Comments on: videocast help wanted

By: Sam Hiser

Sam Hiser — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:09:57 +0000

Believable sound will enhance your ‘cast much more than you would imagine.
I think a cheap-ish camera a la Scoble will work, but would advise complete abandon on sound. The reason: Macs have great stereo out of the box. A decent portion of your audience will therefore be ready for great sound, and your killer sound will draw the audience in beyond your wildest dreams (…the way your big heart draws the audience with your illustrations).
I have a $100 Audix stereo condensor mic I use with a portable Sony MiniDisc player, for instance, and I love it for mobile recording of talks, meetings etc. It overachieves.
A good mic is like a Zeiss lens on a Leica. And now Ziess makes some lenses for point&shoots, so the quality at low price is getting really really good.
But for my “studio” rig for the blog I have killer mics and intend to record in Mid-Side to an HHD MiniDisc pro unit (with XLR mic inputs and onboard 48v phantom power) I got on eBay. (I’ll need to mix this down on ProTools to get the awesome ambient imaging, but it’s worth it to me.)
I have some fuggeddabaaatit mics. The only mics I’d like to add to my stash are ribbon mics, which do voice in a you-are-there fashion. These are way expensive, but I think they are worth it ’cause I’m a nut (tube amps & vinyl LPs).
So you could look in the $300 range for any of the new (Chinese?) large diaphram condensor mics at Tekserve or B&H in NY or call my favorite pro audio guys in Massachusetts (Mercenary Audio) and they will spend time with you. If you’re absolutely insane, then a good mic preamp will add a lot (ask them about the Fearn…ohmygod!); but even I’m not that crazy. (It’s YouTube…not the BBC
(Irrelevant: I like MiniDisc for its sound-quality & small size and because it’s removable…because editors I work with at FT can take a raw disc overnite if I’m in a pinch and don’t have time to mix down. My mixes are laughably time-consuming: Minidisc into iMic interface on PowerBook G4 -> record tracks to Audacity -> import to iTunes -> convert to mp3 -> upload to trusty server. Hehehe.)
If you agree or are curious, then you could look, for example, at the Audio Technica AT825 (a stereo XY field recording mic), which could attach on top of a decent, even cheap, camera. One thought.
With all this, it’s the content that matters most. If it’s good content, then good recording will make it special and durable.
But I would spend about 1/3 of your budget on the mic. Yes, unequivocally!

By: hugh Fraser

hugh Fraser — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:45:45 +0000

The problem I’ve found is that the cheap and moderately cheap CamCorders don’t have a decent Mic-in socket anymore. They seem to have dropped this recently. Sony expect you to connect audio through the hotshoe on the top of their Handycams. They also have a strange AV input. They have a range of Mic-Guns that sit on top of the camera, and now have a wireless system that goes with it too. But it’s a nuisance because Sony aren’t known for quality microphones. It might actually be better to buy an older camcorder on ebay — one that has a proper input.

By: Danny Howard

Danny Howard — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 02:24:21 +0000

Heya,
Please do post about what you figure out here. I have been interested in making some simple videos myself, less for podcasting but maybe to send videos to my father showing him little bits of what my life is like in San Francisco.
Thanks,
–danny

By: Gerald Buckley

Gerald Buckley — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 01:01:04 +0000

Mr. MacLeod… Depending upon the MacBook you have on order… you might not need anything additional.
I’m finding my iSight camera and the built-into-it microphone + the iMovie HD and the occassional dip into FinalCut Pro Studio HD are quite sufficient.
(Pay attention to Lloyd. He’s to blame for my corporate podcasting mis-adventures!)

By: Stace

Stace — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:08:05 +0000

Hugh,
You’ve got enough suggestions to keep you busy for awhile — as we say in the production biz, “Sound is Half of the Picture.” It’s hard to find consumer cams that allow you to plug in a good mic so you might want to start at the level of cam that allows you to plug in an external mic you’ve already chosen (i.e. XLR input).
Cheers,
S

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:40:32 +0000

aha, did wonder how long it would take you to succumb to the lure of the lovely mac.
I switched a while ago, it took me a little while to get used to OSX and for a while I wasn’t sure about my decision (where’s the damned right mouse button??) but by golly its so much better once you get used to it.

