Live Video Production – audio board question and more

[Richard Crowley]

“From the audio board, I will feed them to my record deck. Is this the proper way or should I go to the video switcher and then to the record deck?”

From your description of your setup, there is no reason to go through the video switcher. If you had some requirement for “audio-follow-video” then the answer might be different.

“Is there anything wrong with purchasing an audio board with a built in amp?”

Not really. Of course you would feed your recorder with the LINE-level output of the mixer and NOT the speaker level output from the amplifier. Integrated mixer/amplifiers might tend to be not as high performing as dedicated mixers. They might have worse signal-to-noise ratios because it is assumed they are being used for sound reinforcement. But I would surmise that would not be a significant factor in your described configuration.

[Chris Franklin]

From your description of your setup, there is no reason to go through the video switcher. If you had some requirement for “audio-follow-video” then the answer might be different.

What do you mean by audio-follow-video? Yes, I do want my audio to be synced with my video. I may also have an announcer on the side doing play by play commentary. If I don’t go through the video switcher, will there be any “lag” time or will the sync be off?

Thanks!

[Walter Soyka]

[Chris Franklin] “What do you mean by audio-follow-video?”

“Audio-follow-video” means that if you have multiple video sources, each with their own audio, the audio is automatically switched when video is. It doesn’t sound like it’s a concern for your setup.

Your video switcher may delay the video a frame or two, so your audio will be slightly ahead of the video. If that’s a problem, you can purchase an audio delay to re-sync audio to video. Unless you’ll be able to see people’s lips moving when they speak, it may not be necessary.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Jordan Wolf]

“From the audio board, I will feed [the mics] to my record deck. Is this the proper way or should I go to the video switcher and then to the record deck?”

I think that you need to rethink your miking technique. You’ll probably want/need more mics placed throughout the venue. Switching them along with the video might be nice, but if you also have commentator mics, I recommend connecting THOSE in a way that records everything that is said, not as the video switches

“[I]s there anything wrong with purchasing an audio board with a built in amp. I’m pretty sure the amp is not needed in this situation, but I would like to have it in case I need to set up sound for other non-video events.”
A mixer with a built-in amp won’t have the expandability that a separate system will have. I recommend buying a plain, old analog mixer and leave the power amp out of the equation. There WILL be a time when you need more amps…I promise. Also, powered mixers will label you as somewhat of an amateur instead of giving you that professional appearance you will (and should) desire.

Wolf
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