Do I need a pre-amp if I get a mic?
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Do I need a pre-amp if I get a mic?
I want to use my MP3 Player's recording function to record sound while filmimg instead of using my camcorders mic... The player has a line-in so if I get a mic that works on battery, will sound be picked up, or will I need a preamp?
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Epsilon
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Hmm... maybe it would... I have never concieved the possibility of using a guitar amp. It may not work depending on the output. I would consult an amp professional at a music store first, you don't want the possibility of destroying up your microphone.
I would purchase a little portable mic mixer/pre-amp designed exactly for that purpose. They aren't too expensive.
I would purchase a little portable mic mixer/pre-amp designed exactly for that purpose. They aren't too expensive.
Radio Shack used to have a little two channel preamp / mixer that was like $40.00. A good Mic however is going to start at around $40 - $50 USD. A low end wireless Lav Mic wit Xmitr and Rcvr starts about $150 ( B&H).
What is the response range on the mic you are looking at?
What is the response range on the mic you are looking at?
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padawanNick
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Unless your camera mic is REALLY bad, I'd be suprised if an $11 mic could give you much better sound while shooting. There is another way to put this rig to use, though, so please read on....
First, if you're using a miniDV camcorder, you're best bet is to connect a mic to that to record the sound. When set to 16bit audio mode, miniDV cameras record CD quality digital sound and it's already synced to the video. Record to your MP3 recorder and you'll need to record a visible clap at the start of every single shot and then sync sound manually for every single shot. It's usually best to avoid as much unesessary work as possible.
An $11 mic (with the proper connector) will not need a pre-amp to be connected to a camera. If you can't get a good signal, all a preamp will let you do is bring up the gain, which will just increase the noise at the same time.
A guitar pre-amp really isn't the best for mics since guitars tend to generate a much stronger signal than mics. That allows guitar amps to be much more tolerant of noise than a mic preamps (i.e. guitar amps tend to have more noise than mic amps because the actual sound of the guitar usually easily overpowers the hiss). Also, most mic preamps have a phantom power feature to provide power to condensor (shotgun) mics that require power to operate without a battery. Guitar amps don't have this since guitars don't require phantom power.
All that said....
There is one thing that a mic with the MP3 player CAN be VERY GOOD for: a Robert Rodreguez-style audio session AFTER shooting each scene.
He shot his pre-Hollywood career movies on film cameras that could not record sound.
After he finished shooting a scene, he'd use a basic cassette recorder and a RadioShack mic (held directly in front of an actor's mouth) to record the voices and such seperately.
Later, he'd edit his movies on video tape and mixed sound at that stage. He'd sync the audio to the faces as best as possible (since they had been "recorded" seperately) and any time there was just no way to get a good match with using basic video editing, he'd just cut-away to show the person listening to the dialog.
The results launched a very rewarding career as a big studio Hollywood director.
In you're situation, you could shoot your scenes with your camera mic.
Then, you could use your $11 mic and MP3 recorder to re-record the dialog. The mic should actually work quite well at close range since it probably wouldn't pic up extra noise from around the room. Just ask your performers to do their best to get the timing as close as possible to what was done on camera.
Once you've got the audio on your computer, the editing power of is well beyond what Rodreguez had access to, so you should be able to get a pretty good match. Like Rodreguez, where ever you can't get a match, just cut away to show a "reaction shot" of someone in the scene listening to the person that's talking.
Hope this helps.
Have fun.
First, if you're using a miniDV camcorder, you're best bet is to connect a mic to that to record the sound. When set to 16bit audio mode, miniDV cameras record CD quality digital sound and it's already synced to the video. Record to your MP3 recorder and you'll need to record a visible clap at the start of every single shot and then sync sound manually for every single shot. It's usually best to avoid as much unesessary work as possible.
An $11 mic (with the proper connector) will not need a pre-amp to be connected to a camera. If you can't get a good signal, all a preamp will let you do is bring up the gain, which will just increase the noise at the same time.
A guitar pre-amp really isn't the best for mics since guitars tend to generate a much stronger signal than mics. That allows guitar amps to be much more tolerant of noise than a mic preamps (i.e. guitar amps tend to have more noise than mic amps because the actual sound of the guitar usually easily overpowers the hiss). Also, most mic preamps have a phantom power feature to provide power to condensor (shotgun) mics that require power to operate without a battery. Guitar amps don't have this since guitars don't require phantom power.
All that said....
There is one thing that a mic with the MP3 player CAN be VERY GOOD for: a Robert Rodreguez-style audio session AFTER shooting each scene.
He shot his pre-Hollywood career movies on film cameras that could not record sound.
After he finished shooting a scene, he'd use a basic cassette recorder and a RadioShack mic (held directly in front of an actor's mouth) to record the voices and such seperately.
Later, he'd edit his movies on video tape and mixed sound at that stage. He'd sync the audio to the faces as best as possible (since they had been "recorded" seperately) and any time there was just no way to get a good match with using basic video editing, he'd just cut-away to show the person listening to the dialog.
The results launched a very rewarding career as a big studio Hollywood director.
In you're situation, you could shoot your scenes with your camera mic.
Then, you could use your $11 mic and MP3 recorder to re-record the dialog. The mic should actually work quite well at close range since it probably wouldn't pic up extra noise from around the room. Just ask your performers to do their best to get the timing as close as possible to what was done on camera.
Once you've got the audio on your computer, the editing power of is well beyond what Rodreguez had access to, so you should be able to get a pretty good match. Like Rodreguez, where ever you can't get a match, just cut away to show a "reaction shot" of someone in the scene listening to the person that's talking.
Hope this helps.
Have fun.
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Epsilon
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Hah, that is awsome. Cheap, yet effective.
Mackie has some nice small, portable mixers and they work great. Their preamps aren't the best, but their noise is fairly low and definately something fun to play with! Yamaha creates beautiful mixing boards, but are extremely pricey. Tascam is another good brand. Behringer is a very common brand, but their reviews are somewhat discouraging as they are cheaply made. But their professional models are beautiful. Nady has some very compacts mixers. Some decent non-powered mixers are made by Peavey and Crate.
I love my Mackie mixer!
Mackie has some nice small, portable mixers and they work great. Their preamps aren't the best, but their noise is fairly low and definately something fun to play with! Yamaha creates beautiful mixing boards, but are extremely pricey. Tascam is another good brand. Behringer is a very common brand, but their reviews are somewhat discouraging as they are cheaply made. But their professional models are beautiful. Nady has some very compacts mixers. Some decent non-powered mixers are made by Peavey and Crate.
I love my Mackie mixer!
