 and Stereo 2). Audio can then be output as 4 independent channels.

With 12-bit, the sound quality is just slightly lower, because the amount of data gathered through the sampling and quantization procedures is lower than with 16-bit (4,096 variations for 12-bit compared to 65,536 for 16-bit). The 12 bit sound is sampled at 32 KHz. Because there is less data, it does not take up all the space available to audio on the tape, resulting in 2 two-channel tracks.

With 12-bit audio, you can use the microphone mounted on the camcorder plus up to two remote microphones, all recording on separate channels, at the same time. At the editing stage, selections can be made for the desired mix for the finished video. Or, if only two channels are used, the original audio can be left on the tape while new audio (music and narration, for example) can be added without erasing the original sound during the editing process.

XLR Microphones

Unbalanced audio equipment is generally found on consumer camcorders, and indeed all previous Canon camcorder models have used a 3.5mm mini-jack as their input. An unbalanced microphone may work well attached to the camera, however if it�s range is extended, the microphone cable frequently picks up interference from extraneous electro-magnetic fields resulting in hum.

Attaching the MA-100 allows the use of two professional XLR microphones, or two wireless microphone receivers on the XL1. Balanced XLR microphones contain a noise-canceling cable that greatly reduces unwanted interference. The MA-100 converts balanced signals from the XLR microphones to unbalanced signals. The MA-100 includes RCA plugs which can be connected directly to the camcorders RCA audio terminals.

 

Locked and Unlocked Audio

The XL1 records sound in "unlocked" audio. Unlocked audio does not mean out of sync audio. Unlocked audio is always completely in sync with the video. The difference has to do with the number of audio samples per video frame. With locked audio the sample rate per frame of video is fixed, while unlocked audio allows for some slight variations in the number of samples per frame.

Terminals vs. Tracks

The XL1�s 3.5mm Mini Jack is used for the supplied microphone. Audio 1 and Audio 2 refer to the physical location of the audio inputs. The Audio 1 terminals appear on the back of the camcorder, the Audio 2 terminals are on the handle. Stereo 1 and Stereo 2 refer to the stereo tracks available on the tape.

 

 

 

AUDIO INPUT FOR TWO CHANNEL RECORDING (Stereo 1)

USING THE MINI JACKS

 

SOUND SOURCE: supplied microphone or external microphone plugged into the mini jacks (3.5mm mini-plug type).

Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO MODE.

Choose one of the following modes:

16-bit (48KHz, 2 channel (for the highest sound quality)

(Note: 16-bit mode only contains Stereo 1 sound)

12-bit Stereo 1 (32kHz, 2 from 4 channels) for recording on 2 channels

(Stereo 1), leaving 2 channels (Stereo 2) free for you to add new

sound at a later date using a DV VCR. NOTE: you cannot add

new sound to a tape using the XL1 camcorder.

 

Close the menu. The name of your chosen mode is displayed in the

viewfinder and main LCD panel. It is unnecessary to set AUDIO 1 to MIC on

the menu.

Slide the INPUT SELECT switch to MIC.

This assigns the MIC mini jacks as the source for the audio input. You

can use the supplied microphone or attach an external microphone.

or

Slide the INPUT SELECT switch to ATT.

If you are recording in a very loud environment, (at an airport for example)

you may want to use the attenuator. The attenuator reduces loud noises to

produce a more natural sound.

Select the recording level method.

Normally, the camera sets the audio recording level automatically, as long as

the REC LEVEL switch is set to A. You can set the recording level manually:

Slide the REC LEVEL switch of the AUDIO 1/Mic controls to M. (MANU

appears in the audio LCD panel).

Turn the LEVEL dial to adjust the recording level and BALANCE dial to

adjust the balance between the 2 inputs. Check the levels in the audio

LCD panel. Note: you can not adjust the volume level independently for

the left and right channels. We recommend keeping the level below the

12 point index mark, and monitoring the sound using headphones. You

can adjust the headphone volume by rotating the PHONES LEVEL dial.

