any way to record sound without plugging the mic into the camera?
 

Hi, I'm a high school student with no budget, and I want to make a documentary. I want the documentary to be as professional as it can possibly be with no budget. I own a cheap MiniDV camera that has no input for an external mic, but I do own a mic that will give me better audio than the camera. So I was wondering if there was any way that I could record the audio from the interviews with this mic on a boom, recording it to an external source, and then synching it with the video in post.

Would this improve my documentary at all? If so, what external recording devices could I use?

Thanks,

Ernesto.

Try to borrow an IRiver (700 or 800 series, I think) or Sony MiniDisc Player with microphone input. They will provide an adequate voice soundtrack.

Thanks, those are good ideas.

Would it be possible to record to an iPod Nano?

No, the iPod Nano has no mic inputs. It is very rare to find an MP3 device with a mic preamp built in. The iRiver 700/800 series are the exception. I use an iRiver 790 and it is surprisingly good. You have to find a solid state device with a mic input.

~jr

How do you get the audio to sync up in post?

Trying to do double system sound on a documentary sounds like a major headache to me. It's hard to capture spontaneous footage when you have to clap it every time. Maybe you could fashion a bloop light or something (I think that's how they used to do it in the old days). I think you're best bet is voiceovers, and just use the on-camera mic for ambient noise.

The following link describes "Bloop Lights" and other techniques used for timecode.

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%...ut%20slate.htm

Caution: This is a lengthly discussion of the subject matter.

You should also be recording sound on Camera mic, though you are recording a second sound track.

In Premiere in post, once you've captured the sound track, you bring in the track on a separate audio line, and try to match up the sound pattern.

In long runs, you will eventually face synch issues, but for short takes, you can usually match up pretty well.

The way is was stated made it sound like there was an easy "all-in-wonder" way to do it. Guess not. The ol' listen and match theory. :)