Audio capture while flying the Inspire 2.

Jetflyer · Jan 17, 2023

I got my first gig recording a friend's band at an outdoor venue. It went well, except I launched too early to capture the requested song and the batteries ran down to 2 minutes remaining during the middle of the song. Rookie error.
What came up, though is the question of capturing the audio while flying. I know the drone doesn't have a mic, so I used my iPhone on a tripod to catch the audio and visual to sync in post production. The final audio will be the mix of the band's sound board, but the iPhone capture is the "zipper" that connects the video and audio. Does anyone have any other suggestion for this sort of capture?

Donnie Frank · Jan 18, 2023

Jetflyer said:
I got my first gig recording a friend's band at an outdoor venue. It went well, except I launched too early to capture the requested song and the batteries ran down to 2 minutes remaining during the middle of the song. Rookie error.
What came up, though is the question of capturing the audio while flying. I know the drone doesn't have a mic, so I used my iPhone on a tripod to catch the audio and visual to sync in post production. The final audio will be the mix of the band's sound board, but the iPhone capture is the "zipper" that connects the video and audio. Does anyone have any other suggestion for this sort of capture?

Equipment-wise, that's about the way to do it. I find strategically-placed GoPro cameras work well for capturing audio. Because of their built in compression algorithm, they do well with drums and bass guitar.

Here's an audio tutorial I did on YouTube, which involves the use of several cameras sans board mix.

To get the synch started, do this:

Notice how I jump in front of both cameras so that I could get a good audio and video cue for the purpose of synchronizing both cameras. Sometimes I'll do 3 hand claps in a row. This will give you three spikes on your audio timeline. Of course, make sure the drone camera sees the claps. Some use a slate but I never do.

Depending on how far away you are from the band, you can also use the drummer's snare drum for synch. Of course, you have to be in the ballpark time-wise/synch-wise. If you're a half measure off, or god forbid, a quarter note off, your video will be out-of-synch, which is a personal pet peeve. So don't do that...<;^)

Good luck!

D

EarlDGrayJr · Jan 18, 2023

I use a zoom recorder. H6 All Black Handheld Recorder (Renewed) https://a.co/d/e3aYdu7

Gives me the option of placing it on stage, using mic inputs, and also getting a feed from the board.

S White · Jan 18, 2023

No worries. DJI has some great mics that work super. Then it is simply an issue of sync. Also, there are remote recorders that work will. Simply a matter to adding the sound in editing. I have done a number of projects where there needs to be a sound added. If it is equipment sound, etc then there are plenty of websites with sound effects that can be added in post. My thoughts.

Donnie Frank · Jan 18, 2023

EarlDGrayJr said:
I use a zoom recorder. H6 All Black Handheld Recorder (Renewed) https://a.co/d/e3aYdu7

Gives me the option of placing it on stage, using mic inputs, and also getting a feed from the board.

Managing levels can be daunting while simultaneously flying a drone. I speak from experience, which is why I like the GoPro cameras. They're self-leveling.

I own an H6 and DO use it in many situations, but not when I'm flying.

D

Donnie Frank · Jan 21, 2023

EarlDGrayJr said:
I use a zoom recorder. H6 All Black Handheld Recorder (Renewed) https://a.co/d/e3aYdu7

Gives me the option of placing it on stage, using mic inputs, and also getting a feed from the board.

Worth noting; Sync'ing a device with no audio to a device with no video (and I assume no SMTP) (oops...I mean SMPTE - no camera has a mail server. But I digress) would be a nightmare. The only way to circumvent this would be to start the video and audio recordings while the drone is still on the ground and slate them. Barring that, as a person who edits video almost every day, I can say with a lot of confidence that I wouldn't want to sync drone video to an audio clip without a very strong reference point - ESPECIALLY a band, who will undoubtedly find any and all minor flaws in the sync.

A second advantage to the GoPro is you will have B-roll, so you're not strictly shooting just aerial throughout the entire video. And since the GoPro is a 4K device, you will have room to digitally zoom, pan and tilt. Assume you render in 1080p, this opens up all kinds of possibilities. And I can say with a lot of confidence that the GoPro audio compression algorithm is VERY band-friendly. Many of my videos are published using just GoPro audio. It's that good. But placement is everything.

D