[Richard Crowley]

“TM300 AGC control off and audio levels control set to Manual (not auto)”
1) Is the camcorder manual recording level is set for somewhere near max?

2) If the wireless receiver works directly into the camcorder with the same cable that you are using between the receiver and the Beachtek box; and assuming that the manual level on the camera is set somewhere in the upper 1/4 of the range; and after exercising all the pots and switches, then you may indeed have a bad Beachtek box. IME the output cable from the Beachtek boxes are subject to failure after some use.

3) Have you tried plugging a conventional mic (or ANY other source) into the Beachtek? This is called “differential diagnosis” and is a standard debugging procedure.

[Richard Crowley]

I have been watching a fair number of cooking shows as I anticipate producing one in the future. However I have never (NEVER) seen a disclaimer before or after a cooking show.

OTOH, given the increasingly litigious society we live and work in, perhaps it wouldn’t be unheard of. I am visiting California at the moment (boarding the plane back to Oregon within minutes) and the state of California has apparently decided that we must label everything that could be considered the slightest bit carcionogenic. That apparently includes nearly everything we come in contact with. When everything is labeled as “dangerous”, then the warnings cease to be useful.

[Richard Crowley]

There is a method of “vocal removal” where you mix Left and Right to remove anything that is in common (typically vocals are in the center). You could try doing the opposite (assuming the vocal is in the center.)

[Richard Crowley]

I would have hoped that would fix the problem, but alas, it does not appear to make any practical difference. The speed is still down around 1MB/sec which is simply not usable in the real world.

[Richard Crowley]

Well I am trying a couple of alternatives.
The disk module for the KiPro has two I/O ports on it. A Firewire 800 connector, and a SATA connector (with a “Slimline” 6-pin power connector along side) This SATA data/power connector is the one that the KiPro recorder uses to talk to the hard drive module.

My first attempt was using a Firewire cable with the Firewire 800 big connector at the KiPro disk end, and the tiny 4-pin Firewire plug at the other end (which fits my Vaio laptop). I’m not sure whether it was the laptop or the mini-Firewire connection that was making things creep along at 3-5 Mb/sec, but it was intolerable.

I switched to my bigger desktop edit system (Intel Core2Quad Q9450 @ 2.66GHz) and I installed a “SIIG DP FireWire 800 PCI-32T” board ($60) and I used a Firewire 800 to 800 cable (which also provides power) The copy speed says “1.46MB/second” which is not even good enough to be pathetic and pitiful. It is downright ridiculous. What a colossal waste of time and $$

Then I also installed a simple “Slimline SATA to SATA Power/Data adapter” cable ($6 at my neighborhood computer parts shop) and it is running at 60-80MB/sec! This is clearly the method of choice, at least in my book. Just thought I should share the discovery in case anyone is interested.

SIIG card: https://www.enuinc.com/io-fw800-siig-001.html
SATA cable: https://www.enuinc.com/acc-psa-sata-slim2.html

I am using “Mac Drive 8” software to allow reading the Mac formatted disk on my PC.

[Richard Crowley]

Are you looking for high-contrast, dramatically lit “beauty shots”? Or are you going for more “clinical”, flat, instructional style video quality? There is a case to be made for each, but they have somewhat different requirements for lighting in particular, and studio setup in general.

If I were doing instructional style production, I would think that white ambient surfaces would be more helpful in achieving a shadow-free “flat” lighting look. Black surroundings will suck up anything that might be helpful. Of course, it also depends on your lighting equipment collection and budget.

[Richard Crowley]

“I assume you formatted the drive using the KiPro before hitting record?”

Well, it does not record otherwise, so we can assume that I did that.

[Richard Crowley]

“I think this is another problem, then the recording which stops as soon as one video frame is not received right.
Your 500GB drive is it 7200RPM?”

It is my Ki Pro that Ron is referring to. It worked perfectly with the 250GB drive that it came with. Couldn’t be happier. But when we switched to the 500GB drive, it stopped about 10 times at random intervals with all the buttons flashing and the warning “Dropped Frames” (I think that was the message.)

When we switched back to the 250GB drive, the problems stopped. There is zero evidence that it has anything to do with settings or the input signal since these did not change between the two drives. The source was the output of my Panasonic AW-HS50 switcher.

The 500GB drive was the one that AJA provided. One can only assume that they put the proper drive in the box. I intend to return the drive as defective under warranty since it was the very first time I had powered it up and used it. Needless to say, it rather ruined what would have been a marvelous first experience with the KiPro.

[Richard Crowley]

Computer mic inputs (the 3.5mm mini-phone kind with the pink colored jack) are uniformly MONO. Furthermore, they use a special pinout where the tip inputs the (MONO) audio, and the ring terminal sends the ~3V power to the microphone. No computer that I have ever heard of has a stereo 3.5mm mic input jack. Including Mac, AFAIK.

On top of that the “preamp” in a computer sound-card (or built-in to the motherboard) is probably one of the worst preamps you will ever come across. They have high distortion, little dynamic range, and poor signal-to-noise ratio. OK for making Skype phone calls over the internet, but unsuitable for all but the most crude recording project.

There are at least half a dozen solid possibilities why an NTG2 doesn’t work in a typical computer mic input. Virtually all of them can be solved by using an external mic preamp with USB connection to the computer.

[Richard Crowley]

“Simple solution is to have them wear headsets, but there has got to be a better way since they will be on T.V.?”
But many (most?) presenters on TV are wearing (nearly invisible) earpieces to hear the IFB anyway, so why wouldn’t that be a way for the talk host to hear the callers?