Not sure if you've done one on hiding lavs. That's a tricky one. You kind of touched on that here. The Ursa product is a good reminder. I've just used an ace bandage, that looks better, and yes, buy the thigh size! I will tell you I let female talent run their own wires. Wardrobe can help with that. Even guys sometimes are squeamish about you fiddling around with equipment when it's on them. Clothes rustle is a big headache. This was a well-produced segment.
If you haven’t done it(I think I’ve been subscribed for about a year) getting better sound from the first set up while vlogging. I watch all these videos by vloggers who are clearly using a hot shoe mic but when I try it, even with a dead cat, I get way too much background noise. I’ve started to use my lav instead but that really messes with the quick pace of trying to vlog.
Love these videos - keep ‘em coming. Seriously- this is the best kind of brand content - educational no matter what brand someone used but makes me think “Deity” when I need audio gear.
As I got into producing videos, I was shocked at how easy good video is, and how hard good audio is. Audio is MUCH harder than video. This video was really a great tutorial to help people get started with good audio. Would love to see you do a similar tutorial on an outdoor musician . . . like a guy playing a guitar while singing. One microphone? Two microphones? A beginners guide to recording one musician singing and with an instrument would sure be great. Thanks for your great work.
Best tip: hire a sound guy! We are flexible on rates, we have the equipment (which can run into the thousands of dollars), we know what we are doing, we know how to solve problems, we know how to hide mics, and we don't eat much at craft services, promise.
@@scottslotterbeck3796 And given I live in the jungles of Uganda, your suggestion is pretty much useless. I am trying to record indigenous musicians on traditional stringed instruments. I do have good equipment, but no, there is no sound guy around the corner to hire
@@paulmcwhorter Just a suggestion! Best hint, get mic as close to talent as you can, lav mic or boom pole. As for recording instruments, there are lots of youtube videos on that.
💯 The reason why good audio is difficult is because we can’t “see it”. If we had a tool that could see polar pattern through glasses, we’d have an easier time setting up and choosing gear. We would also be able to see best practices real time. I think it’s hilarious that some sound guys turn into complete d bags because they are in a non visual art that’s super important. They say stuff like “I don’t need fancy scopes, use your ears”. Sure you should always be listening, but tell a DP to stop using scopes and histograms for exposure and say “Use your eyes”.
I did 4 years of film school and I graduated having little to no knowledge of sound. This video has helped me tremendously and I feel so prepared to go out and shoot some really good stuff. Thank you so much!
Good video. You definitely need to do one for harsher environments though such as conferences, expos, sporting events, etc. Where you have a LOT of background noise and RF interference.
@@DeityMicrophones Glad I can help. This is one that I face regularly and discussed with both Alan (Sound Speed) and Curtis Judd. Ended up using a handheld Sennheiser Md46 recording directly into a Tascam DR10x, however always looking for more elegant solutions for interviews at large conferences (60k attendees with a TON of RF) and outdoor interviews where you have gun fire or very windy conditions.
Great video!!! My students will appreciate this. Also, I just picked up a D4 Mini from Samy’s Camera. Awesome little mic so far, but still need to do my wind test at the beach. Thanks for the mic and keep up the great content.
Excellent primer on doing outdoor interviews, which I've done many times, especially documentaries, where the interviewee works or where he wants to illustrate his interview with some visuals. Another tip is to use a high pass filter in your audio recorder. Wind noise is generally in the low frequency range. You run the risk of losing the bottom range, but sometimes it's the trade-off which can save your audio.
All my microphones besides Samson usb mic are from Deity . I have a radio set with kit lavs and I bought a W lav pro separately . I have 2 s mic 2s and one long s mic 2 . 😊 I am ambassador of deity equipment
Hi, really great vid, thanks for that! Immediately after watching I started searching for the long trs cable. The options got me wondering if the cable should be a male to male + female>female jack or just a single long male>female cable. Should one care about gold plate connectors?
