Successful multi-cam concert shoot at DVinfo.net

Jon Fairhurst · April 7th, 2008, 05:03 PM

My sons arranged a multi-camera shoot of an alternative & hip hop show this past weekend with good results. Part of the success was due to my reading about the experience of others here.

My oldest son rented a couple of DVX-100Bs and had a friend bring another with a 12-foot crane. One was fairly static at the back of the room with a wide shot. It captured our 2nd backup of the audio signal. The crane cam did moving medium shots. The 3rd cam was for closeups and dynamic, risky shots.

My youngest son recorded the primary signal off the board into his computer at 24-bits. I told him of the horror stories I've read here regarding problems from the mixer, so he brought a couple of backup mics, also recorded to the PC. Since the concert was in mono, he placed one near a woofer and another near a HF horn as the primary backup. I think he sent either the mics or mixer to one of the cameras as well, but I'm not sure.

In the end, he will phase align everything and mix to taste. The board signal is very clean, but lacks a live feel, ambiance and crowd noise. The speaker mics will add a live feel, but it's dirtier and the lyrics aren't very clear. The rear camera mic will be mixed in during the applause only.

It's great that all three signals are healthy, but it was also great to know that we had redundancy, just in case.

And it helped that we had enough people to man all of the posts - plus me to play utility infielder.

It also helped that we got there early. We had time to realize that nobody had brought ANY stage lights(!) We were able to run to the hardware store for a DIY solution. We got just enough light to shoot at 0dB gain - but not too much light to swamp their black lights and some of the incidental colored lights in the background from amps and other gear. The look was surprising good, considering...

The lessons: 1) enough time, 2) enough people, 3) redundancy.

April 7th, 2008, 05:03 PM	#1
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Successful multi-cam concert shoot My sons arranged a multi-camera shoot of an alternative & hip hop show this past weekend with good results. Part of the success was due to my reading about the experience of others here. My oldest son rented a couple of DVX-100Bs and had a friend bring another with a 12-foot crane. One was fairly static at the back of the room with a wide shot. It captured our 2nd backup of the audio signal. The crane cam did moving medium shots. The 3rd cam was for closeups and dynamic, risky shots. My youngest son recorded the primary signal off the board into his computer at 24-bits. I told him of the horror stories I've read here regarding problems from the mixer, so he brought a couple of backup mics, also recorded to the PC. Since the concert was in mono, he placed one near a woofer and another near a HF horn as the primary backup. I think he sent either the mics or mixer to one of the cameras as well, but I'm not sure. In the end, he will phase align everything and mix to taste. The board signal is very clean, but lacks a live feel, ambiance and crowd noise. The speaker mics will add a live feel, but it's dirtier and the lyrics aren't very clear. The rear camera mic will be mixed in during the applause only. It's great that all three signals are healthy, but it was also great to know that we had redundancy, just in case. And it helped that we had enough people to man all of the posts - plus me to play utility infielder. It also helped that we got there early. We had time to realize that nobody had brought ANY stage lights(!) We were able to run to the hardware store for a DIY solution. We got just enough light to shoot at 0dB gain - but not too much light to swamp their black lights and some of the incidental colored lights in the background from amps and other gear. The look was surprising good, considering... The lessons: 1) enough time, 2) enough people, 3) redundancy. __________________ Jon Fairhurst