DV Info Net - A whole 'lotta questions in one thread.

Hi guys and girls,

First post and I must apologise in advance for not being a professional or if you consider this post to be in the wrong section of the forum. It's a bit of a multifaceted question which is why I chose this section, but if you consider it to be irrelevant, then by all means feel free to move it.

So a bit of a background;

I host a football (Soccer) podcast in panel form currently. I've been running it for 2 seasons now, and this past season I have become a little more 'serious' about it. I'm currently looking to transition from a podcast, or allow me to rephrase that; to diversify into a video component as well. The reason I use the term diversify is because I think I will keep an audio component somewhat like a 'simulcast' of sorts. I.e. I wish to retain the audio so people who want to listen to the meat & potatoes can on their ipods, in their cars, etc. but those who wish to can watch a panel-type football show. None of the video or audio components are intended to be live.

So I have a quite few questions that are very broad, and I will again apologise if i'm talking to the wrong audience here c/o my endeavour being amateur and/or perhaps a bit basic (on a forum intended for professionals).

Let me forewarn again, I have a very low understanding of AV tech and usually rely on my Girlfriend for that as she's the amateur camera (stillshots, not so much video) guru so please be gentle! :D

1) Microphones: I intend on using my partners DSLR; a Canon 550D. As I understand it features pretty good video recording capabilities, at least for what I want, but the audio is not so crash hot. So i'm wondering on how I should go about this.

The area i'm shooting in majority of the time will be inside and I don't imagine there should be too much issue with other noise interference. There however may be sometimes where I am in the field taking an interview with a coach or player. This shouldn't be too hectic though, if the weather is bad or noise condition sub optimal, we can always find an alternative recording location.

Should I use the onboard mic socket on the 550D or would external capture be the best? Keeping in mind my wish is to also have a separate audio component; I feel an external audio would be the best, is this correct?

Should I go with a shotgun microphone? and how would this compare with using Lavalier microphone's considering the fact I shouldn't have too much background noise.

2) Audio devices: what would my best bet be for an actual 'device' for storage/processing of the audio. I'm reading a lot on the Zoom series of H2's & H4's etc. Am I right or wrong in assuming this is a dictaphone? If it is, does it differ in anyway compared to other conventional dictaphones? are there any other pro's or cons's? I currently use an Olympus dictaphone (sans microphone) to record my audio for the podcast and it works pretty well. Would I be able to use a microphone(s) to record straight to the dictaphone *(See Q3) and then sync this up?

3) Additional audio devices: If I was using Lavalier microphones, would I need an audio mixer? I would be looking at 3 to 4 mics (3 panellists and potentially a guest), so would I need a 4 channel mixer? Would this mixer be able to plug straight into my dictaphone or would it make more sense to go mic > mixer > Audacity on my Laptop? Wired Lavalier's would be no big deal.

4) Video editing software: So assuming I have my video setup, I have my audio set up. Syncing them and making it all work honky dory would be my next conundrum. I would also like to make a pretty basic intro/outro for the show, but in saying that having super duper special effects are no massive priority. I've been told Sony Vegas is the goods, but Vegas proper seems a bit steep (price wise) for what I want, or do I want it? Do I need it? Are there alternative programs that are doing the job for a cheaper price? How does Vegas compare to their lower end products like the 'Movie Studio' products? Is it a relatively simple process to get all this audio and video together and make us looking decent?

5) Video hosting: Youtube and Vimeo are the two that scream out to me. Considering the show's would be 30 minutes-ish would my best bet be utilisng Vimeo's premium services or do you think Youtube would do the job well enough, are there alternatives people like to use that maybe I haven't heard of?

Other additional info: HD video isn't super important to me, it's the content that is. Maybe when i'm big and famous on commercial TV people will want to see my ugly mug in high def but really i'm all about producing a nice little show which is accessible to both tech savy and laymen football fans (and easily produced) that shows people decent enough quality but doesn't need to be 1080p laser light show quality with a holographic Tupac chatting to us with 3d capability.

Budget: The cheaper I can get away with it the better. We're a non-commercial show and doing this as a bit of fun on a tuesday night so that means that adding crazy costs onto it might take some of that fun away. Ideally i'd like to get away with sub $500, is that a realistic figure?

Any other hints or tips would be really super appreciated.

And thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to read and reply!

Best Regards,

Chadd.