[Skip Hall]

I’ve had better success using Capture Now, and never have any real problems with sync, TC, or anything, unless it’s related to dropouts on the tape. On the other hand, whenever we have tried to use Log & Capture, I have encountered problems arising from lack of sufficient handles on the tape… particularly prior to the initial in-point. FCP seems to want 2-3 minutes of unrecorded tape prior to the first in-point, and I usually don’t remember to set my tapes up this way prior to a shoot.

But my business is primarily shooting dance recitals with 3 cameras, which we capture and edit using MultiClip, so continuous TC is needed to allow all the tapes to remain in synch. If you are shooting numerous takes of individual scenes, you’d be better off to use in- & out-points, so long as the handles don’t become an issue.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Many thanks to all who took the time to contribute to helping me fix my audio!

I think Craig is really on the right track, and I may follow through on that with future projects like this.

Having a dedicated, compact recorder like a Zoom, Tascam, or Edirol on the podium, even using the small onboard mics, seems like a pretty cost efficient way to assure yourself a reasonably good quality recording of the speaker’s words, even if the resonance of the speaker’s voice sounds different. I know that having such a recording would have saved my biscuits in this case!

Just to provide some closure to the thread, what I ended up doing was having the speaker come in to the office, and record the dropped sections of audio. I played the existing audio track for her to hear, then used one of my MiniDV cameras and an external XLR mic, so the audio was very clear, even if it was a bit on the “low volume”-side (gotta check on that next!). I then captured that audio into FCP, and synched up the words on the timeline, which was of course, a little tedious… but still doable, and worth the effort, I think.

I added a bit of resonance via the FCP audio filters, and even though the result really was a pretty poor match, after tweaking the gain between all the tracks, I was able to “patch” the necessary words in where they belonged. I would describe the result as sounding like the speaker turned her head 90 degrees away from the mic momentary, then back again. That was an acceptable tradeoff for a “black hole” where important words were completely missing.

My thanks again to everyone for your help!

p.s. I wouldn’t mind getting some input on which PDR would be best, if any of you folks have any experience using them. The Zoom H4N is a little pricey, but it has XLR inputs, which I would think could be quite beneficial. Any input is welcome.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Very creative, Craig. Thanks for the suggestions. I really hadn’t thought of the subtitling idea at all!

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Hi Ty. Thanks for the welcome message. Such a friendly place, this Cow of ours.

I suspected RF was the problem, or possibly some kind of auto-gain setting. And I realize that sometimes, despite all our preparation and testing, our gear still fails when we depend on it most. (Case in point: when I shoot an hour of dance recital video, only to find out while capturing that the camera’s record heads were dirty!) But what got me a little steamed, was how quick the guy was to throw the SPEAKER under the bus… attributing the problem to her “up and down head movements,” and such (which was simply not true… I have video!).

We would have been fine if I had seen some urgent-looking reaction from him or his staff when the problem began to appear. But to basically ignore it, acting like he didn’t even hear it, and then follow that up by blaming the speaker for the problem… just felt awfully unprofessional to me.

But you mentioned RF problems can happen with cabled mics as well? I’ve never heard of this phenomenon before. Should I be concerned about it? I know 60 cycle and ground hums can be a problem, but RF-like dropouts? That’s a new one on me.

MAN! It just keeps getting harder and harder to do quality work these days, doesn’t it?

Thanks again for the reply, Ty.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Thanks, Steve.

That probably is the best formula for success. But I’m afraid resetting things at the venue is not an option, and none of the sound system gear was mine OR the school’s. I’m going to have to try to recreate the sound electronically somehow.

As for the audience sounds at least, my problem isn’t so daunting. I actually have four good tracks of ambient audio from the venue, captured on my other two cameras. But neither of them captured the speakers words during the dropouts.

And the cost is an issue, of course, but not my main concern at present. This is a new client for us, and I’d love to be able to demonstrate that our company can “save the day,” even when the problems are not our fault. So investing a few hours in trying to do that “good will” thing, could have a meaningful payoff later.

I really appreciate your in advice. Thanks again.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

I’m surprised I never got a single reply to this post. I guess it was too long, or maybe too weird.

Anyway, I think I solved the mystery of the changing aspect ratios.

My camera operator didn’t change out of 16:9 using the menu, but he did switch out of the “Auto” mode, and into the “Easy Recording” mode. This appears to be the only way the aspect ratio could have been changed while the tape was running.

Many thanks to my friend Sheryl, and her teammates at Video One Repair, for helping me sort this out.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Oh, sorry. It was a font called Van Dijk. I recognized the name immediately once I saw it. That “What the Font” thing at MyFonts is the bomb! It took about five minutes to go through the process, then the program picked the five or six most likely candidates. Van Dijk was the first option, and right on the money.

Thanks again for the “on the money” referral!

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Hey! What da ya know! That worked GREAT! Cost me ten bucks to buy it, but that’s okay with me. Just glad to be able to finish up SOMETHING today!

Regards! And thanks again. The Cow forums just rock…

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

I’ll give that a try. Thanks!

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va

[Skip Hall]

Yep… tried it. Probably would have worked if I’d had more of the font’s characters. The only letters I have are the ones you can see here.

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Va