AUDIO 1 INPUT FOR TWO CHANNEL RECORDING (Stereo 1)

USING RCA JACKS

SOUND SOURCE: VCR, CD or other input device using the RCA terminals

on the back of the XL1, instead of the mini jack.

Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO MODE.

Choose one of the following modes:

16-bit (48KHz, 2 channel (for the highest sound quality)

(Note: 16-bit mode only contains Stereo 1 sound)

12-bit Stereo 1 (32kHz, 2 from 4 channels) for recording on 2 channels

(Stereo 1), leaving 2 channels (Stereo 2) free for you to add new

sound at a later date using a DV VCR. NOTE: you cannot add

new sound to a tape using the XL1 camcorder.

 

Close the menu. The name of your chosen mode is displayed in the

viewfinder and main LCD panel.

 

Slide the INPUT SELECT switch to AUDIO 1. This assigns the AUDIO 1 RCA jacks as the source for the audio input.

3. Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO 1 INPUT. Then choose:

 

LINE: to record sound from a VCR, CD or other line in devices

4. Select the recording level method.

Normally, the camera sets the audio recording level automatically, as long as

the REC LEVEL switch is set to A. You can set the recording level manually:

Slide the REC LEVEL switch of the AUDIO 1/Mic controls to M. (MANU

appears in the audio LCD panel).

Turn the LEVEL dial to adjust the recording level and BALANCE dial to

adjust the balance between the 2 inputs. Check the levels in the audio

LCD panel. Note: you can not adjust the volume level independently for

the left and right channels. We recommend keeping the level below the

12 point index mark, and monitoring the sound using headphones. You

can adjust the headphone volume by rotating the PHONES LEVEL dial.1

 

 

 

AUDIO 1 INPUT FOR TWO CHANNEL RECORDING (Stereo 1)

USING RCA JACKS

SOUND SOURCE: XLR type microphones

XLR microphones are attached via the MA-100 Microphone Adapter/Shoulder Pad which contains 2 XLR inputs (L and R). The MA-100 can be plugged into the AUDIO 1 RCA terminals on the back of the camcorder, or AUDIO 2 RCA terminals on the handle.

Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO MODE, then choose:

16-bit (48KHz, 2 channel (for the highest sound quality)

(Note: 16-bit mode only contains Stereo 1 sound)

12-bit Stereo 1 (32kHz, 2 from 4 channels) for recording on 2 channels

(Stereo 1), leaving 2 channels (Stereo 2) free for you to add new

sound at a later date using a DV VCR. NOTE: you cannot add

new sound to a tape using the XL1 camcorder.

 

Close the menu. The chosen mode is displayed in the finder and main LCD.

If you are using the AUDIO 1 inputs, slide the INPUT SELECT switch to AUDIO 1. This assigns the AUDIO 1 RCA jacks, on the back of the XL1, as the source for the audio input and disables the supplied microphone.

3. Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO 1 INPUT, then choose:

 

MIC ATT 20: recording sound using a mic, when the sound level is high

MIC: to record sound using a XLR microphone

Select the recording level method. Normally, the camera sets the audio

recording level automatically, as long as the REC LEVEL switch is set to A.

You can set the recording level manually:

Slide the REC LEVEL switch of the AUDIO 1/Mic controls to M. (MANU

appears in the audio LCD panel).

Turn the LEVEL dial to adjust the recording level and BALANCE dial to

adjust the balance between the 2 inputs. Check the levels in the audio

LCD panel. Note: you can not adjust he volume level independently for

the left and right channels. We recommend keeping the level below the

12 point index mark, and monitoring the sound using headphones. You

can adjust the headphone volume by rotating the PHONES LEVEL dial.1

AUDIO INPUT FOR FOUR CHANNEL RECORDING (Stereo 1 and Stereo 2)

(Simultaneous recording of all Four Channels)

SOUND SOURCE: Supplied microphone, external microphone, VCR, CD or

other line in devices, or using XLR type microphones

Four channel recording can be the most versatile configuration. For example, you can input two external wireless microphones and use the supplied microphone all simultaneously.

