Interviewing Tony Blair with a 5DmkII with assistant Xiaoli Wang and a boom mic (out of shot)
I get a lot of questions about audio for DSLR and on July 7th I’ll be giving a seminar about the subject in Bristol, showing the various practical approaches I take to get good audio for my real world videos. DSLR video guru Phil Bloom will be there too, talking about how he records his audio using dual system sound. It’s £30 for the day and there are other sessions as well from experts. If you are in the UK I think it will be well worth the trip.
Getting good audio with a boom connected via Sennheiser EW100 radio mic to a 5DmkII
Below are the details from Rycote:
Objective for the day: to demystify the black art of audio, through a seminar programme and hands-on experience with industry experts in a demonstration area.
Through a series of seminars and hands-on experience with industry experts in a demonstration area, we will address a range of issues, including:
- Recording directly to the camera vs. recording separate audio?
- How to record audio in different scenarios?
- How do I eliminate wind noise from my recordings? What about handling noise?
- Portable recorders, Lavalier mics, Wireless microphones – which one should I use?
- Guide tracks? Reference audio?
The Watershed - venue of the Rycote DSLR audio day (photo courtesy of the Watershed)
Come and join us no matter what your level of audio knowledge is!
Confirmed Seminars;
Chris Woolf- Understanding Audio Concepts
John McCombie- HDSLR Audio Solutions from Pinknoise-systems
Dan Chung- audio case study
Philip Bloom- audio case study
Please note seminars will run from 9.30AM to 5PM, and are available by ticket in advance only (£30.00 per ticket)
Hands-on experience/trade show area (open to the public)- 9AM to 7PM
Come and meet the manufacturers
Hands-on experience of various audio products and accessories
Listen to individual mics and appreciate the differences
Products provided by Canon, Pink Noise Systems, Sennheiser, Rycote and Sound Devices
Networking opportunities in cafe/bar area throughout the day
Additional details:
When: Thursday 7th July 2011, 9AM to 7PM
Where: Watershed, Bristol - A short distance from Temple Meads Station! Ample car parking close by.
Trade show area: open to the public
Seminars: £30.00 for the day
Book your tickets now!
Contact sales@rycote.com, or phone us on 01453 759 338.
Confirmed Exhibitors;
Canon
Sennhesier
Pink Noise
Rycote
Shure Distribution- Sound Devices mixers etc
Photo Professional Magazine
Institute of Videography
Korro Consultancy- Apple Master Trainer Final Cut Studio & Adobe certified trainer
Hotel packages available with Radisson Blu, Ibis and Marriott, College Green – please mention The Watershed.
While there are a lot of great training courses for pro photographers wanting to transition to video in the US there are far fewer in the UK. Luckily my friends at Jacobs Digital Photo & Video are now offering some great seminars right in the centre of London during May.
A previous event at the Jacobs Pro lounge in London
They are being held at the Pro lounge in the basement of Jacob’s New Oxford street store which is a meeting place for photographers from across the capital. They hold regular events for the photographic community and I love to drop in there to check out new equipment and talk to old friends whenever I’m in London.
There will be two one day training events The first of these will be on Thursday 5th May run by camera guru Nick Wilcox Brown. Nick is a camera, technical and software trainer for the Image Consultancy. His course will offer an introduction to shooting video, essential accessories and editing.
Nick has over 20 years experience as a stills photographer for leading advertising, editorial and commercial clients. More recently he has been experimenting with and training clients on the lastest generation of video DSLRs and Camcorders.
The second will be a dedicated audio workshop with John McCombie of Pinknoise systems on Friday 6th May. Audio is one of the most important aspects of video and John has 20 years of experience working as a soundman. He will be covering various aspects of recording audio with DSLR, the inherent limitations, practical solutions and separate sound recording. I recently had the pleasure of working with John on a DSLR documentary shoot and I can honestly say that what he knows his stuff inside out.
His course will cover how to get great audio with the Canon DSLRs like the 5DmkII and 7D as well as the Panasonic Lumix GH2. Microphones covered will be – directional gun mics, hand held reporter mics, radio mics, and stereo mics. Preamps on hand to learn how to use will be the Juicedlink DT454, DS214, Sound Devices Mix Pre and the NEW Audio Developments AD071. Suspensions and windshield solutions from Rycote will feature as will audio recorders from Zoom and Tascam.
