Audio Settings for Sound Board (Mic/Line)
 

Hey guys, I have a play to do tonight and am still confused about audio settings.

There are a load of mics being sent to the sound boards- floor mics, hanging stage mics, lav mics on some of the kids (of course the lav mics can come out booming). There is a little music orginating from the soundboard going to a PA system along with the vocals.

My equipment: Sony VX2100 with audio set on 16 bit, manual audio control, level at the midway point. There is a Beachtek with Left and Right XLR inputs on the Sony. I can connect to the soundboard's Master out with 1/4 TS.

I can also connect an Iriver to the Soundboard using RCA jacks at the end.

I'm up for any advice, but I suspect my real issue is my confusion about the Line and Mic settings on both the Beachtek and the iriver. Should I set this equipment at Mic or Line? I don't know the difference.

Thanks,
Scott

if you are going from the main out of the mixer, you should be set at line level - make sure you monitor it with good headphones and listen for distortion. If there is any, turn the level down and make sure you allow for increases in volume if an actor is yelling or if there are any loud scenes where many people are talking at the same time.

Thanks Andrew. When you talk about lowering the line level during big screams and mob group talking, are you talking about lowering the levels on the Beachtek device or the audio level on the camera?

Last night at rehearsal, I had both channels of the Beach set at the fourth dot and it was good except the for the screaming. I'm just not sure if I should be raising and lowering the Beach or the camera during the screams.
-Scott

I would lower the level on the beach, simply because I think it's easier to work with and adjust quickly and because it's good to give the camera a level that isn't too high or low. Have you considered a compressor for screams? If you can borrow one, it will automatically compress the sound if it gets above a certain level - very useful.
Another thing you may want to consider is recording different levels on different channels. For example, record the left channel at the level you want and the right channel at a lower level so if the left channel distorts, you have the right channel to work with when editing.