Sound for Video Session: Zoom F4 Firmware, Fairlight, & Sennheiser XSW-D Wireless
In our first audio-only Sound for Video Session, we cover the new features Zoom added to the F4 recorder in the 3.0 firmware update. Now F4 users have AutoMix an the Advanced Hybrid Look-Ahead limiters that were previously only on the F8 and F8n.
We also cover my impressions of the Fairlight digital audio workstation page in DaVinci Resolve 15.2.4. It is getting pretty close to the point where I can move to Fairlight and away from Adobe Audition. There are still some minor issues. In fact, in mixing this episode, I learned that Resolve has issues exporting audio only projects. Sigh.
And finally, we talk about a new wireless lavalier microphone I just received in for review: Sennheiser XSW-D Portable Lavalier Set. I have yet to do the review, but cover some of its features here. This is a consumer/prosumer grade wireless system that is made to be as easy to use as possible. The review should appear on my YouTube channel in the next few weeks.
Gear used/discussed in this episode:
Zoom F4 (Amazon) audio recorder
DaVinci Resolve - Free video editing, coloring, and audio mixing
Sennheiser XSW-D Portable Lavalier Set - Wireless microphone system for those who need wireless to be as simple as possible
RODECaster Pro - Mixer and recorder used to record this session
Golden Age Project R1 Active mkIII (Amazon) - Affordable ribbon microphone which I used to record this session.
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Outro music from Artlist: Call on Me by Kick Lee. You can receive a 2 month discount on a subscription to Artlist, a subscription service for stock music you can use with your videos.
RODECaster Pro Review
In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the new RODECaster Pro recorder, mixer, and audio interface designed specifically for podcasting and recording panel discussions. I have to confess that I was originally not that enthused about the RODECaster Pro, but now that I’ve use it a for a couple of weeks, WOW! I’m surprised by the quality of sound that it produces and find the effects more effective than I expected. It is much easier to use than most mixers for those that aren’t audio engineers making this a great choice for those less interested in spending lots of time learning how to get better sound for their podcasts. And even for audio nerds like me...well, I'm buying this which was originally just on loan for the review!
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.
Links to gear used in this video:
Sony MDR-7506 - My go-to headphones for when I’m recording
Audio Technica AT2005 Dynamic Microphone - I recorded this episode with this microphone. Amazing mic for its price!
Electrovoice RE20 - Classic broadcast dynamic microphone. Dani was recorded with this in our demo
Shure SM7b - another classic broadcast dynamic microphone. Almost everyone sounds awesome with this microphone
Electrovoice RE50L - A common reporter’s microphone. Emma was recorded with this in our demo
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record most of this episode
Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens - Used on the Pocket 4K camera
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Music Copyright 2019 by Cary Judd. Used with permission.
Headphones for Filmmakers: My Impressions of 7 Headphones
In this episode, I share my impressions of 5 different headphones which I have used for production or post production filmmaking. We start out with a discussion about open vs. closed back design and impedance and why those matter when you’re choosing a set of headphones. As a bonus, we also cover two additional sets of headphones I use when I’m not making films.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.
Links to gear used in this video:
Sony MDR-7506 (Amazon)- My go-to headphones for when I’m recording
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80ohm (Amazon) - Also very good when recording, super durable, a little bulkier in size
Sony MDR-ZX110 (Amazon) - When I give a director or producer a wireless feed of the audio, they get these with the receiver
Sennheiser HD820 (Amazon) - The most amazing headphones I have ever owned, but expensive and reserved for post production
Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro 250ohm (Amazon) - A very good set of open back headphones for post production, much more reasonably priced
Meze 99 Classics (Amazon) - Classy looking and good sounding “Lifestyle” headphones with low impedance for listening from phones and laptops
Sennheiser PXC 550 Bluetooth Noise Cancelling Headphones (Amazon) - My favorite travel and everyday headphones when I want isolation from the world
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record most of this episode
Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens (Amazon) - Used on the Pocket 4K camera
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Music Copyright 2019 by Cary Judd. Used with permission.
Sound for Video Session: Timecode Apps - Convert Audio Timecode to Metadata Timecode
When using timecode to speed up the process of syncing audio clips to separately recorded video clips, there are times when you need to use consumer cameras. These cameras usually do not have a proper timecode input so you have to record the timecode to an audio track via the camera’s microphone input. In this session, we cover a few apps which will convert that audio timecode to a format your video editing app (NLE) can use to quickly sync all your video and audio clips.
