Help Understanding Audio Setup PD170 at DVinfo.net

Alex Gilliard · June 15th, 2007, 11:51 AM

Ok I have read some posts that talks about this but have not answered my question fully. I bought the kit from B&H with the sony wireless lav mic. I have filmed several weddings with my VX2000 but now that I have my PD170 I want to mic the groom and use the shotgun for everything but the ceremony, but heres the thing the only way to make it work is to have the wireless on one ch and the shotgun on the other. So im guessing this can be separated and duplicated in post to give me stereo sound (using Final Cut Express HD). How would I accomplish this? Or is there a way to do this on Prod?

Thanks for all the help.

Don Bloom · June 15th, 2007, 01:50 PM

set the front audio switch that reads CH1/2 down to Channel 2. Plug the XLR from the wireless receiver into the #2 XLR input on the camera. Turn on the wireless and you're set to go. The on camera mic will go to channel 1 and the wireless to channel 2. Watch the levels - do a sound check before the event and monitor with headphones. I have always tried to keep the levels between -20 and -12 on the meters on the PD150-the DSR250 and the JVC5000U. This gives both headroom for the loud unexpected noises and some room and the bottom end. Then in post it's a fairly easy mix.
If you need to you can also set either one or both to MIC ATT which would give you 20db of attenuation-for most things a bit too much in my opinion but it's there if you need it.
BTW go into the menu and find the audio settings and SEPERATE the channels because it will allow you to adjust one without adjusting both. The wireless may be louder since it's right up on the person.
HTHs
Don

Alex Gilliard · June 15th, 2007, 04:39 PM

I'm sorry I should have been a little more clear. I have figured out all of what you said in your post. I do not have FCE yet it will be here the first of next week. What I want to know basically is there two different streams or are they compressed into one? If they are just one I'm assuming that when the ceremony starts I need to Dial the Shotgun way down and increase the wireless channel (basically do all the mixing in the camera during prod. and then just duplicate the stream in FCE is this right?

Sorry for the lack of info, Thanks for the the help.

Alex G.

Don Bloom · June 15th, 2007, 05:46 PM

Ah OK. Well I'm not familiar with Final Cut audio as I use something else but first don't mess with the levels as there shouldn't be a need to. If FCE is anything like Vegas the one track of audio with the 2 channels of sound showing in waeform should be able to be split into 2 seperate tracks. In Vegas it's LEFT Channel or RIGHT Channel only but for most weddings there really shouldn't be a need to do that. Remember the groom is mic'd but unless you have the lectern mic'd or have some other sort of audio pickup going there (an mp3 recorder for example) plus the music that goes on you really don't want to play with the shotgun on the camera. Set it and forget it. Then mix as needed in post.

Don

Jamie Kehoe · June 25th, 2007, 03:37 AM

It is all about how you export the video footage, make sure you set the audio on the PD170P to manual not auto gain, it will jump too suddenly, not consistent enough. I always hated the automatic gain control for audio on the PD170. Otherwise I have the same setup with Final Cut Pro, 2 PD170P's and Sony wireless mics. All works very well. You can setup your export to make sure it comes out as stereo, not a problem.

Craig Seeman · June 25th, 2007, 07:52 AM

Stereo is two channels with audio arriving at the source at different times, resulting in the perception of sound placed somewhere in the left-right sound field.

You can put a MONO signal on TWO TRACKS but that is NOT STEREO.

In Final Cut you can import the audio as two mono tracks center paned or you can import the audio as two tracks with one track panned to the the left, the other to the right. When imported center panned the tracks are linked to video but not each other such as one can easily apply key frames, fx etc to one and not the other. When imported paned left and right, the track are linked to each other so that you can apply keyframes or fx to both tracks.

It very easy to unlink and pan individual channels as well as link channels that import unlinked to each other in Final Cut.

I shoot with the PD-170. I usually have left as shotgun and right as wireless mic. I import as mono (center panned). There's no reason to "double" a mono track except as a way to increase volume when levels control won't bring it up far enough (audio source is really low). If I need to distinguish between two audio sources while I edit (which I usually do) I pan one channel left and the other right but center pan them again when I'm done edithing.