The cost of each course is £150 (inc VAT). This price includes a £25 Jacobs voucher to use in-store.
Places for both days will be limited as these are intensive workshops.
Call Jacobs on +44 207 4366996 and speak to Donal / Henrietta to reserve your place.
Sound Devices were showing their new PIX 220 HDMI and PIX 240 HD-SDI external recorders. They record in either Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD quicktime files to compact flash cards or SSD drives. They also feature a built in 5 inch 800×480 monitor. They also have 2 channels of mixer grade XLR audio inputs. Construction looks to be solid.
The new MixPre D audio mixer is an upgrade of the original MixPre with added features making it more suitable for DSLR use. It can be mounted under the camera and also has a USB interface so it can be used to feed a computer too.
Bruce Sharpe the creator of Pluraleyes and Dualeyes audio sync software talks us through some of it’s features and gives us his tips on how to get the best results for sync sound.
The new Rycote shock mount with a Zoom H4n recorder
Tim Constable of Rycote has been in touch to let me know that his company have launched what he believed to be a first – an effective suspension to eliminate the biggest problem of portable recorders – handling noise.
He told me “The suspension will offer excellent isolation from all vibrations, shocks and handling noise. The suspension mounts directly onto any portable recorder with a 1/4″ screw thread. The suspension can then be mounted on a 3/8″ male thread, mic stand, boom pole, extension handle or be attached to a camera hot shoe. The 180° swivel allows for easy orientation of the recorder so it can point in the exact direction of the speaker.
It uses the patented “Lyres” to give unequalled isolation & robustness. Unlike rubber or elastic suspensions the Lyre is unaffected by temperature extremes, and so can be used in the harshest of environments. The suspensions are available in 2 kits- the Portable Recorder Suspension and the Audio Recorder Kit.
The basic suspension includes a hot shoe attachment that makes it easy to mount on a hot shoe directly or on the 20cm hot shoe extension offered by Rycote. The latter enables the use of the portable recorder and lite panels etc on the camera. The audio recorder kit also offers an extension handle, so that the recorder can be handheld and a mini windjammer to increase versatility enable use outside. This makes it ideal for most aspects of capturing video on HDSLR cameras.”
Rycote also make a wide range of mini windjammers to fit most portable recorders. You can see more details here.
Here’s a quick roundup of some interesting bits of gear that have caught my eye in the past week or two:
Ikan has a new LED light range. Most interesting is the ILED-One which at only $99 but has a metal body and a choice of 3200 or 5600K colour temperatures.
Kessler Crane has a really interesting looking tripod head called the Hercules 2.0
Dslrnewsshooter contributor Sam Morgan Moore contacted me to tell me about his evolution of his Half inch rails system. The rig is designed for lightweight run & gun and now uses 15mm rods as an option. It will be available to buy soon.
Jared Abrams over at Cinema5D has just got an interesting ultra-light rig called the Chosziel DV balancer to test. I’m interested to see how it performs.
Jag35 have a new wired Electronic Follow Focus on the market. They also have a prototype wireless version which may be available at some point in the future. I have this unit to test and it is a very fun piece of kit.
Another innovative Follow Focus option has gone on sale called the Okii USB – I am not sure how well this will work as it uses the Canon USB connection to control an AF lens using it’s own inbuilt motor. Hopefully there will be some reviews soon.
I don’t normally look at compact stills cameras on this blog but here is a potentially interesting duo from Sony – handy because they both shoot Full HD 1080p/60P AVCHD at 24Mbps. DPreview has the low down on the new Cybershot DSC-HX100V and DSC-HX9V.
Johan Maertens is a sound recordist who has come up with an innovative solution to the issues of recording audio when using a Canon 5DmkII in a pro production (especially multi-camera) environment. It is small box that allows SMPTE timecode from a suitable source to be recorded to one of the camera’s audio tracks. Timecode has long been used in film to accurately sync separate audio and video tracks. If you are not familiar with how it works there is a great primer here.
Johan decided to build the Lockit Buddy when confronted with a multi-camera documentary shoot where he had to keep footage from three DSLRs running in sync and discovered that the only systems available had a hefty price tag. He started looking into building a system that could just slot in between a DSLR and a pro Lockit box that can be rented anywhere (or should be part of a sound recordist’s kit already if he uses a timecode based HardDisk audio recorder).