Open the Camera Menu and select AUDIO MODE.

Select "12 bit ST-1, 2", and close the menu.

"12bit ST-1,2" is displayed in the viewfinder and main LCD panel.

Selecting Audio Mode 12 bit ST-1,2 (32kHz, 4 channels) is for simultaneous

recording on four channels (Stereo 1 and Stereo 2)

To set the input for Stereo 1:

 

Use the supplied mic or external microphone plugged into the mini jacks

Slide the INPUT SELECT switch to MIC.

This assigns the MIC mini jacks as the source for the audio input. In place of the

supplied microphone, you can attach an external microphone to the mini jacks.

or

Slide the INPUT SELECT switch to ATT.

If you are recording in a very loud environment, you may want to use the attenuator.

The attenuator reduces loud noises to produce a more natural sound.

or

Use the Audio 1 RCA jacks on the back of the camcorder to record sound

from a VCR, CD or other line in device or XLR microphones.

Switch the Input Selector to Audio 1. Open the Camera Menu and select the

appropriate option for AUDIO 1 IN:

LINE: To record sound from a VCR, CD or other line in devices

MIC ATT20: to record sound using a microphone, when the sound level is high.

MIC: To record sound using a XLR microphone attached to the MA-100 Microphone

Adapter/Shoulder Pad.

 

 

 

 

To set the input for Stereo 2.

Connect a device to the AUDIO 2 RCA jacks on the handle. From the

Camera Menu, select Audio 2 INPUT, then select the appropriate option for

AUDIO 2 IN:

LINE: To record sound from a VCR, CD or other line in device

MIC ATT20: To record sound using a microphone, when the sound level

is high.

MIC: To record sound using a XLR microphone attached to the MA-100

Microphone Adapter/Shoulder Pad.

4. Select the recording level for 4 channel recording

Normally, the camera sets the audio recording level automatically, as long as

the REC LEVEL switch is set to A. You can set the recording level manually:

Set the recording level for stereo 1:

Slide the REC LEVEL switch of the AUDIO 1/MIC controls to M.

Turn the LEVEL dial to adjust the recording level and BALANCE dial to

adjust the balance between the two inputs. Check the levels in the audio

LCD panel. Note: you can not adjust the volume level independently for

the left and right channels. We recommend keeping the level below the

12 point index mark, and monitoring the sound using headphones. You

can adjust the headphone volume by rotating the PHONES LEVEL dial.

b. Set the recording level for stereo 2:

Slide the REC LEVEL switch of the AUDIO 2 controls to M (manual).

Turn the L and R dials to independently adjust the recording levels of the

two inputs (corresponding to the L and R channels of the Audio 2 RCA

jacks). Check the levels for each channel in the audio LCD panel. It is

essential for you to monitor the sound using headphones. Adjust the

headphone volume by rotating the PHONES LEVEL dial. 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio Monitor

Using the Audio Monitor selector is only effective when using 12 bit (Stereo 1 and Stereo 2) mode, since this is the only mode which would have a selection. If you are recording using 16 bit mode or 12 bit (ST1), then the sound is fixed in Stereo 1 only.

Camera Recording

Located just below the audio meter, on the left side of the camera, the audio monitor button allows you to select the sound source you want to record:

stereo 1, stereo 2 or a mix of both. Use headphones to monitor the audio while recording. Press the AUDIO MONITOR button to make a sound check. With each press you can cycle through �

 

ST 1 (Stereo 1 only)

ST 2 (Stereo 2 only)

MIX (Mixture of ST 1 & ST 2 at a ratio of 1:1 is always used in Camera mode)

Your choice is selected a few seconds after you last pressed the button, and shown in the viewfinder and audio LCD panel.

