recording audio directly to tape at DVinfo.net

Cal Bickford · January 27th, 2007, 06:55 PM

hey guys i'm a total noob so bare with me.... I'm about to buy an a1 to shoot a movie on and was wondering if capturing audio directly onto mini dv can adversely affect the picture quality. In other words, would less "data space" be left for chroma/luma channels if audio is taking some of it up? resulting in more noise in blacks etc. Or is the tape space already "partitioned" so to speak, so that the audio channel (im sure this is not the right term) on the tape would just be blank if no sound was recorded on it? thanks.

David W. Jones · January 27th, 2007, 07:38 PM

There is plenty of room for the audio on the tape, and no it will not affect the quality of the video being recording it to tape.

Cal Bickford · January 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM

Thanks for the answer, if it wasn't for forums like these here the learning curve would be much less steep...

Bill Pryor · January 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM

I'll bear with you, but I don't think I'd want to bare with you. Some guys might.

If you're really new, the camera is just the tip of the iceberg, and you might want to consider trying to find some people with experience and equipment to help you out. If you have a script and it's good, and if there's an active film community where you live, you probably can get some people to join on the project. Or, you might want to offer to help out others on their projects and get some experience before spending all that money.

Cal Bickford · January 27th, 2007, 08:12 PM

Lol, i'm not planning on shooting the movie next week ; ) I plan on educating myself thoroughly on all of the technical aspects of shooting digitally before i even begin to think about any kind of pre-production. I think there is a distinct advantage in buying a camera before you know how to properly use it, and that is - if you don't, you'll never learn how to use it properly ; ) Anyways, who said i'm not working with people who are more technically proficient in such things than I?...

Bill Pryor · January 28th, 2007, 01:52 PM

That's good then. You definitely don't want to get a new camera the day before the shoot.

John Miller · January 28th, 2007, 02:14 PM

Many miniDV camcorders support two audio formats.

One allows two tracks (i.e., one stereo pair) and is recorded at a higher quality than CD audio. Often, the camcorder's settings will refer to this as 48K.

The other allows four tracks (two stereo pairs) and is recorded at a lower quality than CD audio. (Often termed "32K" mode). Usually, the second pair is silent. After recording, you can go back and record a second audio track (e.g., a narrative).

January 27th, 2007, 06:55 PM	#1
Cal Bickford Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 157	recording audio directly to tape hey guys i'm a total noob so bare with me.... I'm about to buy an a1 to shoot a movie on and was wondering if capturing audio directly onto mini dv can adversely affect the picture quality. In other words, would less "data space" be left for chroma/luma channels if audio is taking some of it up? resulting in more noise in blacks etc. Or is the tape space already "partitioned" so to speak, so that the audio channel (im sure this is not the right term) on the tape would just be blank if no sound was recorded on it? thanks.

January 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM	#3
Cal Bickford Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 157	thanks Thanks for the answer, if it wasn't for forums like these here the learning curve would be much less steep...

January 27th, 2007, 08:12 PM	#5
Cal Bickford Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 157	noobs need to be loved too.. Lol, i'm not planning on shooting the movie next week ; ) I plan on educating myself thoroughly on all of the technical aspects of shooting digitally before i even begin to think about any kind of pre-production. I think there is a distinct advantage in buying a camera before you know how to properly use it, and that is - if you don't, you'll never learn how to use it properly ; ) Anyways, who said i'm not working with people who are more technically proficient in such things than I?...

January 27th, 2007, 07:38 PM	#2
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	There is plenty of room for the audio on the tape, and no it will not affect the quality of the video being recording it to tape.

January 27th, 2007, 08:06 PM	#4
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	I'll bear with you, but I don't think I'd want to bare with you. Some guys might. If you're really new, the camera is just the tip of the iceberg, and you might want to consider trying to find some people with experience and equipment to help you out. If you have a script and it's good, and if there's an active film community where you live, you probably can get some people to join on the project. Or, you might want to offer to help out others on their projects and get some experience before spending all that money.

January 28th, 2007, 01:52 PM	#6
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	That's good then. You definitely don't want to get a new camera the day before the shoot.

January 28th, 2007, 02:14 PM	#7
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Many miniDV camcorders support two audio formats. One allows two tracks (i.e., one stereo pair) and is recorded at a higher quality than CD audio. Often, the camcorder's settings will refer to this as 48K. The other allows four tracks (two stereo pairs) and is recorded at a lower quality than CD audio. (Often termed "32K" mode). Usually, the second pair is silent. After recording, you can go back and record a second audio track (e.g., a narrative).