ZOOM F3 Quick Setup Guide | Curtis Judd

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In this episode we walk you through the process of setting up your new Zoom F3 recorder straight out of the box. We cover the basics of adding memory cards and batteries, show you how to set up mics for the best sound possible, and go over a couple handy settings that will help optimize your recording workflow! Let’s see how it’s done.
Note that we do NOT cover using the F3 as an audio interface in this video. We’ll cover that in a separate tutorial coming soon!
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See school.learnlightandsound.com for more info!
Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com: ko-fi.com/curtisjudd
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Zoom F3 2-Track Field Recorder - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/6RvZm
Some of my other studio gear:
- Sennheiser MKH50 microphone - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/iYb065
- Sound Devices MixPre audio recorder - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands - B&H, Amazon geni.us/8a8tt
- Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/EreRQa
- Aputure Light Dome III Softbox - Aputure, B&H geni.us/AVHU1p
- Amaran 300c RGBWW Single-Point LED Light - geni.us/uGkDX
- Amaran Spotlight SE - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/4DuyTz
- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender - B&H geni.us/GWKt
- Canon C70 Cinema Camera - B&H geni.us/ABYB
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens - B&H, Amazon geni.us/qwsEs
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon geni.us/InspOl
- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens - B&H, Amazon geni.us/gr47
The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: geni.us/G7by
Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd
#Zoom #ZoomF3 #ZoomRecorder #F3 #Recorder
Index
00:00 Intro
00:06 Add microSD card
00:43 Powering options
01:24 Battery settings
03:23 Format & test SD card
04:21 Connect microphones
06:00 Choosing sample rate
06:46 Choosing file format
07:26 Pre-record
08:13 Setting levels
09:12 Recording!
09:44 Please buy my courses

Опубликовано:

3 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 95

@DrRussell 2 месяца назад

Sooooo, I had to figure these steps out in the middle of an operating theatre in Türkiye whilst running a 4 cam setup with a Professor who I had only met 24 hours prior with a team I have never met before. Thank you for reading my mind, as I am too much of a mess to read instruction manuals! Thank you, as always.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@rosstrend1177 2 месяца назад

Thank you Curtis, the F3 has become my favorite recorder for almost everything.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

🎙️❤️

@lofidarkambient 2 месяца назад

Thanks, Curtis, always such great information

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

🙏

@calebveta8330 2 месяца назад

Thanks again for your tutorials Curtis, familiarizing myself with the new gear i have has been challenging but your videos get me up to speed quick.

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

👍

@forewarnedfilm 2 месяца назад

Really useful & clear instructions - thank you!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@ath3263 2 месяца назад

Always excellent and educational information thats invaluable for newbies to the area.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@jordanhazel6557 25 дней назад

Really appreciate the simple tutorial! 🙏🏽🙏🏽

@curtisjudd 24 дня назад

🙏

@roadrunna. 2 месяца назад

WoW! My lucky day, feels like you made it for me, I'm sitting here fiddling with my newly acquired F3 :) Thank you!!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@JimCutler 2 месяца назад

I bought this after your original review, Curtis. It's a terrific little recorder.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍🎙️🎧

@dblbassted 2 месяца назад

Love my F3. This is a great reference vid for it.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@Brink1957 2 месяца назад

I really like this little recorder, so I bought 2 of them!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍🎸

@nsharma99 2 месяца назад

Curtis!!!!! yessssss 🎉 thank you 🙏🏾!!!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@jannarkiewicz633 Месяц назад

very clear

@PipCritten 2 месяца назад

This a great little two channel recorder that takes up very little space in the kit bag. Ideally suited to most small shoots or interviews.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@SamEmilio2 2 месяца назад

This is a great video! I plan to use the F3 a lot in the future and maybe purchase one, but when I rented one for a job a few weeks back, the available set up guide videos were far, far less to the point than this one. Will definitely come back to this

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

👍

@jwdegroot1177 2 месяца назад

Thank you!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

You’re welcome!

@rojoneutro 2 месяца назад

thnks a lot !!