Please consider my sound for video classes.
Gear and apps used to record this episode:
DaVinci Resolve - works about 50% of the time in my experience (Version 15.4.2)
LTC Convert - Solid, straightforward option for converting audio timecode to metadata/file timecode
Tentacle Sync Studio - Included free when you buy a Tentacle Sync timecode generator
Timecode Systems Ultrasync One - Wireless timecode generator
Ambient Recording NanoLockit - Wireless timecode generator
Tentacle Sync E - Bluetooth enabled timecode generator
Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Full Frame Camera
Panasonic GH5 Camera
AKG C414 XLS large diaphragm condenser microphone - this is my new, main voice over microphone
Universal Audio Apollo x6 - Thunderbolt 3 audio interface used to take audio signal from the dbx286S channel strip, convert it to digital, and send to my computer for recording.
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Outro music from Artlist: Sunday by Rich Young Pixies - Amazing Journey. You can receive a 2 month discount on a subscription to Artlist, a subscription service for stock music you can use with your videos. Check it out at Artlist.io
Sound for Video Session: Q&A 9 Feb 2019
Its time to answer your sound for video related questions! For those new to the channel here, as part of my online school, we have question and answer sessions every few weeks. If you’d like to be notified when a new Q&A session is coming up, sign up for free at Learn Light and Sound. You can also preview several segments from my online courses on sound for film.
Here are the questions we covered this week:
00:07 Wireless hop to camera with Sennheiser G3?
01:10 Microphones for recording a concert?
02:18 Plugins for cleaning up background noise?
04:42 Room tone and sound effects? M/S Recording?
06:24 Stereo microphones for recording concerts?
07:17 Timecode from Zoom F8n to Panasonic GH4?
08:53 Remote Audio Battery distribution system and powering Panasonic GH5?
11:47 Why hasn’t the perfect recorder and microphones been developed yet?
17:07 Can I de-noise as the last step in my post workflow?
22:35 Audio, sound, film book recommendations?
28:20 If I have 2 UltraSync 1s, should I use just one or both for 1 cam shoots?
32:10 If my video will be H.264, does it matter if I use 48kHz vs 96kHz?
34:30 What are microdot cavaliers?
37:32 Person moves in and out of mic sweet spot, what do I do?
39:55 Will the new version of ARRI Alexa come with a boom holder?
40:10 What’s the difference between trim and fader?
42:58 Order of operations when processing dialogue audio?
49:12 Should I upgrade from RODE NTG2 to NTG4?
51:03 I’m getting older and my hearing is not good. How do I compensate?
57:42 Izotope RX, Logic Pro, Audition, and changing sample rates?
1:00:20 Powering a recorder. I have a 20 hour battery vest!
1:02:20 Audio repair software suggestions?
1:04:22 How would you cleanup this audio recording?
Here are a few previous sessions we references in today’s Q&A session:
Wireless Hop to Camera with Sennheiser G3 with Gregg Palmer:
Recording Live Concerts with Mike Strands:
Accusonus ERA-D Noise Reduction Demo:
Gear we discussed in today’s session:
Sound Reinforcement Handbook, 2nd Edition (Amazon) - Dense but very good reference for anyone serious about sound
Location Sound Bible (Amazon) - one of my favorites on recording sound for film. Dated info re: specific gear, but otherwise very good info.
Sound Effects Bible (Amazon) - good reference on recording sound effects. Dated info re: specific gear, but otherwise very good info.
Hearos (Amazon) - Ear protection for loud locations
Zoom F8n Audio Recorder
Zoom F4 Audio Recorder
Ambient Recording Timecode Slate
Schoeps Super CMIT Shotgun Microphone - with real-time noise reduction. Not cheap, but very effective.
Cedar DNS - hardware real-time noise reduction. Not cheap, but very effective.
Universal Audio Apollo x6 - Thunderbolt 3 audio interface which can basically replace a full rack of analogue audio processing gear
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Outro music from Artlist: Sunday by Rich Young Pixies - Amazing Journey. You can receive a 2 month discount on a subscription to Artlist, a subscription service for stock music you can use with your videos. Check it out at Artlist.
Sound for Video Session: Loudness Normalize your Video Sound in Adobe Audition
How do you get loud audio for your video projects? What if the music is much louder than the dialogue or speaking parts? In this session, we cover the basics of mixing music and dialogue and show how to loudness normalize your video’s sound using Adobe Audition.
