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Please Share Your Interview Fan Strategy

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Michael J. Underwood

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Hello - I'm shooting a long interview for a doc and pretty concerned about fan noise as it will be an interior. I've head of people setting a low fan speed and blackshading at a high temp, but wondered if anyone else has a way to deal with this common situation. Maybe this has already been discussed; please direct me if this is the case...

Many thanks in advance!
 
I've kept the settings at the default and have yet to run across a fan noise issue while shooting interviews, and I shoot a LOT of interviews. For the majority of interviews I shoot the camera is typically ten feet from the subject, how close are you planning on putting the camera to your subject? I shoot interviews using 128GB Redmags at 5K 2:1 or 5KHD filling the mags to the top and have yet to run into a situation where the fan suddenly kicked in. Not saying it hasn't happened to others, because we know it has, but that has not been my experience. Honestly, I have more of an issue with building noise than anything coming from the camera. Sure, when it stops recording, the hand dryer starts up, but shooting, not a problem.
 
If the ambient temps are high then you have more limited options. That said, in moderate temps I can usually set the fan to 30% for both standby and record with good results. Every room is different, and if you melt down your camera don't blame me, but in a 72° room with carpet/drapes/acoustical tile ceilings and good mic placement the soundtrack is clean and the camera holds temperature. YMMV.

Cheers - #19
 
I was wondering about that as well, since i`m going to shoot 2 hours long interviews on my Scarlet (with little pauses to change the SSDs)

If one was to use ice bags on the Scarlet, what would be the best place to pu them? I guess the top is not a good idea since it would block the air flow... Also, is there any danger of getting the electronics wet?

Thanks
 
Rodrigo Prata said:
If one was to use ice bags on the Scarlet, what would be the best place to pu them? I guess the top is not a good idea since it would block the air flow... Also, is there any danger of getting the electronics wet?
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The fan blows air over the passive heatsink to dissapate heat from the camera. Unless you have some sort of heatpipe thats connected to the base of the camera's heatsink, you won't be able to cool it with any exterior solution. Besides, I wouldn't put a bag of ice nowhere freakin' near my camera. :ack2:
 
I have conducted several interviews and do get some fan noise when the fan is running at regular speed, but I record some ambient room noise with camera recording and knock the noise out in the Adobe sound software.... Ok my editor does it, lol.
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
If the ambient temps are high then you have more limited options. That said, in moderate temps I can usually set the fan to 30% for both standby and record with good results. Every room is different, and if you melt down your camera don't blame me, but in a 72° room with carpet/drapes/acoustical tile ceilings and good mic placement the soundtrack is clean and the camera holds temperature. YMMV.

Cheers - #19
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+1

I also prefer to shoot my interviews with longer lenses -- the RPP 85 and 100 are great -- so the camera can sit back a ways with proper lav mic fitted to your interviewee or a good shotgun pointed at them. Shouldn't pick up the camera fan at all.

Things change a bit too if you're trying to do longer interviews with multiple cameras. All things considered, the fans on the RED cameras have never been a problem. And it's always best to have a recording of room tone and fan noise at different levels to help clean up any that might happen to get recorded.
 
I've been using an audio technica Pro24 plugged directly in to my Scarlet for scratch audio to varying degrees of acceptability. Im using the firmware from two updates ago. It can work.

Some tips for this setup from a very green user :

If your signal is hitting the yellow (which would normally be optimal), you will have a lot of camera noise.
Don't plug in any headphones.
Have the boom/micstand more than three feet away from the camera.

I'm just telling you what I have found out based on what I have, but you can totally get away with using that setup. I suggest doing some tests with the levels as per the audio settings on the camera and the results.

I have a sound guy for my film but I can't always afford to have him around; with limited budget/resources I strongly suggest using not a pro audio recorder, but a high end camcorder with a built in stereo condenser mic for your offboard audio. I've been using a first generation sanyo xacti hd cam for some of this and the vocal audio it captures is very good. It's easy to sync too. You can buy a lot of camcorder before you hit a fraction of a high end digital audio setup...
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
I also prefer to shoot my interviews with longer lenses -- the RPP 85 and 100 are great -- so the camera can sit back a ways with proper lav mic fitted to your interviewee or a good shotgun pointed at them. Shouldn't pick up the camera fan at all.
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I think this is the best advice. Typically in any noisy location, I'll advise our sound clients to use wireless lavs just to eliminate the room as much as possible. It doesn't sound more "real," but sometimes an "in-your-face" sound is appropriate for interviews.