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

🙏

@BeauHannamGuitars 2 месяца назад

It was my understanding that the Levels (talked about at 8:14) wave form visuals were just that- Visuals with no relation to, or impact on the gain giving to the signal. Is this not the case? Thanks for the video

@thismarkp 2 месяца назад

This is my understanding too - it's a 32bit recorder, you don't need to set levels. It's just a display thing. Page 45 in the Zoom F3 manual says "The F3 records in 32-bit float format, so the input gain does not need to be adjusted. Depending on the input signals, however, waveforms shown on the display could appear too small or too large, making them difficult to check. By changing the waveform display magnification, input waveforms can be adjusted to sizes that are easy to check. "

@BeauHannamGuitars 2 месяца назад

@@thismarkp I feel that as this for easy visuals only (nothing to do with gain levels) it is a bit of a design fault in that it is confusing. They should have just made the visual a nice medium wave form and not made it possible to magnify the visual. (and that is the confusing part- most people assume [including me until I read the instructions to make sure] that magnifying the visual is turning the gain up. Not so)

@galachiev 2 месяца назад

This device has no gain adjustment. It allows you to set digital levels as well as any post processing software. This levels doesn’t matter until you’re giving output signal to another device from your zoom.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

It is not just visual. It is technically a fader control. It defines the level at which the audio is digitally boosted before saving to the SD card. You can change it in post since it is recorded to 32-bit float. It is critical to set the fader so that the audio does not exceed 0dB when you’re sending audio from the F3’s output to a camera (though there is a digital output limiter to manage slight peaks).

@keensoundguy6637 2 месяца назад

Thanks to Curtis's tip about the F3 sale price not too long ago (in his H4essential review), I picked one up (Amzn had it at an even lower price: $268). Zoom's quick start guide actually says more about setting the recording level than the owner's manual. Based on the block diagram in the owner's manual, I assume that setting the level is akin to what happens when you modify the level in post -- you're basically multiplying the digital magnitudes. I did encounter one review that incorrectly stated that it only changes the signal magnification level for the display. That is only true if you change level while recording. Of course Curtis's review of the F3 was correct that it only changes the recorded level if you set it before you start recording.

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

👍

@TP-Fotografie 2 месяца назад

You can not adjust the levels while recording. That`s what I learned from you in the first video about the Zoom F3. A very good recorder for weddings.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

You cannot adjust the recording levels, but you can adjust the levels for the 3.5mm output which is important if you're feeding audio from the F3 to a camera.

@geezer2tech154 2 месяца назад

If you are not using the second channel it's best to turn it off. This helps to preserve battery life when the unit is powered by its internal batteries or a power bank.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@qvarfoto 2 месяца назад

Great video, thank you for sharing it! I've used mine for almost 2 years now and it's a really handy little recorder. I've used it on everything from YT videos to short film productions and it's done great. One thing though, about the input levels - are you sure that the "X__" are actually setting the levels, and not just zooming the waveform in the window in and out? I think I read that somewhere when I got it and have just assumed that's what it was ever since then.. and since it's 23bit float I didn't really think twice about it. But I could be wrong of course. Cheers.

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

Positive, IF you set before recording. And during recording it will affect the level from the output of the F3.

@mattwruff 2 месяца назад

Well, if I was still working, it might be handy to have one as a retired audio junky my MixPre ii - 6 can handle anything I throw at it...

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

👍

@588ta Месяц назад

😅Thanks for the video.

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

👍

@stranger957 2 месяца назад

Hello! I have a question about Zoom F3 recorder and its line output level. I even wanted to ask official zoom support but they have no distributor in my country. It’s about setting an output level. When you setting it, you have an opportunity to play a “test tone”. In the manual, it says that this signal must be at -6dbfs. But in practice with my test I came to a conclusion that for having 6db of analog headroom above the test tone we must hold “Output level” on the Zoom at +-0db. Meanwhile, with such settings, “test tone” will not reach -6dbfs with my gear. On my camera (Fuji X-T4) it will be at -10dbfs, on my audio interface (Motu M4) it will be at -24dbfs. On both devices it was line connection with no signal reduction. In case of a camera I can add 4db in the “output level” on the zoom and reach -6dbfs with a test tone but there will no actual 6 dB of headroom in this case. In case of an audio interface I won’t reach -6dbfs at all. Signal will start clipping sooner. So I don’t understand should I even try to reach -6 BFS with a test tone. What does this value from the manual mean?

