Question on Audio

[Jon Medjeski]

I am going to try and put together a deer hunting video this year, and will be collecting footage (hopefully) october through january. I will be using this equipment
xha1s
ME66 Mic
Sennheiser ew 122 lav mics

I am confused as to what I kind of set-up I need to run. I can have both mics rolling at the same time, one on channel 1 and other on 2. I assume this is best for all around effectiveness, but how do I make the audio sound correct. When I say this I guess i mean coming out of both speakers. I am new, and am learning on my own, so I am in sponge mode, trying to hold on to any tips someone can give me!

[Edward Carlson]

Most NLEs will allow you to change the pan (right/left balance) of the audio so that both sources will come out of both speakers.

[Richard Crowley]

Yes, it is preferred to capture the audio from each different mic on a separate channel. That way you have the most flexibility to use whichever mic (or both mixed together, perhaps?) during the editing process. The decision about what sounds (microphones or otherwise) appear left/right (or in-between) is something that you adjust during editing.

Be sure to capture some stereo "background sounds" using the camera's on-board stereo microphones while you shoot "B-Roll" video footage. (This would be called "room-tone" if you were shooting indoors. :-) This stereo background noise is important to use for filling in behind the dialog tracks to make it sound more natural after mixing the (hopefully!) closer and more clear sounds from the external microphones.

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Jon Medjeski

...I am confused as to what I kind of set-up I need to run. I can have both mics rolling at the same time, one on channel 1 and other on 2. I assume this is best for all around effectiveness, but how do I make the audio sound correct. When I say this I guess i mean coming out of both speakers....

Continuing with Richard's comments. Most of the better video editing programs such as Vegas or Premiere Pro or FCP also have tools for editing the audio as well, including a software audio mixer for adjusting the levels and routing the various audio tracks into the final stereo mix as desired. What you are asking about is called "panning" the tracks, done using the mixer's pan control. Each track going into the mixer has a pan control that lets you send the audio on that track to end up on on the left or the right or split between both of the speakers in the final mix. The mic you put on Joe during the shoot will be a mono track. Dialog is generally centred, sent equally to both left and right stereo channels. In your editor, then, you simply adjust the pan control on that track to the centre position and you're set.