Wind

[Dale Guthormsen]

this is a topic of interest.

Here in the Prairies it is always windy. To make video that shows wind without wind sound is a lack of continuity in my opinion. I would like it as a subtle background sound.

I would be interested to hear how some of you that use wind in video apply it and make it so that it sounds like wind as apposed to just rumble.

I know you can get wind sound on line, but any of that I have seen the wind sounds will never match the movement of actual footage.

suggestions in this regard???

[Geir Inge]

Hi Dale.
My english is a bit rusty, so I'm not sure if I get you right :)

It's a bit windy where I live too.
Mostly I try to avoid sound of wind in my films, too noicy :)
But occationly (in fact two times) I've been in need for some windy sound, the one I found on the web didn't suit my video, so I did an experiment in a forrest near by. Among the trees it is almost calm so I didn't catch the noice I usually get through the mic, just the windy sound that was howling through the trees. Another tip is to catch the sound when the wind hits the wire on a post (the only english word I could find) it's the wire/strings that phone or electricity goes through. I used a windshield made of the same stuff as tents and sat under the wire and I caught the whistling noice of the wind. The sad thing is that these tapes are no longer working.

[John M. McCloskey]

Try this, put the mic in a quiet room away from your camera. In other words run a long XLR away from the camera sit in a chair and have the mic off to the left or right of your face pointing in the direction of your mouth(dont point the mic at your mouth at 12 oclock position) put the mic at 2 or 10 oclock from the front of your nose. Now hit recored and begin blowing air out of your mouth. It works really good and you can literally tailor the wind speed and rythm to what you think it should sound like to match your video. Good luck.

[Giroud Francois]

you are right by differentiating the sound of wind and rumble.
rumble is the interaction of the wind hitting the mic.
the sound of wind is the sound created by the wind over grass, trees,ground etc...
the easiest way to catch it is to protect the mic with something that will not create another rumble or with a rumble low enough to stay unheard.
good guess would be to take protected behind a big tree, or from a hole into the ground.

[Dan Robinson]

The trick is to shield the microphone itself from being hit by the wind directly. I usually accomplish this by setting up the camera right next to the vehicle, with the car blocking the wind.

[Gareth Watkins]

Hi Dale

I've filmed in some pretty windy conditions and when it gets so loud you can't hear or speak I doubt any wind protection would work....

That said a good mic with a zepplin wind shield fed into a Sound Devices mixer .. (I use a Premix but the 302 is has more functions).. means you can use the excellent hi pass filters to help with the rumble you mention... This may suit your needs...

By the way 43 pounds for a trout... blimey!!! I though a 40lb carp was big!!

Cheers
Gareth

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good evening,

Thankyou all for the interesting replies!

I will get out this week and try some outdoor stuff and try some indoor recordings as well.

[Peter Rhalter]

I've done a lot of work in the desert where wind is often present. Over time I've collected a variety of wind sounds that vary both by speed and by what might be rattling around in the wind. The differences in pitch between wind sounds can be quite expressive. It should be possible to re-construct in post what the natural wind sound was like if you aren't happy with the original location recording. Besides, how else are you going to get rid of that danged airplane noise?

Best wishes,
Peter
___________________________
Grand Canyon view points guide
http://www.parkfilms.com/gcviewpoints.html

[Dale Guthormsen]

peter,

could you attach a couple wma files of what you have accomplished??

Anyone else could do the same of course, would be interesting.