Noise cancellation with iZotope and other tools is a last-ditch effort, but that can work, too. The trick is, fan noise is typically broadband, so it's harder to remove than, say, a distant siren or distant low-frequency traffic rumble.

I've done many, many shoots with Epic and Scarlet this year, and I personally haven't yet had any camera noise issues. The environments were typically noisier than the camera.
 
I prefer to use a directional shotgun mic and have camera at least 10 feet away if possible. I have my fans set to 40 record and 75 standby and have had no problems. The interview area or room may dictate a different camera position, fan settings and/or mic choices but generally this has worked well for me.
 
There's some really great advice here - thanks to everyone who replied. I wanted to mention that someone PM'd me this old thread: http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?78306-EPIC-FAN-NOISE-HEARTBREAKING-DURING-INTERVIEW somewhat dramatic title, but good stuff here, too.

My shoot will be in a Persian rug shop at night in the Valley. I am looking to capture 2-4 hours of content. My plan is to blackshade the camera at 68 core and try to keep a constant fan speed at 40-50 depending on the room temp. Probably will shoot at least 100mm, to keep the camera as far away as possible. I'll post an r3d for everyone's reference.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
+1

I also prefer to shoot my interviews with longer lenses -- the RPP 85 and 100 are great -- so the camera can sit back a ways with proper lav mic fitted to your interviewee or a good shotgun pointed at them. Shouldn't pick up the camera fan at all.

Things change a bit too if you're trying to do longer interviews with multiple cameras. All things considered, the fans on the RED cameras have never been a problem. And it's always best to have a recording of room tone and fan noise at different levels to help clean up any that might happen to get recorded.
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Very sad day when the fan noise dictates the focal length and the interview's look - in my opinion.
 
I turn the fan onto manual with the record speed at 25% haven't had a problem with lenses around 35mm & up.

Not sure what happens on really hot days though. Anyone been in the situation with these settings & heat ?
 
I've done a ton of long interviews with Epic... usually about 10 feet from the subject, different types of rooms, all over the country. Interviews are usually 45 minutes to an hour, fairly non stop, 4 to 5 per day. Lav and boom set up. Fan is set to 40 for record. Have never had it be a problem. It is a non issue.
 
Mike Garrick said:
I turn the fan onto manual with the record speed at 25% haven't had a problem with lenses around 35mm & up.

Not sure what happens on really hot days though. Anyone been in the situation with these settings & heat ?
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I shot a sizzle reel in Austin this summer and it was about 95 degrees every day. My Scarlet would kick on the fan after about 15-20 minutes of constant rolling outdoors, then every 5 or so minutes after that. I would have to shutdown and shade the camera every time we were not rolling, which wasn't often.

The fan kicking on did not blow any interviews. But every time we would start to roll, my heart would begin pumping as I watched the temperature go up, instead of focusing on the framing. Ultimately the producers are very excited about the look of the project and happy with the images.

I hate to say it, but I just can't take it out on intense reality/documentary jobs as my A camera after that experience.
 
Paul Toth said:
I prefer to use a directional shotgun mic and have camera at least 10 feet away if possible. I have my fans set to 40 record and 75 standby and have had no problems. The interview area or room may dictate a different camera position, fan settings and/or mic choices but generally this has worked well for me.
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Normally, I think a shotgun mike can work well, but with reflective walls in interiors, it's not an ideal choice. I honestly think that a wireless lav is better in problematic situations to "lose the room," particularly if there are camera noise issues. (I've encountered 35mm cameras that are noisier than the Epic on occasion.)

If it's a very quiet room that's well damped, lots of drapes, carpets, and so on -- or a studio set -- then the boom is almost always a better choice, provided you can get it in close. A hypercardioid can be better than a shotgun in some situations, but there is no one size fits all.
 
I usually set the camera to 37% run speed and 75-100% standby. The camera is usually 10-12' away from subject on a long lens unless they need a teleprompter or interrotron. I've noticed the camera usually stays 2% under run speed setting, so at 37% the camera actually stays as 35%. I find if I go much below this, the camera will overheat in about 15 minutes and the emergency fan will kick on, necessitating a cut. This seems to happen regardless of location or ambient temperature (studio, conference room, house, exterior) YMMV of course.

*I should add that 99% of the time I'm working with a great sound man, so there's a lav on the subject, a boom just out of frame, and sound blankets all around if necessary.
 
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