Oops!
 

Sorry for the double-post guys, My browser sent the post 2 times and I cant delete the second post.

Evan,
I just got my xl2 ( had been using a GL1). I bought an AT 897 which I'm happy with. I also got the Sennheiser G2 with the xtra mic plug. It seems to work well and sounds good, but I haven't had the opportunity to put much time on it.
Bruce yarock

How to plug a Sennheiser MKE300 (P2) on a PD170 (XLR)? Will it work?
 

The sound will have the same quality? Can I mount the mic on a boom and use long XLR cables?

Re: How to plug a Sennheiser MKE300 (P2) on a PD170 (XLR)? Will it work?
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Gustavo Godinho : The sound will have the same quality?

Yes but you have to have an adapter from the 3.5mm plug to the XLR connector. Easy to do.


Can I mount the mic on a boom and use long XLR cables?

Probably not without some interference.

-->>>

!!!!Post Your Audio-Tricks for movies In Here!!!
 

HI

I will start with mine. You will only be able to make the dialogue better whilst also affecting the stereo final mix, that means all ambient & source sound that was picked up whilst filming. THis may not be too much of a problem, unless the recorded material you have to work with is actually distorted.
Before I start giving you my tips, you can LEARN everything from editing audio, making your own music with midi and vst synths, clean recording at : http://www.futureproducers.com

the futurproducers forum is the best audio forum online. It is like dvinfo being the best in dv information.

http://www.kvr-vst.com/get.php

1) You can't record everyhting with your shotgun mic. Sometimes you need to fix things in post production. The best way is to use a secuencer (cubase, sonar, logic, pro tools). This gives you a visual representation of the tracks. YOu can also add VST-plugins. With VST you can edit everything your heart desires. I MEAN EVRYTHING! You can create profesional effects and mixing.

A nice link that shows the different types of effects you could use in your spielberg movies is: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep0...2c9b9084b94698

If you are rich, you can use hardware effects machines, but we live in a digital era and thanks to the internet you can use freeware fx plugins. You don't need to spend anything in your audio arsenal.

The best free FX/synth/vokator/EQ/rerverb/ditortion vst/direct x plugins can be found on the KVR-VST site here:
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get.php

2) I love reverb. Use reverb in the most important scenes. Escpecially in moments of death/sex scenes/action etc. Also use reverb in scenes like slomotions, flashbacks and if you want to acentuate a mood like for instance ' screaming for help' or ' crying' or ' killing someone with a gun'. Rerverb can also be used to have a nicer transition from one scene to a totally different scene. Look at the french amelie movie . They used it tons of times in scenes like ' the blinkin of a eye' , ' closing a door', opening a door, flashbacks etc. Silence is another nice thing you can use in movies. USE silence to create more depth in your scene.



Before adding effects:
a) I edit my main tracks recorded with the cam's mic or the shotgun mic. I delete everything that doesnt belong in a movie : ' rumble' , distorted recordings, sound of the cam's tape transport, footsteps of the camera man, details such as humms, crackles and other things. PUT YOUR HEADPHONE ON , otherwise you won't hear the details. Buy good nearfield monitors for your studio.
Check this intersing link on nearfield monitors http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jun0...s/monitors.asp
I bought mine behringer truths for 260 euros each. They sound flat and not-boosted!!

b) Often I do a rough production of the scenes without audio, render it and import it abck into my sequencer. I then start cutting and pasting the audio there. I try to do lots of transitions and fading stuff at the end of words. There is nothing worse to hear audio being cut out too obviously.
c) Every little detail is important.
- The dB scale can get very technical but in digital the absolute rule of thumb is to keep everything below 0 dB or else you will get digital clipping.
- add sparkle to your upper frequency range of the vocals. It is in this range (3000-12000 hz)here that people think that the quality is profesional. Watch out with the ' sss'. Watcho ut with the frequency around 3500hz. This area is the most delicate freq. spot. Too much here and it people will get ired.

eq tips:

250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness
50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom end
100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness Area
800-1kHz ~ Adds beef to small speakers
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8kHz ~ Adds high-end presence
8-12kHz ~ Adds hiss

Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the mic and song.Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity.

