I'm sure this has been covered before, but the Café search hasn't been working on my computer for some reason.

I'm going to start making my promo video. However, I don't want the quality of my voice to come out badly by relying only on the camera's mic. I've also seen videos of people who have a PA system, but their voice was projected a little too loudly and still ruined the quality. Does anyone have any tips on making good sound quality on a video? Thanks!

Dave

Look at this article:

http://longzijun.wordpress.com/2010/06/2......cording/

Wow thanks!

That's a great link Clinton... I do video for a living and whenever I film a person speaking, my preference is to put a wireless lapel mic on them. Granted there are some situation where this won't work but in general the sound quality is about as good as you can get if you're only needing the one person's voice.

My next favorite method for groups or where I can't mic the individual is a good quality shotgun mic, these are designed to be very directional so if you can have someone operating it on a handheld boom and directing it towards the speaker, you'll have better luck.

Of course I don't know anything about the camera your using or what kind of inputs it has but that's my two cents.

Corey

Can you recommend a quality (yet affordable) wireless lapel mic? Some that I've seen are subtle, others look like they might as well be a hand held mic. Either way I'm new in this area of electronics.

BH Photo has tons of them. I use a Sennheiser wireless lapel which cost around $600. You can certainly spend MUCH more for them but I've been happy with this one. I also have a Sony set that works very well and was around $300.

I've never used one, but have heard that, for the money, the Azden 105LT is pretty good. It's a little less than $300.

The mics are small but not invisible. Remember though that when using mics for video, it's not like live production...you don't have problems with feedback so you can get away with things like putting it under someone's shirt or hiding it in a prop that they're carrying. That being said I usually just stick it on their shirt and as long as the wires are hidden, I don't think the mic itself looks too bad.

Hope this helps.

While feedback is not a concern when speakers are not used, mic placement still is just as important. You cannot separate a mic and a mouth with fabric, and still expect the mic to sound as good. Depending upon the prop, and its position relative to the mouth, puting a mic inside the prop probably won't work satisfactorily, either.

Your application of doing a promo video without the use of a PA does not change the rules for mic placement. You still need to locate the mic as per the manufacturer's recommendations. Poor placement will result in poor sound quality. As always, the balance is between sound quality and visibility. To a large extent, they work against one another.
Good luck!