Selecting the Audio Output in VCR Playback Mode

During playback, the XL1 only plays the audio you have selected with Audio Monitor! When playing back a tape in which the audio was recorded in 12 bit (Stereo 1, Stereo 2) mode, you can select the output you would like to listen to. Press the AUDIO MONITOR button to cycle through the selection:

Stereo 1, Stereo 2, or a MIX (1:1) or Variable

When you have chosen the output, STEREO 1, STEREO 2 or MIX will be shown in the top left of the viewfinder and in the audio LCD panel. If you turn the power off, the output (and display) defaults to STEREO 1.

If the sound was recorded in 16 bit mode, it only contains stereo 1 sound and you can not select the audio mix. You also can not select the audio mix if 12 bit stereo 1 mode was used, unless new sound has been added with a DV VCR.

If you select MIX Selection (1:1) a mixing ratio of Stereo 1 to Stereo 2 is 1:1.

If you select MIX Selection .. Variable, a mixing ratio of Stereo 1 to Stereo 2 can be adjusted. For this adjustment, you can use the + (up) and - (down) cursor keys to choose the mix balance (or the ST-1/St-2 MIX BALANCE buttons on the remote control. There are 10 steps displayed on the screen. The center position indicates a mixing ratio of 1:1.

Choosing the Output Channel

Make sure the camera is set to VCR mode. Open the menu and select the output channel you wish:

L/R (Stereo) is the default setting

In the normal stereo mode, the left-side signal is output at the left channel terminal and the right-side signal is output at the right channel terminal.

If the audio mode is 16 bit or 12 bit Stereo 1, the audio signal will be sent to the RCA jacks labeled L and R.

If you chose Stereo 1 for the output at stage A, Stereo 1 (L&R) will be sent to the RCA jacks labeled Audio 1 (L&R). In addition, stereo 2 (L&R) will be sent to the RCA jacks labeled Audio 2 (L&R). This gives you four independent audio signals.

If you mixed the balance at stage A, the combination of left channels from stereo 1 and stereo 2 will be sent to the left channel of Audio 1 and the combination of the right channels will be sent to the right channel of Audio 1.

L/L Only the left-side signal is output to the RCA left and right jacks. For

reproducing only main voice of bilingual information recorded on other

equipment.

R/R Only the right-side signal is output to the RCA left and right jacks. For

reproducing only sub voice of bilingual information recorded on other

equipment.

L + R/R Gives a mono output. Sound from the left and right channels are combined and sent to the left RCA jack.


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Tips on using wireless microphones [20. Okt 2008|15:26]


