Audio recording on Sony HVR1

S

sloaneparker

Greetings, I am new to the forum and am shooting my first documentary film as my first project.

I just purchased this camera and love it thus far:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...527&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

My question today is about audio recording via this camera. I just saw Mike Mills' documentary <em>Paperboys</em> and I was incredibly impressed with the quality of audio with which he recorded his subjects. I didn't see any mics attached to the subjects, so either he was using the on-camera mic (for some of the scenes the audio sounds directional, and I think this was the case) and/or he used boom mics. Unfortunately, I don't have a crew (you can laugh now for me shooting a film without a crew, I know it's a crazy notion). That said, it will be me, my camera, my tripod, and my subjects - no boom mics.

With that in mind, what would be the best audio situation for these shooting conditions?

On camera mic or a lavalier mic? I'd rather do on camera mic to save costs, but if lavalier mics will sound infinitely better, I'll spring for the extra gear. If you think I should go with a lavalier mic, what brands> models are the best for this kindof purpose?

Thanks for any advice you can offer and I look forward to being a part of this community.

-Sloane
 
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Hey Sara,

My first project will be a documentary of elderly folks shot in a controlled environment (their assisted living centers and homes) so there wont be much background noise.

Do you think the on camera mic will work well for that? I really am tempted to get lavalier mics because since they are old folks and their speech may be hard to understand, I am thinking I need to overcompensate with an oncamera mic of sorts.

I am new to this whole film making process (this is my first project), and with using this camera how did the editing go? Have you made a full feature yet with footage from this camera? If so, can you fully recommend the on camera audio rig as professional quality?

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it =)

Since there is no url listed with your post (linking to your film's website etc), what topics are you covering with your documentaries? Just curious...
 
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Depends on the distance to the person talking...your sound will go "hollow" as you move away from the subject...most microphones like to be within a foot or two of the subjects mouth at the longest range to get nice rich sound.
 
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Hey, thanks Knightly. That's what I figured. After watching documentaries recently where the audio was so rich and professional sounding, I wouldn't want to do a half-ass job because audio is such an essential element to a quality film.

I checked out your site and it seems like you and your crew/team are pretty prolific with film production. That's impressive - inspiring =)
 
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I decided on the shotgun mic (input 1) and lavalier/wireless mic (input 2). It's weird tho because I can hear both in my monitor headphones when monitoring, but during play back the wireless mic doesn't playback at all. Grrr, trying to figure out why this is happening...
 
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First, try swapping the shotgun and lavalier inputs and see if you still just get input 1. If so, then you may have some setting on the camera that is wrong. I'm not a Sony guy, so I wouldn't know how the inputs are configured.

If you get input 2, when the shotgun is on input 2, and you seem to lose input 1 (the lavalier), then I'd suspect the wireless system to be misconfigured or dropping out due to low batteries or something.
 
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Hi, so I just did a test and switched input 1 (was shotgun mic) with input 2 (was wireless).

Now the configuration is input 1 (wireless) and input 2 (shotgun). With this configuration I can now hear the wireless mic crystal clear during playback but get ZERO audio from the shotgun in input 2. My settings are:

REC CH SELECT: CH1 CH2
(INPUT 1) LEVEL: MIC
+48V: ON
(INPUT 2) LEVEL: MIC
+48V: ON

Wonder where I can find a knowledgable "sony person" to help me sort this? Agh.
 
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i'm about ready to call my local film places here in san francisco (film arts foundtation, BAVC, digital film school) and offer to hire a consultant to help me figure out how to use the audio on this camera. the classes being held at these places on "bring your rig in and learn to use it" are all full until the end of november and i really cant wait that long.

man i am frustrated that i can't figure this out yet...
 
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I'm no sony expert but I've seen this using the PD 170, unless I'm mistaken, your HVR-A1U has an input level for CH1 and CH2 which can be independently adjusted using two audio level dials on the camera body and viewed with an audio level meter on the LCD monitor. Have you checked to make sure those are set correctly?

It could be that audio channel is broken, I'd take it to an authroized dealer nearest you to find out for sure.
 
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