Johan built the Lockit Buddy and completed the documentary with three early prototypes. He says that the production was raving because they had budgeted three days to get everything synced up and it only took them minutes to get the job done. People then asked him how he had done it, so he decided to commercialise the device and made it more practical in its use.
For most of my day to day solo work I find that using the popular Pluraleyes software is the simplest way for me to sync my DSLR video and audio from a recorder. However if you want a more industry standard approach for bigger projects and multiple cameras I would certainly look at this solution.
Here is more info that Johan sent me: The Lockit Buddy is a small device that is aimed at the professional sound recordist, currently being confronted with increasing amounts of footage shot on Canon 5DmkII/7D/T2i/550D/60D… Digital SLR cameras, and to the owners of such cameras who want to work with a professional sound recordist using double system sound linked by Timecode.
Lockit Buddy takes care of the level and impedance conversions needed to record an accurate and dependable Timecode signal and confidence audio track to the Digital SLR camera at a fraction of the cost of other available systems.
There are no brand new RF systems to be purchased, no expensive special lockit boxes that only work on your Digital SLR mini-jack connector… all you’ll need is any standard Timecode source (Lockit box, broadcast camera TC out, hard disk recorder TC out etc …) and a sound source with a professional line level or standard headphone level output (IFB receiver, mixer output etc…)
All connections to and from the Lockit Buddy are made with gold plated contacts to ensure a trouble free long life with minimal signal loss.
It will accept standard SMPTE LTC via the in built BNC connector, and left and right unbalanced line level audio signal via 3-pin Mini XLR connector.
(these audio signals will be mixed down at an equal ratio by the Lockit Buddy to a single mono reference audio track on the Digital SLR).
The Lockit Buddy introduces no noise whatsoever to your signal chain and keeps crosstalk between the input channels on your Digital SLR to an absolute minimum, while making sure that no excessive levels are being sent to the camera.
Why put your reputation on the line by forcing pro line level signal (+4dB) into powered microphone level inputs? (+/- 50dB more sensitive) It may work if you turn the camera’s input level all the way down in manual mode and you are willing to live with horrible crosstalk between your channels and no signal headroom, but it could cause damage to the camera inputs over time and compromise reliability of your signal.
So how does the Lockit Buddy solve this?
The Lockit Buddy provides a separate pre-set attenuation and impedance compensation circuit for both of it’s inputs (timecode and audio), so that any equipment attached is ‘seeing’ the right kind of conditions to deliver it’s signal into without straining it’s outputs. It also cancels out the ‘plug in power’ being fed back from the camera microphone input to the attached equipment. The Digital SLR is getting reliably signal into it’s inputs at the level it’s expecting, without the crosstalk associated with sending hot signals down unbalanced connections.
There is a difference in setup between the 5DmkII / 60D model camera’s which have the option to use manual gain and the rest of the range 7D/T2i etc … which only have the auto gain option (unless you’re using Magic Lantern firmware). Hence there are Lockit Buddies available for each system. Both versions are physically identical, but have been factory set up to attenuate signal in a different way.
(if it becomes necessary this can be user modified by adjusting two internal trim controls)
In case of the auto gain cameras the Lockit Buddy uses the constant signal of the Timecode input to defeat the auto gain feature and produces an audio input free from the usual ‘noise floor’ artefacts. This will open up the entire dynamic range of the audio channel so a good quality reference audio track can be recorded on the camera.
In case of the 5DMKII / 60D we recommend downloading the latest firmware update for your camera and using the manual audio settings. This way a reference tone and Timecode signal can be put into allignment with one another and can be referenced to the meter display on the camera.
(This feature can be accessed via the 2nd setup menu / Live View – Movie Func. Set. / Sound Recording)
Lockit Buddy sends your reference audio track to channel 1 (L) and the Timecode to channel 2 (R).
This is conform to channel arrangements needed to ingest material with LTC recorded as audio with Avid* editing systems. For editing in Final Cut Pro* we recommend processing the video files using FCPauxTC by VideoToolshed* to extract your Timecode and turn it into an Auxiliary TC track.
