Low Budget Sound

[Redlum]

I was wondering what the filmmakers here were doing about the sound in their movies. I've gotten to the point where I want something more than the onboard mic of my camera but I dont think a £200-500 investment in a shotgun mic is worthwhile. This sort of price range seems to be what most sites are saying.

So what solutions are you using? Is a cheap and nasty microphone a noticeable improvement? Or is something like that only suitable for, say - minidisc recording voice overs/narration (syncing for on location recording too painful!)etc?

[Ghostboy]

It definitely makes a difference. Good sound is just as important as good visuals (if not more).

I have an Audio Technica 815B shotgun. It ran me about 250 dollars, but that was three years ago, I'm sure there's something better available now. When I'm doing a more substantial project, I usually rent a Senheiser shotgun microphone and some lavalier mics as well (and a mixer, too).

But anyway, a shotgun mic is definitely a good investment.

[ReelHotGames]

Bad sound ruins a film - it's as simple as that. It's such a tell when you go to film festivals, a film can have these Fincher style visuals all day long but poor sound and it's jarring and cheap.

Spend the money get a mic, and even better is to purchase a inexpensive mixer and a portable mini-disc recorder and run your sound to both your camera and the mini-disc, all in all you can spend $500ish and your sound will be 200 times better.

Since you're most likely doing non-linear editing syncing the sound is not a problem.

Also invest in a cheap sound program $30 or so and you'll drastically improve your sound. I use Audio Cleaning Lab 3.0 and it is such a vast improvement. Some of the sound on my web series was awful (I learned all this from experience) and audio lab helps tremendously in cleaning, boosting, etc...

But definatly upgrade. It will make a HUGE difference.

[Ghostboy]

I've added a page to my website on basic audio setups for DV filmmaking. Just click on the www button below and go the filmmaking section.

It just covers the basics, since I'm not really a sound expert, but it'll give you some ideas on how to improve your audio. I'll try to update it in the future with some post production techniques for cleaning audio.

[Redlum]

Thanks for your tips GB and MA.

There's some useful stuff on your page, especially: "If you are shooting on DV, make sure you NEVER plug the camera into the wall; always use batteries. The ground current from a wall outlet will create a horrible hum in your audio."

Ive manged to find the mic you suggested for £199. Whats it like outside?


Im using the XM2 and it has pretty good controls for levels, attenuation and 16bit channel recording. And from plugging in some headphones into the mic socket it would appear that this disables the onboard mic.

What are the advantages of using mindisc for recording audio? Considering that I'm running a Robert Rodriguez style operation here, would the added complication of clapper boards etc. that minidisc would 'require' be an unrecommended hassle?

[ReelHotGames]

The true advantage of having the mini disc is the better control over the sound quality that you won't get off a DV tape, mini-disc or DAT are the way to go, however the important thing truly is the mic, and then build from that.

Also - when plugging the mic in to the camera, really watch the connection, the input jack on the camera can tend to loosen with camera or mic movement, and this causes pops or static and channel drop out, which is another plus to recording on seperate media, the ability to have the camera move independently of the microphone cord.

But truly, secure the mic cord into the camera, duct tape it so there's some slack that the camera doesn;t have to pick up.

[Redlum]

Thanks again, Michael.

[KingBlackDeath]

so how much should a PORTABLE DAT recorder run me? and what's the cheapest site to get one? and how do those work exactly? Does it use little cartridges?
Also, for lapel mics, can I use two at the same time at a cheap expense?
I already own mics and cords (i'm a musician) and have a digital 8-track with not enough memory. But I'm willing to spend a couple hundred for other things like lapel mics and Dat recorders.

[ReelHotGames]

Portable DAt recorders shouldn'r run more than a few hundred, you can also go with a portable Mini-Disc recorder with MUCh success and those are fairly inexpensive.

Lapel mic's are great, as long as you can buffer rustling noises etc... But they're a great source for the main conversations, but a shotgun mic is really the catch all mic you need for your basic vbideo/film shoot.

If you have a mixer, that can be key on set to have someone able to adjust levels and tones on the fly if you are using more than one mic at a time. Even a cheap mixer, spending 50-100 bucks for a two channel if you only use 2 mics'

[bonanzataz]

What EXACTLY does a mixer do? Let you change the levels of sound for different shots so they sound the same?

[Pastor Parsley]

I am interested in purchasing a inexpensive mic as well....all the mics listed in this post are still fairly expensive ($300-400)...ok..., i know this isn't expensive for a mic, but i'm not quite there yet.  What are the best mics in say under $100 and under $200 price brackets?

[aclockworkjj]

Sorta on topic...but Sonic makes some decent software for audio...Sound Forge and/or Acid Pro are pretty niffty....specially if you are using Vegas to edit...

I have only used these a couple times, anyone (...cough, cough, Michael, cough) know more about these, or any good help sites?

kinda expensive though

[KingBlackDeath]

I was wondering if anyone thinks that it' s good enough to just run the mic into the camera and then clean that up with something like "Sound Lab Forge Fixer Upper 4.0"  because I don't have any money and that's what I'm looking to do.

[ReelHotGames]

I used an external mic plugged right into my camera and am using audio cleaning lab 3 to fix some awful probs it had, so yes, this is an option.

The thing to make sure of is that you wear headphones and really listen to the sound through the headphones and NOT what your hearing in front of you, because your mic will pick up tiny clicks, shuffles and whirs you won't otherwise notice.

Sound is key and tricky, and if you use a BOOM pole of some sort be sure it does not conduct sound or you muffle it, or your boom operator doesn't slide their hands on the pole or tap their fingers, because the mic will pick up every vibration.

Using a cleaning program after all is said and done will be key though.

Best of luck

[Sal]

Michael,
Assuming you're not just clicking a button on the cleaning program that reads, "Clean!" what are you doing specifically to the audio to improve it?