Always start with fresh batteries in the transmitter and receiver.
Most radio mics use 9v alkaline batteries. A new battery reads approximately 9.3 volts, and will gradually wear down to 5 or 6 volts. However, most radio mics begin to function poorly just below 8 volts. So plan on changing batteries every four or five hours, depending on your particular make and model. Experience will dictate how long you can safely go on a single set of batteries.
Good antenna placement is crucial for optimum wireless mic performance.
Give careful thought to the line of travel between the transmitter and the receiver. Avoid transmitting through obvious obstacles such as solid metal objects (inlcuding lighting stands, chairbacks, furniture). Avoid proximity of electronics, including computers, televisions sets, neon signs, and any lights that have ballasts. Human bodies also absorb RF energy, so take that into consideration as well.
The most convenient site to mount the receiver (antenna) may be on the camcorder or sitting on your soundcart, but it might not be the most efficient in terms of signal path!
Camcorders are notorious for blocking the RF signal as well as for emitting electromagnetic interference of their own. If your receivers humm when attached to the camera, try moving them around the camera to find the "clean" spot! Connect your audio with good, balanced, XLR audio cables. Even if your receiver output wire terminates in XLR, some of those output adapters may be unshielded or unbalanced and allow electronic noise to penetrate on the radio mic side of the XLR connector. Try using a short mic cable to go between the radio mic's own XLR and the camera.
A similar problem with humm can occur when you plug a receiver directly into an AC powered mixing panel. A lot of panels emitt a slight magnetic field, so use a short mic cable to achieve at least a foot of distance.
Improve the line of sight between antennas by positioning the receiver either higher up and/or closer to the transmitter. Use a non-metallic pole (such as a broomstick) to hold the receiver 10 to 12 feet high, so it can look down cleanly onto talent rather than having to look through a lot of set obstacles.
Consider placing the receiver closer to the set, or even hiding it within the set. Run a long mic cable back to your camera or soundcart.
Some brands of radio mics allow you to remote the receiver antennas. For instance, the Audio Technica ATW-u100 series utilize common BNC connections. A short length (under 20 feet) of BNC to BNC antenna cable can be used to separate the antennas from the receiver itself. Note that antenna cable (RF cable) is 50 ohm, and is DIFFERENT from BNC to BNC video cable (75 ohm).
When rigging talent, be careful not to allow the mic cable to cross over the antenna wire. The antenna wire on the transmitter should be kept somewhat straight; avoid letting the wire just droop over itself.
It is perfectly okay to invert the transmitter so as to allow the antenna wire to hang straight down. There is no problem with the mic cable looping over itself, or even being balled up with a rubber band to eliminate excess length.
A trick for maintaining the "posture" of the antenna wire is to fasten a thin rubber band to the end of it, and then use a safety pin on the other end of the rubber band to attach it to wardrobe. Leave a little bit of slack. The rubber band will stretch to adjust for body movement; and it should be thin enough to break if extreme tugging should threaten to yank out the antenna wire.
The vast majority of wireless mics sold these days operate in the UHF spectrum, same as UHF television. Although the marketing types talk about their brands offering up to hundreds of operating channels, it is important to note that what they really mean are hundreds of sub-channels within just a few actual television channels.
As more and more local television stations begin broadcasting in HDTV, there will be fewer unused UHF television channels left open for our radio mics. Do not be alarmed if you discover that one to two thirds of your "hundreds of channels" are beset with interference or very short range, since this is common in some cities.
The simplest way to scan for usable "channels" is to turn on your receiver while keeping the transmitter off. Watch the signal strength (or antenna) indicators on the receiver while listening carefully with headphones. If there is no visible activity AND the headphone feed is completely clean, then go ahead and use that channel. If you see or hear anything, then select another channel some numbers away, and check again.
One final note about using wireless mics: try NOT to use them unless absolutely necessary. Because of all the variables involved, there is always a chance of losing part of the dialogue. When feasible, consider running mic cables to talent; save the wireless for shots when cable-free mobility is essential. You don't need radio mics to interview someone seated right in front of you.

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Tips on the use of the Mic Boompole [20. Okt 2008|15:18]


Why use a boompole?

Camera-mounted mics may be adequate for general ambiance and background effects, but they lack the reach and versatility of boom mounted mics. Placing the microphone where the lens is may be convenient but it certainly does nothing to assist in picking up good sound.
For one thing, on-camera mics tend to hear zoom motors and other camera created noise.
Mounting the mic parallel to the ground is not a good practice, either. Shotgun mics are similar to telephoto lenses in that they both compress planes of action so that very little distance appears to separate foreground and background action. If you point a mic horizontally towards a person, you will pick up the sound of that person as well as the background sound directly behind that person.


The best way to isolate the person from the background is to boom them from above, so that the line of sight of the mic runs towards the person�s mouth and then towards the ground. (It is safe to assume that the ground or floor is not as noise producing as the background.)
Finally, the camera lens has the ability to SEE much further than even the best shotgun microphones can HEAR. A long lens can easily frame a tight close-up of a person�s face from 50 feet away; but the only thing that a mic would pick up at that same distance would be general background ambiance of everything in the entire wide scene. To achieve good sound, you have to get the mic as close as possible to the action!


Boom it from above if you can.

