Going back to iMovie HD and recording decent audio with HD7

[Richard Thompson]

Hi there all...

I have been trying to edit movies in imovie 08, but it's just painful. My computer is a macbook laptop, 3.5 Gigs of RAM and 2.1ghz processor, but it just can't handle clips movies of which go up to any decent length (e.g. 1.5 hours) put into a project at once.

Hence, I went back to iMovie HD and wow... what a dream.. the program is wonderful for editing and cropping clips down to size and putting them together, which is the simple kind of functionality I need for creating training videos. However, I had an issue with importing from firewire which I need help with.

I can import with firewire wonderfully.. the image is fine. HOWEVER... The audio sounds slowed down or deepened in pitch somehow. If you need to hear it I can record a video and upload it. I wondered if anyone else has found this and has found a workaround?

Secondly, I am looking to record people presenting at a distance of up to 10-15m away, at which point the audio begins to get pretty poor and tinny-sounding. Short of buying a radio mic and hooking it to the camera, has anyone used Boom mics to good effect, and is it possible at this distance? Sometimes there might not be a person manning the camera so I guess the boom would have to cover a range of about 6 metres wide as the presenter uses different parts of the stage at a distance of say 12 metres away.

Is this kind of thing possible? If not what's the best way to go? I could record into an mp3 but imovie HD of course can't dub sound from a separate source over the top.

Help is appreciated guys.

Cheers

Richard

[Jeff Nyman]

I have a couple of Azden wms-pro lapel mics and their cheap 3 channel mixer. For the price I think they kick butt. I also have a DK shotgun mic which is OK for 3 or 4 meters but I prefer the lapels, you can hide them pretty well.

[Richard Thompson]

Hi Jeff, thanks for your input.. I looked those mics up.. They certainly look like a good deal in terms of price!!! A few Qs about the receiver... Presumably your camera has to be fixed in one position and that receiver needs to be plugged into it, e.g. if it was in the back of the room.. I guess you'd need to set up a little table next to the camera so it could process the inputs... Although it's pretty small.. have you ever rigged it up to be strapped to the camera / tripod - could that work?

It looks like we'd need to get the WR22-PRO if I wanted to have 2 mics going into it at once. Does this receiver plug into the HD7 Jack directly?

Any chance of sending a screenshot of how the HD7 looks next to the receiver?

Thanks

Richard

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Richard Thompson

I I could record into an mp3 but imovie HD of course can't dub sound from a separate source over the top.

It can, actually. Just drag the audio clip to one of the audio tracks in the timeline (not the clip) viewer. You would also have to sync the added audio of course, and switch off the camera's audio presumably, by unchecking the box of the video track at the bottom right.

[Jeff Nyman]

They have a camera mount that attaches to the cold shoe on the HD7. I have been up to 20 meters away and not had a problem. The model I have is 2 channel, I have ran two with one on each channel several times and not had a problem. 'Course I kinda have to tape the two receivers together to fit on the camera :) I always use the Azden CAM-3 mixer with them too.

[Waldemar Winkler]

Originally Posted by Jeff Nyman

I have a couple of Azden wms-pro lapel mics and their cheap 3 channel mixer. For the price I think they kick butt. I also have a DK shotgun mic which is OK for 3 or 4 meters but I prefer the lapels, you can hide them pretty well.

Do a careful sound check first! I've owned an Azden wms Pro 2 channel (VHF 169.??? & 170.245 Mhz) for years and they are absolutely worthless if my receiver is more than 2 meters distant from the microphones. My initial disappointment was such I called Azden tech support for more clarification. An Azden engineer told me in no uncertain terms the WMS product line was the least reliable product they made.

As time went by I acquired a variety of other transmitters and receivers by other manufacturers on the same frequencies and have made some interesting discoveries.

First, the problems I had were with the transmitters. The Azden body pack transmitter is weak. Nady and Telex transmitters on the same frequency allow me clean recording with few, if any, transmission dropouts ... as long as I pay careful attention to the distance between me and the transmitter.

Here is the crystal ball: Test your equipment before you shoot!

In my local area, 170.245 MHz, despite what the FCC says for my zip code, is a heavily populated frequency. Church "A" (at 300 degrees NW) two blocks away has no issues with 170.245. Church "B" (also at 300 degrees NW) 4 blocks away renders 170.245 useless. A theatre 2 1/2 blocks distant (at 270 degrees to the West), also renders 170.245 useless. Theatre "B" (200 degrees South-south West) 6 blocks distant renders no issues. These locations are within walking distance from my home. A destination ski resort mountain top restaurant (9500 ft/2900 meters) and 27 miles north of my home, popular with social events in summer regularly disrupts transmission every 5 minutes or so.

The bottom line is this:

Unlicensed wireless transmissions are at the mercy of licensed transmissions close to the frequency you happen to be using. Licensed frequencies are way more powerful. Additionally, mobile phone and wi-fi computer frequency use has escalated, and will continue to do so.

So, do your homework. Find the product that will serve you best.

Jeff's local area gives him great response with the Azden WMS-Pro product line. My response in my local area to that same product line is, well, underwhelming.

The greatest thing about wireless communication is that it doesn't need wires. The greatest nightmare about wireless communication is that it doesn't use wires. If you can use a hard wired connection, do it. So much easier!