Hey Paul, first off, thanks for your tremendous work and the time and effort you obviously put in; just want to say they are incredibly helpful and really appreciated. Second, would like to know your take on shooting with the microphone visible, like in news/sports footage where the interviewer would usually speak to the mic when asking questions then point the microphone towards the subject. Should we avoid that setup as much as possible or does the audience not mind (they probably are used to it at this point)?
Having made cables for 20 years, a $10 cable's shielding is garbage (regardless of how many 'layers' they say they have), and is going to give you more problems than anything. More layers of shielding is not important - look for a coverage percentage (50%, 90%, etc). Higher is better. If you're wanting to do this professionally, have someone make a cable for you, or learn to make it yourself (it's not hard, it just takes practice). Being able to make and repair your own cables can be a huge savings (I like Canare cables and connectors, and Neutrik connectors), since you're often paying for the labor. I carried a small soldering kit out with me, and it saved me more than once... :)
Great video what boom pole do I need to use with deity mic D4 mini want one that can just attach D4 mini to pole like it being attach to on camera I assume I can find one on Amazon
Do you have recommendations for XLR. mics to be used in a street protest? My aim is to do short interviews with small groups of 1 to 3 strangers in a street protest where there are thousands of people chanting, banging drums, etc. Initially I was thinking of a shotgun mic but then thought that if I'm interviewing 2 people at the same time I will have to switch the camera back and forth to "focus" the mic on each sound source. Maybe a mic with a cardioid polar pattern would be better. But would such a mic capture enough audio from a speaker who is 1m to 1.5m away? What do you think would be a good mic for this situation?
Really nice video! especially the parts when you explained TRS cable, URSA strap and headphones. Now for a really dumb mythbuster question. Can you use multiple microphones at different positions and stack the time coded audios to make the audio clearer like photographers do with image stacking?
The TRS explanation was not accurate. TRS can be one of 2 things: 1. a "Balanced" line that carries 1 signal, and has a circuit on the receiving end of the gear for noise cancellation, or 2. a pair of "Unbalanced" lines (typically Stereo) that has no noise cancelling circuitry on the receiving end. Higher-end, Professional gear is typically (but not always) Balanced. Balancing is a complicated subject, but it basically helps reject EMI and RFI noise better. "Unbalanced" (or "TS") is the Consumer standard, which you often see in gear like this. Mixing and matching Balanced and Unbalanced can cause ground loop problems (that horrible 60Hz hum). Using a TRS cable in a TS jack can also introduce interference, so consult your camera manual to see what kind of input it needs. "TRS" stands for Tip, Ring, Sleeve. "TS" stands for just Tip, Sleeve. Those terms are only used for 1/4" or 1/8" connectors. Like I said, this is a complicated subject, and just saying TRS is better is not true. You need the right cable for the gear. I hope this helps... :)
Also, You can put as many time coded audio tracks in your editor as it allows. The problem there is mic placement, which can easily result in phase problems, and if Balanced verses Unbalanced was complicated... Let's just say that getting one or two good, clean sources will serve you better than multiple ones... :)
Great video! I have a rode lavalier mic that is plugged directly into my iPhone or Canon 60D. The sound is okay but not what I would like it to be. Would the sound be better by using a remote transmitter like you show here? Does a remote transmitter allow you to get better volume from the speakers voice?
Is there any particular branded triple shield TRS cable out there? i didn't find any.. if any product link available that will be easy which works with deity mics
HI andrew... It's been a while to see your videos. I want to know how to record HDR voices such as songs, drama performance, etc. where the volume ranges from quiet to very loud. I'm having trouble to record such sound especially using my wireless mic because it is either too quiet or too loud, making the sound clips. It's not really an issue if I plug mic directly to recorder, but it's not convenient. What am I missing here? and What should I do to combat this issue?
