Setting Manual Levels Using An External Camcorder Microphone: Before And After Comparison
Channel: Daniel Rosehill
Date: 2021-08-26

During a trip to IKEA today, I took a detour to shoot some footage of some of the forests around Jerusalem that were devastated by a recent fire.

I shot a few impromptu clips on my Canon Vixia HF R800 with my collaborative creative "partner".

I shot the fist clip using the built in microphone on the camcorder. And then rigged up a wireless UHF lavalier microphone. Unfortunately I forgot to set a manual gain level on the camcorder before doing so. Finally, we shot one more take of me talking about the fire but this time using a manual gain level.

I thought this video would make an interesting illustration of two points:

1) A problem with using the auto mic level with the Vixia specifically is that it often drops the gain quickly during variable windy conditions. Even a relatively slight gust of wind can cause the mic level to drop to the point that the audio tracks sounds terrible. You could call this "auditory windshear" and it's caused by the gain making quick automatic adjustments to compensate against wind noises.

2) The difference between using an external microphone with a camcorder that had manual level adjustment versus just using the automatic setting. Comparing clips two and three, I think there's a noticeable difference and that the clip with the manual levels sounds a lot better. 

By: Daniel Rosehill (danielrosehill.co.il)

== Production notes ==*

Camera:
Audio:
Stabilization:
Lighting:
Postproduction:
Other notes:

(I write these for myself to help keep track of what equipment I'm using as I try to make better YouTube videos!)

== Licensing / syndication / reproduction ==

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