mic recomendation for shoot

[Petergroom]

Matt, you dont say what kind of camera it was. Were you working balanced or unbalanced?

Personally Id use 2 mics. A rifle mic and a personal on seperate channels. That way you can mix and match depending on acoustic issues outside your control.
A good personal is only a coule of hundred pounds, but a good rifle could push you up a bit by the time youve got a shock mount etc.
Peter

[Matt]

Im using the sony DSR PD170 camera, xlr inputs built in on the camera

[David Jones]

I’d use a hard wired Lav in one channel,
and a hard wired Shotgun mic on a boom in the second channel.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[matt] “Should I record the sound seperately and synch it up in FCP?”

It all depends on if you NEED a “quiet and clean” audio track. If you can get the people, I would go ahead and do this as well.

All of the audio will be much more manageable and consistent if you “loop” it (re-record each person’s line) in a quiet studio.

If it doesn’t MATTER if each clip has a different “sound” (due to all of the different locations, noises, wind, and other variables), then you can just shoot it “sync” and cut it together.

[Petergroom]

I agree with David re the split lav and shotgun on 2 different channels.I also agree hard wire (unless you need real freedom of no wires).
Radio mics are pretty good these days (well expensive ones are) but they do still let you down (usually on the very bit you want). A wire doesnt fail.

Interesting about doing it ADR. I do loads of ADR re recording for TV and film drama. Unless you know what youre doing, I question the wisdom of doing something like that for the first time on a job you want to be as good as you can get it.
Fair enough have a play but not on a real money paying project. Its also very true to say that the ability of the recording engineer to do the ADR must be top, but also the performers need to be experienced to deliver something that will be indefinable from the original. Its possible if theyre very short!
Peter

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[PeterGroom] ” I do loads of ADR re recording for TV and film drama. Unless you know what youre doing,”

Peter, you would be right about this under normal circumstances, but read this from the original post again:

[matt] “each person is going to look at the camera and say 1 word.”

I can’t think of a situation where learning to sync dialogue to video on-the-job would be better than this one.

That’s why I suggested TRYING it (in addition to recording on location).

There would not be the usual need for the actors to read a phrase precisely, over and over, as in standard ADR.
The studio audio will be consistent and, with just a few different takes on each “word” from each actor, the edit should be pretty simple.

BTW, I casually sync-in snippets of dialogue from multiple takes from non-pro actors all the time (to cover a mic drop-out… love that wireless hash… or just to improve an otherwise good take.

With the ease of digital non-linear editing, its not such a big deal… we’re not trying to re-sync an entire Shakespearean speech.

[Matt]

This is a great forum, I appreciate everyones input. It really helps. I think I will hard wire with a lav in 1 and a shotgun in 2. Thax has a great point too, this would be a great time for me to try ADR, I’ve never tried it. I’ll try it on one or two and see how it goes. Thanks again guys, the shoot is this weekend.

[Petergroom]

Agreed

Peter

[R Lague]

My recommendations for mics…….audio technica wired lav. $100 to 125.

Azden shotgun SGM 1x $150.00 or the SGM 2x $250.00. i know some of the pros will not like these brands, but theya re great value for the money. throw in some cables and you are in the $500.00 range.

[Ty Ford]

right again

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://www.tyford.com