Please consider my sound for video classes available over at Learn Light and Sound.
Gear used to record this episode:
AKG C414 XLS large diaphragm condenser microphone - this is my new, main voice over microphone
dbx 286s Preamplifier and channel strip (Amazon) - new vocal processing channel strip. I’ve had a ton of requests for help setting this up so I had to add one to my collection so I can learn how to use it first.
Universal Audio Apollo x6 - Thunderbolt 3 audio interface used to take audio signal from the dbx286S channel strip, convert it to digital, and send to my computer for recording.
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Outro music from Artlist: Sunscape by Oliver Michael. You can receive a 2 week discount on a subscription to Artlist, a subscription service for stock music you can use with your videos. Check it out at Artlist.
Audio Features - Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
In this episode, we have a look at (and listen to) the audio features on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.
Links to gear used in this video:
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record this episode, including the audio directly from the DPA 4017b
Mini XLR to XLR Adapter Cable (Amazon) - you’ll need at least one of these to get a standard XLR cable into your Pocket 4K. This is a pack of 2 (always good to have a backup) and seems to be of very high quality
Blackmagic power adapter cable kit - I use the 2-pin to d-tap cable to power the Pocket 4K with an Anton Bauer Digital 90 cine battery. Will work with any cine battery with d-tap output (v-mount, gold mount, etc.)
Tentacle Sync E Timecode Generator
Deity S-Mic 2 Shotgun Microphone (Amazon)
RODE NTG2 Shotgun Microphone (Amazon)
Shure SM-58 Dynamic Microphone (Amazon)
Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens (Amazon) - Used on the Pocket 4K camera
Lupo Superpanel Dual Color Panel Model 400 - Bounced off of a big piece of white foamcore for the key light
Aputure AL-MW (Amazon) - background light for all of the talking head shots. Cool little waterproof light with in-built Li-Ion battery that lasts 80 minutes at full power
Aputure COB120t (Amazon) - background light for product shots
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Music Copyright 2019 by Cary Judd. Used with permission.
Sound for Video Session: Timecode Generators
In this week’s Sound for Video session, we take a quick look at several timecode generators available on the market today.
The table comparing the TC generators we discussed today.
Gear discussed/used to record this episode:
Tentacle Sync Sync E
Ambient Recording NanoLockit
MozeGear TIG Q28
MozeGear TIG QBIT X2
Timecode Systems Pulse Base Station
Timecode Systems UltrSync One
Timecode Systems UltraSync Blue
Timecode Systems SyncBac Pro (for GoPro Hero 6 & 7)
Betso TCX-2+
AKG C414 XLS Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone - used to record this session
Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer - used to record this session
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Outro music licensed from Artlist: Call on Me by Kick Lee
Sound for Video Session: Q&A 11 December 2018
In this week’s Sound for Video session, we answer your questions about production and post sound:
00:13 Isolating lavalier microphones
05:12 Which software to use for editing, mixing sound?
07:49 Can you use the F8/n as audio interface with F-Control?
08:56 Loudness vs Peak Normalizing
12:27 Default settings for Sennheiser G3?
13:37 Can you link the Zoom F4 & F8 to operate as one?
14:56 How to get “Radio Voice” with Audition?
18:07 How does the FCC frequency allocation affect you?
19:25 Sound Devices 688 and SL6
20:17 How does Sennheiser MKH416 compare to newer shotgun mics?
25:11 Dealing with ventilation/refrigerator that cannot be turned off?
26:58 Mixing foley?
27:41 How did I get a killer deal on these old Lectrosonics wireless kits?
30:40 How to mount timecode generator to camera?
31:47 MixPre: Meters and limiters
33:55 Are vintage mics overrated?
36:50 How do you get audio to a director?
37:18 Recommendation for enthusiast wireless mic systems?
38:52 Is the Tascam DR-60DmkII still a worthwhile purchase?
40:56 I do both music and film sound, should I get the MixPre-10T or 10M?
42:27 Zoom F8: How do I keep the settings I make on the app?
43:45 Zoom F8 5.1 firmware update: What’s new?
45:00 How to record iso channels on MixPre-6?
45:39 Recommended recording apps for iOS?
47:38 How to setup the dbx 286s?
48:41 Is Izotope RX worth its price?
51:00 Which frame rate settings do I use for timecode?
