Camcorder Audio
What kind of sound quality can I expect from my camcorder?
Probably pretty good sound quality, but what you need to ask is where the manufacturer placed the microphone. is it faced forward? is it faced up? Some of these smaller cameras have microphones mounted in some of the strangest places. So, look for where your mic is and try to understand or at least visualize where the sound is coming from and how its going to end up on the camera. That will affect the sound quality. Lets say the microphone is placed on the top of the camera above the lens, that means the sound is coming from above your head. Now, it will pick up most things and you'll be happy with it, but if above your head is something very loud like an air conditioning vent, that's what you're going to hear. Stay cautious of that. If your camcorder has a headphone jack I would suggest using it, that's how you'll be able to best tell where your microphone is placed and get the best sound quality. But, always think about the sound, think about where it's coming from and how it gets to the microphone based on the positioning.
How can I get the best performance from my camcorder's microphone?
All camcorders have a microphone and it's called a fixed microphone, meaning it's part of the camera, it's built into it and it can't be removed. So you've got to take a couple things into consideration. Where is your subject standing, where is the microphone placed? Couple of suggestions: if you have a mic jack, you might want to consider using a portable microphone in certain environments. If you have a headphone jack wear the headphones. Listen to the sound itself. A couple things you can do as well, is you can try bring things to shield the microphone from wind, if there's wind coming across it, just by either holding your hand where the wind is coming from can improve your sound. You also want to consider the levels. Is there a level control on the camcorder? Can you set levels yourself. Are standing too close to a speaker and it's blowing the sound out too loud. So maybe you can set manual levels. Let's say though that your camera has none of these. All you can do is press record and the sound you get is the sound you get. At least, you want to try and listen to or think of where is my subject placed. Maybe I can move closer to it, maybe I can change my positioning, am I standing next to something that's very loud and all I have to do is move a few feet to the left or right to improve the sound performance of that microphone. So think about the sound as much as you think about the video because it is as much a part of the viewing experience as being in focus is. Sound is really important.
What does the "wind noise" function of my camcorder do?
Your camcorder may have come with a function called "wind noise," or "wind reduction," or "noise reduction" depending on the manufacturer and how it was phrased. These things work from either really poorly, to really well. Some of them just cut what's called the "level" of audio. So, for wind noise, or wind cut, it just turns the sound down; tries to muffle the wind noise. And it really affects sound all the way across - whether you're listening to music or whatever. Others do a thing called (and the more advanced ones) do a thing called "wind equalization." Programmed into the camera, is the frequency of wind and the frequency of the average human voice. When it hears both of those in the same pattern, it can do an electronic equalization to bring the frequency of wind down, or even almost eliminate it, and then make the voice more pronounced. So depending on the level of sophistication of your camera, specifically it's going to have, it's going to depend on how well this performs. You can test it, you can try it. Record, try to find windy environments. See how well it performs. You might want to use it. You might not want to use it.
What is the difference between "16bit" and "12bit" sound on my camcorder?
When it comes to audio you have a couple of options. In your menu system you may see a selection that says 16 bit audio, or 12 bit audio. Typically best sound quality and performance in general is at 16 bit - that's highest quality taking all things into consideration. But 12 bit is sometimes available to people who want to record (if your camera has this capability) 4 channels of sound or 4 microphones into a camera simultaneously. Other people use 12 bit to leave a certain amount of open space on the audio track, in order to add an additional sound track later on. It's rarely done, but it is possible - it's called audio dubbing. So if you need to audio dub, or if you need to record 4 channels of sound into a camera at the same time I'd use 12, any other reason I'd stay with 16.
What is an "external microphone" and would I need one for my camcorder?
Maybe one of the options you've got is to add an additional microphone to your camcorder, called an “optional” mic or an “external” microphone. There's lots of choices, but, essentially what that is, is the on-camera mic is really not sufficient for what you need to record, and you need to make another selection. There's a lot of mic choices out there, so think about what you need before you go shopping.
What do I need in order to use an external microphone for my camcorder?
