Split Audio
 

Over the weekend I was filming some casting interviews and I was using my brand new Rode NTG shotgun mic. I was running it through XLR Channel 1 and was getting great audio pick up. However, I was only getting it through the left earphone. I was pressed for time and didn't have time to fool with the settings in front f the client, but is it possible to get sound from the XLR on both channels? Or would that require a mic on each channel?

More importantly, in the future I was hoping to have the Rode on channel one to get direct sound and then use the built in camera mic to pick up ambient noise. Is this possible? It seems like when I turned on the XLR function in the menu to get sound from the Rode the camera mic turned off...

THANKS!

Hi there.

Yes you should get audio on both channels from the XLR, check the switches on the XLR block and make sure the bottom right switch is set to the right (CH1 & CH2).

I don't think it's possible to mix the built in mic and the XLR on the A1 unfortunately.

kellen as Paul said it is not possible to use both the xlr inputs and onboard mic together. If you want torecord main subject on one mic and ambient on another you will have to connect two xlr mic's to your camera and set mic inputs to ch1 you will also be able to adjust mic sensitivity with the two audio control wheels on the side of the camera below the lcd latch. Hope this is of help.

Alan

Thanks guys. This answers my question.

It's a shame you can't use the camera mic along with a shotgun. Every ENG camera I've used at different jobs always allow the use of an auxillary mic AND the camera mic for ambient noise.

What are some of you other A1 users doing to acquire both direct sound from your subject and ambient sound? Are you using 2 XLR mics?

Kellen,

Yes, that's what I'm doing;
I'm using a radio mic on my subject
and a shotgun mic. Both XLR's.
I dial the shotgun mic 'way down and it aproximates
ambient fairly well...

David

Yes it's a shame, especially considering that the Canon on-board mic actually sounds pretty nice. I use a Rode shotgun as my ambient/backup when I have a wireless or lapel mic in the other channel.

Another little shortcoming is the inability to use mic/line level separately on the channels. Love the Canon HDV cameras but I'll gripe about this problem every chance I get.

ditto! :-\

"Every ENG camera I've used at different jobs always allow the use of an auxillary mic AND the camera mic for ambient noise."

The "camera mic" on an ENG camera is a separate mic that happens to be mounted on the camera--it's not a built-in mic like the 1/3" chip cameras have. However, you can do the same thing--put a short shotgun on the camera and run a second mic into the other XLR input. Just ignore the built-in mic, and you have the same capability. The ENG camera may "come with" a mic, but you pay for it. With the smaller cameras, you buy the mic separately. What I use for a camera mic is the Sony short shotgun mic that came with my old 2/3" chip Betacam camera.

The point is, whether you have a built-in mic or a camera mic you should still be able to use it in conjunction with a second mic, and on the darn Canons, you can't.

I think your main question has been answered now. I have used the Rode NTG-2 as sole microphone and also as ambient with a Sennheisser EW-112PG2 Camera set for the main audio. I have to say I was disappointed that I can hear zoom motor noise quite clearly from the Rode when it's mounted on the built in microphone mount. Anyone else find this and is there a workaround apart from mounting it on a stand (not portable) or boom (extra crew)?

Also, it doesn't seem to fit the mount particularly well and I have to pad the mount to keep the Rode securely attached.

Yeah my Rode is too small for the mic clamp thing as well. I took some gaffers tape and ripped about a half inch strip and wrapped it around the mic so it fits snug in the clamp. I haven't noticed a ton of motor noise, but I was recording at a very low level.

Is this happening in auto zoom/focus or manual or both?

I only hear motor noise when zooming fast not when zoomin slow-medium speed.

Alan

I only noticed this on manual zoom, however slow, but not on focus. The camera was on a gallery in a church and little refocussing was required, but I did try out lots of framing/focal length changes.

It sounded as if if might have been electromagnetic in origin rather than acoustic vibration but I don't know. There was very little background sound during the preaching (not even snores - the guy was good but not OTT).

My Rode came with it's own shockmount that goes in the shoe, have you tried something like that? I have noticed the noise too, recently.