My wife is going to be giving a series of classes that we'd like to record so they can later be sold on CD or in MP3 format. The classes will take place in a room about 40x15 feet.
I don't have any experience with this type of recording, and I'm wondering what a good set-up might be in terms of gear. Although the recordings will be sold, we're talking about a small scale here so the quality needs to be good enough but not perfect.
I have an Audio Technica ATR3350 (lavalier mic) that I use with my Kodak Zi8 video camera. I also have an early 2010 MacBook. Is there a way of using any of this equipment to produce a fairly high quality recording?
I realize I will need a USB sound card of some sort. I went out and got a Griffin iMic today (because the first class is tomorrow), and it's not really doing the job. The recording is very quiet. When I boost the input level in the Sound Preference Pane, it's still fairly quiet and on top of that I get a buzzing noise. The iMic is set to "Mic" and the mic is plugged into the "In" slot.
We might just have to do the best we can for tomorrow. But for future classes, what would you recommend? Or is there any way I can successfully boost the gain on the iMic/ATR3350 combo without adversely affecting sound quality?
Thanks.
Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
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kozikowski
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Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
Is it too late to get your money back for the iMic?
I would be recording the show on your little videotape machine and dub the sound over to the MacBook in post production, assuming you are happy with the work that the tape machine produces. Nowhere is it written that you have to use the video on a video tape.
That will also give you a very high quality archive tape of each show. I believe Hi8 uses FM sound, so that should sound far better than what the iMic produced. Do not use Extended Play if the tape machine has it.
Yes, you're finding out that Macs don't have a place to plug in a microphone. I need to think about a Final Solution. I use a full-on sound mixer like this...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PV6/
...and plug that into my MacBook Pro.
You might find that the tape machine will deliver a boosted version of the show to your Mac at the same time it's making the recording. Everybody wins.
Koz
I would be recording the show on your little videotape machine and dub the sound over to the MacBook in post production, assuming you are happy with the work that the tape machine produces. Nowhere is it written that you have to use the video on a video tape.
That will also give you a very high quality archive tape of each show. I believe Hi8 uses FM sound, so that should sound far better than what the iMic produced. Do not use Extended Play if the tape machine has it.
Yes, you're finding out that Macs don't have a place to plug in a microphone. I need to think about a Final Solution. I use a full-on sound mixer like this...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PV6/
...and plug that into my MacBook Pro.
You might find that the tape machine will deliver a boosted version of the show to your Mac at the same time it's making the recording. Everybody wins.
Koz
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
Hi Koz,
Thanks for your quick reply. The Zi8 is actually a 1080p digital video camera similar to the Flip HD. I guess we could use it for audio recording. I won't be able to attend the classes and there is no one else there to video her, so although your idea for video capture makes perfect sense it's not going to work out in this case.
Perhaps I could just set the camera on the lowest quality video setting to maximize the storage space on the SD card (since we won't be using the video anyways) and then have her just set the camera down next to her while she teaches the class. The video capture will be of the floor or wall, but we'd have the audio track.
It's probably cheaper to get a new larger SD card that can handle a 1.5 hour recording than it would be to get a USB sound card - and more portable, too. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for your quick reply. The Zi8 is actually a 1080p digital video camera similar to the Flip HD. I guess we could use it for audio recording. I won't be able to attend the classes and there is no one else there to video her, so although your idea for video capture makes perfect sense it's not going to work out in this case.
Perhaps I could just set the camera on the lowest quality video setting to maximize the storage space on the SD card (since we won't be using the video anyways) and then have her just set the camera down next to her while she teaches the class. The video capture will be of the floor or wall, but we'd have the audio track.
It's probably cheaper to get a new larger SD card that can handle a 1.5 hour recording than it would be to get a USB sound card - and more portable, too. Thanks for the idea!
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
switters wrote:My wife is going to be giving a series of classes in a room about 40x15 feet that we'd like to record so they can later be sold ... ... we're talking about a small scale here so the quality needs to be good enough but not perfect.
I have an Audio Technica ATR3350 (lavalier mic) that I use with my Kodak Zi8 video camera. I also have an early 2010 MacBook. Is there a way of using any of this equipment to produce a fairly high quality recording?
I realize I will need a USB sound card of some sort. I went out and got a Griffin iMic today (because the first class is tomorrow), and it's not really doing the job. ...
We might just have to do the best we can for tomorrow. But for future classes, what would you recommend? ...
Thanks.
do you want audio video or both ?
is she going to be stationary or move around ?
do you need to record questions from the audience too?
is the room well lit or are their slides in a dim room?
what is your budget ? can you afford to rent better gear or do you want to buy good enough to own and keep using?
worst case if you get the video right
you can always overdub the audio again
and you may want to do that anyway - edit and clean up then dub in
i would have a real live cassette tape recorder going as back up
or equivalent solid state device --
zoom h2 would be good -- aim front mikes at speaker with something blocking backside mikes, unblock if the audience is involved
or
you could use an "office" style recorder meant only for voice by olympus and many others .
cant say as to an imic and macbook working.
some mac folks here may weigh in on that.
if you are going to sell them even in low volume you should have high quality. if only for your professional image and to be able to charge more.
zoom h1 on the camera might be a good backup addenda
although a shotgun mike would give better quality
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
It's a small class. She won't be moving around much. Doesn't care about video, just the audio will be sold. No questions from the audience.