100-250Hz ~ Adds 'up-frontness'; watch out with the freq specs of your cam mic or shotgun. Don't add EQ if there is nothing to be added. DO a frequency plot to see what frequencies the vocals are made of. Soundforge has one. SO has Cubase, logic and sonar, adobe premier.

200 hz: 1. Increase to add fullness to vocals; Reduce to decrease muddiness of vocals

250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area

1-6kHz ~ Adds presence; 5. Reduce to increase breathy, soft sound on background vocals.

6-8kHz ~ Adds sibilance and clarity

8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness; Increase to brighten vocals

15 hz and above; 15KHz; Increase to brighten vocals (breath sound).

Good EQ plugs are: http://www.waves.com


- check your VOLUMES. Do volume riding with automation first! Record your movements. Check for overall volume consistancy. IF you prefer to use a vst/direct x plugin for compression, watch out cause you might bring up the noise levels as well. A little bit of compression gives the conversation a better flow. Add a tube emulator plugin to your mastering and you are the man! Add warmth to your vocals in the lower frequency range

PSP vintage warmer and PSP saturator are GOOD! http://www.pspaudioware.com/

- Look at the room you recorded in. Does it have lots of wood but the sound you have is too flat? Fix it with a little bit of EQ. Add extra effects in the most important scenes. Turn up the volume, adding a little bit of reverb and echo. Watch out with your zooms and camera views. There has to be a constistency in there. As soon as an actor changes from one room to another (entering a kitchen for instance), try to figure out if the audio flow is correct. Does it sound good? Does the ambience sound correct and continious (traffic noise, television noise, birds, noise from closing/opening doors ?)
- Do a retake of your audio in post production if you are not satisfied. All mayor hollywood movies do that. Recreate the ambient noise & room sounds etc
- good actors produce great sounds. Articulation is the key. Let the conversation be normal and real.
- telephone FX tricks are easy. Take the sample , put it in a audio editor, and cutt everything below 800 hz and above 3000hz.
- Add comentary/voice overs to your movies, recorded with a different mic (condensor) so that you can hear it harder and deeper than the conversations. Add extra bass and a push-up in the 3000-5000 hz area to get the attention of your viewer.
click here for an article on recording voice overs:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997...pokenword.html

- add extra effecs to your movie. You can't always record everything while you are recording your footage. Watch the profesional movies and check out the little details. YOu can record them yourself in a garage with a condenserr mic instead of using your shotgun. EFFECTS that are made in pro-production: footsteps, doors, pouring water/beer, stabs, punches( if you have meat at your house, cut a slice and give it some mike tyson punches), telephone sounds, crunching of floors (use cornflakes to make these sounds, invent something, evrything is posible) etc, outside ambience like traffic, nature. do You don't get a nice audio flow/consinstancy if you introduce cuts in ambience sounds. Watch out with traffic sound. DO not make them tooo loud. some downloadable fx sounds at: http://www.sounddogs.com/start.asp

- add background music to bring evrything together. Watch out with copyrighted material.MAke your own music easily with your pc. a good Midi-sequencer is the only thing you need. You can even make msuic with your mouse with programs such as reason 2.5 http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec0...2c9b9084b94698
and musicmaker. YOu have free sytnhs outthere online to add horror or dramatic effects to your movie. I use a synth called Absynth which was used for the the gladiotor movie. It is simple. Use a preset, tweak it and add it to your movie. You will be amazed what you can do with your pc and your mouse.
- be creative. use audio the same as video. HOw can you steel your viewer's attention? A nice effects was the ' PIANO' movie. Remeber the hard screaming sound you heard after the bomb had landed in one of the rooms? It grabbed my attention. Another way of learning to be creative is to look at movies, write down what you like and try to figure out how you can add your own tricks to your movies. You can also google for the oscars for best special effects. In braveheart for instance, the sound of the horses were made in post production. How? They used condensor mic, recorded the horses in a quiet enviromont and they added extra BASS and extra REVERB to grab your attention. Startrek monster effects are easily created with freeware and fullware. YOu only need a vokator plugin or program. a good one is orange vocator(used in cher's I believe) or Vokator from NI http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep0...2c9b9084b94698


How to make your own music with the pc: click here:

http://www.futureproducers.com/links.php/category/9

I hope I have given you some good info. The best thing you can do is study some audio forums. There is one forum which is the best out there. I learned everything from there.

