Audio Setup

Running 1/8" unshielded cable more than a few inches is just begging for RF interference and crap-tastic audio.

If you want to put a mic on a boom (this is a good idea, yes), get a quality mic with an XLR jack on it, then run an XLR cable to either something like a juiced-link and then into your camera, or a decent quality external recorder and run separate sound, then sync the audio and video in post.

There's certainly a lot more involved in getting "good audio" and I'm sure the audio gurus will chime in, but the short answer is no, putting a rode video mic on a boom and running 1/8" cable 25+ feet is not a good idea.

So would like the ntg1/2 be a good mic for that, and which one would be best to run input straight to the camera. I know one of them requires phantom power, how would that correlate with the t3i?

You'd need an XLR adapter.. something that has decent preamps. Beachtek and JuiceLink being the predominant brands. A more cost effective solution might be something along the lines of the tascam dr60d, which has two xlr inputs, is a stand alone recorder, but can also feed audio into the camera. It also has the option of providing phantom power. It's less costly than most of the juicedlink offerings, and on par with or less expensive than beachtek, but bonus -- it's also a recorder.

Could I use the ntg1/or 2 on a boom with an (XLR extension) to an (XLR to 1/8" adapter cord) to the camera? Would that work, or is there a better setup in general for a low budget filmmaker?

How many times would you like me to give you the same answer?

Would it work? Sure.. but you specifically said you wanted a good audio setup.

You will need phantom power for your mic. Your camera does not supply phantom power. So you need phantom power from another source. The Rode VideoMic and NTG-2 have internal phantom power supplies, as does the Audio Technica AT-897 and Sennheiser ME-66 (all these mics use/need internal batteries). There are a few others, but these have decent track records. The issue here is that you will have minimal control over the sound, and what control you do have cannot be done "on the fly". The audio preamps in the camera are pretty crappy; remember, this is a still camera co-opted into doing video work, why does a still camera need good audio components?

If you want to choose another mic other than what's listed above, you will need to supply that mic with phantom power. That means you will need a mixer/preamp that can plug into your camera, or a separate audio recorder; price-wise it's close to even. As a sound guy I prefer the separate audio recorder; in the long run it's a better investment, you have better audio control (there is a bit of a learning curve...), the sound person/people will have more freedom of movement, etc. You will have to sync the separate audio to your visuals in post, bit as long as you keep good records and good slates it's just long and boring. Softwares like PluralEyes do a decent job of automating most of the sync.

Having the "right" mic does not mean you will get solid production sound. Learning to "swing" the boom properly is a real skill. And you can't swing the boom, run the camera and direct all at the same time. So think about finding someone to handle the sound for you.

"Sound is half of the experience."