[Craig Alan]

John,

What should I look out for while monitoring the 5D out to a monitor. We will be using a 5D for shoots and need to have the image on a monitor. Hoping to get a cordless kit for this but for now it’s a mini to full HDMI cable. Any advice to do this without straining the port? I usually velcro the cords after a loop to take the strain off but HDMI is pretty stiff stuff to work with. Have no idea why pro gear didn’t just stay with SDI/BNC ports.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Tim,

Just to be clear:

You do not see any advantage to option #2 for the possibility of transferring the drive to another Mac in the future? I know my Mac Pro will run at at the slower speed. Only $5 more.

You do not think the 5 year warranty of option #3 is worth the extra $? Again I know i won’t see the speed advantage on my current Mac.

Even #1 I’ll see a significantly faster Mac?

The PCIe cards seem a little pricey to me but tempting.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

[james Lackleter] “Or you could always call Apple… I just laughed a bit.”

It’s hit or miss. Try to get transferred to pro apps advisor. Sometimes you get someone who knows something. Have something to do while you wait.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Great Post, Thanks Bret. I’m not the op but run into these requests often.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I’ve seen this work with FCP 7 as well. User accounts can get corrupted and do funny things to pro apps.
Might try repair permissions in disc utility first. Also maybe the drive you are exporting to is assigned the wrong permissions?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

https://www.mediacollege.com/audio/connection/connectors.html

Canon recommends stereo condensor mikes with 3.5mm plug. Since condenser mikes are powered it helps send a strong enough signal to your cheap preamp which is used in all these minicams.

But getting back to the theory that the camera is auto boosting the signal:

Put the camera in manual adjustment for audio. There is one bar that indicates the level (the one with -12 marked) and the other is how high the signal has been adjusted. So you should visually see if that is the case. Not sure if auto gain remains in effect somehow even when using the manual controls.

I still can’t tell what mikes you’ve tried. Radio shack omni and uni? What models? You plugged in your xlr into these mikes or did they come wired already with a plug meant for PA powered speaker? (thus mono).

I would consider either getting a small mixer that can provide phantom power or getting a mike that can be powered with a battery. Do a search for both shure and Audio Technica for ENG condenser battery powered hand-held stereo mike. Then check prices and reviews on BHphoto.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Be more specific. What omni mike did you try? What camcorder? Most camcorders you want levels at or a tad over -12. You want the mike close to the source, the subject’s mouth in this case. ENG mikes should not pick up that much handling noise. But a poor connection (the cord or interconnect) will make it very noisy. Are you using an xlr to mini-plug cord or an xlr-xlr cord? Will you hear nose if you wiggle the cord near where you plug it in to the camcorder or mike end? Try using a velcro tie down to create a loop that will isolates the plug from any movement of the cord. On the xlr mike end if the cord is loose and noisy then you have a bad cord or a bad mike. You could try some gaffers tape around the connection but I would get a quality cord instead.

The two reasons reporters prefer the omni pattern is so they pick up the atmosphere of the location and so they can shoot with one mike often placed somewhat between them and their subject (though they do try to point it back and forth). And I’ve seen interviews in the field in which this choice backfires. The interview can be drowned out by the b.g. noise. But the mike companies do designate mikes as being for ENG which is news gathering. So these are designed to be hand held without much handling noise. Generally physically playing with the mike you will pick up noise. To learn about the characteristics of mikes try looking them up on BHphoto.

With audio, it’s best to record good sound and just balance levels out in post not try to edit out rumbling noise and such. Good mixers and some mikes have that 80 htz roll off but it does not fix mike handling noise. It helps with low muddy voices and a tad of low b.g. room noise.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Wearing headphones I hear distortion on both recordings and crunchy is an accurate description. Somethings off about it. Even though your levels look ok on your computer, I’m thinking that maybe some part of the path was clipping or had some kind of poor signal, Did you monitor the sound while you were recording?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

If you don’t want the omni pattern the Sennheiser MD46 is an excellent hand held. The shure is very nice on a stand. You could try getting a shock mount for it. Also, an xlr cable with a loose connection can add to the noise.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

It’s simple really. You put a round peg in a square hole. Think different.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.