Tricks for audio are online at the best forum for audio recording and editing:

Thanks for the share there, Jose!
On the side of web-ettiquette, please do not post links to other forums when there is no specific subject on topic?

mobile HD recording
 

Just came across this, wondered what you thought of if it for mobile/backup recording.

http://www.neurosaudio.com/

mixing audio..very important, please read here!
 

hi
I must direct a short film, so i've some questions:

1- i've a panasonic gs400 and a electret supercardioid microphone...i don't' know if buying a shotgun (at815b) or not.I'd like a clear sound for the dialogues and also for the background..

2- i've another camera, in which i could record the background audio...so, in this way, in the gs400 i connect the shotgun microphone via xlr-jack cable , and in the other camcorder i record the background in the same time with the super cardioid..is it right??but, i think , that also in the second camera voices would be recorded..how can i mix the two fonts??

3 have you any other solution to have a good audio without spending too much??i want a very good audio..
thanks....

ops..i forgot to say that the supercardioid microphone i have is mon..it is another problem..can i record the background in mono??is it bad??the at815b shotgun is always mono, but is it ok for the dialogues...not?

Behringer UB1204FX mini-review
 

The special thing about this mixer is that it has an effects unit built in.
PRO: One of the effects is a tone generator, which is handy for figuring out what your levels convert to after limiting and figuring out what your sound card does to your signal.
CON: This is the most confusing mixer I ever encounter. If you put the knobs in their detente/middle position, your sound will get routed to the effects unit and come back into your final mix with an effect. You need to turn aux send 2s off.
I'm not sure if any of the other effects are any good.

Other notes:
A- Ethical? Apparently Behringer stole/used Mackie's preamp design. They got into a lawsuit and settled out of court. Other Behringer products bear remarkable similarity to competitor's.
*Boycott probably won't work as Behringer will have no idea you didn't buy their product for this reason. It's probably a better idea to send them a letter? I don't even know.
B- Cheap. Mackie mixer is about 3X price.
C- Apparently the UB-series Behringer mixers have nice preamps (see A), but I have no way of testing.
D- The mixer has a second bus. There's main mix and "alt 3-4".
E- With the FX unit set to generate tone and the volume knob for effects turned all the way down, you can still very faintly hear tone on headphones. You could set the FX unit to a reverb and you won't hear anything.

Setting Gain vs Gain vs Attenuation
 

I have a question about my Terratec DMX-6fire soundcard.

The soundcard gives me 3 different ways to adjust the level of the signal. I've got a mechanical gain knob on the break-out box, a software gain control on the soundcard's software control panel (0 to 18db), and an attenuation control on the software control panel (0 to -45db).

I know about avoiding clipping/distortion, but can anyone give me any specific advice on the optimum way to set up these three "overlapping" controls for the best signal?

Particularly...

- what are the software gain and attenuation doing differently? When would I want to use attenuation?

- how do the 2 gain controls play off against each other? Should I set the mechanical gain to just before the warning light and then do a similar thing with the software gain?

thanks

First, gain is adding volume to the mic/soundcard's initial output.
Attenuation is just the opposite, reducing output.
Using gain and attenuation in the same path can be a bad thing if things are already balanced and you're adding/subtracting at various points in the audio chain.

Regarding your soundcard, I'd set it at 0db on input and leave it there.
Use Attenuation where necessary.

Wireless for gl-1
 

Hello everyone. Sorry if this is a reprint i did a search, so I am writing under the understanding that it isn't.

