Capturing Target Audio

[LevitatedMedia]

Alright so I am looking for some input from the professionals... how are you folks capturing audio of target subjects. For instance, if you're shooting a vehicle commercial or racing event, how are you capturing the audio that the target in focus is producing? Any tricks?

 

[lake_flyer]

I use a Tascam DR1 portable stereo recorder (already quite old, there are better and cheaper options now), with a separate Philips stereo electret microphone. Or I record ground level video with my Nikon D5100 on a tripod, with the same Philips mic on it. It's easier to synchronise the sound that way afterwards. If you only need mono sound, even a Gopro could do that for you. It records sound pretty good actually.

 

[lake_flyer]

I use a Tascam DR1 portable stereo recorder (already quite old, there are better and cheaper options now), with a separate Philips stereo electret microphone. Or I record ground level video with my Nikon D5100 on a tripod, with the same Philips mic on it. It's easier to synchronise the sound that way afterwards. If you only need mono sound, even a Gopro could do that for you. It records sound pretty good actually.

During a commercial shot of a priceless classic Lamborghini I taped the Tascam to the rear bumper between the exhausts. Mighty roar, wonderful sound. It blended superb with the rock song my son wrote for it. I had the Nikon on a tripod next to the road and recorded the typical doppler effect when it passed at full speed or pulled away with screaming tyres.

 

[NickU]

I use a Zoom H6N along with a Rode NTG2 shotgun mic, and the rodelink & lav for speech. So I'd recommend taking a look at the Zoom field recorders. You can use them with their supplied mics, or you can use other plugin mics like a shotgun or add radio mics if you want speech. Beware of drone noise though if you're looking at recording speech, you'll probably have to dub it afterwards as you'll pick up the prop noise. As mentioned above Tascam also do similar kit.

If you want to pick up sound a bit more cheaply and have a DSLR, then you can use that to record b-roll footage with sound, but as the mics on DSLR she are so poor, I'd advise adding a better mic like the Rode videomicro, similar to the one that can be added to the osmo. it's quite affordable and gives decent results for its small size and price.

BTW, If you're doing stuff outside, then you should also look at getting the furry wind baffle (deadwombat/deadcat/deadmouse etc) that fits your chosen mic - the foam baffles are OK for indoor use, furry baffles are better outdoors (and a blimp & furry even better).

 

[LevitatedMedia]

Thank you all for the information, I am going to look at picking up a standalone recorder and a microphone - hopefully something somewhat inexpensive.

Thank you folks again! Now I just need to start getting some paying jobs!

 

[Donnie Frank]

Alright so I am looking for some input from the professionals... how are you folks capturing audio of target subjects. For instance, if you're shooting a vehicle commercial or racing event, how are you capturing the audio that the target in focus is producing? Any tricks?

Unfortunately, there's not really a super easy way. Even if you did record audio while in flight, all you would hear is the bird. That said, audio is either be added in post from stock audio files, foley, several audio recording devices placed around the area, or several microphones into a single recording device. The latter 2 solutions would be the most difficult, but the most accurate.

Though I have NOT done film audio professionally, I do own a sound company and have worked in the film industry in many capacities for about a decade.

 

[LevitatedMedia]

Unfortunately, there's not really a super easy way. Even if you did record audio while in flight, all you would hear is the bird. That said, audio is either be added in post from stock audio files, foley, several audio recording devices placed around the area, or several microphones into a single recording device. The latter 2 solutions would be the most difficult, but the most accurate.

Though I have NOT done film audio professionally, I do own a sound company and have worked in the film industry in many capacities for about a decade.

Thank you for the response Donnie, we (the wife and I) are going to be upgrading our iPhones in the near future to the iPhone 8, I'm considering keeping my iPhone specifically as a media storage and audio recording device. I figure I could stick it in a Otterbox safe case, slap a decent microphone on it with some wind protection and possibly record good enough audio.