Because of a horrible background noise, I would never shoot a scene like this out on a real job by an air conditioning unit. But I'm doing it now to illustrate a point about audio levels and background noise. Now I always run my main channel of audio, whether it's a lavalier or hand mic or shotgun mic on manual level control. That way it keeps the background noise at a constant level. Now I'm going to turn it to automatic in a moment and you're going to hear for your The difference. Now we've got the audio level control on automatic.
Notice how the background noise changes in level. When I stop talking, the background noise increases. And then when I start talking again it decreases. It's this constant fluctuation of the background noise increasing and decreasing, which makes for bad audio. This is really important if you're shooting in a noisy environment, say at a sporting event, or outdoors by the water the waves crashing ordinate is the nightclub. So you want to get in the habit of always using manual level control for your main channel of audio audio settings on the camera.
As a reminder, keep your audio levels set to manual to keep loud noises from increasing in volume during pauses and speaking exception to this rule is the on camera shotgun mic which most the time is capturing net sound, or natural sound. I usually leave this on auto as I normally don't monitor this channel on my headphones during interviews, and I don't want to record levels too hot so I'll let the camera set its own level. On your main channel of audio, set the dial to the center to start. Make sure the selector switch is set to mic if you're recording a microphone, or line if you're recording line level audio from a source like an audio board. Make sure your headphone monitor selection is set to your main channel of audio. Check your audio level before you start recording.
Have your talent speak in the tone of voice he or she will be using and adjust your level accordingly. One of the classic cases everyone goes through at some point is a talent that gives you an audio check at one level and then you when you're recording blows you out of the water. So prepare for this by having this Read some copy instead of just saying, check 123 and keep your level a little low in anticipation of the audio salvo you receive when recording begins. Now that we have the basic settings on the outside of the camera, let's take a look at the settings and your cameras menu. Your camera may be different but here's some common user adjustable menu settings. game.
Start with zero. If you get a low level of audio boost the gain to plus to six or more until your audio levels acceptable. If the audio levels too loud and goes into distortion, change the game setting to minus six and so on until your audio level sounds normal. Make fine tuned adjustments for the dial for that audio channel on the side of your camera. Wind filter. What this does is block low audio frequencies always leave this off unless you're shooting outdoors and still getting wind noise on your mic, too.
Despite having a windscreen on it, why not just leave it on all the time, because by blocking the low frequencies your audio will have a 10 year sound usable but not optimal. You don't want to use the wind filter unless you have to limiter this will electronically limit the level of the audio signal. It's different from auto level and that is not always boosting or decreasing gain automatically. It's more of a ceiling to how loud audio is being recorded. I always leave this on because sometimes you get into a situation like if we're recording an interview, and the person speaking softly and then unexpectedly shouts or start speaking in a much louder tone. Without the limiter the audio level will record too hot and go into distortion.
He's altium bad audio. This is example somebody speaking in a very soft voice with the limiter off and when they get loud it goes into distortion. Now we're seeing Speaking softly again, with a limiter on and when I get loud you can see that the limiter is cutting the audio before it goes into distortion. So what is a proper audio level? In the days of analog you try to keep the average audio level around zero DB or decibels with audio spikes into the red being infrequent, the digital days that average levels now minus 12 db, the spikes above minus 12 but below zero. If your average levels are at zero DB in the digital world, recording way too hot and you'll end up with distortion which is unsavable.
Your audio meters will have an indicator showing when your audio is being recorded too hot. Like the story of the Three Bears, you know one hot too hot or too cold, too hot and you go into distortion. Too cold and your signal to noise level is too low. That means that you record your audio level too low We'll have to be raised a post production. So not only are you raising your signal level, but you'll be raising your noise level as well. Noise being any hiss or hum, or ambient background noise that may be inherent in the recordings.
Wireless mic settings. You have two pieces of gear and a wireless system that are similar to but independent of your camera. The transmitter, which is attached to the microphone or other audio source like an audio board or press box, and the receiver which attaches to the camera is connected by special cable to an XLR input on the camera. By the way, always make sure you're using fresh batteries at the start of your shoot. Nothing can ruin your day more than a wireless audio system going dead in the middle of an important event or seeing you can't redo new batteries or cheap insurance. First, let's look at the transmitter.