By: Sheamus

Sheamus — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:09:11 +0000

You will LOVE MBP (Mac Book Pro), 2.16 GHz or better Intel Core 2 Duo (lightening fast and runs cooler), iSight is kick-*ass great and OS 10.4.8 awesome (wait until you play with PhotoBooth)!
I recommend David Pogue’s book on Tiger (August 06 printing) from the Missing Manual Series.
Vidcasts and Vlogging… How cool is that!!
Rock on Hugh!

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 11:12:49 +0000

My gob has been smacked — is this the same Hugh that swore blind by his Tablet PC about to become a Mac fanboy ????!!! That should be an event worthy of a blog dinner!
As to mics — I use Big Boy Shures. If all else fails, they making smashing cluesticks for slapping people over the head with.

By: Jan / Faux Press

Jan / Faux Press — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 10:08:22 +0000

Qhatever camera you have, keep it within 4 feet of the mouths of those speaking and you will be just fine.
Do that for a while, and then decide if you need an external sound solution.
Should that time come, here’s the question: How much do you want to spend? If $700 or so, try the Sony wireless mic here:
http://www.locationsound.com/proaudio/ls/SSON0106.html
What ever mic you decide (or not) to buy, take your camera down to the brick and mortar store and allow a sales person to help you get the setup together in person.

By: eM

eM — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 10:07:19 +0000

I have a old logitech webcam and a sony dcr-hc96 camcorder (3 ccds yeah, but it cost me around $1,000 in Mexico, it’s much more cheaper on the US or UK)
I’ve done videoblogging with both of them and well, at some degree they’re the same if you upload them on youtube and don’t expect people to watch the videos full screen and compress the video a lot. So you could use either, but like Martin said I’d go with the camcorder too, specially since most of them have firewire or usb connectivity which makes capturing video a lot more easier (specially if you’d be working on a mac)
Mics are the same story, you could use a headset and it would not be that crappy but I wouldn’t recommend it. I got this marshall mic MXL D.R.K kit for like $90 dollars on ebay and it’s fantastic, the sounds are clear and crisp without all that noisy background (unless you’ve got a fan behind you or something like that)
As for the lightning.. can’t give you any recommendations since I do my recordings at home or at work with whatever light is available.

By: Andrew Denny

Andrew Denny — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:37:11 +0000

Hugh,
A few months ago you were praising the Tablet PC, along with Scoble. Suddenly it’s not your hot little number any more. Care to say why? Scoble doesn’t mention it either…
It would be nice to know if it’s still all you measured it out to be a year ago. Could it be anything to do with Scoble not taking the Gates shilling any more? I’ve never tried one, but said I would when Dell sold them.

By: Craig Duplessie

Craig Duplessie — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 03:35:23 +0000

I’d echo the sentiments of Martin regarding the GS180. You can’t beat that price for a 3ccd camera.

By: Ed Mercado

Ed Mercado — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:48:30 +0000

I agree with Nick’s comment about lighting and Chris on sound. The best thing is a decent camera that covers decent videos and audio. You can get an LED external light for about $30(US). Good thing you went with a Mac. iLife’s suite is perfect to cut something simple that integrates videos, pics and music.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:25:02 +0000

Get a low end prosumer camcorder if you’re wanting to contain costs. 3 chip cameras (higher quality video) have gotten so cheap lately that it doesn’t make sense not to get one. Just make sure it has an external audio port for a microphone b/c the on camera mics suck, & they will often pick up camera noises. I’m using the Panasonic GS180. 3CCDs, external mic port, firewire, lots of manual options as I get the hang of this, & it works great with my Powerbook. Street price about $360.
The biggest difference from crummy consumer video & better prosumer/professional video is usually the sound. Almost any microphone will make a huge difference (note onboard mic suck above). A great mic to start is the RODE Videomic. It’s a decent shotgun, doesn’t need phantom power (take a 9 volt battery) & already has stereo miniplug that will work with your consumer camera’s external audio port. It’s also cheap for mics in this sphere ($150 street price).
This set up would allow you do produce a pretty high quality vlog without dropping a huge pile on the equipment.

By: Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:57:36 +0000

If you’re serious about the microphone:
http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm
Don’t plan to meet up with me or link to me, because I don’t like you as a person; I only care about microphones.