Probably REALLY simple…

[Adam Keyes]

THANK YOU EVERYONE, i started replying to each of you, but i’ll just do this instead. 🙂

seriously, thanks for responding. audio problems make me laugh, cause i have no idea what is going on!!!

other background info: we’re shooting in a car dealership showroom, using a heavy duty jib for the camera, lowell light kit (often several things running off same wall outlet), only thing on batteries is the mic transmitter and receiver, everything else off wall outlets. but even so, could that really be causing the signal to go THAT bad? maybe so…

general answers to some of your questions:

1. not sure if it’s line/mic level at mic/camera, i’ll check
2. not sure which specific series lectrosonic mic i’m using, i’ll check that too
3. mic and camera are basically STRAIGHT out of the box, turned on, and go. no adjusting settings, etc. this, i’m sure, has something to do w/ it. ?
4. i think levels are set properly on mic/camera, but i don’t know what “proper” levels are for each piece of equipment. i guess more playing around will help there

THANK YOU everyone, i have a LOT to go back and check out. i’ll check what you guys suggested and hopefully you won’t hear back from me!!

thanks thanks thanks,

adam

[Ty Ford]

Hello Adam,

You are on the right track. Good audio is not plug and play. It’s not brain surgery, but it does take experience and knowledge. The good news is that you opted for good gear and once you sort it out, you’ll have solid audio. Don’t be afraid to call Lectrosonics for help but absolutely read the manual and do your own reserch.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar

[Bill Davis]

I’m scared by the words “car dealership showroom.” As the past owner of an ad agency that had the local Cadillac dealer as a long time client – there’s NOTHING I hate more than car dealership showrooms.

They’re typically lit in such a way as to make all the nice shiny cars sparkle – yet it’s the nature of most dealerships to be as CHEAP as possible on construction and stuff like light fixtures and wiring.

In addition, the one’s I’ve worked most in love stuff like dimmers on their lighting circuits so they can make the place look ever so ELEGANT by cutting the lights down

My initial suspicion is that you’re shooting in a veritable HIVE of RF.

If so it’s time to either hire an audio guy or spend some time learning how to do audio properly yourself.

As you’re learning, Audio is the most difficult part of video. And it can’t be faked.

Spend the money to do it right, or understand that if you expect your audio gear to simply “plug and play flawlessly” without any real understanding — your operation is going to fall seriously short of professional at this point in your business life.

Simple as that.

Your call.

[Ty Ford]

Bill’s right, Adam and obviously has the scars to prove it. 🙂 Even ones that don’t show on the skin!

Welcome to the brotherhood/sisterhood of sound and audio. Watch where you step. There’s a cable waiting to entangle your foot. 🙂

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar

[Adam Keyes]

Haha, thanks guys,

Sounds like I’m in a similar situation as you used to be Bill, regarding the location…

The showroom is actually really nice (at least on the surface :), but there are indeed a million light fixtures and I’m sure they’re all on dimmers.

Something else I forgot to ask about….obviously the camera itself has a input record level that i can adjust, and the mic has an output level…should these two levels be about equal (as in, both around 25% of maximum), or should one typically be much lower than the other….or is it just a trial and error kind of thing? 🙂

Oh, and what does this mean: “HIVE of RF” ? radio frequency?

Thanks so much guys,

Adam

[Bill Davis]

Adam,

That’s exactly what RF means. Radio frequency energy. In a situation with a lot of RF present – ANY metal cable will act as a giant antenna. Properly balanced cables that are also used properly in a balanced audio system use a phase cancellation trick to knock down this type of audible interference – but if there’s enough of it around, it can be VERY pesky to totally avoid.

Two notorious sources of RF are older style dimmers and older style fluorescent light ballasts. Both of which tend to be very common in brightly lit auto showrooms.

Thankfully, it’s really easy to find out if this is the issue. Go in after hours. Set up your gear. Then pop the breakers and/or switches on all the various lights and if your audio problems disappear, that’s the issue. Then you can try bringing them back on-line one at a time and you might discover that the ceiling cans are OK, but another circuit is not.

At the worst, you’ll have to leave the “house lights” off – and illuminate the showroom and cars with your own gear that DOESN”T generate RF.

That’s where I’d start, anyway.

Good luck.