RODE WIRELESS GO - NAB 2019
On the show floor at NAB 2019, we met up with Ryan Burke of RODE Microphones to have a look at their new WIRELESS GO system - a small, very simple to use wireless microphone system.
The audio in this episode was recorded entirely with the WIRELESS GO into a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. The audio was loudness normalized to -23 LUFS and no other processing was applied.
This was a brutal test for a wireless system - on the show floor at NAB with a ton of RF activity. The handheld mic I use during this was for backup but since the WIRELESS GO did so well, we muted the handheld in post.
The WIRELESS GO kit used to record the audio for this episode was provided free of charge to us. We were not paid further to produce this video.
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 in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, 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
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens
Copyright 2019 by Curtis Judd
Music Copyright 2017 by TVAC. Used with permission.
Consumer vs Pro Wireless Microphone Systems
Why do professional level wireless microphone systems cost so much? Do they just have audio quality that is that much better? Or are there other features that pros need that enthusiast filmmakers don’t need? What am I missing if I go for one of the consumer/prosumer wireless systems?
In this episode we explore these questions by talking about 3 wireless microphone systems I use: RODELink, Sennheiser G3 (and now G4), and the Audio Limited A10 system. We clarify the important differences so you can understand when a consumer grade wireless system is everything you need for your projects and when it might make sense to rent or buy a pro-level wireless system.
Links to gear discussed and used to shoot this episode:
RODELink Filmmaker Kit - Good digital wireless consumer/prosumer system - Been a useful part of my kit for 3 years.
Sennheiser G4 112P - Good analogue prosumer wireless system (If you buy this, be sure to choose the block that is legal to use in your locality. Buy through a dealer that can help you if you’re not sure. Also, it does not appear that the older G3 is retailing for less at this point. I’d go for the G4. The technical differences are negligible):
Audio Limited A10 Dual Channel Receiver - Pro level all-digital wireless system for lavalier and boom microphones. This receiver supports two channels (i.e., two separate transmitters can transmit to this receiver which then sends two separate audio channels to your audio mixer/recorder).
Audio Limited A10 Transmitter - body pack transmitter for the all-digital A10 wireless microphone system. This supports lavalier microphones plus boom microphones, even those needing phantom power (via 3-pin lemo to XLR adapter cable)
Sennheiser MKH 8050 Microphone - used to record this entire episode
Aputure COB 120t - This is the light I used as a key in the talking head clips
Aputure Light Dome Soft Box - Used to soften the key light
Lupo DayLED Fresnel Light with Barn Doors - Used for the “rim/hair” light
650, 1000, & 2000 in daylight, tungsten, or bi-color
Blackmagic design Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera - used for the talking head shots in this episode
Sigma ART 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Lens (Canon EF Mount)
Panasonic GH5 - Used for some of the product shots
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - incredibly versatile lens that is on the GH5 most of the time
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Music - MzA by Cary Judd, used with permission
Audio Ltd A10 Wireless Microphone System - Sound Devices NAB 2018
The professional location sound market now has a fully digital wireless microphone system option - the Audio Ltd A10 from Sound Devices! Here we have a closer look at the A10 system with Kish Patel at the Sound Devices booth at NAB 2018.
Gear covered and used to shoot this episode:
Audio Ltd A10 Wireless Microphone System
RODE Reporter Microphone
RODE iXLR Adapter (Record a dynamic XLR microphone to iPhone or iPad)
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - incredibly versatile lens that is on the GH5S most of the time
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Music - MzA by Cary Judd, used with permission.
Practical Lessons from a Paid Location Shoot
This week's episode is a different than our usual episode: I spent the last 3 days on a shoot in a different city. I was primarily the sound guy and my brother Cary was primarily the DP. The job was for a documentary corporate video. We learned some lessons with this experience and wanted to share those here.
We didn't get to talk about lighting much but the short story is that the producer did not want large imposing lights and we needed something we could transport via checked baggage on our flight. We opted to use the Aputure LS1s LED panel and a Kamerar BrightCast flexible LED panel, both shot through Kamerar D-Fuse soft boxes. These both came in my pelican case and traveled well. They did a great job in the varied lighting situations we encountered for the interviews.
Gear mentioned in this episode or used in the shoot which we did not have time to discuss:
Aputure Light Storm LS1s LED Panel Light - easier to transport than Aputure COB120d and the producer did not want large, imposing lights.
Kamerar BrightCast Flexible LED Panel Light - again, easy to transport and even lighter than the LS1s with about 1/2 the output power but the ability to color tune between daylight and tungsten.
Kamerar D-Fuse Soft Box for LED Panel Lights - super light. Not the softest of soft boxes, but small and easy to transport.
Sennheiser G3 Wireless Lavalier Microphone System (G3 ew119p) - my new favorite wireless lavalier system. Takes a few minutes to set up at the start of a shoot, but holds a signal even when out of line-of-sight which is better than the digital wireless systems I've used.
Nikon D750 DSLR Camera - Good old DSLR, but a good option in this case since we had two of them and needed two cameras for the interview shoots.
Varizoom Jib - Reasonably priced jib which travels well and allowed us to get some good camera movement
Atomos Ninja II HDMI video recorder. An oldie but goodie. The screen is not amazing but the ProRes files it records are great to work with in post production.