Overhead miking from a fishpole or studio boom is the most favored technique in the feature/TV/commercial industry. It is probably the best choice 90% of the time.
Generally, overhead miking will yield the most natural sounding dialogue with the least amount of mixing and editing effort.

It provides a pleasant blend when there are multiple actors involved. Two, three, even a small group of people interacting can all be recorded from a single mic.
A mic on a fishpole or boom allows for a fair amount of physical activity and movement by the talent. Actors are free to enter and exit a scene, move around, jump around, climb around, etc. There are no trailing mic cables to inhibit their range of motion. Nor are there the frustrations of dealing with finicky wireless mic systems with their inherent problems of environmental RF interference.
An overhead mic will pick up sufficient sound effects, footsteps, and hand-prop noise to give the soundtrack a full texture. Because the faces are closer to the mic, dialogue will dominate the track, but other sound effects will still be audible.
Audio perspective is easier to maintain with an overhead mic. On a wide master shot, the mic tends to be higher so that the resulting dialogue seems thinner and more �distant�. On close-ups, the mic can be lowered giving the sound much greater presence and �nearness� to the screen.
But what if there are physical obstructions in the set that prevent deploying a microphone from overhead?


That brings us to the next option: Boom miking from underneath. The boom mic can be aimed upwards at the talent from knee, thigh, or waist level with good results. The sound will be slightly more bassy than miking from overhead, but still quite usable and acceptable. Note that a mic aimed up at a person tends to pick up more of the chest cavity, thus accounting for the increase in bass.

Sometimes it is much more difficult to boom from below, due to the presence of set furniture or the choreography of foreground persons. Camera operators also have to be much more careful, since it is more likely to widen the frame to show more of an actor�s torso than to show more empty headroom above. Never-the-less, there will be many shots where miking from below is the simplest solution.


Amount of extension

How long a boompole you will need really depends on the type of production you will be doing. Feature films, commercials, and episodic television calls for a long reach, around 12 to 15 feet, in order to cover the set. News gathering and �run & gun� documentary style traditionally requires a shorter reach, around 5 to 8 feet, since the camera crew is more mobile and working close-in.
Whenever you extend a boompole, do not lock the pole sections extended all the way to the safety stops. The proper technique for achieving maximum reach is to slide the pole section to the stop, and then back it in a couple of inches. A slight overlap will make the pole sturdier (no wilting at the locking collars) and quieter.
Another good practice is to extend the pole further than what you need for the shot so that you can grip the boompole closer to its center of gravity (think of a circus tightrope walker�s balance pole). By letting the pole counterbalance itself in your hands, your muscles will not be exerting to overcome torque.

Preventing cable noise

Cable noise in a boompole can originate from three problems: conductance, percussion, and loose connections.
Conductance is noise or rumble (physical vibrations) that travel along the sheath of the cable. To prevent this, the inside tube section of the boompole should be foam dampened. For instance, in the RoboPole� the cable is fully enveloped in compressed foam rubber for the entire length of the inside section. To maintain the pliability and cleanliness of the mic cable, routinely wipe it down with a restorative solution such as Armor All�.
Percussion is noise created by the cable banging against the remaining tube sections of the boompole. Since the pole telescopes, it is impossible to foam dampen any but the innermost tube.
 The best technique for controlling cable percussion is to keep the cable taut while holding the boom. As the cable exits from the pole, loop it around the little finger or thumb of your supporting hand and keep the line snug. Do not allow the cable to merely exit the pole and drop to the floor!
The final cause of cable noise can be the mic connection.. XLR connectors on mics as well as cables have been known to loosen from continuous usage. Place a strip of cloth camera tape over the junction where the microphone connects to the boom cable to protect against intermittent connection occurring when the mic is moved around.


