Is this mic good for my purpose?

Anticleon

Member
Let me show the mic kit first ROEDE Microphones - ROEDELink Filmmaker Kit
Does this mic capture all the sounds around? I mean, like in movies where the distant sounds and what people talk in background etc. Does it capture all sounds harmoniously just as heard by the naked ear? If not, what mic would you recommend to use with a DSLR camera to record the whole scene please?
 
Its not the mic, its the process. You are referring to compression. Do you have any recording experience? It's OK if you don't, but you will need to learn a few things. No mic is a "set it and forget it" when it deals with video. As far as Roede goes, they are very well know for their quality.
 
Its not the mic, its the process. You are referring to compression. Do you have any recording experience? It's OK if you don't, but you will need to learn a few things. No mic is a "set it and forget it" when it deals with video. As far as Roede goes, they are very well know for their quality.

Some experience with simple software but not an expert. Been using a B1 mic for sometime now, with simple audio editing software.
What kind of other accessories or mics should I use to capture all the sound around. E.g. the sound of a train from far away, the birds chirp, people talk etc, the whole thing we would normally hear? Or is that done with several sound tracks taken separately?
 
Movie's have a lot of post sound design. Lav's are used in conjunction with shotgun mic's to produce the mix. The background sounds in movies are a lot of the time are done in post productiuon. The background sounds might be recorded by a separate mic on location, or they might be done 4 months later in a studio. From my experience mixers like the sound of a shotgun mic over the sound of a lav. The lav's are used to get spots that the shotgun mic can't reach because it will be in the shot, or the camera shot is too wide to record with decent enough quality from a shotgun.
 
Movie's have a lot of post sound design. Lav's are used in conjunction with shotgun mic's to produce the mix. The background sounds in movies are a lot of the time are done in post productiuon. The background sounds might be recorded by a separate mic on location, or they might be done 4 months later in a studio. From my experience mixers like the sound of a shotgun mic over the sound of a lav. The lav's are used to get spots that the shotgun mic can't reach because it will be in the shot, or the camera shot is too wide to record with decent enough quality from a shotgun.

Thanks I think I have to study a lot more about how to use a lav with a shotgun and what kind of sounds to be made at a studio. Currently I have no soundproofed studio hence my effort to do it all digitally as much as possible.
 
I'd say that for your stated purpose, a lavalier is not a good place to start. Save the lavalier for talking-head shots where a shotgun doesn't work, as suggested.

And, I think many folks would suggest recording separately from the camera audio, and then syncing to the camera afterward, i.e., post-production.

I'd consider getting a decent shotgun, boom pole, and stand, and windscreen/sock if you expect to shoot outdoors. Something as lowly as a Zoom H4n (up to an F8) will let you capture all the ambient sound, plus the boom and your B1, too. Then you can mix that for the best sound. That's just me, and I've done only a handful of home videos, but it's easier to adjust and even fix things if they're done in a way that lets you focus on the video and sound separately (IME/HO).
 
Try watching these videos:

YouTube

YouTube

YouTube

Excellent example of post audio. Working as a boom operator on a feature they will have you capture a scratch of the footsteps with a shotgun mic. From there they will be able to match up sounds in post audio production. Perspective is huge also. Think of the camera as your eyes, and the mic as your ears. Perspective is very important on what you're trying to capture/portray to your audience. And that comes into play setting up the stereo mix.
 
Some experience with simple software but not an expert. Been using a B1 mic for sometime now, with simple audio editing software. What kind of other accessories or mics should I use to capture all the sound around. E.g. the sound of a train from far away, the birds chirp, people talk etc, the whole thing we would normally hear? Or is that done with several sound tracks taken separately?

It looks like you have enough advice to get you well on your way. I did an audio clip for you concerning the far away train sound. I used an airplane since I am on the direct flight path of Dulles International Airport. I used a matching pair of c-2 condenser mics. The airplane was small, about 1/2 to 1 mile away and the crickets were 30 feet away.

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As far as your software goes, I would recommend Reaper. It has a cool feature that allows you to view your video, as you work on your audio track at the same time. It makes it super easy to sync your imported audio to your video as well. Kenny does a great job explaining it, but you may need to watch it 3 or 4 times. For $60.00, it will give you professional results.


 
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I think we need to make certain things are clear here. The room sound recorded at the camera position is rarely any use for anything whatsoever other than just general sound. Anything recorded sounds as if it was recorded at that distance. If this is what you want - great. Will this sound like proper movies? This is because movies are not real and sound is designed, constructed and treated to sound like we think it should sound. Pretty well this means that anything more than maybe ten to twenty feet away sounds lacking in definition and depth. That's real sound! Mics are not magic devices. The differences are very much determined by the physics and the reality that really seems to get people is that there really is no audio zoom microphone. With a zoom lens, we magnify when we zoom in tighter. With a progressively narrower microphone, we simply remove bits of the capture at the edges, leaving the centre and a few other areas in the entire capture area. Making these louder does not sound the same as being closer. If you want the sound of a mic in close, then it has to BE in close.
 
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