[Craig Alan]

Hi Graham,

I’m not a lighting pro, just a generalist who teaches video production. But I thought I’d throw you some pointers.

But first: A school for “film and broadcasting” doesn’t have a ton of lighting and grip equipment? Really?

Read the following: Not saying any given piece of gear in this kit is the best, but it’s an interesting assortment from a working pro’s POV.

https://www.bluesky-web.com/light-kit.htm

Next, take a look at the kits on https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=fresnel+kits&N=0&InitialSearch=yes. Ari and Mole Richardson Fresnels. In a ton of configurations. But affordable is relative – they ain’t cheap. Ari’s and Moles will be good for a very very long time and have good resale value. I chose a Mole kit for my class because it is built like tank. It has an old Hollywood feel to it. To it you can add barn doors, gels, Chimera speed rings and soft banks and egg crates. So it can be hard or soft. Very versatile. It’s my favorite piece of gear. Fun to set up and play with.

If you just want even flat lighting, you might consider Kino flos, which can be changed to either daylight or studio temp and will also light a green screen. However, they are mostly flat and boring compared to Fresnels.

You didn’t say where these interviews would take place. Can’t beat the sun as a light source. Get some reflectors and scrims or diffusers and stands and sandbags and experiment. Hint the fashion photographers like sunset, the magic hour, and overcast days for a reason. At noon, look for shade and think light filtered through trees. When you walk around squint your eyes as you look at scenes. This is somewhat close to the way a video camera sees. Another thing you might consider is attaching a proper monitor to your camera’s output. You may or may not have a great eye but at least you’ll capture what you see rather than hoping it will look good and relying on an LCD screen.

If I were a student and could borrow the school’s light kits, I’d go that route. You can use the Lowels to bounce light off a white board for soft light. They come with barn doors for control. You can gel them. They are easy to carry around. The other thing you might consider is looking around for an internship. Tell them you are film student looking for experience and willing to work for free. Then pay attention to what is going on.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

[Eric Toline] “If you can record a true -20 tone on what ever media the camera takes and play it back in the camera you can see exactly where -20 shows up on the meters.
“

I could send a -20 signal out another mixer into the mixer attached to the camera. It would interesting to see what each meter reads. I believe Sound Devices mixers allow you to adjust the tone out level.

I will also try setting the camera’s audio level indicator as low as possible and let the mixer do (almost) all the pre-amplification and see how that works. Then I could just note on the mixer’s meters what reads as -12 tp -8 or so on the camera’s meters. Even when calibrating to -12 or eyeballing -20 it has been a lot quieter than the camera left on its own. Juice Link has a tutorial video in which they tell folks to do just that — lower the audio level as low as possible on the camcorder and let their device do as much of the amplification as possible.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

oh and resolve lite is free.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Eric,

I know from experience that the best recording level for these small cams is at or slightly above -12. But I also know from experience that letting the mixer do a higher percentage of the preamplification yields higher quality/less noise. So why not use the traditional approach of calibrating 1k 0 tone to -20 on the camcorder and riding your mixer level from +8 to +16 thus the audio level on the camcorder will read -12 to -4.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

do a search for flanders here on the cow. be sure to budget for a video card or breakout box to send a proper analog signal. and look into resolve for an app that is not EOL and will carry you into the future.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

Aside from all the controls that a good mixer adds, during a shoot with so many things that need your attention, ergonomics is often key to getting the results you desire. A high quality audio mixer is designed for a specific task and it does it better than anything else. This is not just a nice luxury if you can afford it. It is the difference between properly set levels and inconsistent levels and often ruined shots as the camera operator fiddles with some small audio control or menu item.

If I am shooting with just a camera or even an audio recorder in a dark auditorium, I need a flashlight in one hand and a delicate touch to adjust the audio levels. And often by the time you do it, the incoming signal has changed dramatically. If I am using a mixer, the LEDS are lit and the knobs are big and easy to adjust even in the dark. Even if you are not a one-man-band, this will help an audio tech if he is using a boom or adjusting several inputs or repositioning mics on the fly.

If you bought a recorder that had what a mixer offers, it would cost you more than a quality mixer and a quality recorder. And a quality mixer can be used with or without a double system.

Another ergonomic advantage is you can run one or two xlr cables or something like Canare BACX25 Cable for Portable Mixers with Monitor Output to your cam instead of attaching a bunch of stuff like cordless receivers, which get in the way. No matter where I mount my cordless receiver to the camera, during a shoot, it’s very hard to read and adjust. Not true when it’s attached to my mixer.

Like you, I am not an audio technician but a generalist and I can tell you this forum is one of the best on the cow or anywhere else for good sound advice (pun intended).

It is interesting to note that if you do a search for say lighting techniques, there are a lot of good hits. Granted none of them can teach you how to be artistic with light, every shoot is different, and the cow’s lighting forum is about the best for specific advice and suggestions, but just the same, a lot of good hits all over the web. But try that for audio and even basic stuff is glossed over and badly presented. The thing I find really ironic is videos posted about how to record sound for video — the sound quality in the posted videos are often freaking awful. Do as I say not as I do? A good audio mixer won’t make you an audio pro, but it will help you understand how the hell they do it at all.

One last point and I’ll shut up. Whatever camera you buy today will become obsolete sooner than later. When was the last time anyone retired a good audio tool for the newest gizmo?

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

[Eric Toline] “There is no -20 setting on the camera because Canon wants a -12 reference to cover the inherent noise of the electronics in the camera.”

Eric If I set 0 tone out mixer and calibrate to -12 instead of -20 I will increase the gain of the canon preamp not reduce it. However it is true that when recording on these small cams I try to keep the level as high as possible about 1/4 of way past -12 depending on how much control I have of the environment during shooting. For live events I’ll leave the levels right at -12 or even a touch below so I have more head room.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

[Ty Ford] “Change the tone output to +20 on the mixer and then set audio record on the camera to just below clipping.
“

So if I do this, I can ride the gain on the mixer to anything up +20 and know that on the camera’s meters I will be under 0, in other words not clipping. Obviously I’d need to leave some headroom.

Is this correct?

However, this still does not answer my question. If mixer/camcorder is 0/-20, +20/0, what does -30 on the mixer read on the camera? Is it -50 or -40?

[Ty Ford] “>>>>mfgr. ignorance.”

Seriously?

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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]

yes. it is calibrated. but by using the mixpre the “audio level adjustment bar” which is canon’s term for a bar on the LCD that graphs how much you have raised the amount of pre-amplification is way lower than it normally would be to get levels just over -12 on the audio level indicator. It is also way easier to not have peaks hitting the zero level on the camcorder. Riding the levels is just much easier. As result the recorded sound is much better quality. By attaching the mixpre to the tripod under the camcorder, it is also very run-and-gun-one-person-shoot-friendly.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: 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’ve heard that pattern when the batteries in a field mixer grow weak and then die. But not on again off again.

OSX 10.5.8; MacBookPro4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz MacPro4,1 2.66GHz 8 core 12gigs of ram. GPU: Nvidia Geoforce GT120 with Vram 512. OS X 10.6.x; Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30/40, Sony vx2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.