For those of you that are interested, I just found a website that does offer some solutions also. I'll paste it here...
Now, on to the subject of windscreens.
One of the most important differences between the inexpensive shockmounts and the pistol-grip shockmounts is that the pistol-grip mounts are designed to mate with blimp windscreens of the same manufacturer. For microphones intended strictly for indoor applications, blimp windscreens are of minor value. But for condenser shotgun mics that will work outside, the capability of attaching a blimp is a necessity.
Before we get into a discussion of windscreens, a preliminary word about WIND NOISE.
There are two types of wind noise that will affect your soundtrack: ACOUSTIC WIND NOISE and CONTACT WIND NOISE.
Acoustic wind noise is the howling that the wind makes blowing through trees and between buildings. It is a form of ambiance, just like traffic noise. Because it is background noise in our environment, it cannot be controlled by a windscreen.
Rolling off or filtering out the low frequencies will help somewhat, but howling wind is made up of a lot of higher frequencies as well, so eliminating the bass is only a partial help.
The best way to eliminate acoustic wind noise is to close mic the talent. Get the microphone in as close as you can get it, and then lower your mic gain (volume) so that dialogue dominates the soundtrack instead of background ambiance. That's really about all that you can do.
Contact wind noise, on the other hand, is that blast of distortion and audio breakup caused from wind physically striking the sensitive diaphragm of the microphone capsule. We've all heard that sound when someone blows directly into a microphone.
The distortion created by contact wind noise cannot be fixed in post-production. It can only be chopped out along with the accompanying dialogue; and a new piece of dialogue cut in to replace it.
But contact wind noise can be prevented. That's what a windscreen does.
The simplest windscreens are known as "pop filters". Pop filters may be of either thin foam or metal mesh. Their purpose is not to defend against natural wind, but to block the exhalation from a performer, known in the industry as "breath pops".
Pop filters don't do much against real wind, but anything is better than nothing.
Thicker foam windscreens will protect against light breezes, both indoors and out. At no time should a shotgun mic ever be used without at least a foam windscreen. Even indoors, the mic can encounter moving air (wind) that would cause breakup. Air from heating/cooling systems, open passageways, and even from moving on the fishpole are all indoor wind hazards for the highly sensitive mics that our industry uses.
Another good reason to always use a foam windscreen is to physically protect the microphone from dust and accidental impact.
Outdoors, a foam windscreen will provide only minimal defense against wind noise. Foam will suffice for the less sensitive electret condenser (ENG-type) shotguns such as
the ME80 and AT835, but the highly sensitive true condenser shotgun mics such as
the MKH416/816 and AT4073/4071 definitely require a blimp system.
In a pinch, you can improve upon a foam windscreen by wrapping it with several layers of cheesecloth, and then containing the whole affair within a sweat sock. If you are faced with a real windstorm, anything goes... terry cloth towels, chopped off sleeves from a sweatshirt, etc. Just so long as the covering is porous.
Windscreens work by providing a barrier against moving wind. We can define windscreens as single stage barriers, two-stage, and multi-stage.
The simple foam windscreen is an example of the single stage barrier. Moving air is slowed down by the porous foam before it can strike the mic element.
The basic blimp windscreen is an example of two-stage protection. The outer mesh shell slows down the approaching air. Whatever air passes through the mesh is then further slowed down by the non-moving trapped air within the blimp screen itself.
The effectiveness of a blimp windscreen can be improved by adding additional barriers between the onrushing air and the mic element; this is known as multi-stage wind protection.
For instance, using a thin foam windscreen over the microphone INSIDE of the blimp provides a major increase of wind protection. Make sure to leave plenty of airspace between the foam and the inside of the blimp, or else you will defeat the purpose of multi-stage wind reduction. That layer of non-moving air is vital.
The other way of improving a blimp windscreen is to use a fabric or synthetic fur "windsock" over the outer shell. The use of a plush "fur" is very effective because the "hair" tends to disperse the oncoming wind, thus reducing velocity but also eliminating the ACOUSTIC noise generated by high wind physically striking the outer shell of the blimp.
If the budget is tight, fake fur windsocks can be fairly easily sewn together by anyone handy with a sewing machine, such as a Costumer or Wardrobe person.
Emptying a full can of ScotchGuard onto your windsock will provide protection against rain. Heavy rain or firehoses may call for a protective condom over the microphone itself.
Hollywood sound mixers often manufacture "rain hats" made from rubberized "hogs hair" to slip over the blimps. The hogs hair is a rubberized, thistle type material that disperses the rain drops upon impact, thus eliminating the "pitter patter" noise that the water would otherwise make when it struck the windscreen.
An important guideline to follow when using windscreens is to only use as much barrier protection as is needed, but never less than what is needed. The more stuff you surround your mic with, the more you will interfere with the frequency response and even pattern of your mic. On the other hand, not having enough wind protection will lead to contact wind noise, which is not fixable in the mix.
One saving grace is to realize that when the wind is blowing up a storm, your actors will also be shouting their dialogue, so that some loss of frequency response is unlikely to affect the (lack of) subtlety of this forced dialogue anyway. Just don't use windsocks and blimps on your indoor stuff!
Summary of all of this...
1) Always use a good shockmount and at least a foam windscreen.
2) The Audio Technica AT8415 universal shockmount is fine for indoors and works with most mics except long shotguns.
3) A good pistol-grip shockmount is needed for long shotguns, as well as for any mics that you will be using outdoors with a blimp windscreen. The author likes Light Wave Systems.
4) Use a blimp windscreen for exteriors. A thin foam windscreen over the mic will help quite a bit. A fur-type windsock provides even greater wind protection.
