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Sound Help for a Newbie

Syphex

Syphex

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forums and pretty new to the film making business. I have one project near completion and have started work on a documentary. I have made one huge realization while filming my first project. My camera isn't very good. Its a 300$ camera and pretty much does what you'd expect it to. It takes decent shots but the sound quality isn't there. Unfortunately it doesn't allow for an external mic hookup. I bought the camera a few months ago to make sure that this is something I wanted to do. Unfortunately I'm hooked and spend most of my free time writing, filming, or reading about the craft(s) involved in film making and more importantly in documentary making.

Sorry for rambling but here's my question? I realize that I'm going to have to capture sound separately from the video. What are my options for this? My first project luckily takes place in doors and is done where the actor is very close to the camera so the sound isn't an issue. It also helps that its about ten minutes long. This documentary however will take a long time to make and I'm going to need better sound. My partner has a condenser mic but I really know nothing about them as well as what program would be best for sound recording. My computer has a basic program that I've used a bit but I'm not sure if it will fit my need.

I have a little over a month before we actually start filming our subject so I have time while the final details are being hammered out. So if anyone could possibly help me with some sound options that would be great. Getting a new camera is out of the question for now. It would be perfect if it weren't for those bills and that thing called responsibility.

So to restate my question what are my options as far as recording the sound? Should I use the condenser mic or go a different route? My budget for any new equipment is around $150.00.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I found this place.
 
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Syphex said:
Hello everyone. I'm new to the forums and pretty new to the film making business. I have one project near completion and have started work on a documentary. I have made one huge realization while filming my first project. My camera isn't very good. Its a 300$ camera and pretty much does what you'd expect it to. It takes decent shots but the sound quality isn't there. Unfortunately it doesn't allow for an external mic hookup. I bought the camera a few months ago to make sure that this is something I wanted to do. Unfortunately I'm hooked and spend most of my free time writing, filming, or reading about the craft(s) involved in film making and more importantly in documentary making.

Sorry for rambling but here's my question? I realize that I'm going to have to capture sound separately from the video. What are my options for this? My first project luckily takes place in doors and is done where the actor is very close to the camera so the sound isn't an issue. It also helps that its about ten minutes long. This documentary however will take a long time to make and I'm going to need better sound. My partner has a condenser mic but I really know nothing about them as well as what program would be best for sound recording. My computer has a basic program that I've used a bit but I'm not sure if it will fit my need.

I have a little over a month before we actually start filming our subject so I have time while the final details are being hammered out. So if anyone could possibly help me with some sound options that would be great. Getting a new camera is out of the question for now. It would be perfect if it weren't for those bills and that thing called responsibility.

So to restate my question what are my options as far as recording the sound? Should I use the condenser mic or go a different route? My budget for any new equipment is around $150.00.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I found this place.
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Having only $150 is not a lot for new gear. Not really enough to get quality equipment suitable for the job. It may be better for you to hire someone with the gear and the experience to do it well, and ask them questions that you may learn from for the future.
Read the following tutorial to help you better understand the basic requirements of sound for film and video, and the importance of getting it right:

Sound For Film and Video: The Importance of Getting Good Audio
 
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Should I use the condenser mic or go a different route?
Click to expand...

That depends upon which mic; some are not suited for production sound work. If it's an appropriate mic you could hook it up to a cheap recorder like the Tascam DR-05. Depending upon the mic you may need adapters. You'll also need a stand. Oh, yeah, don't forget good headphones and someone to monitor the sound continuously while you're shooting. You could even go with cheap lavs if it's exclusively sit down interviews.
 
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Go w/ Alcove's suggestion. Better than the on-cam mic. Once you figure out you can do better w/ better stuff You'll see that $1,000 is the bottom for decent gear and then $3000 or so for low-level sudo pro-quality gear. One can use a cheap Lav Mic plugged into a pocket digital recorder ( Olympus VN8100PC $50 ) placed dirctly on the talent.


I just spent some dough on sound stuff yesterday, ( $500 ) got me a Tascam DR-40 recorder, an Audio Technica AT-875 Mic an 8' Boom Pole , some Audio-Technica ATH-M30 Professional Headphones ...right about $500 and Im still in the ghetto league for sound. NEXT Im going to get a sE Electronics SE1A - Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone for indoors use and 2 Tascam DR-05 Portable Digital Recorders and some Lav mics. THEN I hope to start saving for some good sound stuff and have these for backups and disposable ones for high-risk situations.



GOOD LUCK !
 
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Thanks for the honest feedback everyone. Yeah I realized I'm going to have to save up for some gear. Until then I'll just use the stuff I have and keep reading and learning the ins and outs of the technical stuff.
 
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Woah now speedy, before you give up:

Great shotgun mic for $50

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1332179137&sr=1-1

Reasonable mic in itself, but more importantly, something to plug the mic into and record sound with

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H1-Porta...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1332179241&sr=1-1

Thats under $150, and its a solid set up. I think the second part is unnecessary, if you have an iphone or ipod touch, but dont quote me on that.

Edit:
Obviously you'll need headphones and someone to monitor sound. You'll probably want a boom pole with this set up. You can build a cheap one yourself (<$30) which still brings you under the $150 mark i think. This is basically identical to the set up that I started with, and it didn't sound too amateurish, for the cost. Or just go with the condenser and a recorder, that's probably better than the onboard mic. If you end up unable to afford even a recorder, consider Additional Dialogue Recording with the condenser after the fact (your friend definitely has a recorder of some sort, even if it isn't portable enough for film purposes. Or just use a lot of close ups, and you can go with the onboard mic, though it still wont be great. Good Luck!
 
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I haven't given up lol. I'm looking into the Tascam DR-100mkII. I've also started reading more about sound theory. I've become pretty interested in the sound aspect of films. Thanks for the information though.
 
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