Mounting RØDE to DSLR

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You do realize that mounting any mic on the camera is probably the worst position for capturing production sound, and a shotgun mic just makes it worse.

If you absolutely have zero choice in the matter at least get a cardioid mic, preferably a hypercardioid; hypers have a wider pick-up range. Yes, you'll get more ambient noise, but you'll also get more dialog.

When doing film/video production sound the mic should always be as close to the sound source as possible, aimed from above and slightly in front, pointed at the notch at the base of the throat. You may want to consider a mic stand for whichever mic you choose, or even a decent quality lavalier for interviews.

BTW, what are you using as your audio recording device? The audio implementation on DSLRs is for crap!!!!!!!! If you are not using a decent audio recorder you'll be throwing your money away on the NTG-3.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
You do realize that mounting any mic on the camera is probably the worst position for capturing production sound, and a shotgun mic just makes it worse.

If you absolutely have zero choice in the matter at least get a cardioid mic, preferably a hypercardioid; hypers have a wider pick-up range. Yes, you'll get more ambient noise, but you'll also get more dialog.

When doing film/video production sound the mic should always be as close to the sound source as possible, aimed from above and slightly in front, pointed at the notch at the base of the throat. You may want to consider a mic stand for whichever mic you choose, or even a decent quality lavalier for interviews.

BTW, what are you using as your audio recording device? The audio implementation on DSLRs is for crap!!!!!!!! If you are not using a decent audio recorder you'll be throwing your money away on the NTG-3.
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I'm planning on buying this mic no matter what, question is how do I mount it :D
I'm going to be doing 1-man projects as well as projects with non-experienced boom operators. I'm buying zoom h4n together with the ntg-3. I just wanna know how to mount it onto the camera, so I will be able to film stuff with sound by myself, such as videoblogging where I for instance follow a group of musicians.
 
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Asker said:
I'm planning on buying this mic no matter what
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Why must you have the NTG-3 no matter what? What is it about the NTG-3 that tells you it can do all of the things that you want it to do?

There's no such thing as a "Swiss Army Knife" when it comes to microphones. You may want to consider getting two less expensive mics, say the Avantone Pro CK-1 hypercardioid and the NTG-1. As you are using the H4n, and considering how you are planning to use it, you wouldn't hear the quality of the NTG-3 anyway. You put the left-over money into quality wind protection, shock-mounts, cases, etc.

BTW, you may want to consider the Tascam DR-40, DR-100mkII or DR-60 (which can mount under your camera). They have a much more solid build and can use battery packs, which the H4n cannot.


Oh, and on your topic, is this what you are looking for?

Camera-with-microphone-580px.jpg
 
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Alcove Audio said:
Why must you have the NTG-3 no matter what? What is it about the NTG-3 that tells you it can do all of the things that you want it to do?

There's no such thing as a "Swiss Army Knife" when it comes to microphones. You may want to consider getting two less expensive mics, say the Avantone Pro CK-1 hypercardioid and the NTG-1. As you are using the H4n, and considering how you are planning to use it, you wouldn't hear the quality of the NTG-3 anyway. You put the left-over money into quality wind protection, shock-mounts, cases, etc.

BTW, you may want to consider the Tascam DR-40, DR-100mkII or DR-60 (which can mount under your camera). They have a much more solid build and can use battery packs, which the H4n cannot.


Oh, and on your topic, is this what you are looking for?

Camera-with-microphone-580px.jpg
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Thats exactly what I was looking for. I know I can go cheaper ways, but the thing is, I scored myself a pretty good job with a great salary every month, and I've read so much good stuff about the NTG-3 that I've decided it's the one I want to go for. I'm not gonna buy a top professional mic, even if I had the money, since I don't have the experience to go for that.

Regarding the h4n, I'm buying a package that includes DLSR mounting =)

EDIT: is the accessory in the picture called something?
 
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Asker said:
is the accessory in the picture called something?
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It's a shoe clip/mount.


Asker said:
I've read so much good stuff about the NTG-3 that I've decided it's the one I want to go for
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I'm not disputing the fact that it's a good mic, especially in the "bang-for-the-buck" category. It's called "the poor mans -416," meaning the Sennheiser MKH-416, which is more than twice as expensive. However, the raves are coming from professional boom-ops (whose job is to aim the mic) and PSMs (Production Sound Mixers).

The point I am making is that, despite its quality, the NTG-3 may not be the right mic for you. Shotguns can sound VERY "hollow" and "roomy" when used indoors if not aimed with extreme care. Also, when mounting a shotgun mic on a stand or camera, if the person being interviewed turns their head even slightly they can become radically off axis (out of the optimum pick-up range or the "sweet spot") - you'll hear a lot more room and a lot less voice. A hypercardioid would be more forgiving; less "hollow" and a wider polar pattern so a bigger sweet spot. A hard-wired lav may also be an option.

My point is you can have a decent prosumer shotun mic, a decent hypercardioid mic and a very decent lav for the same price as the NTG-3, and you'll never hear a difference in sound because of the recording medium (H4n) and your experience (minimal to none) in production sound and audio post. In fact, if you use the three mics properly, your sound quality should be better than if you got just the NTG-3.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
Shotguns can sound VERY "hollow" and "roomy" when used indoors if not aimed with extreme care.
Click to expand...

While Alcove is correct about this, I personally would still go with the Rode, and avoid the lav, if you're going to be doing a one man band, without wearing a headphone. The lav will only introduce issues of scratches in the sound at the wrong time, that you wont discover until you go to post, unless you're doing your blog wearing a headset of course.

