Recording High Quality Video and Audio at the same time

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whoanonstop

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Alright. Hopefully there is someone who has a knowledge of recording and would love to share. Here is my situation:

I currently record a lot of guitar + vocal covers using a Canon Vixia HV30. After noticing the sound quality was lacking, I purchased a RODE Videomic which was definitely a step up, but still was not at the level I was expecting.

I use a fairly cheap program, Nero, to record directly to the computer using a firewire connection. Nero is a fine for rendering videos, but doesn't really have any editing features for audio, so I'm looking to expand towards a better program for doing so. Nero also will not let me record from different units, such as the USB mic that I currently own (Samson CO1U) and the video camera at the same time. When recording with just the USB microphone (no video), the sound quality is much better even though this is just a mediocre microphone. Another piece of equipment that I have but have rarely used (even though I'm sure it would work wonderfully) is a Yamaha Audiogram6.

So here's the challenge. I'm looking for a high-quality program that can record video, preferably through the firewire from the HD camera while recording audio from a high-quality microphone through either the audiogram unit or some sort of pre-amp setup. If there is no program that can do this effectively, I am looking for a program that can take video and audio and sync them together so there is no lag between the audio/video. I have attempted to do this with Nero and I've never been able to successfully align both tracks. Also, whether this is within the same program or not, I would also like to have some software in order to do some editing on the audio.

Also, I have a PC and not a Mac.

With this being said, if I can find a decent setup that this will work with, I would also like to purchase a new microphone.

So let's say I limit this to $500. What would you suggest I do in order to achieve my goals and get the best quality hardware/software?

Let's say I increase this limit to $1000. What would you suggest then?

Thanks for your feedback. Feel free to question anything I may have left out.

-Riley
 
ido1957 said:
Any condensor over $500 will give you what you want.
Click to expand...

Right, so back to the main question. What is the best way to record HD Video and Audio at the same time or what is the best way to record them in separate programs and sync them so there isn't an obvious lag?

-Riley
 
you should be able to get a little interface to bypass your soundcard - get a USB or firewire box and set it to record your audio - then you can select that input device in your video recording software. OR record into a DAW while recording your video then import the sound file and sync them in the timeline.
 
Doesn't your audiogram come with Cubase? Use that to record your vox and guitar. It's free.
Don't use a usb mic, they aren't very good. you can pick up some decent condensor mics on the cheap. Look for some MXL's at musician's friend. You'll find some well within your budget. One for your vocals and one or two for your guitar (I'm assuming acoustic). there is a lot to learn about micing a guitar, so don't expect stellar results right away. Lots of experimenting.

Record your tune with the MXL mics and audiogram into Cubase. Video tape the performance also, but don't expect to use the camera audio.

For video, buy Sony Vegas Studio for less than $100. Take your song recorded by Cubase and import it into Vegas. Align the Cubase file with the audio from the camera mic and mute the camera audio in vegas.

Good to go.
 
Chili said:
Doesn't your audiogram come with Cubase? Use that to record your vox and guitar. It's free.
Don't use a usb mic, they aren't very good. you can pick up some decent condensor mics on the cheap. Look for some MXL's at musician's friend. You'll find some well within your budget. One for your vocals and one or two for your guitar (I'm assuming acoustic). there is a lot to learn about micing a guitar, so don't expect stellar results right away. Lots of experimenting.

Record your tune with the MXL mics and audiogram into Cubase. Video tape the performance also, but don't expect to use the camera audio.

For video, buy Sony Vegas Studio for less than $100. Take your song recorded by Cubase and import it into Vegas. Align the Cubase file with the audio from the camera mic and mute the camera audio in vegas.

Good to go.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Audiogram came with Cubase but I've had some troubles with the licensing. I installed it to an older computer that I do not use anymore and I'm not sure I'm able to install it the computer I actually use for recording. I'll look into that. Worst case scenario I can pick up another copy of it somewhere.

