Is this a bad idea?

[johnnhud]

In my quest to record sound for my candid filming I came up with this idea. It's largly based off of stuff that I have lying around my house.

First, I would use a simple hand held casset tape recorder to record my sound.


However, I would attach through the Mic Port a small shotgun mic that i have (similar to one in pic)


I would probably just tape the mic to the top of the recorder and hand hold it, pointing it towards whatever I'm shooting at the moment.

Questions: Would recording to the tape mean crappy audio quality? (Maybe I could get one of those special high quality cassettes)

Would outputting the audio back through the player and into the computer through the line-in audio port cause any problems?

What Khz would I want to capture the audio on the computer at? 44khz? 48khz? maybe lower?

Lastly, how hard do you think this will be to sync up to the film, assuming I have an indicater such as a finger snapping, hand clapping or something like that?

[Seppo.T]

Hey, man!
If You have the stuff lying around, You should be doing experimets and test out in the wild already. That's the way...

I had to say that.

Seppo.T

[johnnhud]

Sadly, I'm at the office but I will put my brainstorm to work when I get home!

[flatwood]

That should work ok. Get one of those high bias metal oxide tapes. Set your top level at about +3 but dont go over that. You want to get as much signal on the tape as possible to get as far above the noise floor as you can. Use fresh batteries and like Seppo suggests, do some tests.

[sooper8fan]

johnnhud, if you're planning on shooting and hand-holding the mic/recorder yourself, you will most likely still hear the camera running in the background. If this isn't a big deal, go for it. If you could have somebody else hold the mic/recorder a little further away, that would be ebst. Sometimes, the location can be noisy (amusement park, mall, car show, etc.) and if you're just going for ambient sounds, that might work out pretty well as it could drown out the sound of the camera. I say no, it's not a bad idea.
But I must agree with Seppo.T.....if you already had this stuff laying around the house, why haven't you already tried it?

[richard p. t.]

The sound should stay in 'practical' synch all things being equal for shots of short to medium length. Longer takes will require more jugling to get the sound to synch up . You may need to stretch, compress, cut, add, or duplicate bits. As such, the clap at the start will only be of moderate assistance regarding synching. You could try attatching the recorder to your belt or to a bag. This might get more distance between camera and mic and also reduce the potential of noise from your hand holding it. I would wear headphones to monitor while you shoot to make sure that you are getting a useable result.

[johnnhud]

I would wear headphones to monitor while you shoot to make sure that you are getting a useable result.

That is a great idea, I also have some small earphones that insert laying around as well. I won't look like to much like a fool walking around with all this!

[Shion]

Would outputting the audio back through the player and into the computer through the line-in audio port cause any problems?

Does the player have a line-out port, or just a headphone port? If it's only the latter, the quality could be a bit problematic... but I know of lots of people that do this ("professionals" included!), so by all means give it a shot!

What Khz would I want to capture the audio on the computer at? 44khz? 48khz? maybe lower?

I would personally record it at 48KHz, since that's the rate used by DVD's and DV tape, formats to which you might want to output to later. However, I doubt it will make much difference either way.

Bon

[filmamigo]

You can give yourself a better idea of sync if you do both a head and tail slate (i.e. you clap your hands at the beginning and end of the shot.)

Then you have two references to sync up, it should be obvious how much (and in what direction) your sync is slipping. Should also make it easier to apply subtle duration changes to your audio to make both sync marks line up.

Unless you don't have critical dialogue -- in which case just record wild.

[BigBeaner]

Definite good idea is some field mixer or something that has VU meters of some sort to check levels, and probably someone who just watches and listens to the levels. If you don't have it well just go with the flow. Also, I'v e been told time and time again to get atleast two mics just to ensure you have more of a choice for clean audio.

[charles8]

A minidisc would give better sound, and could be fitted to most cameras particularly the Nizo range, and a lead to your mic, this would mean you could turn on the mic easily from the camera end, you would get better quality sound, also you can name the tracks on the disc, to be able to sync up later..just some thoughts.

[audadvnc]

Yep, those digital recorders can give you a pristine recording of the camera grinding away ... :?

[charles8]

I use the on mic camera when it is a particularly noise filled scene, and the nizo is the quietest camera around, so camera noise cannot be detected, however when I said to use a MD recorder I meant to keep the Mic at a distance having the MD at the camera end would mean ease of use in switching on and off, setting sound levels ect. My set-up has worked well for me, with the pulse generator.

[johnnhud]

I did my test this weekend, I was surprised to find out that the build in mic on my voice recorder did a better job than my little camcorder shotgun mic. I guess Sony knew that the propose of the onboard mic was going to be picking up voice from a distance and designed it well.

I was very impressed by the old tape recorders audio quality. With all the new toys like Mini Disk, MP3 Recorders, and the like, it's easy to forget that you probably have a great voice recorder sitting in an old junk drawer at the house. Plus, it's not going to cost you any money to use it.

In other news, I have found the solution for my candid camera shots. I talked last night to the sound tech and he is going to hook my up with a wireless microphone and allow me to record the audio directly to my laptop. This way I don't have to worry about hitting record on my audio before I start shooting. As long as I don't run out of hard drive space...