"Peter Irving" wrote in message
...

snip

I have alreay set my camer positions, using 2 cams for each of 3
performances, it is the audio question that foxes me, and a mini
disk or mp3
recorder would be the best idea. The production is unlikely to go
beyond 120
minutes. The other option is to fit a high end mic to my static
camera while
I would use the other cam for closeups etc. any suggestions as to
make/model
of mic would be greatfully received.

That would be the best route to go, record the (mixed [1]) audio to
your main 'locked off' camera and then capture this whole tape and lay
it to a track in the editor (unlock the audio and video on your main
tracks time-line), then you can add clips from your other cameras to
the video track *only* by 'overwriting' the video from the locked off
camera. You will have both the audio and video on these (camera 2)
clips to help with syncing although you will only actually lay the
video to the time-line IYSWIM.

[1] you might want to use more than one mic' and feed them through a
audio mixer and then to the camera via the line out of the mixer.


A mammoth editing session would then follow of course,

I disagree, with a main locked off camera being used in the above
manor all you will be doing is inserting clips onto an already
complete video !


One further question would be how to capture from mini disk and what
format
would the files come in as. MP3 is no problem of course.

Copywright etc. is no problem as I am doing the whole project on
behalf of
the composer of the musical.

You may still need clearance from those people appearing on the video.


The whole event is not til October 1st in Birmingham so I have some
time to
sort myself out.


I would seriously consider using as many mics' as I can and pre
mixing (you would need access to at least one rehearsal after setting
up to do this though), you most certainly need two mics', a left and
right feeding into their own tracks on the stereo input. You also need
these mics' to be close to the performers whilst as far away from any
audience as possible. You might consider using a MiniDisc recorder to
record a wild track of the audience in case you need to boost audience
applause etc.

If this is being done for anything more than a home movie than it
might even be worth hiring pro audio equipment, the video side of
things are the least of your problems !

PS, please stop Morphing or do you have some kind of ID crisis ?! :~)

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:39:19 +0100, Peter Irving
wrote:

I have alreay set my camer positions, using 2 cams for each of 3
performances, it is the audio question that foxes me, and a mini disk or mp3
recorder would be the best idea. The production is unlikely to go beyond 120
minutes. The other option is to fit a high end mic to my static camera while
I would use the other cam for closeups etc. any suggestions as to make/model
of mic would be greatfully received.

I don't know which mics are camera-compatible, mine are all XLR and feed
a mixing desk, then into the MD (or 8-track) recorder g.

A mammoth editing session would then follow of course,

Or several. Many. Lots g... I do most of my editing work between
10pm and 6am, ending when I realise that I'm supposed to get up for work
at 7am...

One further question would be how to capture from mini disk and what format
would the files come in as. MP3 is no problem of course.

I have a standalone deck which has SPDIF output at 44k1 in real time, I
feed it into my sound card and save as WAV. The HiMD ones have a
USB upload facility, and their software can (allegedly) convert to WAV
(see the FAQ).

Copywright etc. is no problem as I am doing the whole project on behalf of
the composer of the musical.

That makes it easier, but you still need performance rights from the
venue and the production group.

The whole event is not til October 1st in Birmingham so I have some time to
sort myself out.

Universal law: time is shorter than you think g.

Unfortunately I'll be away doing a music event in Germany on October 1st
(that weekend, in fact) otherwise I'd volunteer to come up and help...

Chris C

In message , Peter
Irving writes
Snipped...

One further question would be how to capture from mini disk and what
format would the files come in as. MP3 is no problem of course.

Just connect the audio out (earphone) from your minDisk to the mic in on
your sound card. You may have to adjust the levels on the sound card
control.

Some video editors allow you to directly import sound into the editor,
then you just drag it onto a timeline layer (and cut and paste if
required). If not then you may need an audio editor like SoundForge or
Goldwave. Vegas, BTW, included an integrated SoundForge.
--
Tony Morgan
http://www.camcord.info

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 18:49:20 +0100, StephenH
wrote:

If I have a mini DV camcorder and shoot some film and record the audio
separately, say onto a portable MiniDisc unit or a portable MP3 recorder
in conjunction with a separate microphone - am I likely to encounter any
problems with synchronisation?

I know with tape you can get fluctuations in the speed the tape actually
runs, etc, but what is digital tape like for this? Is it exact or are
there likely to be time differences between the camcorder and the
separate digital audio recording?


I've done this with DAT and MD running together - I needed to resync every
10 minutes or so.

If you are planning to release this commercially then I would strongly
suggest that you use an uncompressed recording format. If you record on MD
and then subsequently decide to record the result to DVD with an mpeg2
soundtrack you'll start to hear all kinds of unwanted audio artefacts.
Using 2 different audio compression algorithms in series isn't
recommended. You would be better off using an uncompressed recording
format which is supported by some portable hard disc mp3 recorders and
some high capacity MD recorders. There is also a neat Edirol unit that
records to flash memory.

Cheers.

James.

In message , James Perrett
writes
On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 18:49:20 +0100, StephenH
wrote:

If I have a mini DV camcorder and shoot some film and record the
audio separately, say onto a portable MiniDisc unit or a portable
MP3 recorder in conjunction with a separate microphone - am I likely
to encounter any problems with synchronisation?

I know with tape you can get fluctuations in the speed the tape
actually runs, etc, but what is digital tape like for this? Is it
exact or are there likely to be time differences between the
camcorder and the separate digital audio recording?


I've done this with DAT and MD running together - I needed to resync
every 10 minutes or so.

If you are planning to release this commercially then I would strongly
suggest that you use an uncompressed recording format. If you record on
MD and then subsequently decide to record the result to DVD with an
mpeg2 soundtrack you'll start to hear all kinds of unwanted audio
artefacts. Using 2 different audio compression algorithms in series
isn't recommended. You would be better off using an uncompressed
recording format which is supported by some portable hard disc mp3
recorders and some high capacity MD recorders. There is also a neat
Edirol unit that records to flash memory.

I've had the exact opposite result using miniDisk (using LP2 ATRAC3).
Over one hour recording, there has been no loss of sync from start to
end (providing you get the start synched).

I've used SoundForge, Goldwave (saving as MP3), as well as importing the
miniDisk audio (LR) directly into Vegas. All via the SB soundcard mic
in.
--
Tony Morgan
http://www.rhylonline.com

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:06:19 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

I've had the exact opposite result using miniDisk (using LP2 ATRAC3).
Over one hour recording, there has been no loss of sync from start to
end (providing you get the start synched).

As it happens, I had one which showed up last night (I do most audio and
video editing between 10pm and 6am). Two MD SP recorders, almost the
same model (and bought within 6 months of each other), started at the
same time. This is normally no problem at all (except that "same time"
can be out by a few hundred milliseconds, but it's a fixed offset from
there). On one set, though, one of them is shorter by 70ms, and it
happens about 40 minutes into the set. Fortunately I was able to delete
70ms from the other one during applause, but I have no idea how it
happened, both machines ran all through the set and there is no general
'slippage' of the time sync...

I've used SoundForge, Goldwave (saving as MP3), as well as importing the
miniDisk audio (LR) directly into Vegas. All via the SB soundcard mic
in.

I import via a Soundblaster Audigy 2 Pro using SPDIF, into nTrack, which
allows me to move tracks around. I do editing in 24-bit WAV format,
master to 24-bit WAV stereo, then normalise and trim and down-convert to
16 bit WAV for CD (so I keep it all in the best format until the end).

Chris C