Lights, Camera, WOW!

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Mark

Jake Ember with video equipment.

Jake Ember with his camera gear.

Give Jake Ember some new video equipment and stand back… something special will happen! Jake recently posted a new video Listen for the Call. You will be awed by the quality of the production.

Movie Short

Jake acquired some new audio and video gear and wanted to explore what he could do. He decided to make a movie short. It would require filming in a variety of locations and lighting conditions. It would also give him experience shooting from multiple angels with many editing possibilities. Finally, it would have all the elements of a professional experience including: preproduction (story development, casting, and costumes), production (directing, filming, audio recording) and postproduction (audio video syncing, background music, editing, distribution and marketing).

DSLR Equipment Package

Amazing New Equipment

Jake has some equipment that will have the average video enthusiast drooling. Here is the rundown:

Camera: Canon EOS 60D DSLR featuring an 18MP APS-C CMOS sensor; 1920 x 1080 HD video capture; flip-out LCD monitor; Digic 4 image processor; street price - $1,099
Lens: Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS featuring an 18-135 mm equivalent zoom range; optical image stabilization; street price -$450
Microphone: Rode VideoMic featuring a directional video condenser microphone; mounts to standard camera shoe; 3.5mm mini plug; integrated shock mount; can be used on a boom pole; street price - $149
Audio Recorder: Zoom H4n featuring 24-bit/96kHz recording; USB 2.0 connectivity; backlit LCD display; street price - $299
Steadicam: Merlin Camera Stabilizing System featuring a metal gimbal; street price - $799

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Stepping up to this level of equipment can improve production quality, but it also means you must do things differently.

One of the big issues when working with a DSLR is sound quality. The cameras are made to take beautiful pictures and video. They are not intended to be top of the line audio recorders. Video capable DSLR’s can record sound, but the quality of the recorded sound is inferior to the picture quality. If you want to have sound quality that matches picture quality it is necessary to use a secondary recorder. Jake uses his Rode microphone and Zoom recorder. This leads to the next issue – how to synchronize the audio and video.

Synchronizing Audio with Video

When you record with a traditional video camera, the audio and video are automatically synchronized. But, when the video and audio are recorded on different pieces of equipment, it is necessary to do the syncing in postproduction. There are three main ways to accomplish synchronization: clap board, audio wave matching, and software.

A clap board is used when there is no audio recorded with the video on the camera. First you must start both the video and audio recording equipment. Then point the camera and microphone at the clap board and drop the clapper. In postproduction, put the video and audio tracks on the editor timeline and match the audio spike created by the clapboard with the video frame showing the moment the clapper strikes the board. That will synchronize the audio and video tracks.
It is usually possible to record audio to both the DSLR and an external recorder. In this case, put both sound tracks on your timeline. Use peaks in the sound wave to match your externally recorded track with the one recorded on the camera. Mute the lower quality camera sound track and use only the better quality sound from the external recorder.
The preferred solution is to use software to match the camera sound track with the externally recorded soundtrack in your editor. This automates the audio wave matching described above. Not only is it accurate, it will cut and match the audio to all of the clips on your timeline. This saves a lot of work. DualEyes by Singular Software ($149) is an example of this software.