Wedding Audio Set-up
 

Hi, we intend to shoot a friends wedding next year and I'm a bit concerned about getting good audio quality during the exchange of vows. I've been told that a tie-clip mic gives the best results but is one mic attatched to the groom enought to pick-up the bride as well.
Is it also possible on the XL1 to use a wireless mic and the on-board at the same time? If so, how?
Regards to all.

A wireless mic on the groom, one that is nto directional (onmidirectional pickup). Put the mic on the lapel closest to the bride. Thsi will get the groom, bride, and officiant nicely in ost situations. Best to have one with a true diversity rceiver to minimize the chance of drop out. Get the Best Man involved to be sure it is turned on when needed. Be sure to warn the gooomsmen. Turning on well in advance can result in catching unwanted dialog on tape. (Use yor imagnination as to what a few guys might say in jest.)

If this is a one-time deal, consider rental. For a low budget unit that works OK for weddings, check the Azden WDR-Pro system. But in any case check the unit in the venue in advance th be sure there are not interfering signals, include interference with the venue's own wireless system.

You can use the onboard and wireless with the XL1. The common way is to use 12-bit, 4-channel audio mode and feed the wireless to the Audio 2 inputs.

Wedding audio
 

Many thanks Don, that's a great help.
Regards David

wedding audio
 

Don, I seem to be having trouble getting the camera settings right. I can get one or the other of the mics working but not both together. What am I doing wrong?
Regards David

Hard to say what you are not doing. Follow the steps in the manual carefully. Some common issues may be:

1. Be sure to set the menu to 12-bit, 4 channel mode.
2. Be sure to use the Audio 2 inputs (RCA jacks in the handle) for the wireless.
3. be sure that Audio 2 is set to the correct level, typically MIC ATT for a wireless mic.
4. Be sure the Audio 1/Mic input is set to MIC or MIC ATT rather than Audio 1, and that the Canon mic is connected to its jack.

Also, note that many NLE systems cannot capture 4-channel audio via firewire, but there are work-arounds for such systems.

And practice a bit to get it down correctly. Note that you can adjust/select whihc audio you monitor, 1, 2, or mix.

This reply is a bit late:

I have a Shure wireless mic I use on the groom only. The 9volt will last up to 5hrs so once the Groom arrives at the church I turn it on and wire him up. I never shut it off because I have all 4 audio tracks running (12 bit mode) and can mix between them latter as needed. Then I use a fresh battery for the reception speeches.

I use Raptor Edit software for capturing my 4 tracks all at once!
Then I import the video/audio clip and extra audio clip to my editing software. It works great as My DV Raptor card will not capture all 4 tracks via it's software. (Raptor edit use to come bundled only with a purchase of a card but I only found the software by itself at B&H video ).

One more important bit! If you use 12 bit mode while taping make sure you DON'T switch back to 16 bit mode!
You will get BAD capture errors and freezes during batch or seamless captures when the bit rate changes!

That is exactly the setup we use: On-camera mic to stereo 1 and wireless mic to stereo 2. To capture all 4 audio track WITH video in one pass via firewire, we use Scenalyzer (one .AVI and one .WAV captured in one pass). For all sections with only stereo 1, I just use the Vegas capture program so I can manually enter the start/stop times.