[Craig Alan]

Jason, I’ve come to pretty much the same conclusion. I explain the pick up pattern of these mikes and then ask them to first reason where the unwanted sound is coming from and then experiment with the boom aiming the mike from different angles. Just listen with headphones, watch the meters for levels and find out what gives the best results. Still the hardest part of production.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Lance. Kinda read through barefeats but was hoping for some real world confirmation.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I’m a video production teacher at a High School. I’ve been driving myself nuts the last year or so trying to make the same decision. I have come to two conclusions. A: it doesn’t matter as long as your students can produce projects. Their reels and their contacts will get them jobs, not what NLE they used at school. However, they should be able to say at a job interview, “Yeah I can edit on that.” So — B: have stations with all three contenders for those students serious about being professional editors. Tell them they need to know it all including sound editing, color correction, special effects, 3D, etc. The ability to tell a story on a timeline doesn’t change. Even FCP X with its reworking of everything still slips slides rolls inserts overwrites, applies transitions, etc. They can call it what they want, it’s still a timeline and when you hit play it’s still linear. That said, if your students learn AVID MC they can learn the others. Maybe not the other way round. It is also $300 for multiple years of free upgrades. It is rock solid and no one claims its not professional. I’m going with FCP X for now with copies of MC for the serious ones. I am still conflicted about the choice; but after some time since Apple EOLed FCP 7, no one knows how the future will play out. Maybe it is for the better that one company does not dominate. On the other hand, it would be nice if we spent more time on our craft and less time learning new software.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Ty,

Pretty much what I have experienced – I’ll print your list as a general guide for students.

There is no quiet on the set during classes so its very challenging in terms of sound. But they have a good mixer good headphones and now a very decent mike. The hand held mikes work really well. But they are designed for reporter style pick up in all conditions.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I can certainly hear the quality difference and I really like the ATs a lot. But I need a boom mike for 40 teams, 5 teams at a time, and the Sennheiser’s were ordered before I took this position.

Funny though, I have always found that more professional equipment is easier to use and easier to teach and holds up better.

I thought the Sennheiser ME66/K6 was an outdoor shot gun till I noticed the box said Super-Cardioid Short Shotgun Condenser Microphone so I thought I’d give them a try and not risk damage to my ATs.

The reviews seemed to indicate folks are using it in a variety of locations.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks. Looks good.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

What if you were to use P2 cms application and then import? Would that be a smoother process?

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Really like that mike but it does need to be directed toward the speaker’s mouth. Very nice sound.

Plus it’s sensitive. It can pick up noises you might not even be aware of. Fairly directional though.

Not sure about the stand. I’d go with a c-stand and some sand bags and a boom pole holder if I couldn’t use an operator.

Not a fan of coiled internal cables or cheap boom poles. On the less expensive boom poles the twist locks end up twisting the pole instead which will screw up the internal cable and it takes a magician to get it untwisted.

I’d go with a straight cable boom pole of higher quality. Plus xlr cables go bad and with straight cables you can replace them. You can even go with wireless. If you ever use a boom pole operator in the future the higher end ones are lighter. The bag is poorly designed. Generally these kits are not the best options.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

In education, the debate is alive and kicking. There is a lot of money on the line: What NLE should we teach/invest in? Labs have many computers and funding is often tied to teaching “professional practices.” Do you really want to be teaching a program that the “industry” does not embrace? Or is FCP X the future and new editors should get on board?

The problem with FCP X from an educational P.O.V. is that it is so fundamentally different than other NLEs. Adobe Premiere Pro, AVID, FCP 7, all have interfaces that are variations on the same playing field (the track based timeline). Not so X.

The ‘browser’ component of all these programs is different and it was what made FCP legacy more Mac-like than the other choices. AVID has its own very specific way of organizing media. I don’t think the debate about FCP X is about its media organization — most seem to agree that in many ways this, or some evolution of this, will be the future. With missing features coming out fast, I think the only real debate about FCP X legitimacy is the lack of traditional tracks. I think magnetism can be seen as a worthwhile feature that each NLE will most likely offer in some form, most likely not by default.

An ex student of mine recently enrolled in film school. The film school, which offers a BA, has rejected FCP X. They are teaching AVID. He is learning AVID. He has a Macbook Pro. He has a copy of FCP X on his Macbook Pro. Guess what program he used for an assignment that was due sooner than later (not for his editing teacher)? FCP X. He likes FCP X; he’s learning AVID; he is most comfortable in FCP 7. It is not particularly practical to teach 3 or 4 different editing programs at most schools. Thus the debate goes on. If FCP X became widely accepted in pro circles, it would be an easy pick. It has a faster learning curve for anyone who has never edited before. It can be tiered with Imovie. It is fast and very appropriate for 99.99% of school projects. It is fairly cheap to install. It’s default behavior to allow all media to be constructively and destructively available for all projects/users is misguided, but it is no longer hard to find workarounds from the gurus. But if the industry rejects FCP X, schools will most likely reject it too.

This forum is the best most comprehensive most informed place to follow the debate that might be old news for most of you. But it is still relevant and I think needed.
I have decided to give FCP X a try. I think AVID is a bit too hard for many students, though I recommend it to students who express an interest in the field and do have copies of it. That left premiere and FCP X, both not really established in Hollywood. But both are gaining traction in broader professional circles. Will AVID be the lone survival in Hollywood? I doubt it. Time will tell.

MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170, Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.