If video is king, audio is queen! You won’t have a good video with great audio! So how do you ensure you get audio? Two ways: - Getting great audio at the source!
- Making audio great while editing!
For now, we’ll focus on the first way. To get great audio you need a good microphone. There are 4 main types of microphones:
- Handheld Microphone – The most common type, we’ve seen this everywhere. They can record great audio, but they need to be held by hand, and will be visible in a video. So how do you avoid that?
- Boom / Shotgun Microphone – A microphone held above the view of the camera, that focuses itself on your audio. It’s clear and doesn’t show up in the camera. But generally you’d need someone to hold it for you. Is there a way to record audio yourself and make sure it doesn’t show in the video?
- Lavalier / Lapel Microphone – A small, low profile microphone that is inconspicuous and is hard to spot in a video. It records great audio and can be hidden from sight, if properly put on a person.
- Condenser Microphone – A common type of microphone, but generally used for recording audio for either dubbing or for screencast style videos!
Wired or Wireless?There is no definitive answer to this question because, the type of mic you use, whether its wired or wireless, completely depends on your situation.Now, if your character is moving a lot and is far from your camera then a wireless mic would be the preferred optionIn the other case if your character is completely still and doesn’t move a lot, then a wired mic can be used.There’s almost no difference between the two in terms of quality. They both pick up the same and get crisp clear audio as needed.
Polar PatternsPolar patterns are a technical term for “area of accepted audio” in a microphone. The most common are:
- Omnidirectional – picks up 360o of audio.
- Cardioid – picks up audio in a heart shape. Perfect for voiceovers.
- Hyper-Cardioid – picks up smaller “heart” shape with little gain from rear for ambience.
- Bi-directional – picks up audio for front and rear, but not sides. Perfect for interviews.
- Shotgun – great for recording audio in a loud, noisy environment.
Remember to buy a microphone based on choosing which polar pattern suits your video needs best. Stay Tuned for more articles on Video Making; and learn to become a master of video making!If you have any questions about this article, please contact us at: videocastleindia@gmail.com
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