I am in so much trouble

[Steven Gotz]

I broke the 1st commandment of Sound for Picture. That and more.

I shot interviews at my wife's family reunion and I did so many that I got complacent about the audio. I was using a Lav mic and I missed the audio on three interviews due to someone turning off the Mic while fiddling with it and I didn't notice.

Sigh!

Learn from my mistake. An interview without audio is pretty useless. Put the headphones on, because as many as you get right, it only takes one that is wrong to ruin a day.

I almost hired a pro shooter for the day. Now I wish I had.

[Brooks Harrington]

Well, life is a school.......If you were shooting camera, you should have had a person there just for the audio, even if you didn't shoot double system.
Nobody can do it all. I 'm working at a college and this is my most repeated advise to students taking out a video camera and 'just a wireless mic'.... take someone else with you for the audio.

But, people that don't do anything never make mistakes. Maybe you can get some pickups or redo.

[Glenn Chan]

To avoid situations like this you can (in the future):
1- Wear headphones.
2- On your camera's second track, record another mic like the on-board mic. In some cases (though probably rare for a wedding?) you can get good audio from the on-board mic. But that's only if there isn't a lot of b/g noise.

Sorry to hear about your screw-up. Stuff happens.

[Craig Irving]

Hi Glenn,

Does Vasst ever do any training or seminars in Toronto?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

We have done several there, and possibly will be returning to the Toronto Film School this fall.

[Bert Smyth]

It happens to the best of us... I was shooting an interview with a client one time, and quickly listened back to the audio and realized I had recorded the on camera mic, not the lav mic! "Was that ok?" the client asked... "Um, you sounded a little flat, lets try it again with a bit more energy" was my reply. He had no idea...

[Glenn Chan]

Craig: You can also get training DVDs and have VASST come to your doorstep that way. :) DSE has a title on audio... "Now Hear This"

vasst2.com
The coupon code should be dvinfo

[Ervin Farkas]

Steven, if I am not mistaking, you're working with a Z1. Somewhere deep in the menus there is an option to turn on a pair of graph bars (like a good old VU meter) in the lower right corner of the screen to monitor audio levels.

It took me some playing around to find that, but it sure saved my rear a few times...

[Glenn Chan]

You should still listen on headphones though, so you can pick up errors like handling noise, wind noise, crackle, etc.

[Steven Gotz]

It is the FX1, and yes, the bars work perfectly. They were working right up until I got complacent and just spaced out and forgot to look for them.

The problem is that I got into a rut. Everything was fine, interview after interview. I got so used to it working perfectly, I got lazy, I guess.

I was connected to a 50" HDTV so I had an easy time focusing and setting the iris. Everyone wanted to see what they would look like, so I kept the TV on until I hit record, and then turned it off. Worked great. I just got in a rut. By the time the mic was turned off, I had done most of the family.

Learn from my mistake. If you are bored, make sure you work extra hard to get it right.

As it is, I missed three brothers and their families, to include the host of the party. Sigh!

[Ervin Farkas]

Oh well, what would we brag about if we never made a mistake? Might make a good thread here on the forum: "the biggest mistakes I made"...

So where do you go from here? Shoot those interviews again?

[Steven Gotz]

Admit the mistake? Maybe. More likely I will blame it on a glitch and put their picure on the video family tree I am designing until I can get a vacation planned to go shoot them again. I didn't get some of the others because they were not at the party, so I need to get to them as well. Fortunately most of them are within a couple of hundred miles of each other in Northern California. Thank goodness I got all the ones who live a long way from California.

Or maybe I just have them interviewed by other DVInfo members? Hmmm. That might work. A few minutes of HDV should not cost as much as the airfare I would spend to get there.

[Ervin Farkas]

Hahaha... I didn't say admit to THEM...

You just gave me a good idea with this family tree interview thing. One day my kids will start asking me questions about their ancestors... and I can't show them any here in the States... So next time I travel back to my old country, I'll start working on it! Thanks,

[Steven Gotz]

Everyone I interviewed came from one couple, so I had them say their name, their lineage back up the line, and then their kid's names, if any. Then their favorite story about Grandma and Grandpa if they were old enough to remember them.

It went pretty well for the most part. I figure it will be done in SD using Adobe Encore to create a DVD with drill down style menus. Click on one family and get their "page" and see their videos.

Since Encore is supposed to be able to create a Flash web site mirroring the DVD menus, that might be a good way to go as well. And then when HD DVDs are everywhere, I will be able to republish.

[Marco Wagner]

oh man! What a downer... Sorry to here that Steven. I think many of us have done something similar. I know I have. I shot a college football game one time and some how got screwed up and was pushing record (as it was already recording)!!! So when I thought I was recording I was really paused and vice versa... argh... I missed a kick @ss touchdown, but not much else.