Best way to capture perfect audio?

[Diomed]

Looking for really professional audio for some film work I'm doing with my new Canon Vixia HF G10.

I know I need a mixture of just more than one audio source, any ideas on what is the most effective?

Someone told me the Zoom h1 was really convenient. Anything else I should be aware of?

Much appreciation as always!

[Grapesoda]

seriously: hire a 'pro' audio guy to capture the audio when you shoot

[DeanCapture]

Originally Posted by Diomed

Looking for really professional audio for some film work I'm doing with my new Canon Vixia HF G10.

When we want really high-quality audio, we use an overhead boom mic made by Sennheiser and plug it into a Zoom H4N. The sound is beautifully crisp and clean and we can boom the mic right over the set. We want to keep it as close as possible - right out of the frame.

From there we can make it even better by doing some noise reduction, equalization as well as a bit of compression in post production. Audio is just like video in a sense that.... you can use it straight out of the camera or you can make some adjustments and/or enhancements to it to make it even better. Just depends on how much time, effort & money that you want to spend on it.

Adobe Audition is a great audio production suite with some really great plugins built in. Plus Lynda.com has a kickass tutorial on working with audio in Adobe Audition.

Hit me up if you have any questions -

[raymor]

If you don't hire a pro, use at least two quality vocal mics placed as close as possible to the action. You can then cross fade between tracks in audacity or another editor. There is a reason even semi-pro bands like ours spend $250 or more per mic. Quality costs. There is also a difference between a vocal mic, a bass mic, and a kick drum mic for example so shop carefully. Most bands will use dynamic mics partially because of their durability, but in the studio a condenser mic can work well.

Your biggest concerns are proper level and perhaps more importantly signal to noise ratio. SNR simply means that you want the sound you are recording to be much louder than the noise. That's why you put the mic as close as possible, to pick up moans, not the camera man's footseps. At the same time, minimize noise. Avoid tile floors and other hard flat surfaces that will reverb. You can always add reverb in post, but you can't remove it. (Though running the track backwards through a gate can reduce it slightly.)

For level, you can set it in rough check, but you'll probably want a compander or at least a compressor to maintain proper level with all that's going on during a shoot. A compander is the one and only effect I always use with spoken word and it's worth it's weight in gold for non-professional or semi-pro talent who will not use proper mic technique.

I use a software compander. Given a decent mic and proper connections, a PC can actually be a decent recording device. That can save money on studio gear because all of the effects and the mixing studio can be software. You just need proper mics, cables, connections, and technique. I use an inexpensive mixer to convert balanced mics to the PCs unbalanced input and to get a reasonable level. Don't use adapter cables for balanced to unbalanced as most are crap and the others may work well or may cause problems depending on what you plug them in to.

[raymor]

Having said all that and realizing there's a llot more to say, most non-porn guys, especially techy nerds, would probably love to spend the day on a porn set. There are probably plenty of guys involved in local theatre and live music who know audio, have the equipment, and would work on a porn set for next to nothing.

Also, a disclaimer - I'm primarily the lighting tech. We have have a different guy with 30 plus years of audio experience, so I'm not the expert. I believe I've learned a few things from the expert and my own experience, though, including a lot of practice with what NOT to do.