Best Settings for Capturing Audio? at DVinfo.net

Alan Christensen · December 20th, 2002, 04:42 PM

I have a VX-2000 that I am going to use to film an upcoming wedding. I have access to a Sennheiser wireless lavolier microphone, a Sennheiser 835A dynamic mic, and an Audio Technica AT853A choir microphone (little hanging type). I have a second Sennheiser wireless setup that I could attach to either the 835A or the AT853A to make one of them wireless. I have a Beachtek that I can use to get the two microphones into the two channels on my VX2000. My problem is this. Where do I try to mount the microphones, and how do I set up my camera to pick up the sound in the best way possible? The microphones are somewhat different sensistivities, and given that they are going to be in different locations, they will pick up the voices and music at different levels. Should I put my camera audio setting on "auto" or attempt to use "manual"? I suspect that the AGC on the VX2000 will adjust according to the loudest channel. Hence I might lose some of the sound from one of my microphones due to the other microphone being close to a loud noise source. There are potentiometers that I can use on the Beachtek to dial the mic sensitivities up and down, but I am concerned that I'll be too busy doing the actual filming to play with these. These pots also are reputed to introduce noice into the audio if you adjust them while recording. The best setup would seem to be two independent channels with an AGC on each one. One would be for the voices close to the alter and the other would be for music and other ambient noise farther back in the church. Does a mixer give one these capabilities? Sorry for the newbie questions but this is my first time out in this type of forum. Any advice would be appreciated.

December 20th, 2002, 04:42 PM	#1
Alan Christensen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: California Posts: 139	Best Settings for Capturing Audio? I have a VX-2000 that I am going to use to film an upcoming wedding. I have access to a Sennheiser wireless lavolier microphone, a Sennheiser 835A dynamic mic, and an Audio Technica AT853A choir microphone (little hanging type). I have a second Sennheiser wireless setup that I could attach to either the 835A or the AT853A to make one of them wireless. I have a Beachtek that I can use to get the two microphones into the two channels on my VX2000. My problem is this. Where do I try to mount the microphones, and how do I set up my camera to pick up the sound in the best way possible? The microphones are somewhat different sensistivities, and given that they are going to be in different locations, they will pick up the voices and music at different levels. Should I put my camera audio setting on "auto" or attempt to use "manual"? I suspect that the AGC on the VX2000 will adjust according to the loudest channel. Hence I might lose some of the sound from one of my microphones due to the other microphone being close to a loud noise source. There are potentiometers that I can use on the Beachtek to dial the mic sensitivities up and down, but I am concerned that I'll be too busy doing the actual filming to play with these. These pots also are reputed to introduce noice into the audio if you adjust them while recording. The best setup would seem to be two independent channels with an AGC on each one. One would be for the voices close to the alter and the other would be for music and other ambient noise farther back in the church. Does a mixer give one these capabilities? Sorry for the newbie questions but this is my first time out in this type of forum. Any advice would be appreciated.