CAPTURING GOOD SOUND ASSIGNMENT Select three of the four offered assignments. This one is about sound and how to improve it in your product.

CAPTURING GOOD SOUND Capturing Good Sound by Matt Schwarz Staff 1 year agoMatt Schwarz Any filmmaker today will agree that capturing sound correctly is just as important as capturing the image itself. Sound can make or break a professional or amateur production, so making sure you know your way around a microphone can’t hurt. So let’s go over some basic ways to capture sound and take your video to the next level of awesomeness we all know it can be!

Most cameras today have some pretty awesome built in features, anything from a DSLR that can shoot video to a normal handheld camera should have audio settings. The most important thing is to find out what type of sound you need to capture, this will then help you decide what equipment you may need. For instance, when shooting in a quiet indoor area, or at the very least close to your subject, the built in audio on a camera normally works just fine. However, when your subject is farther away or in a loud area, an external microphone may be required. Most professional productions record sound separately from the camera and re-sync it in editing, but to keep things simple, using an external microphone may be a good place to start. These can come in a variety of styles and price rangers, but let’s look at the most common ones: Handheld microphone - Normally used for interviews or presentations, they come in both wired and wireless, and are perfect for “man on the scene” type shots. Boom microphone - These long microphones are highly directional (recording sound where you point them). Normally used to capture actors lines from just off camera by attaching them to a long pole. They are also mounted directly on cameras to get long distance sound. Lavalier microphone - A small clip-on microphone that attaches to the subjects clothing. Normally used on TV newscasts or sitcoms that require sound to be captured from the subject without it being obvious that there is a microphone attached.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEOPIA LESSON WHICH WILL HELP YOU DECIDE WHAT MICROPHONE TO USE AND WHEN.VIDEOPIA

Once you have decided which mic fits your needs best, the next step will be finding out how to connect it to your camera. Most likely, you’ll find your camera has a 3.5mm stereo mini jack. If you’re not sure what that is, chances are you’ve at least seen one before. This is the most common audio jack and is used for most headphones and headsets for cell phones. It’s a pointy metal tip with 2-3 white or black rings around it. You can find microphones that have this connection pretty easily. Most professional audio uses what's called an XLR connection, however most consumer cameras don’t have this connection available without the use of an adapter. If you find that your camera does have this connection, its recommended that you use it, just be aware XLR microphones often cost more than others. This connection is about a half inch diameter circle with three prongs inside it.

SO ONCE YOU’VE FOUND YOUR SUBJECT, THE MICROPHONE YOU’D LIKE TO USE, AND THE BEST WAY TO CONNECT IT, YOU’RE PRETTY MUCH ALL SET!

* Microphones that have a 3.5mm stereo mini jack normally require some type of separate power source, so make sure you have batteries! * XLR microphones normally use the power given off by the camera or device they are connected to, but double check to see if it requires it’s own power source before recording. * Before recording, try taking a 5 second video clip and playing it back with headphones. This will give you a good idea of how the camera is picking up sound, that way you can decide if you need to change locations, mics, etc. * All the microphones we talked about come in both wireless or wired versions. While wireless is more convenient, cameras can’t just support them out of the box. Make sure you the receiver you get with your wireless mic (the box that receives the sounds from the microphone and hooks up to your camera) can be connected to your cameras audio input (either XLR or 3.5mm stereo min jack). * Finally, make sure your microphone is on and the camera is set to use it! If your microphone isn’t turned on, you won’t capture any sound. The same thing will happen if you don’t tell your camera to use the external microphone (normally located in the cameras settings, however newer cameras detect the microphone automatically and don’t need to be told about it). * Finally for a quick overview of what you've learned, check out Vimeo's own QuickTüt!

VIMEO TUTORIAL ON SOUND

ASSIGNMENT 5 Vignettes Created by Blake Whitman PRO 4 years agoBlake WhitmanPRO A variety of the '5 Vignettes' videos by the users of Vimeo. 5 short, 5 second clips -- no music -- and try not to use clips you've used before :) tag with: '5 Vignettes' and/or '5x5' Learn how to edit with Windows Live Movie Maker! vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/23/video-101-editing-with-windows-live-movie-maker vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/23/video-101-editing-with-windows-live-movie-maker Learn how to edit with iMovie! vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/33/video-101-editing-with-imovie vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/33/video-101-editing-with-imovie Learn how to capture great sound! vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/2/capturing-good-sound vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/2/capturing-good-sound