Always maintain some slack in the cable connection between boompole and microphone. A taut cable will conduct handling noise.
On the same token, excess cable can flap around and cause noise. This excess can simply be wrapped once or twice around the pole beneath the shockmount.
Another useful trick is to use a short jumper cable inside of your blimp windscreens. This cable should terminate at the handle of your shockmount, and be permanently attached with cable ties or tape. It will simplify the process of mounting your shockmount to the pole, because it will no longer be necessary to open up the windscreen and dress the cable every time you need to use the mic.

Holding the boom


To reduce handling noise, grip the pole firmly but not tightly with your fingertips and avoid excess hand or finger movement such as tapping or drumming. Some boom operators wear white editing gloves to reduce finger sticking on excessively cold or hot days.


Hold the boom parallel to the floor and high above your head with both arms. If you support the boom underhanded like a flagpole, the boom will enter the scene at a steep angle. Although the mic may be high enough to clear the frame line, the body of the pole may cut across the corner of the frame.


Keep your arms close to your head, sort of like a capital �H�. When your arm is vertical with the elbow locked, all you are doing is supporting a couple pounds of weight in a straight line with your body.


If your arms are extended in a wide �V�, your muscles will fatigue quickly.
Also, when your arms start from a true vertical, it is possible to quickly reach in or out with the boom to follow the action. Use your front arm as a fulcrum to support the pole above your body. If the situation permits, grip it towards the natural balance point of the boom. Use the rear arm to steer (pan/tilt) the boom, as well as to rotate the pole in order to cue (aim) the microphone.


Microphone Placement


Try to position the mic as close to the action as possible. Depending on the situation and the characteristics of each particular microphone, your mic may be several inches to a few feet overhead of talent.
Be aggressive in your mic placement. Ten feet overhead may be very convenient for the camera and lighting crew, but your dialogue will be poor. Remind the director that a wide angle lens can always be tilted downward so that the frame is not filled with ceiling or sky at the cost of his soundtrack!
Professional boom operators often place a strip of white tape on the tip of the windscreen so that the camera operator can readily spot if the mic has dipped into the shot. Better to see the mic in the viewfinder than to wait until it shows up on the big screen.
To establish a working frame line, dip the mic completely into the shot and slowly raise it up until the camera operator tells you that you�re just barely clear. If you start the boom up high and gradually lower it towards the frame, the camera operator will usually play it very conservative and tell you to stay higher than necessary.

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Is Timecode Always Necessary? [20. Okt 2008|15:11]

By Fred Ginsburg, C.A.S.