I am looking at wireless mic system for GL1, I have xlr adapter. I just don't know a lot about the wireless systems. On b&h they are listed as UHF and VHF, but i don't know the characteristics of either.... Thanks in advance for the help, (as always!)

I 'm happy with the Sennheiser g2 (with the addl. mic plug). works good and sounds fine.
Bruce Yarock

Pro Tools Le 6.4 & RAID 0
 

I'm planning on building/assembling a new computer in January for A/V production-- PT, Vegas, and Wavelab. Digidesing's compatability page says that they do not support RAID. I've done some crazy things with Pro Tools over the past decade that Digi hasn't "officially" supported. Has anyone had success running an LE system on a box that was reading/wriing to a RAID 0 setup? The mobo I'm considering uses the Promise SATA RAID chipset.

It won't be the end of the world if it can't be done... The main reason I want to move up to RAID is for video editing speed and girth-- lol. e.g. 2 X Maxtor 300GB w/16MB cache. Yes, it's true, I have "hard drive" envy...

My plans include:
AMD 64 3500
Gigabyte CPU cooler/heat sink
2GB DDR400 RAM
Seagate 120GB 8MB cache (boot drive)
Maxtor 300GB X 2 RAID 0
Video Card I danooo something w/256MB and dual DVI's...
DVD_R (haven't read up on what's new and cool yet...)

Nothing is firm yet. I'm planning on doing this next month.

Thanks for the input!

If you manually juggle files, large media files spread out over 2 drives (non-RAIDed) is actually faster than RAID.

Not that hard drive speed matters too much... I've tested things out and generally hard drive speed no difference on performance.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=18784

For audio, your hard drives will really only be a problem if you can't play back enough tracks at once, or if you are having problems capturing many tracks at once. Even if you do, spreading tracks out over two drives (if possible) would be faster/better than RAID.

2- This is kind of off topic, but if the primary use of your machine is video editing then you might want to consider getting a Pentium processor as they are generally faster. AMD64 processors are much faster at audio (like 50%?), but video will probably require more resources than audio does.

If you post or look through the video forums here you can get more info on building a new machine.

You can also check out silentpcreview.com for lots of information about building a quiet PC, if noise is important. A quiet configuration would run something like the following:
3700BQE (see the article discussion for it, goes over how to do hard drive decoupling)
quietest PSU (should be latest revision seasonic super tornado)
hard drives - Samsung, Seagate, Hitachi (see reviews / recommended hard drives list)
processor- AMD 64, Canterwood-core Pentium or Prescott-core Pentium (in that order, AMD64 being quietest)
heatsink - zalman 7000alcu or Thermalright XP-120.
passively cooled video card

3- The digidesign user's conference has lots of great information on building your own machine.

http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...fpart=1#360675
(The link will take you to the Allenstein thread... which covers building a PC for Pro Tools LE use.)

PeachTek reviews?
 

Hi:

Searching through the messages here I discovered a couple of references to the PeachTek Campressor, but I didn't see any links to reviews or any advice regarding one. Has anyone used one of these units and can offer their opinions on it?

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Ben

battery for Senn. MKE 300
 

are there any indicators (before it is too late) on when it is time to change the battery on this mic?

I had some popping on a wedding with this mic and didn't think until afterwards that the cause could be the battery.

Thanks, Jay

There is an LED indicator, but how to read them seems to be different on every piece of gear. Can't help you beyond that.

XLR Adapters - 3 Inputs?
 

Hey There. I was wondering about those 3-channel XLR Adapters. Almost all of them are 2-input adapters, and Im wondering if I get a 3-Input adapter for my GL2 \ VX2100, would there be some audio compromise \ drawbacks? I know that with the Panasonic ENG Cams that we use at the station, they only allow for 2-inputs becuase of stereo \ mono issues. Thanks for your help!

PS>

Is this a good idea for making 2 ports into 3:

http://www.audiolines.com/cgi-bin/dj.cgi?detail=yes&template=&exact_match=yes&product=yxlrm-2xlrf

Scenario:

Mic 1 & 2: On The Y-Ends of the XLR Splitter. 2 Commentators both with Shure VP64A's.