June 15th, 2007, 11:51 AM	#1
Alex Gilliard New Boot Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 10	Help Understanding Audio Setup PD170 Ok I have read some posts that talks about this but have not answered my question fully. I bought the kit from B&H with the sony wireless lav mic. I have filmed several weddings with my VX2000 but now that I have my PD170 I want to mic the groom and use the shotgun for everything but the ceremony, but heres the thing the only way to make it work is to have the wireless on one ch and the shotgun on the other. So im guessing this can be separated and duplicated in post to give me stereo sound (using Final Cut Express HD). How would I accomplish this? Or is there a way to do this on Prod? Thanks for all the help.

June 25th, 2007, 03:37 AM	#5
Jamie Kehoe Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 28	I have the same setup It is all about how you export the video footage, make sure you set the audio on the PD170P to manual not auto gain, it will jump too suddenly, not consistent enough. I always hated the automatic gain control for audio on the PD170. Otherwise I have the same setup with Final Cut Pro, 2 PD170P's and Sony wireless mics. All works very well. You can setup your export to make sure it comes out as stereo, not a problem.

June 15th, 2007, 01:50 PM	#2
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	set the front audio switch that reads CH1/2 down to Channel 2. Plug the XLR from the wireless receiver into the #2 XLR input on the camera. Turn on the wireless and you're set to go. The on camera mic will go to channel 1 and the wireless to channel 2. Watch the levels - do a sound check before the event and monitor with headphones. I have always tried to keep the levels between -20 and -12 on the meters on the PD150-the DSR250 and the JVC5000U. This gives both headroom for the loud unexpected noises and some room and the bottom end. Then in post it's a fairly easy mix. If you need to you can also set either one or both to MIC ATT which would give you 20db of attenuation-for most things a bit too much in my opinion but it's there if you need it. BTW go into the menu and find the audio settings and SEPERATE the channels because it will allow you to adjust one without adjusting both. The wireless may be louder since it's right up on the person. HTHs Don

June 15th, 2007, 04:39 PM	#3
Alex Gilliard New Boot Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 10	I'm sorry I should have been a little more clear. I have figured out all of what you said in your post. I do not have FCE yet it will be here the first of next week. What I want to know basically is there two different streams or are they compressed into one? If they are just one I'm assuming that when the ceremony starts I need to Dial the Shotgun way down and increase the wireless channel (basically do all the mixing in the camera during prod. and then just duplicate the stream in FCE is this right? Sorry for the lack of info, Thanks for the the help. Alex G.

June 15th, 2007, 05:46 PM	#4
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Ah OK. Well I'm not familiar with Final Cut audio as I use something else but first don't mess with the levels as there shouldn't be a need to. If FCE is anything like Vegas the one track of audio with the 2 channels of sound showing in waeform should be able to be split into 2 seperate tracks. In Vegas it's LEFT Channel or RIGHT Channel only but for most weddings there really shouldn't be a need to do that. Remember the groom is mic'd but unless you have the lectern mic'd or have some other sort of audio pickup going there (an mp3 recorder for example) plus the music that goes on you really don't want to play with the shotgun on the camera. Set it and forget it. Then mix as needed in post. Don

June 25th, 2007, 07:52 AM	#6
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Stereo is two channels with audio arriving at the source at different times, resulting in the perception of sound placed somewhere in the left-right sound field. You can put a MONO signal on TWO TRACKS but that is NOT STEREO. In Final Cut you can import the audio as two mono tracks center paned or you can import the audio as two tracks with one track panned to the the left, the other to the right. When imported center panned the tracks are linked to video but not each other such as one can easily apply key frames, fx etc to one and not the other. When imported paned left and right, the track are linked to each other so that you can apply keyframes or fx to both tracks. It very easy to unlink and pan individual channels as well as link channels that import unlinked to each other in Final Cut. I shoot with the PD-170. I usually have left as shotgun and right as wireless mic. I import as mono (center panned). There's no reason to "double" a mono track except as a way to increase volume when levels control won't bring it up far enough (audio source is really low). If I need to distinguish between two audio sources while I edit (which I usually do) I pan one channel left and the other right but center pan them again when I'm done edithing.