We at Mad Angel Films can not get a sound person and we are always using the cams mic, it's a decent one but no where near where I feel it should be for a movie. Are there any good tips any of you can give me to improve the cams audio? I don't know what kind of cam it is but I can find out if need be.
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- Thread starter TheBuck
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well, to start off, does your camera have an audio input. if it does, then you need to start using a boompole with a decent mic on it and try to always get the mic as close to the talent as possible, just outside the frame over their heads.
if money is a problem to get a real boompole. a painters pole from Home Depot with a thread adapter will do the trick. the thread adapter can be found on Ebay, look up boompole thread adapter there. i use these for antenna masts on my soundcart. you will also need to get a shock mount as well to isolate handling noise on the pole and a cable from the mic to the camera.
this is just a start, but will help
if money is a problem to get a real boompole. a painters pole from Home Depot with a thread adapter will do the trick. the thread adapter can be found on Ebay, look up boompole thread adapter there. i use these for antenna masts on my soundcart. you will also need to get a shock mount as well to isolate handling noise on the pole and a cable from the mic to the camera.
this is just a start, but will help
The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher the volume
needs to be. The higher the volume, the more “noise” you get. Your
goal is to have a very high signal to noise ratio - more signal (the
dialogue) less noise (the background). Even a very good, expensive
Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up a lot of background
ambiance because it’s far away from the actors.
So as Dave mentioned, you need to get the mic close to the actors.
needs to be. The higher the volume, the more “noise” you get. Your
goal is to have a very high signal to noise ratio - more signal (the
dialogue) less noise (the background). Even a very good, expensive
Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up a lot of background
ambiance because it’s far away from the actors.
So as Dave mentioned, you need to get the mic close to the actors.
It's called the Inverse Square Law. In simple terms, this means that a sound twice as far away is only one-fourth as loud. A sound four times as far away is only one-sixteenth as loud. So a human voice that records with adequate volume three feet away is just one-sixteenth as effective at twelve feet.
Ideally, in a perfect world, digital audio is completely noiseless. The noise is introduced in the signal chain. The signal chain is each unit used to pick up and amplify/modify the source material. All such devices have a "self noise" rating, how much noise the unit itself creates. For the most part the cheaper the unit the more self noise it creates.
When using a mic you want it pointing directly at the source and as close to the source as possible. Mics have various polar patterns (pick-up radius). Most mics have a cardioid pattern and pick up all sounds within its pick-up pattern equally. A shotgun (lobar) mic has a very narrow pick-up pattern or a great degree of off-axis rejection. If your aim is only an inch or two off you will not be picking up directly from the source, hence you will get more ambient noise than source signal.
The reason you use a mic on a boom is to get the mic directly in front of the source (actors). A mic cannot "hear" around corners any more than a camera can "see" around corners. Try this simple experiment, do it both indoors and outdoors; play some material from a boom box and place it facing you about two feet away, then turn it sideways. Repeat at five, ten and twenty feet. You will immediately hear the affects of the inverse Square Law and the importance of placing the mic in front of the talent.