Nikon D750 user - new to video, questions re mic's, motor noise, pause

Hello all,

Hoping you are healthy and well. I'm new to video and trying to shoot some YouTube cooking videos for a friend. My first foray into this was full of autofocus motor noise and I don't see the camera having the ability to pause recording.

My questions are: I think I should be using a hot-shoe mounted mic, Can you recommend one? It seems Rodes is most popular but there seem to be many lower cost options. To complicate matters, I will be engaging in some dialogue with the subject so I don't think a shotgun mike will pick both our voices up equally. Again, looking for advice and options.

Do I have the ability to pause recording or must I make different clips and figure out how to splice them together later?

 

Many thanks,

John

In my brief and limited experience, if you can possibly edit later and then do a voice track, you'll get a better result. Part of that is the ability to redo the dialog until you get it right. The problem with a cooking video is you probably want the speaker speaking directly to the viewer while cooking. If you want to interact, I'd thing about two mics and a small mixer. However you do it, a good external mic will be way better. Position it in the best spot, which isn't always/usually on the camera. If you do the sound later, you can have the mic in an optimal position. I have various ways to record sound, and various mics to do it with, but most of the time I use a little Tascam DR-05 recorder. Very good sound quality and easy to use. Then I download the files and drag them to the editor. It also has a direct line out that can probably plug into the camera, but I haven't tried it that way.

The Rode Videomic Pro is a super-cardioid, which has excellent rejection on the sides and rear. That would probably minimize focusing motor noise pickup. It also has a shock mount to help reduce handling noise. That said, the optimal distance from the mic to the subject and lens to the subject are seldom the same. It's better to put the mic on a stand an connected it to the camera by a cable, or record separately and combine with the video in post, using the camera pickup as a guide.

 

Just about any video editing program will allow you to combine clips into a single video. Even if you don't stop the camera, you will get a new video file every 2 GB or so in most cameras.

 

If you want to record two people at once, one behind the camera, you probably need two mics, and a small mixer attached to the camera (or separate). I record sound, including music and interviews on a Zoom F8 or H6, the same way I would for CDs or broadcast, then put it together with the video later. Adobe Premere Pro and Apple Final Cut will line up the sound and video automatically if both have the same material. Otherwise, do it manually, or use synchronized LTC time code.

Thank you, both, very much. I've never add audio to a video. I'm guessing it's somewhat self-explanatory in one of the video editing programs you've mentioned, Ed?

If you are vlogging or live-streaming, you have no choice other than feed audio to the camera or mix it into the live-stream in some other way. It gets tricky because HDMI video lags by 2 to 8 frames (@ 30 fps). Sony Alpha cameras give you the option of "Live" or "Lip Sync" timing for audio. You must use the latter if you want video and audio to line up properly. Otherwise there is about 4 frames difference. Delay can be imposed on audio in other ways too, including DAW and streaming software and hardware. For multi-camera shoots, I use a switcher with audio input ports, which I feed from the recorder or mixer. I can also connect the mixer to the computer, and add it to the stream in software (e.g., Wirecast).

 

When I record concerts and events, I use between 2 and 16 microphones (26 mics is my maximum so far), plus feeds from the house sound system. All of those microphones (and feeds) require cables, so I locate the recorder close to the stage (e.g., in the wing). Meanwhile my camera(s) are located 50 feet or more away, in a balcony if possible. Wired connections to the camera are impractical. I have used UHF wireless and even BlueTooth, with mixed success, so mostly I don't bother.

 

To match up the audio and video, I open the video clip and look at the audio signal. I then mark the beginning of the program sound. I do the same in the recorded audio file, then line the marks up in the sequence (timeline). This must be done each place either stream is interrupted (intermissions and such), so I avoid interruptions if possible. With solid-state recording at both ends, I seldom have to interrupt either recording. The timing is frame-accurate even after several hours of continuous recording. Time lag due to distance is insignificant up to 100 feet or so (2 frames @ 67 feet).

 

Sometimes I move around with a hand-held (or gimbal mounted) camera, and only shoot once I'm set up on an angle. This means many clips (and many manual synchronizations). Adobe Premiere Pro (and Final Cut) will do this automatically if you select all of the clips and use the "Merge Clips" function. This will create a sequence with all of the clips imposed at the correct in points. The process can take a long time because all of the clips and tracks must be processed in entirety, so I use the manual method most of the time.

 

These method assume the camera and recorder "hear" the same thing (from different locations). Otherwise you can use time code if all the devices are running from an LTC host or are jam-synced at the beginning of the shoot. Time code works even with tape, which must be changed regularly and is subject to dropouts.

Wow, 26 mics is some setup! So nobody needs these for sound sync anymore?

I have a clapper board, and have actually used it -- once or twice. I don't need it for what I do, so it stays home, in a closet somewhere.

 

It was necessary to identify each take when using film, and there are hundreds of takes in the course of a movie production. Metadata and time code embedded in digital video makes the sorting and cataloging of takes much easier. It's still an important and often time-consuming effort to keep everything straight. I'm working on a "virtual concert" production which has 11 pages of "takes" listed in a spreadsheet and in my NLE.

 

Movies and documentaries are usually shot out of sequence, so a clapper still provides an essential service. The new ones display the same time code as in the footage.