anyone shoot w/gh1 + double system audio?

[Rob Katz]

i shoot plenty of talking heads.

i was hoping to read about anyone using the gh1 and a pro audio set-up, maybe a double system with boom & lav mics?

Any and all real world experience would be appreciated.

Be well

Rob
Smalltalk

[Roger Garcia]

I've been doing some tests with the GH1 and my Sony UX70 voice recorder. So far I have shot some 7 to 8 minute talking heads sequences and it holds sync pretty well (100%). I'm using the UX70 with various mics either a Sennheiser or Audio Technica lav or the Sony lav (which is not bad).

I connected the lav to the UX70 then connected the UX70 to the GH1 using a 3.5mm cable with 2.5mm adapter. I did not intend to use the GH1 soundtrack (mainly because of the AGC which renders most talking soundtracks professionally unusable) so this was just for test/backup-as-a-last-resort. Since it all seems to sync well, I probably will dispense with this connection in future and monitor the sound from the UX70.

Naturally the sound quality may be better with a better digital recorder - I have used the Zoom 4 and 2 but for talking heads in a generally static situation I have found the UX70 tracks very usable.

I make sure I have a sync mark (clap my hands) just to facilitate matters.

I have yet to test the GH1 beyond 8 minutes (eg at longer durations like half an hour). I have shot double system with the Sony TG1 and the UX70 (a great lightweight combination) but I found that sync was slipping after about 8 to 10 minutes and needed readjustment. No big problem in FCP but an extra thing to do when I would rather concentrate on content!

I was shooting on GH1 with AVCHD setting not the .mov. Actually I'd rather use the latter but the GH1 will only shoot .mov in 8 or 9 minute chunks which in general is not long enough for my interviews. With 16GB shooting AVCHD I get around 2 hours. The files are kind of huge though...

[David W. Jones]

People have been recording audio separate from picture and syncing in post since the very first talkies or movies with sound, so nothing new here.
For audio capture with the GH1 I will either record audio with my XH-A1, Zoom H4N, or MacBook Pro with MOTU Traveler interface & Boom Recorder.

All The Best!

[Todd Norris]

I shot a short film with the GH1 a few weeks ago. I recorded the audio via a boom to a JVC HD250 camera that has XLR inputs. This has been my first experience with double system sound.
So far, in Final Cut Pro, everything has synced up perfectly. No issues with drift of any kind.
The thing to remember is this...you need to slate every take with a clapper, or have somebody clap their hands in full view of the camera. Also, have that person call out the take number, i.e., "Scene 4, Take 2!". That way you can quickly identify your audio tracks in editing.
It's been a pain syncing up every clip, but it the good thing is that it makes the camera very mobile. Since I'm not tethered to the audio guy, I can roam and set up new shots very quickly.

[Dave Eaton]

Just saw this last night, looks interesting for multi-camera/multiple audio syncing:

Decent six camera demo:
PluralEyes Software for FCP By Philip Johnston On ExposureRoom

Company site:
PluralEyes

There's a demo version.

[Barry Green]

They're also in beta test phase for a version for Sony Vegas, and they have it on their roadmap to do a Premiere version too.

[Harris Ueng]

Originally Posted by Dave Eaton

Just saw this last night, looks interesting for multi-camera/multiple audio syncing:

Decent six camera demo:
PluralEyes Software for FCP By Philip Johnston On ExposureRoom

Company site:
PluralEyes

There's a demo version.

I tried out Pluraleyes recently on a 6-studio days talking head + computer feed (via FCP capture with AJA IO HD) project. Since the corp talent was unrehearsed, there were an enormous amount of syncing to do since cam and AJA/FCP setup were manually rolled and cut.

Pluraleyes did well for most of the footage (say 90%). The other 10% it couldn't figure out syncing even when I lined up the clips for it. The issue was it took about 30-40 minutes for syncing about an hour or so of footage (20-40 clips) for an Intel Quad Mac Pro. A quick editor can probably do it in less time. The advantage was that you can set it to go and sync overnight or over the weekend without supervision.

Thumbs up on the software, but will go for TC sync in the future with this client. ;-)