I know this is an extremely basic question...
 

... But after some searching I realized I had no idea what I was searching for. Basically, I need to know what XLR cable goes between a shotgun mic's XLR output and a miniDV camcorder's XLR input. So that I could mount a Rode NTG-1 on a boom-pole and have the cable go directly to the camera's XLR input. Once again, I know it's basic to you guys but I'm seriously clueless.

It's a standard XLR cable with male on one end and female on the other. Any XLR "microphone cable" should do the trick.

With DV cameras that lack XLR inputs, it gets more complicated...

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR for pictures and a more detailed explanation.

I guess we all have to start somewhere. You may want to read a little about audio for video, perhaps others can suggest sites to get you started.
best of luck
k

How does this one look?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Ps. and oh yes, I do have a very long way to go learning about audio.

how long is long enough
 

The cable you indicated is 20' long.

You'll want a cable long enough to go from you mic to your camera, which will really depend on how far away you plan to have your mic from your camera. You'll invariably discover that you'll want to keep several cables around, some longer and some shorter.

You want to avoid unnecessarily long cables as they can introduce signal loss/degradation, not to mention that they get in the way and you are more likely step on them.

You'll want to avoid cables that are too short as they'll put a strain on the connectors, not to mention that you don't want to knock your camera off the tripod (that thingy with three legs) ;)

Perhaps two 10' cable would be more useful. Don't forget that in a pinch, they can be plugged one into the other for greater length like an electrical extention.

Now that you have acquired a semi-pro camera, and a good mic, getting good cables is not something you'll want to skimp.

Cheaper cables then to be thinner and have cheap connectors.

That would work just fine. Slightly higher quality cables called "star quad" cables use dual twisted pair conductors that can give even cleaner signal in critical applications but there's nothing wrong with the A/T cables you mentioned. See http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Thanks for your help everyone!