Digital Video - March 2008 - (Page 32)

DYNAMIC From left, AKG’s C1000S mike, Audio-Technica’s AE3300 mike and Sennheiser’s K6 powering module. DUOS BY MICHAEL SILBERGLEID headphones have become readily available from a variety of manufacturers, including Audio-Technica, Shure and Sony. Sound-isolating headphones use passive sleeves to block ambient noise, while noise-reducing headphones use active builtin microphones to detect ambient noise and invert the sound wave so that both sounds cancel each other out before they hit your ear. Noise canceling is not a perfect technology, but it does work and is available in in-ear style for videographers, plus on-ear and over-the-ear styles for others. Obviously, in ear and over the ear will give the best results. Noise-canceling headphones take some getting used to. The trick is knowing what you are hearing. For example, if you’re on a shoot in an office, there’s going to be some ambient noise. The headphones will do a good job of canceling what your ear would normally pick up, so you’re left with what the mike captures. Let’s say that someone is talking on the phone behind you. With an on-camera speaker or passive headphones, you could hear the person. The question is: Did the microphone pick up this person’s conversation? With noise-canceling headphones, the ambient sound is canceled — but if you still hear the person on the phone, it might be the microphone picking them up. That sound is not canceled by the headphones. You might also hear sounds that your exposed ear could not pick up. That’s a great benefit. A udio can be the most important facet of any production. When the audio is great, it doesn’t call attention to itself. But when the audio is poor, it’s like a slap in the face to the viewer. To ensure good audio, you need to monitor your audio during production. How exactly are you doing that? During production, most videographers will either use a camcorder’s built-in side speaker (if available) to “confidence monitor” the audio, or they’ll use headphones. CONFIDENCE ISN’T QUALITY Confidence monitoring has less to do with quality and more to do with quantity. In other words, did you get something? Did the mike pick up the sound you wanted? There are three main problems with relying on confidence monitoring: the speaker isn’t of the highest quality; your right ear (which would be used for an on-camera speaker) is also exposed to any other sounds at the shooting location; and your left ear is fully exposed to the other sounds at the shooting location. To remedy this, headphones can be used, though the quality of headphones can vary greatly. Bad headphones can totally misrepresent the audio so it sounds like you have more bass, midrange or high end than you really have. Headphones come in three primary types: in-ear (buds), onear, and over-the-ear. Dedicated audio professionals tend to use over-the-ear headphones because the design passively blocks out some of the ambient noise at the shooting location (tight-fitting, in-ear headphones can also block some of ambient noise). However, if you are a one-person crew, over-the-ear headphones can get in the way during a shoot when your head is against the side of the camera. You can also consider headphones with noise-reducing or sound-isolation technology. In the past few years, these types of SOUND CONVERSION That brings us to the microphones you’re using. If your productions are based around consumer DV camcorders, they often leave no room for audio improvement because they don’t have a microphone jack. If you’re going to rely on inexpensive consumer camcorders, try to find one that allows for an external microphone. Some midrange professional camcorders come with a microphone. Sometimes they’re good, and sometimes they’re not. IMPROVE YOUR AUDIO WITH THE RIGHT MICROPHONE AND MONITORING COMBO. 32 dv march 2008 www.dv.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2008

Digital Video - March 2008 Contents DV Update Q&A Fest Circuit Instant Expert LP-Micro Light Fusion F2 Drive PPFP-3N Bag Ego Digital Imaging Light KE-79CC Boom & Fuzzy Close-Up: Honoring George Spiro Dibie, ASC Food Fight Key Thoughts on Chroma key DV101 Dynamic Duos First Look: A Big Serve Cameras & Courtrooms Ad Index Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2008

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