Now, if you've decided that you need to use a microphone other than the one that's built into the camera -- first thing you need to know is does your camcorder have a microphone jack? If it doesn't, then there's really nothing you can do about it. But if it does, you have lots of different options. You might find one called a mini microphone jack, which is like a small headphone jack that you might have seen on your iPods for a microphone, all the way up to a professional microphone jack, called an XLR. So depending on the type of connection you have, that's the type of microphone you need to buy. There's also different microphones available to perform different functions, too, so really take a good look at what you're going to be recording and make the right microphone choice.
What is an "omni" microphone and can it improve my camcorder's sound quality?
An omni-directional microphone really is the most general of all microphones. It takes in sound from every direction, omni-directional. It's great for crowd noise, it's great for just general recording, but it may not be the right choice. There will be other microphones that you're going to have to choose from as well. But if you're looking for just a good general microphone something to have around that's going to outperform the microphone that might have been built into your camera an omni-directional might be the choice. One of your other choices for microphones is a hand held. And you'll see this alot especially in movies. If you have a reporter it's one microphone typically shared between more than one person. And a hand held mic allows that sound to move around. So if you've got an interview with two or three people they can all take the microphone. It's the best way to get sound probably in a situation where you have very little control over what's going to happen with the sound. You giveyour reporter or you give the person that's on the camera the microphone they can pass it from person to person and you don't have to worry about having them all miked up individually.
What is a "shotgun" microphone and can it improve my camcorder's sound quality?
Shotgun microphones are very directional. They are great for picking up particular piece of sound out of a big area because they stay very focused in a straight foward direction. They tend to eliminate sound that's coming from the left and the right or above and below and pinpoint your sound to a very specific area. Some of the most common situations where you would want to use a shotgun microphone might be a let's say when recording a speech given in a public place where you have a lot of additional noise; maybe some crowd noise, maybe some road noise, or noise coming from directions other than where the podium is. Now you're not in a position to get a microphone on the particular subject so you settle with what's called a shotgun microphone which can kind of shoot straight through all of that; it ignores what's happening to the left, to the right, top and the bottom and kind of pinpoints the subject at which the camera is aimed. The shotgun microphone is perfect for those types of environments.
What is a "lavalier" microphone and can it improve my camcorder's sound quality?
One of the most common microphone choices is called a "lavalier" mic, and a lavalier mic is a small microphone that would typically pin onto somebody's lapel, or maybe become part of somebody's clothing. A lavalier is really used a lot when you're doing an interview or when the person is the only person in the scene, so that there is no other person that sound needs to come from. Lavaliers are very popular in any kind of interviewing system. They are small and don't get in the way of the image, so they're easy to deal with.
What is phantom power?
With more sophisticated microphones, you have to consider a thing called phantom power, or non phantom power. You've chosen a particular microphone, whether it be a shotgun or a lavaliere, or any of the choices you have for microphones. You find out now that it's a phantom powered microphone. What that essentially means is the camera you're using, or something else, has to supply power to the microphone. A phantom power microphone doesn't power on its own. There's no battery in it. If you have a way to do that, that's a great choice. More common, probably, is the non phantom powered microphone - the mics that are self powered. There's a battery in there somewhere that runs the microphone, and sends an amplified signal to the camcorder or to whatever the recording device is. Some of the best mics out there though can be non phantom power.
Can I use professional microphones with a consumer camcorder?
Say you've got a very high-end mic or what we'd call a professional microphone. It typically has a connection on it called an XLR connection. But your camcorder may not have that connection. It may only have what's a mini jack or a small jack. There's a lot of third party type of priducts out there, party products made by audio people that will take an XLR connection and then reduce it to the size jack that you need. It's not just a matter about hooking it up to make one jack fit the other. There's things that can impede and things that have to be considered. So really what you should do is just look for something professional that's going to go from XLR to mini jack.
Should I buy a long microphone cord for my camcorder?
I'd say if you had an external microphone, you bought an extra mic for your camcorder, which is great. But, the cord that is on there may not be long enough to do what you need to do. You can buy an extension. You want to use an extension cord for a lot of reasons: one is that sometimes its uncomfortable for the subject to be sitting so close to the camera. If you've got a short cable on your microphone, you might as well use the mic that is on there anyway. So, pick up a longer cable and keep it in your bag. You will find that it gives you a lot of options in terms of, not just the sound, but how you can compose your shot as well.