To be honest, the USB Condenser I have works fairly well. I believe it was $75 when I bought it. However, as you have suggested, I am looking to move up to a MXL. If I've heard correctly, these will run straight into the audiogram unit? What would your suggestion be on a microphone for the vocals? How much is the sound going to change jumping from a $200-$300 mic to a $500-$600? Of course, I realize spending more money will more than likely result in a better microphone. However, I'm of course looking for the best bang for the buck, so if the difference between these price ranges is very small, I'd prefer to spend money elsewhere. Also, the guitar is acoustic but has the electric feed. Do you think there is better sound potential if I mic this as well, instead of running it electrically through the audiogram? If so, do you suggest a similar microphone for the guitar as the vocals? Is there anything else that you would suggest buying that would be beneficial to this set up? Thank you for your help so far!

-Riley
 
whoanonstop said:
Yeah, the Audiogram came with Cubase but I've had some troubles with the licensing. I installed it to an older computer that I do not use anymore and I'm not sure I'm able to install it the computer I actually use for recording. I'll look into that. Worst case scenario I can pick up another copy of it somewhere.

To be honest, the USB Condenser I have works fairly well. I believe it was $75 when I bought it. However, as you have suggested, I am looking to move up to a MXL. If I've heard correctly, these will run straight into the audiogram unit? What would your suggestion be on a microphone for the vocals? How much is the sound going to change jumping from a $200-$300 mic to a $500-$600? Of course, I realize spending more money will more than likely result in a better microphone. However, I'm of course looking for the best bang for the buck, so if the difference between these price ranges is very small, I'd prefer to spend money elsewhere. Also, the guitar is acoustic but has the electric feed. Do you think there is better sound potential if I mic this as well, instead of running it electrically through the audiogram? If so, do you suggest a similar microphone for the guitar as the vocals?
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely get your copy of cubase to work. Don't spend money if you don't need to. Also, don't steal software if you go to 'find' another copy. Piracy is all about sailing boats and drinking rum. :D Not stealing. :)

I've got one MXL mic I use for vocals; the V57M. Love it. I bought it for $60, but have seen it on ebay for $25. i use it on my acoustic, but I'm not happy with the sound.

I don't buy into the notion that more expensive mics are automatically better. In general, yes, but I think there are some gems at lower prices. The MXL V67G(?) has a good rep as a vocal mic. For guitar, check out the MXL 990/MXL 991 combo. A friend used them on acoustic for one of my songs and they sound great.

Mic a guitar or DI from the pickup???? Hmmmm..... seriously, it depends on convenience vs. quality. If you want the recording to sound good, mic your guitar. If you just want to get ideas out there, DI and don't worry about qhality. Like I said before, there's a lot to learn about micing a guitar. There's a good thread in the Recording section here at HR. It's a stickie made by White Strat where he talks about how he records his acoustics. Also, check out some songs by a user named Armistice; I like his acoustic sound also.

Is there anything else that you would suggest buying that would be beneficial to this set up?
Click to expand...
Lots!!! It's a never-ending perpetual downhill slippery slope of gear acquisition. Hope you're not married. ha ha ha.

Seriously, if you want good mixes, start with a good song and perform it well. Record it in a good room with decent (and correct) mics. Mix using good monitors in a treated room.

Your monitors and mixing room will give you the best bang for your buck.

cheers,
 
The thing that sucks with trying to sync audio to video is sometimes the clocks don't play nice. Shorter stuff isn't a huge issue, it's the 2 hour long concert. You would think lining up the start would mean the whole thing is in sync but (at least in my experience) you skip to the end only to find things just aren't that in sync as they need to be.

Even with both clocks set at 48k 16 bit the audio tends to want to slide out of place a little over time making it a bastard to sync, it kind of sucks because you have to keep tweaking it back or forward a bit.
 
Of course I won't be pirating the software. Truly it appears that software itself shouldn't be too hard to find at least for the audio editing. I've heard some good stuff about a fairly cheap program called REAPER as well. I really don't need a whole lot of editing power, but a little more freedom than audacity would be nice.

