Interesting Scratch Track Solution?

[Akin A]

I know I asked previously but didn't get much input...

What process are you guys using to judge takes on set?

At the moment, I have a Rode NTG-3 going into a Tascam DR-100 MKII for good audio and the Olympus ME-52W for scratch syncing purposes.
Trying to manually sync the playback of both the audio recorder (w/ headphones) and the Epic is painful for judging takes and the ME-52W audio is weak if actors aren't right up close.
My normal process is judging takes quickly, based what the ME-52W sent to camera and when I think the take is good, verifying that the boomed audio into the recorder is good, then moving on to the next shot.

I'm thinking of getting a recorder that will allow me to output the captured audio into the camera so that I won't have to worry about judging takes based on bad audio.

 

[Eric Santiago]

Akin I use the ME all the time and the success rate for my R3Ds sync in FCPX is close to 95%.

What are you using manually?

 

[Mike Nagel]

I know I asked previously but didn't get much input...

What process are you guys using to judge takes on set?

At the moment, I have a Rode NTG-3 going into a Tascam DR-100 MKII for good audio and the Olympus ME-52W for scratch syncing purposes.
Trying to manually sync the playback of both the audio recorder (w/ headphones) and the Epic is painful for judging takes and the ME-52W audio is weak if actors aren't right up close.
My normal process is judging takes quickly, based what the ME-52W sent to camera and when I think the take is good, verifying that the boomed audio into the recorder is good, then moving on to the next shot.

I'm thinking of getting a recorder that will allow me to output the captured audio into the camera so that I won't have to worry about judging takes based on bad audio.

if this is in regards to talent performance, I don't judge takes by vocal performance as u can (if necessary) do ADR later... unless there are major, obvious audio problems with the talent in a take, then I would shoot another take for safety...

if u know (upfront) u won't be doing ADR then using the ME and the Tascam (which is a set up I've used as well) u can simply listen to the audio separately if u are concerned about certain parts of the take, no need to see the video simultaneously IMO unless there are specific challenges or requirements for individual takes...

re sync: make sure to keep fans as quiet as possible (and do NOT cover the top fan by any means, that will make the front fan go nuts), the fans add a lot of noise and mess up a lot of syncs if the take is quiet (i.e. the talent does not raise his/her voice) or there are no loud sound spikes, or the talent is further away from the cam... clapping at start/end of each take does help...

if u cannot sync - I've been there many times - u have to manually sync... all doable, just annoying waste of time...

 

[Marc Wielage]

You won't have to do much ADR at all if you pick a good location and put the mic in the right place the first time. Neither the Tascam nor the Olympus are good choices for audio, in my opinion. Don't skimp out on audio. Your audience will notice bad sound even before they notice bad lighting, bad lenses, or bad acting.

 

[Akin A]

Well I'm not worried about post-syncing because worst case, I can do that manually from aligning spikes from a clap and I don't mind doing that.
When I said manually syncing on set, I was referring pressing play on both the Tascam and camera at the same time to watch playback (assuming you pressed record at the same time). It's always slightly off because of lag. So I listen to the audio seperately as Mike said above.

But being on set and judging takes while watching playback was my question. Are guys getting good enough scratch audio to just plug your headphones into the camera while watching video playback w/ scratch audio? Assuming the camera's audio gain is set to highest level. Yeah, the fan noise is annoying, but I just feel like the overall sensitivity of the ME is low.

I would avoid ADR whenever possible. As an actor, it's like cheating, lol.

 

[Mike Nagel]

As an actor, it's like cheating, lol.

so, u're a hired performer that plays a fictional character on a fake set, with made-up costumes and make-up to change ur visual appearance, with adjustments by a director who coordinates your every move from the outside and u then get 15 takes to finally deliver a part of a scene yet u feel that doing a dedicated voice track that nails the vocal performance is "cheating" ?! ;-))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

[Akin A]

so, u're a hired performer that plays a fictional character on a fake set, with made-up costumes and make-up to change ur visual appearance, with adjustments by a director who coordinates your every move from the outside and u then get 15 takes to finally deliver a part of a scene yet u feel that doing a dedicated voice track that nails the vocal performance is "cheating" ?! ;-))))))))))))))))))))))))

Indeed, an authentic performance is all we got in the fictional world! :001_cool:

 

[Grzegorz Gill]

Hey Mike,
Did you figure a solution to the buzz with the bomb evf and the olympus me52w mics? I used these mics on a two cam feature months back. One cam had the touch and they sounded great, and the other had a bomb evf and got good levels but the buzz was terrible. I stumbled up this thread looking for some solutions because I just bought a couple of these olympus mics and they sound terrible, but perfect when I unplug the bomb evf.

Thanks

Yes, unplugging the Bomb evf did indeed get rid of most of the audio buzz. I don't actually have a RED monitor but I do have a small HD 4" HDMI monitor. Plugging that in did not affect the audio...
Does anyone know why the Bomb EVF would cause audio buzz?

Thanks Mike.