Mic 3: The Second Unused port on my adapter. With some sort of Omni mic (Either the ATM10a or ATM31a)

Before I go out and buy all of this stuff I just wanna make sure the results will be up to par. Thanks so much!

HDV and audio
 

Anyone here made the jump to HDV? Just curious how you're finding the MPEG audio. I've done my own tests with both the Z1 and the FX1, I'd like to hear feedback from others.

Rode K2 - Now what
 

Jumped in big (well, big cost for me) and ordered a K2 based on reviews and max spl. I'll be using it to record voice overs mostly in documentary type stuff.

Notice most discussions on it also included that a mic Preamp was used. I'm hoping the output from it's power supply will be all that's needed to feed into my DSR 500. I do have a Beheringer Shark that includes a pre and a Shure 267 but suspect they are both way under kill for that mic.

Anyone have any experience with this mic in a similar situation?

If I do need the pre, I'm looking at building the Seventh Circle Audio J99. Any recommedations pro/con on it?

Thanks!

Re: Rode K2 - Now what
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Wilson : Jumped in big (well, big cost for me) and ordered a K2 based on reviews and max spl. I'll be using it to record voice overs mostly in documentary type stuff.

Notice most discussions on it also included that a mic Preamp was used. I'm hoping the output from it's power supply will be all that's needed to feed into my DSR 500. I do have a Beheringer Shark that includes a pre and a Shure 267 but suspect they are both way under kill for that mic.

Anyone have any experience with this mic in a similar situation?

If I do need the pre, I'm looking at building the Seventh Circle Audio J99. Any recommedations pro/con on it?

Thanks! -->>>

You are good to go. Your camera already has a mic preamp. Now, add a nice limiter to catch the inevitable peaks, and you have a nice rig. The one in the SOUND DEVICES MIXPre. It's a very nice sounding 2 channel mixer with very nice sounding limiter. With it, you're really ready and every mic you plug into it will sound better than if plugged into your camera.

The Shark..not so much..yawn.

Find out WHY a good mixer is your friend. It's in my Audio Bootcamp Field Guide.


Regards,

Ty Ford

Wireless mic for outdoors?
 

I’m looking for a wireless Lav mic to be used almost exclusively outdoors, mainly in wilderness situations, and am looking for advice on which one to choose. After reading through numerous posts I’ve been looking at the Sennheiser g2 wireless at B + H. They list 20 different models/combos at varying prices. I'm learning as I go and don't have an audio background. Any help would be appreciated. Also, is it OK to use these in wet and snowy weather? I’m using a gl2 w/a beachtek xlr adapter.

Hi Spot

Got my FX1E a week ago. I honestly can't tell the difference between MPEG2 audio and DV PCM audio. I'm completely happy with the quality!

Cheers
Tim

shotgun + surrounding
 

Probably somone else already asked about this, but I couldn't find nothing with "Search".

Here it is:
I'm looking for a microphone that (like the canon DM50) can be selected from wide (stereo) to narow (mono). I had that on my old VHS Panasonic and I miss it (for event video).
I have a Canon XM2 (GL2) and I'm thinking to buy the DM50 for this particular feature.
Is there something better then the DM50 with the 3 positions switch?

Thanks!

I have no experience with the DM50. I also don't have any experience with the Sony ECM-MS957 - Stereo Condenser Microphone, but I know it can be switched from wide stereo to narrow stereo (which is still very wide compared to a better mono directional mic like an Audio-Technica AT897).

Sennheiser Evolution 100 Gen 2?
 

Has anyone compared the Gen 2 Sennheiser wireless to the Gen 1? Many of the folk I know had a strong preference for Audio Technica in the $500 to $600 price range but that was comparing it to the generation 1 wireless. I like my current Sennheiser stuff and prefer to stick to a brand I know if their newer gen 2 performs better than gen 1.

