I'm starting a production later this month and I'm exploring audio recording options. What is the best way of recording quality dialogue at a decent price? In years past I've just used the camera with either mini or XLR inputs. I haven't had any luck recording quality dialogue using the camera, so I'm wanting to use something else. I'm considering using a DAT or my laptop to record audio on location and syncing the sound using either a clapper and/or the audio from the mounted camera mic as a reference in post. If I go laptop I'll buy a converter and capture XLR to USB.
???
I doubt it's the media you record to. It's the microphone. You can use the highest quailty DAT or Nagra and still get poor sound with a poor mic and improper placement.
Get a good shotgun mic (do a Google search) and a boom pole.
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
I understand. I plan on renting the best possible mic that I can. My real concern is the difference in quality from what I record the sound on to. Is there any difference in quality using a DAT or Laptop? Are there any advantages to using one over the other?
i'm not totally sure but i'm pretty sure the quality should be the same. both are recording uncompressed sound as far as i know.
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One thing to watch out for when recording to a computer is that they don't always record at the correct speed. I've had problems with capturing sound from DAT into my on-board sound card and then trying to sync it with the pictures... I had no such problem when I transferred from the same DAT to DV instead and then captured the DV audio by Firewire.
I once worked on a film that tried to use a laptop for sound capture and it was a complete disaster. Not only would the hardware glitch up from time to time, but the software had serious problems with lags and dropouts. They were using Sonic Foundry Sound Forge, which I believe was almost a pro-sumer standard at the time.
They went through 3 different laptops (figuring it was the hardware) as well as switching from some sort of firewire sound digitizer to stripping the balance input to feed through the laptop's AUX connectors. The problems changed, but the result was the same. The sound guys finally gave in and rented a DAT.
This was a couple of years ago and things may have changed, but I wouldn't bet on it. Renting a DAT is cheap compared to wasted set time. I remember the nightmare on the set. Just a word of caution.
Hope this helps.
Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"
http://www.cvisual.com
Thanks. That helps a great deal.
Recording sound to your laptop without trouble is possible by using pro tools. The only problem is you probably won't want to spend the money on it. The cheapest piece of pro tools equipment is the mbox and it has 2 xlr/trs inputs as well as spdif in and out and 48v capability. the mbox is nice and small and plugs right into your usb port. It also has fader nobs for each input so you can control your recording levels. The only problem I can see to this whole idea is if your ever out in some nowhere location what are you going to do when the laptop battery dies?
What? $1000!! That's crazy talk!!
What? $1000!! That's crazy talk!!