The Zoom H2 looks great. That may be an option going forward. For now we're going to use the Zi8 camera + ATR3350. We tested it last night, and it's good enough for our purposes right now.
Set at low video quality it can record continuously for almost 2 hours, so that should be plenty.
I'll definitely keep the Zoom H2 in mind. Thanks!
The Zoom H2 looks great. That may be an option going forward. For now we're going to use the Zi8 camera + ATR3350. We tested it last night, and it's good enough for our purposes right now.
Set at low video quality it can record continuously for almost 2 hours, so that should be plenty.
I'll definitely keep the Zoom H2 in mind. Thanks!
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
if she is moving then there are some issues
the volume will go up and down as the position wrt mike changes
holding the h2 will generate noise as will clipping it to her body
but if she uses the handhold accessory it would be okay
but that ties up a hand and is awkward to do all day
with a larger sd card you can record all day at voice quality
best would be to get a wireless mike that she can wear like
the rock stars and many preachers use - the small tube from ear clip to mouth area is common
with a receiver anywhere feeding a recorder you can get excellent
audio even if she moves a lot or turns her back to teh audience
the volume will go up and down as the position wrt mike changes
holding the h2 will generate noise as will clipping it to her body
but if she uses the handhold accessory it would be okay
but that ties up a hand and is awkward to do all day
with a larger sd card you can record all day at voice quality
best would be to get a wireless mike that she can wear like
the rock stars and many preachers use - the small tube from ear clip to mouth area is common
with a receiver anywhere feeding a recorder you can get excellent
audio even if she moves a lot or turns her back to teh audience
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kozikowski
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Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
<<<if she is moving then there are some issues
the volume will go up and down as the position wrt mike changes>>>
Didn't the poster say she will be wearing a tie-tack microphone (ATR3350) plugged into the video camera? Within reason there are no motion issues with that. And this is not a dreadful way to manage these capture sessions going forward, either. We did something very similar with a performance where the engineers didn't have access to the stage, but the performer didn't care how much equipment was on the stage or how it was wired. And we had an actual videotape camcorder available.
Koz
the volume will go up and down as the position wrt mike changes>>>
Didn't the poster say she will be wearing a tie-tack microphone (ATR3350) plugged into the video camera? Within reason there are no motion issues with that. And this is not a dreadful way to manage these capture sessions going forward, either. We did something very similar with a performance where the engineers didn't have access to the stage, but the performer didn't care how much equipment was on the stage or how it was wired. And we had an actual videotape camcorder available.
Koz
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
i thought the h2 was an alternate to the video audio
if wired mike into a vidcam -- then even more awkward to move around
when that mike is worn.
might work best to use the h2 on higher gain and
move it back a ways from the podium
so moving around does not make the sound level vary as much
but still would be several db or more
if wired mike into a vidcam -- then even more awkward to move around
when that mike is worn.
might work best to use the h2 on higher gain and
move it back a ways from the podium
so moving around does not make the sound level vary as much
but still would be several db or more
Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
The video cam is a pocket size Kodak Ki8. it's similar to the Flip HD, but with 1080p and an external mic jack. Quite handy, actually.
We recorded the first class with the video quality set at "web" (since we didn't care about the video capture). This permitted us to easily fit 1.5 hours of audio on the 2 GB SD card we have, and it also saved on battery life. My wife wore the ATR3350 lavalier mic, and was able to move around freely with the Zi8 in her hand or pocket.
The audio quality is good enough for our purposes, and I'm pleased that we were able to do this without buying any new equipment.
The H2 looks great and I'll definitely consider it for circumstances were a lavalier mic won't do.
We recorded the first class with the video quality set at "web" (since we didn't care about the video capture). This permitted us to easily fit 1.5 hours of audio on the 2 GB SD card we have, and it also saved on battery life. My wife wore the ATR3350 lavalier mic, and was able to move around freely with the Zi8 in her hand or pocket.
The audio quality is good enough for our purposes, and I'm pleased that we were able to do this without buying any new equipment.
The H2 looks great and I'll definitely consider it for circumstances were a lavalier mic won't do.
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kozikowski
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Re: Good hardware set-up for recording a class or lecture?
The Zoom H2 is a good compromise between quality and price, but it isn't the end of the world. I think the NPR people still show up for recordings with Marantz recorders.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... Flash.html
One of the techies in the film division has both and uses both. He has the Marantz bolted into his studio for super high quality recording an uses the H2 for somewhat lower quality field recording. When he needs unquestioned quality in the field, he takes the Marantz.
Koz
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... Flash.html
One of the techies in the film division has both and uses both. He has the Marantz bolted into his studio for super high quality recording an uses the H2 for somewhat lower quality field recording. When he needs unquestioned quality in the field, he takes the Marantz.
Koz