So, looking at the microphone suggestions, I was able to find both of them under $100 which is much cheaper than I was expecting. However, let's say you had $300 and had to spend it on a microphone suited for vocals, which microphone would you suggest? Similarly, what would you choose in the $500 range? Of course, I'm not insisting I pay that much, just trying to get a decent line up at different price ranges so I can study them myself to figure out if the price difference is worth it. I do quite a bit of recording right now as it is. 2 hours a day at a minimum. I feel it is not a bad idea to invest in some quality gear because of this.

However, I am quite happy that this is turning out to be much easier than expected. It seems in general it is best to record audio and video at the same time, just using different programs and syncing them together afterwords. At first I was assuming syncing would be nearly impossible (I absolutely hate when the audio lags the video and the lip syncing effect is visible).
 
Sony Video Studio (about $50) to edit the video and replace the audio.
Use you daw to record the audio. Record at 24bit/48k (final audio is 16bit/48k for video) and it'll sync.
Use a clap or clackboard at the start of taping/recording to sync to.

Been there, done that.
 
whoanonstop said:
So, looking at the microphone suggestions, I was able to find both of them under $100 which is much cheaper than I was expecting. However, let's say you had $300 and had to spend it on a microphone suited for vocals, which microphone would you suggest?
Click to expand...
for video like what you're doing you're not really gonna get anything for the extra money. That V67 is gonna do about as well as anything else you're gonna get in that price range. Go to $300 and you're still talking about chinese LDC and I don't think you'd notice an improvement worth the dollars.
 
Well, you still might have syncing problems. I know I do. I don't think timing is perfect and it will drift over the course of a few minutes. Even if you recorded camera audio and cubase at the same time.

Tim gives a good suggestion. I also recommend you do multiple takes from different angles, framing, dstance, etc... and cut it up. First to add motion and interest to your video and secondly, I find it easier to keep in sync by aligning smaller clips. I use the Cubase file as reference and align the camera audio/video clips to it. Camera audio and video should always be grouped together.

As for mics, good luck with your search. Browse through the Mic section, lots of good discussions there. I bought my mics sight-unseen from internet dealers, so I didn't know how they would work for me when i got them. The cheap one works great for my voice, the more expensive one, not so much... but it's not bad on my guitar. Each mic is different and one will sound good for me and not for you. If you can't shop around, or take one home for a trial, then it's kind of a crap shoot. imho...
 
Why not buy a battery powered field recorder like the Sony M10 or the Tascam Dr-2d and mount it to your camcorder. You can then plug your mic into the field recorder. With this setup you can make a high quality recording to the field recorder and you run line out to the camcorder for a very nice quality recording on your camcorder. Very portable and you won't be strapped to your PC or laptop. You can buy either recorder for less than $250. As previously noted, you can buy Sony Vegas for editing.
 
I record live bands with my Canon HV20 and my Zoom R16. The Zoom will record 8 tracks at once, and can run on batteries, and still provide phantom power to 2 channels. Then I mix it in Pro Tools, and bring the mixed wav files into Final Cut to sync to the video. The sync will get off after a while, but it will stay synced for 10 min or so, and I usually cut some between songs.

Lately, I got a Flip Mino HD that I tape to a mic stand and put on the drummer, so I'm cutting the video several times per song. Each cut is synced to the mixed audio.

Here's an example: The Experiments - Relief on Vimeo

That set up, with the software, hardware and microphones (but not the computer) would probably be $1700, but $600 of that is Pro Tools, you could use something like Audacity for free, or Reaper for $40. The Zoom runs $399, and I'm counting $700 for 8 mics and cables.

It does take some set-up, but the results are great.

I'm happy to answer any questions. I'm usually on in the evenings (US California time).
 
This was a spur of the moment video that I shot while I was recording a band a few months back. I recorded audio using 15 tracks in Reaper (GREAT program). I dumped the audio to the video in Pinacle Studio 12. Turned out MUCH better than the camera mounted microphone. The camera was a Canon GL2 which works well in low light, however the light that night was VERY low. YouTube - An Empty Glass
 
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