sound mixing devices

[steven_craig]

here is the deal; i have three cameras, a radio mic and a stereo mic on a boom...

how do you filmymakers mix down your sound - from XLR conntections to phono jack? more specifically what do you use to balance raw audio from the mic and then feed it into the camera?

any help, much appreciated!

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 20, 2002 01:06 PM: Message edited by: steven_craig ]</font>

[Alex]

Anytime a performer raises their voice (yelling, singing, screaming) on a shoot, you run the risk of audio distortion. The proper audio pad will eliminate this problem.

Every camera is different, most cameras give you some menu options, some video cameras give you the ability to "rerate" your audio from -60 to -50 or even lower.

For instance, I have found that to avoid audio distortion when recording live sounds, I stay away from the -60 setting, especially if I am using a sennheiser mike and will be videotaping in a loud environment.

I use audio pads to reduce the chance of audio distortion. The minimum I recommend is a -10 audio pad, the maxium is a -20.

These audio pads can get to be pretty expensive, and you should have a pair for each setting. So, you should own two -10's, two -15's, two -20's.

In the U.S. I paid 20 bucks for ONE! If you camera has a menu setting where you can readjust the camera's mike sensitvity to -50 from -60, I would give it a try, and with that scenario you may be able to forgo purchasing the audio pads.

[Alex]

Even though your topic was about sound mixing devices, it is much more important to acquire good audio from one or two mikes, and then at the very least mix it in post.

Location sound mixing becomes an issue if you have more mikes than audio tracks to put them on. If that is your question, it would be better if you give more specifics for your situation.

[assyrix]

If using a computer which hardware/software would you recommend for proper audio editing?

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 29, 2002 11:41 AM: Message edited by: assyrix ]</font>

[Alex]

Well,usually, each camera should give you two audio channels. For the record, a pad is not for mixing, just to help ensure you don't get audio distortion. If you have the ability to put one external mike to the camera, plus a mike camera, and they will each reside on their own sound channel completely isolated from each other, you gain some flexibility later in edit.

(for instance, the camera mike might pick up audience reaction, something your wireless mike attached to the subject might not do as well)

If you are shooting a live event with three cameras...don't turn any of the cameras off after you start unless you can jam sync free run time code to all three cameras.

If your time-code won't be matching, then once the event starts, let all cameras run. If you stop and start any of the cameras, and don't have jam sync'd free-run time-code, it becomes a bear to sync them up later.

Even with jam sync'd free-run time-code, the constant skips in the time-code can prove to be a problem.

[steven_craig]

i'll have two MKH-416's on two cameras and a radio mic (i think an Audio 2020) on another so i have the same no of cams as tracks - i went to beach tec http://www.optexint.com/digivid/beachtek/ and i have hired 3 mixy things as i will need to balance the sound cause im using XL1's. essentially i was wanting to see if people bothered using a "pad" mixing desk and what type, or if they used something similar to what iv got?

cheers folks