Get the Most Out of Your Shotgun Mic With These Top Tips
- Shotgun Mic or Lavalier Mic: Which Is Right for You?
- How To Get Top-Quality Audio With a Shotgun Mic
- What is a Camera Cage?
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If you are among the many serious photographers who have decided to step into video with our fantastic new cameras and their awesome video capability, you have likely already learned how to use a shotgun mic. But perhaps you want to improve your knowledge of how to get good audio with a shotgun mic, really good audio.
For still photographers entering video, how to get good audio is an important skill to have. Our shotgun mic tutorial will give you some ideas and techniques for capturing high quality audio as you record video. Practicing these shotgun mic tips will improve your videos and make them more viewable.
The Shotgun Mic
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Think about your audio in the same way you already view capturing images. In order to get higher quality images, we use the highest quality lenses and techniques to maximize their potential.
The same thoughts apply to the audio audio component of your videos. Just as you don’t want to limit your fine lenses by using lower quality filters, or just like you have more to work with when using external flash or other lighting versus the camera built in flash, supplementing or replacing the built in mic of our cameras is a good idea for recording superior audio.
The newest cameras do have very nice mics, but they are limited. A shotgun mic of very high quality such as the Comica CVM-VP2 shotgun mic from Ikan will provide extremely high quality audio. Ikan is a great source for high quality video accessories. Since they design and make the items they sell, you can find very high quality equipment for reasonable prices.
The advantages of using a high end shotgun mic like the Comica CVM-VP2 is that they have excellent signal-to-noise ratio, are electromagnetically shielded for minimizing interference, and have multiple power options, all of which result in superior sound compared to a built in microphone.
Adjust the Levels
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Let’s again compare mics and good audio to the photographic terms and techniques we know so well. When adjusting exposure, we are careful about blocking up the shadows, blowing out the highlights, and the contrast.
Well, those same principles apply to recording audio. The shotgun mic will have a range of frequency that it will capture. Sounds below or above that range won’t sound quite right. Knowing our equipment’s specs will allow us to change audio recording levels and parameters that will work best for the situation.
Many of the newest cameras have these controls in the menu functions accessed from the viewscreen. It’s important to be familiar with all of the settings before getting into the field since they are not as intuitive as photographic controls. Which segues into the next point.
Use Headphones
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Think again of exposing an image photographically. You can see what the image looks like in preview and there is an option of viewing the histogram. Using headphones is much like that. Your camera may have a meter showing audio levels but there’s nothing like having instant feedback of hearing it for yourself.
The camera or other recording device for audio should have a jack that produces the feed actually being recorded. This gives you the sound that is going to be on the file, that is adjusted, attenuated, and flavored by the camera’s audio processor.
If possible, use a style of headphones that covers the entire ear and blocks out most of the ambient noise around you so you can concentrate on the audio feed being recorded. When you use headphones and a shotgun mic, you can really tell how important it is to put the mic in the proper place.
Learn More:
Position Matters
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A shotgun mic has a narrow pattern compared to the built in mic of the camera. Compared to visual photography again, it’s like using a telephoto lens for your audio. You can narrow what is being “seen” by the shotgun mic.
Sometimes this may mean that you should remove the shotgun mic from the camera or camera cage. A mic stand, a clamp, or a boom can accomplish that positioning for you. Which means also that the headphones from the above shotgun mic tips become vitally important.
The closer the shotgun mic is to the subject being recorded, the better the audio will be most of the time. The sound is fuller and will have a wider tonal range than sound being picked from very far away, even if the focus of the shotgun mic is extremely narrow.
It’s Baffling
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Reflected sound can cause audio degradation much like light reflections in an image can cause contrast issues. A shotgun mic automatically helps a lot with this by narrowing the area that is being recorded.
If you are making a fulltime studio area for video productions, investing in some baffling for the walls is a very helpful step. If unable to baffle walls, simply changing the furniture used as props can also make a difference. A big table reflects a lot of sound, a soft couch baffles.
Using a photo backdrop on a flat wall will reduce audio reflections, too. Since you’re already using backgrounds for a lot of the videography and photography done in a studio, this is an added benefit to that. And if you’re on location and can hang background material on a large wall, even one not in the visual part of the recording, it’s good practice to do so when allowed.
Process for Sound
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Processing the audio file recorded in your video is every bit as important as editing for visual content. Many times, the same program can be used. This is another place to make use of those high quality headphones listed in the earlier shotgun mic tips.
The shotgun mic has given you a file with great sound but it’s still similar to a RAW photo image file until it’s processed and edited. This step also gives you the option for adding or enhancing audio for the final video.
You’re In Control
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The reason we compared audio for video recording to familiar photographic processes we know like the back of our hand is to emphasize that the camera operator for audio/video recording can be completely in control. Try out the tips in this shotgun mic tutorial to enhance the audio in your final productions.