@ursthomann3463 2 месяца назад

Thanks, Curtis, for this little tutorial. I wonder what Input I select if I plug in the receiver of a Rode News Shooter kit. Would that be line or just mic? Cheers, Urs

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Mic 👍

@ActionpixEvents 2 месяца назад

Thanks for this video. Quick question. How do I record 2 sources, but only monitor one at a time - say an interview of 2 people?

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

It doesn't officially have headphone routing to achieve that, but you might try changing the file format in the menu to stereo and then just keep the ear of the headphones with the mic you want to hear on your ear, the other off (hopefully that makes sense.)

@realmalteherwig 2 месяца назад

Helpful video, Curtis. What lithium batteries do you recommend? I only find no-name ones on the internet and am sceptical of those

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

No recommendations to share yet. I’m using no-name Li rechargeables and they’re…let’s just say I don’t recommend them.

@RhettBrownatRetroWreck 2 месяца назад

Great! I noticed a seletion under the source menu that said "Line (+48)" , Now what and why is this here. I can't find anything that tells me when I would need to use this selection. Do you know?

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

When you want to use a condenser microphone to record a very loud sound source.

@ChrisFlores22 Месяц назад

I love my f3 and the f6 is too much for my needs. How can I incorporate my tentacle syncs with the f3 to have timecode on my cameras, track e recorders and the zoom f3? I also have a sync e and cable that goes from sync e to xlr. Do I need to burn one of my channels for tc on the f3? Do record in stereo or mono to be able to use tc for meta data layer using the ten le sync app? Thanks Curtis!!!!!!

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

Unfortunately, with the F3 the only two options for timecode are to use one of the inputs to record audio timecode or go with the ATMOS Ultrasonic Blue timecode system (which has its own limitations). In short, the F3 isn't great for timecode workflows unless you only need one input for audio.

@ChrisFlores22 Месяц назад

@@curtisjudd if I burn a channel do I need to switch it from mono channels to stereo recording? Almost like a left and right that comes from the tentacle sync? (Audio on one channel TC on the other)

@LearnLightAndSoundSessions Месяц назад

@@ChrisFlores22 Not sure. Test with your editing app to see which works.

@ChrisFlores22 Месяц назад

@@LearnLightAndSoundSessions appreciate it!!

@randomgeocacher 2 месяца назад

Nice! As a computer geek who learned IT/DOS:programming before English, “execute” is very natural and non-confusing to me. Is the duality of this word an actual point of confusion to native speakers? I.e. is the lethal meaning of the word so strong that some / many get confused by how it’s used in IT? I guess execute just means perform, confirm, in how we use the word. Would be fun to hear non-IT English people explain what they think an “executable” is… :)

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Yes, that's my point - it is perfectly natural for software engineers, less so for non-engineers. I'm just trying to have a bit of fun and help people who aren't used to talking that way to feel confident with their F3. 👍

@paulengle5784 2 месяца назад

Great video. When you talk about setting levels, that doesn’t “lock in” or “bake” any decisions when editing the audio in post, right? For instance, If I set it to x32, but that’s too hot, I can adjust the volume in post without losing sound quality?

@galachiev 2 месяца назад

If you’re recording directly through your Zoom F3 - yes. Levels doesn’t matter, you can change them later

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Correct!

@thesilencer6736 Месяц назад

Does it have direct monitoring for the headphones?