There is a trend in our industry for clients and producers to clamor for the newest and latest technology, regardless of whether or not that technology will really improve the end product.
Case in point, recording SMPTE timecode on the audio track for shows that will be edited non-linear.
Having SMPTE timecode on the audio track that will match timecode on the picture is nice, but far from absolutely necessary. Considering the expense of purchasing or renting timecode recorders and timecode slates compared to being able to use existing non-timecode equipment, one should definitely explore all of the post-production ramifications before blindly leaping into costly, albeit trendy, production sound decisions.
Did you know that for the first few seasons, TV shows such as Beverly Hills 90210 did not use SMPTE timecode when recording production sound? All audio was done with the venerable Nagra 4.2, and then transferred to non-linear digital for post. Why? Because it was cheaper to do it that way, and gave them the same results!
Here is what happens when audio is recorded with SMPTE timecode. Timecode is recorded, along with production sound, on a timecode recorder such as the PD6, PD4 DAT, FR2TC, or Nagra IV-STC. Matching (jam sync'd) timecode may or may not be recorded on the film by means of in-the-camera keycode and an Aaton master clock module. A Denecke slate is filmed at the head of each scene, displaying a visual timecode as well as providing an old fashioned clapstick marker.
In post, the film is transferred to video in the telecine and then digitized into the non-linear editing system. Audio is resolved at the proper speed (slowed down slightly to match the picture slowdown created by telecine) and also digitized into the non-linear system. Using the timecode numbers as a beginning of the scene startmark or line-up reference, the editor performs a series of in-computer audio insert edits to sync up the dailies (matching up the picture and corresponding sync audio) for each take. (Some people are lazy and just let the lab do it during telecine, but the labs charge you plenty for it.)
Now, examine what happens if no timecode is recorded on the audio during production. Just as before, the picture is loaded into the edit computer. Audio is resolved at the proper speed, and also digitized into the system. In order to sync the dailies, the editor goes to the picture start of the take (clapstick frame) and marks it. Audio is advanced to the audio marker (the clapstick impact); and then the mark-in or match edit points are punched in.
Finding the start mark of the audio without timecode is easy. If one watches the visual waveform of the audio (the optical track), it is rather easy to locate the clapstick because it sticks out like the Washington Monument! With very little practice, an editor can sync dailies almost just as fast as with timecode, and at considerable savings of the production budget.
But without timecode, how does the edit computer keep everything in sync? The same way it always does, by means of its own internal timecode. Since most production timecode is discontinuous, it is only used for negative matching; the actual editing is done with a form of continuous timecode within the system.
It is true that without timecode, we cannot go back to the original production audio tapes and conform them with the negative for post. But why would we want to or need to? The audio coming out of the non-linear system is digital CD quality or better, far higher quality than we ever got off of a Moviola. In the old days of tape splicing, we had to re-transfer and conform the audio in order to correct for all of the damaged sprocket holes, bad splices, and unintentional edits. But since out digital soundtrack is perfect, we do not need to return to the original tapes before moving on to advanced soundtrack building.
The only step a little tricky in this non-timecode audio process is resolving. When using timecode, we normally record on the set at 30 fps non-drop, and then transfer at 29.97 non-drop in order to compensate for the fact that picture filmed at 24 or 30 fps (film speed) ends up being slowed down to 23.97 or 29.97 fps (film speed) in the telecine in order to be recorded onto videotape (which is 29.97 video speed).
If we use a conventional Nagra recording with a 60Hz sync signal, then we must transfer that audio into the edit computer at 59.94Hz. This can be very easily done by using an external sync box such as the TX-10 59.94 Crystal (available from Equipment Emporium) or a similar device. Just unplug the crystal jumper plug from the side of the Nagra and plug in the matching connector from the 59.94 external box; then play the Nagra back with resolver engaged as one normally would.
If recording with a portable digital recorder, the process is more complicated. Either the digital recording can be transferred to an analog machine such as a Nagra and resolved as previously described (either on a timecode Nagra or a 60Hz Nagra); or else the digital recording (e.g. DAT) could be played back on a special studio decks capable of altering its sampling rate to perform the required slowing down.
Most of the newer non-linear edit systems offer a software utility whereby the end user can slow down the audio directly during the digitizing input process. For instance, it is a simple routine to modify the speed of an audio clip in Final Cut Pro by slowing it to 99.9 % to achieve a 0.1% pulldown.
If your edit system lacks a pull-down, slow-down, or pitch function -- then just bring the audio tracks FIRST into an audio editing program (there are gobs of them out there) and perform the correction there. Then import the file into your video edit program for syncing.
We suggest that filmmakers do heads & TAIL clapstick slates of their first few scenes so that it will be easy for the editor to check sync and verify that the pull-down in being done correctly.
Of course, if you are shooting in normal video -- there is no pulldown of the audio required, since the picture does not go through any speed change the way that sprocketed film does. Just record normally on your Nagra, DAT, or digital recorder and transfer your audio directly to your edit system. Sync picture and sound via the clapsticks, but do not worry modifying the speed of your audio. Everything is still in its original REAL TIME.
Unless, you have chosen to shoot in 24fps Progressive Video mode. This gets us back to the film style pulldown issue, since your original video is being modified by the edit system to playback at 29.97fps. Depending on the software that you are using to edit with, you may or may not have to make audio corrections. (If you recorded audio directly to the camcorder, there is not problem, since the 24frame picture with sound is converted together.) Again, do head and tail clapsticks on a few takes to help you determine what corrections need to be made.

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