I’ve talked to several people who have been frustrated with various 3-axis motorized gimbals for their cameras. The gimbals promise smooth shots when you’re walking or hand-holding your mirrorless camera or DSLR but often people find them difficult to use. In this episode, we show you how to setup the Zhiyun Tech Crane, a gimbal which can support cameras up to 1800 grams in weight. Then we cover a few tips for getting the smoothest shots possible. Once you get this down with a little practice, you can avoid all that frustration and get the most out of your gimbal!
Sound for Video Session: Timecode Demonstration
First, for those I haven't somehow managed to tell yet, I have a couple of courses on sound for video - one on recording and one on post processing. Please have a look at them over at School.LearnLightAndSound.com.
In this week's session, we demonstrate how free-run timecode works. For those not familiar with timecode, this allows you to more efficiently sync your separately recorded video and sound clips before editing your video. It works by syncing up your camera(s) and audio recorder with the help of timecode generator clocks.
In this demonstration, we show how to do this with a Tentacle Sync, a MozeGear TIG Q28, and a Sound Devices 633 recorder. If your recorder does not have a timecode generator built-in, you can still do this by connecting another timecode generator (like the Tentacle or MozeGear) to your recorder.
Slate (Clapper Board) for Sound and Editing
Caleb Pike over at DSLR Video Shooter posted a nice piece on how he uses a slate for video production. Some great ideas on how it can help not only with audio sync, but also for editing in general.
And the crazy guys at RocketJump Film school have a more general piece on slating that's worth a watch as well:
Sound for Video Session: Loudness vs Peaks and Cameras vs Audio Gear
This week we discuss a question from Kevin (AKA The Basic Filmmaker) on why the peaks are always at different levels after you loudness normalize an audio clip. Then I rant for a while on why upgrading your camera every time a cool looking new camera may not be the best use of your budget.
Sound for Video Session: iOS Recording Apps, De-Reverb and Cleanup, and Waveform View
In our sound for video session this week we had a series of very good questions:
Apps and settings for recording audio to iOS devices? We cover RODE Rec and ShurePlus Motiv
How do I remove the "Tinny" sound from a dialogue recording? We cover some basic cleanup and reference a few De-reverb plugins:
Acon Digital DeVerberate: https://acondigital.com/products/deverberate/
Izotope RX: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/repair-and-edit/rx.html
One of my previous videos demonstrating Acon Digital's DeVerberate: https://youtu.be/r1zRfEk-2os
Presswerk Compressor with dual phase rotation: https://www.u-he.com/cms/presswerk
And finally, a question about what the waveform view in Audition and other DAWs can be used for other than loudness and amplitude? I also mentioned that spectrum analyzers are a great tool for solving problems.
How to Light for Close-Up Product Shots & Reviews
How do I shoot a close-up product video with a white background? Here are the basics on how I do it. The biggest secret is to soften the light by shooting it through an umbrella or similar scrim (such as the type included in a 5-in-1 reflector.)
I use a foam core poster board for the background, mounted to a table with spring clamps. My favorite light for this task is the Aputure Light Storm COB 120t which we reviewed a few weeks ago. I boom the Light Storm above the poster board with a C-stand and shoot the light through a white umbrella. This makes the light incredibly soft and prevents those distracting shadows.
Sound for Video Session: Skills vs Gear and Q&A
In this session we covered a couple of your questions and had another shot on the topic of equipment vs skill. On my recent trip to NAB, I had a great conversation with Senator Mike Michaels, an incredibly experienced sound mixer for film and TV and had some great insights based on things he said. His interview will be posted sometime in the next week or two.
Happy recording in the meantime!
Sound for Video Session: Setting up Your Recorder or Mixer
This week, more requests for "How do I set up my recorder?" My goal is to help you understand the concepts so that you can set up ANY recorder/mixer.
We gave examples using the Tascam DR-60DmkII and Zoom F8 but the settings are similar on all recorders.
The main settings you need to set:
1) Record format: WAV or BWF (on the Zoom F8, this is the default so you don't have to set this up)
2) What to record - tell it how many channels (on the Tascam) or on the Zoom F8, tell it whether you want just the ISO channels or ISO + a stereo mix (L & R channels). Remember that if you have a recorder like the F8 which is also a mixer, the faders affect the levels of the sound in the stereo mix track, not in the ISO tracks.
3) Sample Rate: 48kHz for broadcast, 44.1kHz if for YouTube or other online distribution
4) Bit Rate - 24 bit. I do this because then I have more room in post to process the audio. if you choose 16 bit, your audio files will be smaller, but you'll potentially have a harder time doing things like noise reduction.
5) Gain (sometimes called input or level) - set this until the peak meters show the loudest parts hitting -12dB. Of course your talent needs to talk while you get this set. Typically I'm looking for them to talk for 30 seconds so that I feel comfortable
White Balancing Your Camera (or Gray Balancing?)
A few years ago I did a piece on custom white balancing your camera. It is important to learn this skill to get the best looking footage, especially if shooting with an 8-bit 4:2:0 camera (like many of us use).
Interestingly, as I was doing a little research to put this piece together, I noticed that using a gray card generally produced better results than using a white card. I've had a lot of questions on why and up to now, I just assumed that it had something to do with the fact that 18% gray is closer to the luminance level that we generally shoot for skin tones. Turns out that was a decent guess, but not the whole story.
Art Adams posted an interesting piece titled, "The Secret Art of White Balancing" that goes into way more detail, particularly in light of the fact that many cameras can now capture 12-14 stops of dynamic range. To do that, cameras have a tendency to compress the highlights and shadows (even aside from log profiles, it seems) so using a target closer to the less compressed mid-tones often results in better white balance.
Definitely worth the read, if you're nerdy like that (I am).
Sound for Video Session: Mic Placement and Headphones
This week we covered a couple of additional ideas on mic placement, specifically, how to use a boom mic in a wide shot. Also a quick mention of plant mics (hiding mics in the scene). And we then spent the last few minutes covering headphones and what to look for when considering a set of headphones for production work (monitoring when shooting) and for post-production (for editing and mixing).