No Zoom meeting today!
DSLR Audio Workshop
DSLR cameras shoot gorgeous video, but they are… not great when it comes to audio. They’re not built for capturing high-quality audio; even when you capture it with a decent mic and feed it directly into the camera, it will be compressed and not nearly as good as audio recorded separately on proper audio recorder, ideally with a lavalier or “lav” mic clipped to the collar. Which creates a whole other set of issues when it comes to syncing the audio in post. Fun times! Fortunately, there are a lot of creative solutions out there available at not TOO high of a price.
The Rode Videomic
One thing to be aware of with the Rode Videomic is that most Canon DSLRs with video capability register a pretty audible hiss if you use them with an external microphone in Auto and with the default settings in a quiet environment. This is because the camera has an automatic feature that increases the audio gain in a quiet setting because it’s essentially looking for sound.
With the Videomic Pro, there are recommended settings you can change manually to eliminate this hiss. Unfortunately, we have the Videomic Go, so this doesn’t apply to our equipment, but I still mention it because the Pro is an affordable and a very common mic for videographers who are starting out. (By setting the Rode Videomic Pro’s dB switch to +20 and adjusting the manual sound level setting on the camera to about 20%, you can achieve a virtually hiss-free recording if you’re recording in Manual.)
Still, don’t worry about the hiss too much. It’s great for low-fuss recording in situations where there might be a low level of background noise (outside with birds chirping, etc., on a street with a bit of traffic noise, etc.) and if you’re in a totally quiet environment there’s a good chance you’re in a controlled environment like an office where it’ll be easier to use the lav mic anyway.
Using the Tascam
The Tascam is the audio mixer in your kits in the bubble wrap. It allows you to record audio from multiple mics/sources at once. You can record that audio separately to be synced later or feed it directly into your camera to avoid having to sync it. There are good reasons why you may or may not want to do that.
If you’re feeding audio from multiple mics into the Tascam, it will record them separately which can help you in editing later, but when you’re monitoring the audio on your headphones you will hear the sound from both mics at once together. If you feed the audio directly into the camera, each separate track will be combined into one (and at a lower, more compressed quality to boot) meaning you will lose the ability to mix those multiple sources separately in post.
It will, however, allow you to avoid the often time-consuming process of syncing your high-quality audio with the clips filmed on your camera that are paired with the low-quality, built-in camera audio.
You can sync audio within Premiere Pro using the Merge Clips feature (demonstrated below) which is a lot easier than trying to do it manually. Watch this and pay attention to what he says about doing a loud clap once both camera and audio recorder are recording, which will help when it comes time to sync the audio.
But even with this tool, syncing can be a pain, especially when you consider that DSLR interviews are by necessity often broken into shorter clips than you might find with other video cameras (they can generally only record for about 12 minutes before they will stop recording automatically and you will need to begin a new clip, meaning you may need to do this a number of times).
I’ve also found sometimes that “Merge Clips” doesn’t always work, and you’ll need to go in and line things up manually, which usually requires you to zoom all the way in and adjust the sync frame by frame to make sure it’s lined up perfectly. The visual waveforms are hugely helpful in terms of making sure the sync is exact; I recommend stretching out your audio tracks vertically so you can see the waveforms while you’re doing this.
So whether or not you decide to input the Tascam audio into the camera will depend on your individual assessment of what’s most important for this project; ie ease vs. quality/control. I personally always record the audio separately.
Exercise
Set up your cameras for an interview with the lavalier mic. Practice interviewing someone about their day, first with the Tascam recording the audio separately and then with the Tascam feeding the audio into the camera. (You can also just mic yourself and talk about your own day if you’re the only one at your place right now.) Make sure to start a new video clip when you switch recording methods. It only needs to be 30 seconds to a minute. Upload your footage and your audio into a new Premiere Pro project and practice syncing the audio. Post on the blog.
The Tascam gets mounted onto your tripod and then your camera gets mounted on top of it. The long XLR cable will connect the Tascam to the lav mic. Clip the lav mic pack to your belt, and ask your interviewee to run the lav mic under their shirt and clip it to their collar. Plug your headphones into the Tascam as well so you can monitor the audio. The very small cable in the clear box is what allows you to feed the Tascam audio directly into the camera.
I know it’s not ideal that I can’t be there with you in a classroom to give hands-on instruction while you’re getting the hang of this equipment, but I’ll be available by phone/FaceTime etc. in case you need assistance! Please don’t hesitate to call.