filming live music with pd 170 vx 2000
 

hello. newbie here and have to film some live concerts for a rock tour... I have a sony vx 2000 and a sony pd 170, I am hoping to get XLR sound into the pd 170... just was wondering from any experts in this live music videoing field for any advice such as link or separate channals for adusting the sound and anything else that a novice should know! also the ae is a little different set up on the vx 2000 then the pd 170, any advice on that as well would be great!

thanks so much and i luv this forum!

pablo

Hi Ya

Given that you have 2 cameras, I'd recommend the following

1. Get friendly with sound engineer and ask for 2 feeds (if you can get more and have access to a small mixer (e.g a mackie 1202 or 1402) get as many as you can and do a sub-mix of the band. You could also set up a few crowd mics and mix these in too
2. Set up the PD170 as a fixed base on tripod with a good view of stage area.
3. Take a feed from the Mixing desk (or your sub mix desk)and record into the balanced inputs on the PD170.
Sound like you might be part of the crew so ask the sound engineer if he/(she!) has any spare aux channels so that they can create a submix for you. If they have any spare compression available, this is preferable to auto gain
4. Get 2 separate feeds (depending on material being played) I'd probably take Drums and bass on one track with vocals and other instruments on the the 2nd. (Might just take vocal to one track depening on style) Decide if you want to be able to adjust thes relative levels in post.
5. Treat the 2 channels separately and switch the link off
If you want to be very expert, set up yor own compressor and switch the autogain to off on the PD170
6. Use the VX2000 as a floating camera and get a mate to film close-ups of the band. (keeping the tape rolling all the time). You should supervise the sound and the main safety camera.
7. In post, import the footage, synch up the 2 tapes and cut between the 2.

I have done all the above and more in some of the stuff I do regularly so feel free to ask some more if the above is not clear.

Regards P