I need to use 2 mic input on my Sony HVR Z1. First mic being a radio mic which will be on the host of a seminar we are shooting with 40 people in a room which i have used before but also I want to use my shotgun mic so that my assistant can be the roving mic within the audience. Can I conect both mics to the camera and record them on seperate audio tracks so that when I input the film and audio into Fincal Cut Pro I get 2 seperate audio track to edit?

Hope someone can help

Allister in Scotland

Can I conect both mics to the camera and record them on seperate audio tracks

Short answer - yes.

Slight clarification - in the Audio setup menu, there's a point at which you select either Ch1 or Ch1,Ch2. You need (perversely) Ch1 - the other option records Ch1's input to BOTH tracks. If you're having difficulties, this is probably where they originate.

With that sorted, you'll have no problems. A lot of my work involves recording content at conferences, where I take a line feed from the sound desk onto channel 2, and pick up audience noise from a rifle mic on channel 1 (otherwise we'd never hear the audience response!). In FCP during ingest, each track is treated separately - e.g. C1, C2 not a stereo pair, but you can always do a Ctl-L (sic) to link/unlink the tracks.

BTW, SoundTrack Pro has got a great stereo thingy that takes a mono input and (subtly) spreads the frequencies over a stereo field, livening up your soundtrack (especially audio from wide shots) a great deal.

I was wondering if this is also possible with an FX1 and a beachteck.

Should be okay on the FX1. I haven't used one with Beachtek in a while though.

heath