Greg

Live Music
 

Hey everyone...
I've had mixed audio results when shooting live music. I generally use an XL-1 with an AT-835b - monitor the sound through headphones/using the limited EQ on the back of the XL-1. I've gotten some decent live sound and some real crappy stuff.
For those of you out there that do a lot of concerts, what do you do? Do you come off the sound board into a separate recorder and just use camera sound to get ambient crowd noise, etc? Is using a shotgun style mic too narrow of a pickup pattern? Would something like an SM-58 be better for getting overall sound?
Is it better to have a field mixer? I tried using a Tascam 4 track as a mixer once... (wanted to use its EQ)- yeah, that didn't work too well... lots of buzzing...
Anyways, I'm kind of a sound newbie (just picked up a copy of "Audio for film and video production" - but thought I'd ask the collective experience here... Thanks
CMV

apologize if I'm repeating a thread.... had scanned a few on these pages to see if my "issue" was already discussed....
didn't notice the one a few rungs below......

CMV

Arrested Development... how 'bout that audio?
 

Hey gang... since our group is ever growing... and the now infamous Charles Papert actually has experience on this show I'm hoping somebody may have a handle on how they do the audio for it?

I remember a couple threads about this show last year and I just never watched it. I wanted to (just because of CP) but it just seemed like I always missed it. Well I've been watching it this season and in every show there's a couple of laugh-out-loud moments guaranteed. I'm smiling through the whole show at the very least.

Well tonight as I watched it I couldn't shake the feeling that they were doing it all location sound. Could the boom op be getting that much isolation? Is it lavs? Or is the loose, handheld style just making me THINK it's location sound and it's really a lot of ADR?

mixing 5.1 audio for premiere pro
 

Hi-

I'll be editing a project on Premiere Pro on a windows based computer - and want to end up with 5.1 audio.

Will I need an additional audio mixing program to do this? Is there one that works well with Premiere?

And how are the channels handled when the finished project is output'd to tape ?

Does the mixing program combine the 5.1 tracks and a mixed down stereo pair for broadcast? And will I have control over the stereo mixdown???

Thanks for your help!

(great website!)

For audio mixing in the Adobe world, you'll want Adobe Audition.
Formerly Cool Edit Pro, this is a pretty good audio tool to mix with, and manages 5.1 just fine. You'll be able to output all sorts of mixes from this application.
You can mix surround directly in Premiere, too, although I'm not a fan of how it all works. Unfortunately, Adobe just hasn't got the elegant surround mixing tools that Vegas, Nuendo, and ProTools have offered. Not yet, anyway.

DAT Question
 

Can DAT recorders be plugged into a computer so I can transfer my audio into an NLE (to synch with my FILM, transferred to VIDEO)?

Thank you in advance!
Shane

The short answer is yes, the long answer is probably not in the way you're thinking.
DAT audio is recorded and played back in real time. The material doesn't exist as "files" that can be quickly transfered.
The tape must be played into the computer using either an analog or a digital audio path. How to do this depends on your DAT deck and the audio hardware and software your computer has.

Beachtek DXA2 vs XLR to mini adpt
 

I bought an XLR to mini adapter for my AT897........what will the DXA2 give that the adpt won't??


Also, what are the practical differences in the Beachtek DXA2 and DXA2S??

Thanks.

The BeachTek DXA-2 will give you a physical connection to the camera, a single XLR input, an Aux input, rotary attenuation controls if your mic or Aux has a hot output, Mono/Stereo switch, and a two-position grounding switch to help eliminate hum.
The "S" model give you all that and a second XLR input. The S is just like the other normal models, only in a smaller package.

Matt:

My one day on the show was sort of a fluke, but one never knows, I might show up there again. Probably not since the DP's have changed since first season.

I don't remember for sure, but I think the show was traditional miked with boompoles and the odd wireless.

iPod Recording Hack, Higher quality
 

Haven't tried this, but saw it and thought some people might be interested in it. You can change the audio quality of iPod recording from 8 kHz to as high as 96 kHz.

http://ipod.hackaday.com/entry/1234000147025394/