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

Yes

@JorgeDourado 2 месяца назад

Hi Curtis!! For the past 6..maybe 7 years your channel has been an important source for sound for me and I believe for many others,, big thanks!!! Always great to bump into your videos! As for the Zoom F3, coincidence but very very recently I just got one, as for power, I have tried 6 batteries, Duracell Plus AA and unfortunately I couldn't get more than 20min...maybe 35min from using the recorder. Yes I did set the power to be *Alkaline and I have pre recorder set to off. Is this normal? I still have to try to record with an external battery bank to see how it goes. I'm using a 32gb card and a sample rate of 96Khz. Any tips? Once gain, big thanks, cheers.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Yes, especially at higher sample rates like 96kHz, Alkaline batteries won’t last long. Really need rechargeable Ni-MH or lithium rechargeables for longer operating times. Or USB battery.

@JorgeDourado 2 месяца назад

@@curtisjudd Okay! Thank you for the feedback, cheers.

@geezer2tech154 2 месяца назад

Turn off the second audio channel if you are not using it. This helps preserve the batteries.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

@@geezer2tech154 Also good advice.

@JorgeDourado 2 месяца назад

@@geezer2tech154 I went with other batteries and I got around 50 min using both channels. When using a power bank I can get around 4 hours. Hope my unit is okay, aside of the batteries everything seems to be working okay.

@REMY.C. Месяц назад

Hey guys, how would you set up the levels on the F3 if you have a mic like the Røde VideoMic NTG that is self powered and has an integrated gain wheel?

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

Since the NTG doesn’t have a meter, I’d make test recordings. Start with the mic gain at lowest setting. Then work up a couple of notches at a time. It technically doesn’t matter what you set the input to on the F3 if you normalize the audio levels in post.

@REMY.C. Месяц назад

@@curtisjudd Thanks a lot Curtis, that was exactly what I was wondering, getting good levels when recording with 32bits floats vs worrying about "self noise" made by the mic amp vs recorder amp.

@kosmicjedi 2 месяца назад

I've got an interesting question to ask: if anyone can answer As a gamer, I'd like to know if this can connect//work a PS4 & PS5 console with an XLR or mini shotgun mic like rode micro connected? Thank you in advance.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

I don't have a PS on hand to test, unfortunately.

@kosmicjedi 2 месяца назад

@@curtisjudd thank you 😌 I think that could be or will be an interesting video to make (if you guys can), maybe do a poll? Often wondered which XLR audio interfaces are able to connect to both the ps4 & ps5 or even the Xbox consoles, coz I’ve never really seen a dedicated channel or vids touch on that at all. The only one I know that works is the Behringer U-Phoria UM2. Anyways, I love your videos a lot and thanks for your reply.🙏🏾😌

@nightdonutstudio 2 месяца назад

Is that rechargeable lithium battery?

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Yes

@kosmicjedi 2 месяца назад

does the recorder with an SD card? thank you in advance.

@lofidarkambient 2 месяца назад

Live in Belgium, and ordered the F3 from Thomann Germany. It came without a battery or SD card but they also have bundles that include extra stuff like a SD card. So check before you buy would be my advice. I'm using a Samsung 128 EVO Plus A2 V30. Obviously, you don't need 128 GB but that was what I had lying around.

@kosmicjedi 2 месяца назад

@@lofidarkambient Thank you very much for your answer/reply dude, much appreciated.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

Same here in the US - from ZOOM it does NOT come with an SD card. Some retailers will bundle a card.

@ImaginetMedia 2 месяца назад

2004 just called. They want their LCD display and menu back.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

LOL

@dag221 2 месяца назад

2024 answered. Full color big touchscreens use way more power that would require more batteries, which would require a bigger size unit to hold them which would negate the small size that the recorder was intended to be. Everything is a tradeoff, price, size, features. I love my ancient looking menus on my Sony recorders because they are simple to use and don't drain battery life.

@curtisjudd 2 месяца назад

@@dag221 Touché. All fair points.

@deuceandguns 2 месяца назад

@@dag221 I'd personally like to see an even more efficient E-ink type display. That'd be more readable in outdoor/full sunlight situations where I shoot and have even more battery life. Probably cost prohibitive though when compared to the old lcd.