@@scottslotterbeck3796 32 bit float is a game changer, though you do have to make sure you're recording in an environment that isn't noisy so the quiet parts still sound good, but you won't clip or have any significant amount of quantization noise.
@@thatcherfreeman I've never used a 32 bit float, but Curtis Judd likes it. My old Sound Devices is 24 bit. I use a safety track and closely monitor. With documentaries, you don't do multiple retakes, lol.
Hey I'm really struggling to get sound without echo. My study is small, wooden floors and not much on the walls. I've put up a few sound panels but they haven't helped much. I don't want to add any more panels as I don't want the study to look like a studio. Is there a type of mic or set up that you would recommend for this type of room for someone doing screen share and tutorial type recording. Something I can plug directly into a macbook is a bonus. #mailbag
The TRS cable is an unbalanced cable. Using a balanced cable and audio set up will allow you to run longer distance and reject more interference. An XLR mic cable is a balanced cable. You kind of touched on it with the "professional mic" set up you had at the end.
@@scottslotterbeck3796 Very true. If you're concerned about EMI and RFI, that's your best bet. Double, triple, quintuple shielded unbalanced cable could still get interference. This is why professional film crews use balanced audio cables instead of unbalanced. Most of my videos are shot with an unbalanced TRS cable in a somewhat high RF environment. If I had the money for a camera with XLR or had the time to set up an external recorder every time, I would. But, for the most part, I haven't had much of a problem with the high RF.
@@TheBroadcastEngineer Keep your runs as short as you can. Like you, I've not have much of a problem. Years ago, the mic into camera thing is what I did for interviews.
@@scottslotterbeck3796 Yep! The Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 47 (@SBE 47 Los Angeles) did a video about cables and talk about this issue. They're also working on a microphone series as well.
While not directly related to this video, I'm curious to find out your view about 2.4GHz vs UHF wireless Lav systems. I keep coming across fairly strong views that 2.4GHz systems are complete rubbish, unreliable and would never be found in any professional's tool kit. Now Deity makes both 2.4GHz and UHF systems, so I assume that you have extensive experience on when, where and how both systems perform, or don't, in various situations. So to this end, are 2.4GHz systems so bad that you'd never find any professional using them and by this I don't mean just sound engineers, but more so videographers and the like?
Very good advice. In addition, I always try to get a minimum of two good sound sources - for example, the mic on a boom AND a lav PLUS a good, on-camera supercardiod for safety, all preferably feeding an audio recorder with good preamps that can record each isolated track and, if mounted on-camera, feed the camera’s audio as well.
My man! Redundancy! Yes, I love to use multiple audio sources. I LOVE shotguns or cardiod on a 'pole, but I've had some editors prefer a lav, esp. if the talent mives their head a lit in a scene. I've also taped a lav out of sight on a ketsup bottle, in a plant, whatever works. If you don't give the editor good sound, you will never be hired again
Informative. You can also always ask the person in charge of the house location to turn off the pool water machine. or just leave natural background noise in the mix if what your doing is kinda documentary.
I enjoy your videos and have learned a lot from them. I have a (low budget) gig for a Violin instructor shooting video for her student recitals. The recitals normally have 12-15 students each performing one violin piece. They range in age from 6-16 years old and the sound levels varies by student. Also most have an accompanying piano but not all of them. This is a live recital in front of the parents of the students. I don’t have the option for a sound checks for each student, only before the recital starts. How would you recommend recording the audio for this?
Can you show the mics? I'd use a cardiod on a boom on a C stand. Monitor it, adjust volume accordingly. Aim it toward the violin body. There are a lot of videos on RU-vid showing how to mic a quartet, chorus, etc. I'd use a recorder with a safety track and set the volume in the high side to get quiet players. Sounds fun!
@@scottslotterbeck3796 Thanks for getting back to me on this. What you stated is about what I do now however no mic in the shot. Because it is a live performance, I need to try to stay out of the way as much as possible. Normally the violins are loud enough that I can get decent audio from about 10-12 feet away.
