Matt Townley
Forum Replies Created
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Don’t overlook the boring but practical stuff…..where is it all going to go? Do you need a rack with shelves? Are you cables long enough to get where they need to go? How is it all being powered? Plan to include a good UPS in your budget to keep it all running smoothly. And the only other thing I didn’t see in your list was any kind of measurement tool. I added a BMD SmartScope Duo 4K into my setup last year and can’t imagine not having it now. I keep it directly below my monitors so as I’m cutting or color correcting I can see real waveforms and vectorscopes without having to take up screen real estate or wait for the lag of software. It has made my speed of color correcting increase substantially.
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Sorry. Couldn’t help it.
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You could do this with a Sound Devices Pix 260 or an AJA KiPro. Tie them together with Cat5/6 and control synced playback with network controller via a browser.
If you needed “closed to synced” you could probably do it with a Pix 220 or 240 and just hit play on them all at the same time. That would get you within a second or so.
You could also use software like Playback Pro running from multiple machines using Simple Sync to start playback.
The KiPro or Pix 260 would be my first choice.
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Killer Tracks is good, too.
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Everything people have mentioned are all good suggestions, and I second the investment in good audio gear. That’s an area where a lot of beginning filmmakers and videographers skimp and it can make or break a film.
The other thing that hasn’t been mentioned is a good external monitor. I have kicked myself too many times because I thought I had good focus when I didn’t. It’s great shooting at 1.4 or 2.8 with a fast lens, but the tiny display on most DSLRs make things look sharp even when they really aren’t. At apertures that high, the difference between having a subject’s nose in focus is a fine hair away from having their closest eye in focus and it makes a world of difference when it gets on a big display. For $500 you could get a smallHD DP4, which has focus assist modes to help with focusing, false color for exposure (no waveforms at this price point, but that’s ok for now) and can also help with off angle viewing instead up going to the 60D.
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I have used Chater Camera (https://www.chatercamera.com) and Clean Slate https://cleanslatevideo.com.
If you are less picky about the specific gear, you might also take a look at Borrow Lenses. They have a shop locally in San Carlos and have some lighting gear.
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The DR-60D is pretty unique for this class. Other than the few devices already mentioned, I don’t know of anything similar in that price range.
When the DR-60D was first released I did a side-by-side comparison of it compared to the Zoom H6. Having used the H4n for several years my biggest complaint was the noisy mic-pre’s and the poor and inconsistent battery life.
The H6 has improved mic-pre’s compared to the H4n, and they are noticeably more quiet. In my testing, compared to the H6, the DR-60D has about 5db more signal-to-noise. That’s pretty good. I also liked the form factor of the DR-60D at first, but after testing it on a few real-life shoots I found it to be pretty clumsy and awkward to have mounted under the camera. I did like the additional output options and controls that it offered compared to the H6, which was nice though. Depending on what you intend to record with it, you might want to test the rotary pots, as they handle volume trimming with digital gain adjustments that can be slightly noticeable during music. Much less or almost no issue if just recording voice/dialogue. I never found that to be a concern or problem for my work, which is almost all voice.
If you can rent a few or even just buy them to test them out and return what you don’t like, that’s really the best way to go.
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Hi Chris,
You didn’t mention budget, so I’ll throw out a two ideas.
1. Sound Devices 552
This is a high-end 5-ch mixer with a built in 2-track recorder. It can take your various mic inputs, mix them down and record them to the internal recorder and/or output them to your DSLR for recording there. You can use the audio on the DSLR for sync in post, but it’s significantly reduced in quality compared to the recording you will get directly from the 552. This is my main setup for most of my shoots lately shooting with a Nikon D800 or Canon 7D and it works great. I have an old beachtek XLR adapter from many, many years ago before DSLRs existed that I use to get the stereo XLR out of the 552 into the DSLR and this works pretty well. In a pinch I have used it if I didn’t have time to sync sound in post, but there is a noticeable difference.2. Zoom H6
This is a much more “typical” route for most DSLR shooters, and much more budget friendly. This is the most recent upgrade from the ubiquitous Zoom H4n, which was/is one of the defacto audio recorders of choice has been for a few years in the DSLR world. The H6 gives you 4 (or up to 6) tracks up recording and has the option to record internally and, with an adapter like this, you can take the line output and feed your DSLR with the appropriate signal. The mic-preamps are a bit on the noisy side, but they get the job done.These are the two main options that come to my mind. I have both and use them on a regular basis for different things. There are several similar options in each category that can go up or down in price.
Good luck!
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Not sure if the issues are related or even similar, but I often have to do it 2 or 3 times to get things to sync properly. Normally the first time doesn’t work at all, then the second attempt works but isn’t quite right and by the third attempt it’s spot on.
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There are some types of shots that the difference is negligible. And of course, the difference is somewhat subjective. To me, its a pretty big difference and worth the little bit of extra gear. The best way to really know is to rent a recorder and spend an afternoon doing some test shots. Only you can really be the judge.