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Using an invisible shotgun microphone right in the shot

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Sometimes, you want to use a shotgun microphone, but the angle is too wide, or the location demands that the microphone would be very close to the subject. So close that it gets in the shot. Videographer Griffin Hammond has a great tip on placing a shotgun mic very close to your subject, while not seeing it in the final frame. Think invisible shotgun mic.

The trick is to actually place the shotgun very close to the subject (i.e. in the frame) but making sure that nothing is moving behind or in front of it. Then masking the video “in post” with a piece of frame that does not have that microphone in it.

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These are the 8 most essential video tips for DIY filmmakers

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As a DIY Filmaker, one’s budget is often quite tight. You’ve spent a bunch of money on your cameras lenses and lights, but now the pot is close to empty. There are so many other little things that we need to buy, and they all add up.

To help ease the wallet a little, Dave Knop (aka Knoptop) comes to the rescue. Dave has put together his list of the 8 of what he believes to be the most useful video tutorials for DIY Filmmakers. And it’s all thanks to the magic of (a broken) television!

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DIYP reviews the Saramonic MixMic powered XLR microphone adapter

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Switching from the built in microphone to one that sits on top of the camera is the first step in getting quality sound. Whether it’s your primary audio source or simply offers a clearer track for syncing in post, external mics are the way to go. They help to eliminate handling noise and are often directional to help reduce random sound coming from your environment.

The Saramonic MixMic is one such system. Although designed primarily to be used as a on-camera microphone, it offers a lot of versatility. It’s comprised of two main parts. The MixMic XLR Adapter itself, and the Saramonic NV5 microphone. And you can add a second microphone if you wish. It offers features that you can grow into and expand upon as your abilities and needs increase.

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2 DIY Microphone hacks for the YI Action Camera

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The biggest problem with action cameras, pretty much any action camera, is the microphone. Whether it’s the original YI HD, the YI4K or even a GoPro, their sound just tends to suck pretty badly. But, it’s not really a surprise. The main intent of action cameras is for recording fast sports action with a wide field of view. There’s all kinds of noise going on that makes it virtually impossible to distinguish a voice easily anyway.

But, a lot have started using them for things like vlogging and family trips, because they’re small and lightweight. For these people, sound is important. Here are two videos which show a couple of different hacks to help you get a bit better sound out of your YI Action Camera. The first, by MrCsami swaps out the built in microphone for one with a built in wind guard. The second from shinyside removes the microphone completely, replacing it with a 3.5mm jack to use whatever microphone you wish.

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RØDE’s new VideoMic Soundfield lets you record full 360° 3D audio on-camera

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Nikon aren’t the only one celebrating a milestone birthday this year. Rode microphones is also entering its 50th year in business in 2017. In their time, they’ve built an unparalleled reputation amongst many audio professionals. Whether it’s musicians, filmmakers or vloggers, their products have worked their way into our lives. They’re usually the first name you see mentioned when people are looking for microphones, too. I own three of Rode’s microphones myself.

For most photographers, the introduction to RØDE often comes with the transition to video. On-camera mics are the best way to quickly get better sound than in-camera microphones. They help to eliminate things like vibration from handling or autofocus motors. One of the most popular such microphones is the RØDE VideoMic Pro. Now, RØDE have announced a new RØDE VideoMic Pro+, as well as the RØDE VideoMic Soundfield. The first ever microphone designed to capture 3D audio from right on top of your camera.

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Easily and cheaply record external audio for cameras without microphone sockets

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If you want the best sound in your video, you really do need an external microphone. Many cameras today offer the ability to plug a microphone into them, which you then usually mount from the hotshoe. Not all cameras, however, do. Two cameras, particularly renowned for their vlogging abilities don’t have microphone sockets, which is quite surprising. Those are the Canon G7X II and Sony RX100 V.

Ted Forbes at the Art of Photography has the Sony RX100 V and as one might expect, uses it for vlogging. The problem is that the RX100 V, like pretty much every other camera out there, has awful built in microphones. Ted solves his audio problems with the help of a bracket, a Zoom H1 and a Rode VideoMicro. In this video, Ted explains other setups he tried, and how he arrived at this one.

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Increase your DSLR or mirrorless audio recording quality for only $23

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DSLRs & mirrorless camera internal microphones are pretty much useless. They also have notoriously bad preamps when using external microhpones. No matter how good a microphone you plug into it, when you bump up the record level on your camera, you add noise. Lots of it. The typical solution to this is record to an external unit, like the Tascam DR-70D, and then feed a line from your recorder into your camera to make it easy to sync up in post.

But what if you could skip the external recorder and actually get decent quality inside the camera to begin with? Well, Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter has the answer. A $23 adapter for using your microphones with your cellphone. In this case, that adapter is the Saramonic SmartRig. Caleb offers two ways to use SmartRig to get quality audio into your camera.

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Tascam are changing the way we record lavalier microphones with their new DR-10L belt recorder

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Wireless lavalier microphones have been a standard in the film & tv industries for years. They’re great for picking up sound while staying hidden from the shot. They’re also very useful for moving subjects where following them with a boomed microphone may be impossible. As more and more wireless devices enter our daily lives, however, issues can start to appear.

Interference, signal drop outs, and other problems can happen in densely populated areas. There’s also the problem of knowing whether the radio frequencies of the microphones you’re about to use are even legal in the location at which you’re using them. Tascam has presented us with a very elegant solution to these problems with the new Tascam DR-10L belt mounted lavalier recorder.

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First preview of RODE’s Newshooter’s kit (and other iMicrophones)

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One of the things we were excited about in photokina was the RODE booth. Partly becasue we are big RODE fans (TBH, they payed part of our trip to the show), but mostly becasue they showed us some microphones that will incredibly ease our workflow for future shows and interviews.

The first piece of kit was the Rode wireless shooter kit. Now, having a wireless interview microphone is a big deal for us. We run a lot of interviews and killing the 10 meters long and heavy XLR would mean much more portability for us. I thought that this alone was cool, but there is more. The transmission cube has a 3.5mm port for a lavalier mic. This means that you can piggyback a lav (or any other 3.5mm mic) on the same Tx/Rx kit. I lost this idea. Sadly, right now its an either/or so you can not mix the two. But Ryan said they will be looking into that. (Sadly this is far from a solid promise, but hey, we’ll take it).

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How and why to use a boom mic or a lav mic for great sound in your videos

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Recording audio off the camera is as vital to filmmakers as getting the flash off the hotshoe is to photographers.  Just as there are different options with off-camera flash, there are also a number of different microphone options when it comes to off-camera audio.

In this video from Adorama TV, David Day walks us through the two main types of microphones used to record sound.  He explains the advantages and disadvantages of each and what types of shooting situations that each is often best suited to.

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