In terms of mounting options, the Lockit Buddy comes standard with an aircraft grade aluminium mount that slides into the camera’s flash bracket **. This mount also comes with industry standard 1/4 inch thread to allow more options mounting on rigs, spigots, etc … or it can be taken off completely by removing two screws from the units bottom lid to allow you to use it with Velcro or an alternative way of affixing it.
Because of the multitude of possible wiring and plug arrangements connecting the Lockit Buddy to various third party devices, and due to the diversity in available rig setups, we are currently not providing any cables with the unit. Therefore we have included a
wiring reference with some standard industry connections that you can take to your trusted audio electronics supplier to either have your cables made to order or choose from their already available range of cables to suit your specific needs. You should always make use of quality cables, keep cable lengths to a practical minimum to reduce interference and always carry spares when you’re out on a shoot !
The Lockit Buddy has been intensively field tested with great reviews from users and post production companies and is now available to you with a 1 year limited warranty ***
Lockit Buddy (Inclusive of 20% VAT + FREE postage) GBP 94.99
Orders will be shipped out fully insured, and on a first ordered basis.
Please note that the anticipated delivery time is presently 2-3 weeks.
If you are interested in ordering the Lockit Buddy Johan can be contacted at info@lockitbuddy.com.
Dual system audio has become very common in DSLR video these days. You record high quality sound separately on an external audio recorder like the popular Zoom H1 or H4n, then sync it later with your DSLR video, replacing the camera’s ‘bad’ inbuilt audio track. Traditionally you then combine the two manually using a ‘sync clap’ as a reference to compare audio waveforms and line them up afterwards in your editing software. This is do-able but dull and time-consuming. Or a pain in the arse, in plain English.
Thankfully there is a more hi-tech automated solution for combining the two – Singular Software’s PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro, which I’ve been using since its launch and thoroughly recommend. Many projects I shoot have audio done this way.
Whilst this is fine if you are a Final Cut Pro user I’ve been asked many times if it would be possible to get PluralEyes working with more basic editing packages like Final Cut Express and IMovie.
Here’s the solution from Singular: DualEyes harnesses the same technology as PluralEyes but in a stand alone application. It allows you to automatically sync audio and video clips, without the need for timecode, clappers or any special preparation.
Bruce Sharpe, creator of PluralEyes, said DualEyes for the Mac had been one of their most requested products.
I had the pleasure of meeting Naomi Goggin to review her stills portfolio at the Canon Pro Solutions show in London earlier this year. Later that same day she was awarded the Times Canon Young Photographer of the Year at the show and given a six month contract to work at the paper. Not content to shoot just stills she has decided to venture into learning video on the DSLR, which as she says “requires some solid investments in kit.”
The Sennheiser MKE400 mini shotgun mic
She has had some video training and found the “sound is more important than the picture itself – a slightly alien concept for photographers. A video with bad picture, can be saved by good sound, but the reverse, a video with bad sound quality, cannot be saved with good picture.”
To prove her point Naomi has posted a couple of short test videos demonstrating how a simple Sennheiser MKE400 on camera mic can make a difference in a noisy environment. She shot it in a busy restaurant using a 50mm f1.2 prime lens and says her “focusing practice is under way!”
We wish Naomi the best as she embarks on her career (I’m guessing that video will play a large part in it). You can follow Naomi’s progress at the Times of London on her blog.
To celebrate the end of the year I wanted to highlight a couple of special offers for readers of this blog.
First off, Hosa technology are offering a special price on the miniature Que audio ENG shotgun mic kit which we featured on the blog earlier in the year. It’s the perfect size for a DSLR and for a limited time it’s available for a very reasonable $349 with free delivery in the US. To get this price simply enter the code dslrnewsshooter when you go to check out from the Hosatech webstore here http://www.hosatech.com/product/380886/QENG-KIT/_/ELECTRONIC_NEWS_GATHERING_MICROPHONE_KIT.
Next up, the F-Stop academy are offering 50% off their entire line of training downloads, which include Philip Bloom’s excellent 5DmkII and 7D videos as well as my own ‘DSLR video on Assignment’ where I demonstrate how I work in the field. The promotion runs till tomorrow, December 24th. Simply go to http://www.learndslrvideostore.com/ and enter the code snow50
