GEAR AUDIO BASICS: CHOOSINGANDUSINGAMIC
SOUND AND VISION For great audio you’ll need a decent microphone and know how to use it DSLR & MIRRORLESS MICS
RØDE VIDEOMIC PRO + £296/$299 The upgrad version of the Pro is even better
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH I f you come to the world of filmmaking via photography you face a steep learning curve in one key area – audio. Sound is 50% of any film, and while you can get away with visual footage that’s not perfect, there’s nothing that will make a video fail more than terrible sound. And to record decent audio, you need a proper microphone. All video-enabled DSLR and mirrorless cameras come with a tiny built-inmic but the reality is that they are useless for recording anything other than a bit of background noise. These tiny mics are omnidirectional, meaning they record sound from all around them. That includes every time you touch the camera to change settings or refocus, and they are notorious at picking up wind noise. Because they are not particularly sensitive, the camera turns up the internal gain to get a useable signal. This is the aural equivalent of cranking up the ISO, meaning there is lots of background noise. In
sound terms, this is often heard as a low-pitched hum. Some filmmakers resort to using a separate recording device and plug a microphone in to that to take advantage of higher-quality mics and recording technology. But you have to sync up the audio with the video in editing, which adds a level of complexity. It can be far easier, especially for beginners, to use a proper mic designed for DSLR andmirrorless cameras and plug it directly into your camera so it records high- quality audio alongside the video footage. As the output from an external plug-inmic is far better than the tinny internal mic, and often this output is adjustable, you can turn down the audio level on the camera. This reduces the in-camera gain andmakes a big difference, especially in quiet moments. External mics tend to be of a shotgun-type – this means there is a long tube, which the noise travels down, pointed towards what you
are trying to record. It makes them more directional and cuts down the noise from around the camera. A basic unit, such as the Røde VideoMic Go, only costs around £69/ $99 and weighs in at just 73g. It sits on your camera’s hotshoe and plugs into themic socket - and that’s it. There is nothing to adjust, and it doesn’t even take batteries. Unfortunately that means it isn’t suitable for all cameras, but it works perfectly with the vast majority of modern DSLR andmirrorless. It comes with a shockmounting, which reduces vibrations from the camera or surroundings, and even has a foam
“It can be far easier to use a proper mic designed for DSLR andmirrorless cameras and plug it directly into your camera so it records high-quality audio”
102 PRO MOVIEMAKER AUTUMN 2018
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