I would go with this setup:
1. Stand - If you use the stand and keep the microphone in front of you and pointing towards your neck, as Alcove mentioned somewhere else, you should be able to get around the problem of "aiming with extreme care."
http://www.amazon.de/Mikrofonstativ...d=1423976184&sr=8-2&keywords=microphone+stand
2. Female XLR to 3.5, in case your'e recording directly to camera. 6 meters seems pretty good.
http://www.amazon.de/Weiblich-Buchs...8&qid=1423977221&sr=8-5&keywords=xlr+to+3+5mm

If you can, I'd get a recorder separate from your DSLR, unless you're using magic lantern, or some other system that gets rid of the auto gain control in your DSLR. I use a Tascam DR60D for non film related personal recordings. If you get a separate recorder, change #2 to a female to male XLR cable of course.
Edit: I missed the part about the H4N and jumped to giving you my advice. Sorry.

Here is an example of the setup above for audio. It does have some audio post work on it, after the above setup.
But remember, once you set it up, you can't move your head and body back and forth too much as it will make the sound different depending on your position, which happened to us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qAIx78RQes

EDIT: ps. Sorry. I didn't realize how expensive the NTG-3 was. Holy crap. You don't need that to do your podcast. I shot mine with this
http://www.amazon.de/Avantone-CK-1-...8&qid=1423976291&sr=8-1&keywords=avantone+ck1

which is usually used to pick up acoustic guitars and piano.

I stand corrected. I don't see why you need the NTG-3. What's wrong with the NTG-2? http://www.amazon.de/NTG2-Powered-D...e=UTF8&qid=1423978550&sr=8-2&keywords=rode+nt
Spend the money on the TASCAM DR70d instead. or the DR60d.
Time for me to go to bed :)
 
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Asker said:
I've read so much good stuff about the NTG-3 that I've decided it's the one I want to go for.
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Then you've failed to understand what you've read!! The performance of any microphone, like the performance of almost all audio equipment, is entirely dependent on the circumstances of it's use. The NTG-3 is a precision mic, designed for use in a blimp, on a good quality boom by a decent boom op who can position/aim it with some precision and plugged into a decent mic-pre. Given these circumstances, the NTG-3 is a very respectable mic which will provide much better results than the average prosumer mic.

However, these are NOT the circumstances you are proposing and therefore what you have read about the performance of the NTG-3 is NOT applicable to how you intend to use it! Look, you can find rave reviews of the Ferrari F12 but on a bad, potholed, ice-covered winter road, it's pretty much an un-drivable pile of junk and you'd actually get much better performance from a 4WD family SUV and for a fraction of the cost! This is what Alcove is trying to explain to you.

Asker said:
I'm planning on buying this mic no matter what ...
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Just so we're clear, what you're saying is that you are willing to pay two or three times more to achieve a lower quality end result because you're fixated on an NTG-3, "no matter" that it's actually the wrong tool for the job?

G
 
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I agree somewhat with what have been written. I would recommend the mic. It will work fine, but not perfect with the mic mounted on the camera. Of course you should strive for to have a separate recorder and a boom operator. But we can't have everything we want at once.

The mic is a great start for somewhat better production sound. Make sure that you do all the dialogue in closeup and then use the audio from the closeups in the other takes, it will sound fine.

Mounting the mic on the camera is not a final solution, but it gets you somewhere. As long as you work with what you have it will be great!
 
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Here is an image of the setup I was using. You can't see the microphone, but it's above his head, in front of him, and pointing towards his mouth/neck/chest area. It's fixed to the microphone stand you see.

Tim1.png


I'm no expert of course, and I don't want to dispute anything the experts are saying. Also, I wasn't using a real boom mic, but this setup is still the best sound I've ever gotten on a two man crew. I would say the difference was the Tascam DR60d.
 
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Asker said:
Thats exactly what I was looking for. I know I can go cheaper ways, but the thing is, I scored myself a pretty good job with a great salary every month, and I've read so much good stuff about the NTG-3 that I've decided it's the one I want to go for. I'm not gonna buy a top professional mic, even if I had the money, since I don't have the experience to go for that.

Regarding the h4n, I'm buying a package that includes DLSR mounting =)

EDIT: is the accessory in the picture called something?
Click to expand...

I'm not going to pick on your decision, as it still might be a good one. But I'm going to give you an analogy.

Over my life I've owned many different vehicles. I've had several 4WD vehicles, and have a 4x4 today which I use to get around through mud and snow. Lots of snow. I also own a Porsche. Even after owning it for 5 years, every time I get out of the Porsche I have this stupid grin on my face, because it's so much fun to drive.

Today, I needed to run an errand to pick up a couple boxes, so I drove a 20yo beat-up truck with a wet seat that I had to put a bunch of plastic over. This was so that I could take my dog for a ride. He's too big to fit in the porsche with the boxes.

The moral: it's usually better to opt for the right tool for the job. Putting aside your preconceived notions to evaluate each situation to use the best tool is the mark of a professional.

I've been doing a fair amount of boom op, and learned there's a huge difference on mics. There's also a huge difference on what you can do with a mic based on placement, and that's the job of the boom op. I don't care that you're going to mount a shotgun on a camera, but do yourself a favor and purchase two more things:
1: Buy a decent, cheap hyper-cardiod mic. You can find a decent one for $100.
2: Buy a decent, cheap mic stand with plenty of xlr cable.

You should do everything possible to get the mic off your camera and close to the subject before mounting it ON your camera. A monkey with a boom pole is better than mounting it on the camera. A hyper-cardiod is often better on the camera itself, but both still lose to the monkey. If there's any movement at all, a hyper on a stand is better than a shotgun on a stand.

It's extremely easy to fool your eyes. It's much more difficult to fool your ears.
 
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