Previous videos mentioned in today’s session:
Fairlight in DaVinci Resolve:
Loudness normalization:
Foley:
Comtek wireless audio for directors:
MixPre-10M vs 10T:
Gear discussed/used to record this episode:
Moleskin (Amazon) for hiding lavalier microphones
Joe’s Sticky Stuff (Amazon) - two-sided tape for attaching lavalier mics to clothing or anything else
Zoom F8n (Amazon) - eight channel audio recorder/mixer. One of my favorites. Paid my own hard-earned money for this thing.
Zoom F4 (Amazon) - four channel audio recorder/mixer. Basically the same as the F8n but no app control, monochrome screen, and bigger knobs. Paid my own hard-earned money for this thing.
Sennheiser G4 solid analogue wireless mic kit
AKG C414 XLS - used to record today’s session. I was recovering from a cold at the time, so this isn’t the best representation of the sound possible with this mic. We’ll do another demo with it once my voice is back to normal.
Sound Devices 688 - Pro level audio recorder/mixer. It is the price of an older used car but a good buy for those doing paid production sound work.
Sound Devices SL6 - add on wireless receiver slot system which simplifies powering and using larger antennae for multiple slot-in wireless receivers from your sound bag.
Sennheiser MKH416 - Tjhe legendary shotgun microphone for film & TV production.
Sennheiser MKH8060 new generation shotgun microphone meant to replace 416
Sennheiser MKH8050 new generation indoor dialogue boom mic meant to replace MKH50
Sound Devices MixPre-3 - great little recorder from the company that makes amazing pro-level audio recorders. But this one is a lot more affordable. 3 mic inputs, analogue limiters.
Sound Devices MixPre-6- great little recorder from the company that makes amazing pro-level audio recorders. But this one is a lot more affordable. 4 XLR mic/line inputs plus a 3.5mm stereo input, analogue limiters.
Sound Devices MixPre-10T- great big recorder from the company that makes amazing pro-level audio recorders. But this one is slightly more affordable. 8 XLR mic/line inputs plus a 3.5mm stereo input, 2 balanced and 2 unbalanced outputs, analogue limiters. etc. Great recorder. My favorite sub $2000 USD option.
Tascam DR-60DmkII (Amazon) - great budget recorder (XLR inputs are good, 3.5mm not so good)
CEntrance Mixerface R4 audio mixer/recorder (Amazon)
dbx 286s channel strip (Amazon) - good for voiceover and live broadcast sound
Universal Audio Apollo x6 USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface - used to record the voice over for the screen cast
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Outro music licensed from Artlist: Awaken by Ethan Rank
Sound for Video Session: Edit/Mix Room Tour 2018
After several requests and despite my prior objections, this week’s episode is a virtual tour of my mix/edit room. This is where I edit all of my videos, edit and mix the sound for these videos, and generally work. I hesitated to do this because I don’t want anyone to think that you have to have expensive tools to edit and mix good sound for video. You can start with a basic computer and set of headphones. Once you’re getting paid to mix and edit sound for video, then it generally makes sense to invest in some tools that will help you get the job done more efficiently.
Please consider my sound for film courses.
Gear and links discussed/used to record this episode:
Sennheiser MKH 8050 (Amazon) Supercardioid boom microphone
Oktava MK-012 (Amazon) Cardioid boom microphone
Schoeps CMCmk41 Supercardioid boom microphone
Furman PL-8C (Amazon) Power Conditioner
Universal Audio Apollo x6 Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with 5.1 surround monitoring
Focal Solo6 Be Powered Reference Monitors (Speakers)
Mackie 802VLZ4 (Amazon) Analogue Mixer
Sony MDR-7506 (Amazon) Closed Back Headphones - my first choice for when I’m recording/mixing on location
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (Amazon) - my second choice for when I’m recording/mixing on location
Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro (Amazon) Semi-open Back Headphones - my first choice for reasonably priced mixing headphones
Sennheiser HD820 Closed Back Reference Headphones - My favorite very expensive headphones for mixing
Golden Age Project Pre-73mkIII (Amazon) - A modern day copy of the Neve 1073 preamp. All analogue. Fuzzy and warm
Golden Age Project R1 Active mkIII (Amazon) - A reasonably priced ribbon microphone with a smooth high frequency roll-off which I like for recording voiceover and harsh instruments. Smooth
Electrovoice RE20 (Amazon) Dynamic Broadcast Microphone
Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer/Audio Interface
Blackmagic Pocket cinema Camera 4K - used to shoot this episode
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Outro music licensed from Artlist: Keep an Eye by Back to Dream.
