Believe it or not, sound quality is probably even more important for the overall effectiveness of a video production than video quality.I firmly believe that viewers will tolerate mistakes in video quality before they will tolerate mistakes in sound recording. If a viewer can not hear the sound portion of your video, they will shut it off.I saw this exact problem in action the other day. An internet marketer had put up a video that had fantastic content, but crummy sound. The comments were quite wicked.
People not only shut the video off, some of them completely discredited the guy saying that if he was not smart enough to record decent audio, then by golly he wasn't smart enough to have credibility on any subject.Ouch!So how do you get quality sound in your video production? Use the right microphone in the correct way.DISTANCE OF SOUNDMicrophones come in all varieties. Some are meant to be spoken into at close range and others are designed to pick up from a long distance. A hand held microphone is normally one that picks up best at close range and a shotgun microphone is the type you use to pick up sound from a distance.
A lavalier mic is a tiny one that pins onto your collar.A microphone close to the speaker's mouth is going to pick up MUCH better than one far away. Going back to my example above, the guy had just relied on the mic on-board his camera and the camera was at the back of the room. Every cough, grunt and mumble picked up more loudly than he did.DIRECTION OF SOUNDSome mics only pick up sounds that are directly in front of it and others also pick up sounds coming from the side. This is called the pick up pattern and it is often described as a shape.
A carotid pick up pattern resembles a heart shape. Carotid being the same root word found in cardio, meaning heart.The terms omni directional and unidirectional also describe this aspect of microphones. Omni, meaning many, picks up sounds, Two Way Walkie Talkie Products, coming from all directions. (No mic does well with sounds coming from behind it.) Uni, meaning one, picks up sound coming from in front only.For speaking, using a uni-directional mic close to the mouth is the best bet.WIRELESS AND HARD WIREDMicrophones also come in wired and wireless versions.
A wired microphone is plugged into your camera and the on-camera person can only go as far as your cable will let you. A wireless microphone is like a mini radio receiver and transmitter. You plug the receiver portion of the wireless microphone into your camera and the person speaking on-camera wears the transmitter part. A wireless mic allows the person speaking to be far away from the camera since there is no cable acting like an umbilical cord.SO WHICH MICROPHONE DO YOU NEED?It depends on how you are going to use it.
The single biggest audio mistake people make in video production is to rely on the microphone that comes attached to the camcorder for every purpose. This on-board mic is good for some applications but not for others. The on-board mic on most camcorders is a small shot gun mic. The sounds it picks up best are those about 3-6 feet away coming mostly from the front, but it also does relatively well with sounds coming from the side. Generally speaking, a shot gun microphone is best used for ambient, or natural sound.
This is any sound that happens to be occurring while you are video taping. Sounds of cars, birds, crowd rumble, whatever.The on-board shot gun mic is not necessarily good for picking up a person speaking directly to the camera. In most circumstances, using it this way will result in poor quality audio that has way too much background noise in it to be well understood. You can fix this by eliminating all background noise, if that is possible. Then, place the camera two to four feet from your person speaking and have them talk loudly.
The best way to record a person speaking directly into the camera is to either pin a small lavaliere microphone on their collar or to have them use a handheld just an inch or two from their lips. A lavaliere microphone is the tiny clip-on mic no bigger than your pinky tip. Because they are so small, they essentially disappear in your shot. So lavs are considered more attractive than hand held mics but either will do the job.If you want to get shots where your on-camera talent is a long distance from the camera, use a wireless.
But if your on-camera talent is in the same room as the camera, a hard wire will be fine. In fact it might be better because you have to get a pretty expensive wireless for it to work well. A crummy wireless is a pain in the cajoonies because you will get sound interference from competing radio signals (cell phones, walkie-talkies, etc.) and a tinny result.In order to use a supplemental microphone when videotaping, you have to have a camera that has an input for it. Many inexpensive camcorders do not have a microphone input so your only option is the on-board mic.
This is one of the major drawbacks to using a cheap camcorder.Camcorders higher up on the quality scale will have a mic input. There are several different kinds, mini-plugs to XLR, so you have to have a mic and camera input that are compatible.If you are shooting low-budget video, you can get a cheap lav at places like Radio Shack for about $25 that will plug in using a mini jack. Unless you have a fairly expensive camcorder, it will have a mini jack if it has an audio input at all. For the price, these work well.
I promise you will get ten times better sound using a $25 dollar lavalier than just relying on the camera's shotgun mic.So next time you are making video, keep these tips in mind for better sound quality.
Lorraine Grula is a well-respected, award winning video professional. Lorraine has done virtually every kind of video production imaginable and now shares her expertise on the web. If you are interested in making video, her blog, www.VideoProductionTips.com is full of free information and video tutorials.
In this fast paced world, communication plays a very important role. Modern Advancements in the field of communication has made this world a global village wherein people from all around the globe can commute with one another quickly and with ease.With the invention of radio modern means of communication has been driven to an unsurpassed height wherein ease in communication enhances the work ethics by reducing the time and money spend on communication related problems. Employees can instantly keep in touch with one another with the help of two way radio equipment.
Radio as a modern means of communication is definitely creating a revolution in the field of communication.Huge industrial units have thousands of employees and the supervisors who manage them must be around their respective groups to motivate and guide them to work properly. At the same time higher officials like field managers cannot possibly be present at every nook and corner of the industrial area. In such cases two way radio communication systems can help these people to stay in constant touch with one another.
Apart from this these radios are highly efficient and very useful for security guards in the campus. The importance of this great means of communication is felt only when an emergency situation arises. At such times one can easily alert the others and thereby reduce the risk of theft or other security breaches.If you need an effective radio communication system to be installed in your premises, you should call a systems expert. They will access your needs and prepare a proposal as to what kind of equipment and the number of radio devices you will need along with the frequency of the system or the power needed to run the system efficiently will be evaluated.
After this assessment, the rate for such an installation is discussed and then, Two Way Walkie Talkie Products, when the deal is finalised the installation work starts. The central radio communication device systems are installed and thus your company will have an efficient and purpose driven communication system instantly. These radio communication systems are handheld wireless devices which are very handy and easy to use.In case of popular events or if you need these devices for particular events or programs then you can even hire these devices.
Many companies provide sales as well as hire the radio devices for a moderate rent. Whatever the need the sales, after sales maintenance and repair is all generally handled by the single company who offers you the device. It is best to choose such a company for these services as they will know about the devices better.From the point of security, these devices provide excellent service and moreover the time and cost spent on manual communication is huge and very impractical compared to the speed of communication and action that you can enjoy by installing the radio devices for communication.
We can say that radios are the best modern means of communication that humanity has ever had and will ever have.