The transmitter can be a body That is connected to a lavalier or a cube type transmitter with an XLR connection, which can attach to any microphone with an XLR connection. Or as we'll see in a moment to another audio source like an audio board. Make sure your transmitters not on mute. I panicked a couple of times when during a fast paced shoot, I have suddenly lost my audio signal. After some tense moments, I realized that the talent had switched the transmitter to mute between scenes. There are a few adjustments fairly common to most wireless systems frequency.
This is the radio frequency in which you're operating. You need to make sure both the transmitter and receiver are both set to the same frequency attenuator you can change the sensitivity of your transmitter in steps. It's sort of like a pat on the amount of audio. Some talent have booming voices in overpower your train. matter. Similarly if you're recording an audio feed from a soundboard that's too hot, you need to pat it.
If your level sounds too hot and somewhat distorted, adjust the attenuator to plus three or plus six and so on until you have a normal sounding signal. With an XLR cube style transmitter, you can use either a hand mic, a love letter that has an XLR battery capsule, or you can plug it into an audio board pa or press box. Just make sure that mic light selector is set correctly. switch it to mic if you're using a microphone or being fed mic level signal from a board. Ask whoever's running the board what's kind of level he's feeding you. If you're getting a line level feed switch to line.
Now let's look at the receiver. The receiver has several settings. Of course there's the tuning which should be the same frequencies your transmitter is probably also an RF display that shows the level of the signal from your mic and transmitter. Proper audio signal. Always monitor your audio signal and good headphones from your camera, not from an audio board that may be feeding audio to your camera. Just like your video, you always want to monitor the signal that has been recorded to your camera.
I set my main channel or channels if there's more than one mic to manual and keep the level so the average is around minus 12 db. No case do I want the audio level hitting zero or above? This is the land of distortion that cannot be fixed in the mix. Pay attention to noise both environmental and electrical. By environmental I mean the audio that is natural but unacceptable. Do you hear the love Lear rubbing against the talent shirt?
Is there a dog barking in the background and airplane flying overhead the beeping of a truck backing up all these types of noises should be minimized. You may need to record another take or move your setup if possible. If some landscapers fire up their leaf blower just as you're getting ready to shoot, politely explain what you're doing and ask them if they can wait five minutes for you to shoot your interview. If they agree, thank them when you're done. People always respond better to politeness than to demands. Also, pay attention to wind noise.
Always use wind screens on your mics when recording outdoors. Even a small gust can induce low frequency noise into your mic. If you're still getting bad wind noise turn on the electronic wind filter in your camera, which will fill out the low frequency only is it necessary as your audio may sound tinny with the filter on as I mentioned before. Another possible solution to wind noise is turning your town away from the wind if possible. electrical noise includes hum static RF which is radio frequency Signal cutting in and out because of a damaged cable or connection. If you hear any of these isolate the source of your problem, try using a different cable check your batteries, change your frequency if you're hearing radio noise or static while using a wireless running XLR cables near electrical.
If your hard wiring your mic that is not using a wireless and connecting actual cable between mic and camera, your cable will be on the floor. Make sure your mic cable is not in contact any electrical cables. If your mic cable electrical cable are parallel to each other and touching it will induce electrical hum into your audio. If you must run your mic cable over any electrical cable, do so perpendicularly and not parallel. An added measure of security would be to put something non metallic between the two cables, something like an apple box or a roll of gaffer tape. So to wrap things up, make sure you're recording proper audio levels that do not over modulate.
Always monitor your main audio track with headphones. Proper mic placement is key. Make sure your talent is talking towards the mic not away from it. Pay attention to the ambient noise at your location. And if there are environmental noise issues, move your location. Always use windscreens on your mics when shooting outdoors.
Make sure no one else is talking while you're shooting. Even when you're only just shooting B roll. Want to make sure your natural audio otherwise known as net sound is usable. Oh yeah, one last thing I almost forgot. Before you start shooting. Tell everyone including the talent to turn off their cell phones.