Steve House |
December 11th, 2008 04:12 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan Diffin
(Post 975967)
The audio will consist mostly of me giving instruction on how to perform exercises, cook healthy meals and also interview subjects. I was hoping to get as close to lip sync as possible. Is there an alternative to a voice recorder that I am not aware of? (I'm very new to this) Or maybe the onboard mic maybe my best option after all?
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The idea of a voice recorder capturing sound separately from the camera mic isn't a problem at all - that's called "double system sound" and is the way the vast majority of films have been made since talkies came out in the 1920's. The problem is the level of recorder (and camera) you're looking at. You're shooting a scene that lasts, say, 5 minutes. The camera records for exactly 5 minutes and the audio recorder also records for exactly 5 minutes. Now you move those two files over to your computer for editing, line up the start mark on both, and play them back together. For them to stay in sync as the 5 minutes runs out, the two files must be exactly the same length, if the audio plays back slightly faster or slower than the video, by the end of the clip they'll no longer match. But here's the rub - both the camera and the recorder have clocks that control their recording speed. If the clock in the recorder, say, is running slightly faster than the clock in the camera, when they're played back together the audio will play slightly slower (lasting longer) than the video. If the recorder's clock is slightly slower than the camera's, when they're played back together the recording will play slightly faster (shorter) than the video. A scene that starts out in sync loses it in just a few minutes. And it doesn't take much - a shift of only 1/15 of a second, 2 video frames, is noticable. Manufacturers of inexpensive consumer recorders and cameras like the ones you linked to have to save money somewhere to keep their costs down and the level of engineering and quality control necessary for highly accurate and stable clocks is one of the places they cut corners.
A quick look at the specs for that recorder indicates it records in WMA format. That's a compressed file type, fine for voice notes and other casual recording or carrying one's toonz, but the compression and subsequent decompression can introduce clock issues that in turn lead to variations in the running time of a recording. To mate with a video with fewest headaches you need a recorder that records in an uncompressed file format such as wav. An additional problem is there is apparently no provision for an external mic, leaving you at the mercy of what has to be a very marginal internal mic and audio electronics at that price point. If you can move your budget up into the, say, $500 range you find there are a number of entry-level options that open up for you that will be much better suited.
What are you plans for the videos once they're done? Is this just for your own use or to show students in your own spa or are you going to try to actually distribute this publicly? If you're hoping to go beyond recording strictly for your own personal use you need to study up a bit before making any further investments, you'll probalby find very quickly that the camera isn't really very suitable either.
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