Everyone welcome to a new section in the course this section is all about are you choosing the right
microphone and how to use that microphone for your shoot first Remember what are microphone options
are.
We have lavalier microphones shotgun microphones on board shotgun microphones internal microphones or
studio or US beat microphones.
So one of the first things you have to think about is who is going to be recorded.
Do you have one person speaking do you have multiples people speaking if you're shooting a talking head
video or an interview of just one person you can really use any type of microphone lavalier microphone
can be a great option if they're just sitting down or even if they're moving around a shotgun microphone
is also a great option if they're just sitting in one location or if they're moving around you could
get away with using a boom operator.
If you're just in front of your computer a USP microphone or a studio microphone is a great option for
projects where you're shooting multiple people in the same shot you might have to get to lavalier microphones
so that you can record high quality sound for each person.
If you are using a boom microphone you might need a boom operator to be able to move the mic between
the people when they're talking.
The other thing you have to think about is where your camera is going to be and what your camera composition
is going to look like if you're shooting a big wide scene of sewing outdoors or just a scene where a
person is smaller in frame you might not be able to use a shotgun microphone because it's going to be
have to be in frame to get great audio.
So in that case a lot of Llyr might be a great option but if your composition is closer and you're tighter
in on your subject lavalier or shotgun might work even if you're shooting in a quiet location with your
camera not too far away from your subject the internal microphone could be a viable option.
Here's an example of recording in a quiet room with the smartphones internal microphone sounds pretty
good.
So if you are shooting video and using the internal microphone on either on your DSL or camera or your
smartphone you might be wondering why doesn't my audio sound good.
You have to understand AGC or auto gain control.
This is how your camera or your phone monitors and sets levels for recording the audio.
If I'm in a quiet room and I'm the only one talking then it's going to set levels for however loud my
voice is.
And it might actually sound fairly decent but recording audio with the internal microphone of your Smartphone
won't sound great when you're in a loud location but if I'm outside and I'm speaking and something louder
than my voice happens a thunderstorm or a car drives by then the camera will automatically set its levels
to that loud sound making my vocal sound my voice at a lower level and that's why when you're outside
you might not get that great sound with your internal microphone.
So we really only recommend using the camera's internal microphone if you're inside an environment that's
quiet and you can control the sound or if you're just trying to capture the sounds of your environment.
So hopefully by now you know how to pick the right microphone for your video shoot.
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us with your specific case and we'll recommend
the right microphone for you.