Recording car footage without rubbish sound (wind noise etc)
Discussion
Right, so firstly I hope this is the right section. Seeing as there's a GoPro thread here I've got my fingers crossed it might be.
I'm trying to get a nice setup on the (fairly) cheap.
At the moment I've got a couple of cheap GoPro copies (SJ400 and Ultrasport UmovE), they record in 1080p which is all I'm really looking for at this stage. I'd rather get the whole setup ready and then slowly upgrade each part as we go.
In any case, I've got the two action cams and two car mounts for them. I've been experimenting with various positions and have a few favourites (low down on drivers-side so you can see the front wheel's travel and a good bit of landscape). However no matter where I place the cameras the internal microphones are rubbish, now I wasn't expecting audiophile quality sound but I'd like to be able to hear the car over the wind.
Unfortunately I can't find much on whether these cheap copies can support an external mic, and in any case I don't think it's sensible to drive around in this country without a waterproof case for your action cam! (which needs to be removed to plug in the mic)
At the moment with a little bit of research I'm leaning on getting a cheap sound recorder and something like a Røde Videomic with a wind sock and then using an extra car mount to position it as far away from the back bumper as safely possible with the mic aimed at the exhaust pipes, and then trail a long mic cable into the cabin and attach it to the sound recorder. What do you guys think of this setup?
Others seem to suggest that it's good to put a mic inside the engine bay to capture some good engine and intake sound but I'm not sure what sort of mic to use as it must have to be able to withstand quite high temperatures. Also I have no idea how you would mount it, the best I can think of would be a duct tape jobby but that doesn't sound safe and I can't see duct tape etc staying stuck when the bay starts to heat up.
I'm also considering buying a £200-300 DSLR with a mic input that I can use for recording the sound and at the same time adding an extra camera in the mix to capture some cabin shots, would also save some money in the future. Although I guess then if I want to record sound inside the cabin I'd need another mic / recorder etc
Any suggestions would be really appreciated, or any recommendations and details of setups that you guys use? I'm sure there's quite a few of you on here that dabble with this sort of stuff!
I'm trying to get a nice setup on the (fairly) cheap.
At the moment I've got a couple of cheap GoPro copies (SJ400 and Ultrasport UmovE), they record in 1080p which is all I'm really looking for at this stage. I'd rather get the whole setup ready and then slowly upgrade each part as we go.
In any case, I've got the two action cams and two car mounts for them. I've been experimenting with various positions and have a few favourites (low down on drivers-side so you can see the front wheel's travel and a good bit of landscape). However no matter where I place the cameras the internal microphones are rubbish, now I wasn't expecting audiophile quality sound but I'd like to be able to hear the car over the wind.
Unfortunately I can't find much on whether these cheap copies can support an external mic, and in any case I don't think it's sensible to drive around in this country without a waterproof case for your action cam! (which needs to be removed to plug in the mic)
At the moment with a little bit of research I'm leaning on getting a cheap sound recorder and something like a Røde Videomic with a wind sock and then using an extra car mount to position it as far away from the back bumper as safely possible with the mic aimed at the exhaust pipes, and then trail a long mic cable into the cabin and attach it to the sound recorder. What do you guys think of this setup?
Others seem to suggest that it's good to put a mic inside the engine bay to capture some good engine and intake sound but I'm not sure what sort of mic to use as it must have to be able to withstand quite high temperatures. Also I have no idea how you would mount it, the best I can think of would be a duct tape jobby but that doesn't sound safe and I can't see duct tape etc staying stuck when the bay starts to heat up.
I'm also considering buying a £200-300 DSLR with a mic input that I can use for recording the sound and at the same time adding an extra camera in the mix to capture some cabin shots, would also save some money in the future. Although I guess then if I want to record sound inside the cabin I'd need another mic / recorder etc
Any suggestions would be really appreciated, or any recommendations and details of setups that you guys use? I'm sure there's quite a few of you on here that dabble with this sort of stuff!
I'd definitely go with a microphone in the engine bay, but I wouldn't bother with an expensive one. Temperatures don't get crazily hot since there's plenty of airflow, especially if you put it on the intake side. Go down to Maplin, buy the cheapest one you can find, and cable tie it to something in the engine bay. You'll probably find it'll be far too loud, so you need to muffle it a little bit - to do this cheaply I'd try a few old socks. You can keep adding them until you get the level down to something that sounds OK.
Cheers mate, I'll definitely give it a go then. I'm looking to purchase a Zoom H1 in any case so will give this a go. Hopefully the settings on the mic will let me lower the input levels so it's not too loud. Not sure if I'd need a windshield in the engine bay or not will have to have a go.
So what I'm looking at at the moment setup-wise will leave me with:
2x 1080p actioncams (with 2 suction mounts and a spare battery each) [already own]
1x Nikon D3200 (external mic input and possibly a spare battery) [own now as I needed a new DSLR anyway and it was cheap]
1x Zoom H1 (windshield/deadcat required?)[buy?]
1x Rode Videomic Go (not sure whether to get a Go or Pro as reviews seem to be inconsistent) [buy?]
I don't know if this setup sounds a bit too complicated but I guess I'd be left with a few different options:
All at once I could:
Record audio off the H1from the engine bay. (intake/engine noise)
Record video off the D3200 in the cabin. (speaking to camera)
Record audio off the Rode Videomic of the exhaust onto the D3200. (exhaust noise)
Record audio in the cabin off my phone, maybe with a cheap lav mic? (speaking to camera)
Or would it be best to get another cheap sound recorder to plug the Rode Videomic into for the exhaust and use the D3200 just for the sound and video in the cabin, that way I wouldn't have non-cabin sound attached to cabin audio. I guess it can all be sorted in post, but for simplicities sake?
Any recommendations for cheap mic for recording monologues to camera in the cabin, bearing in mind some footage will be with the roof down in the SLK. I guess a simple windshield/deadcat would do for slow speeds / windows up (as much as I dislike having the windows up with the roof down!).
I guess with these as the bare bones I can slowly replace parts of the setup E.G. the knockoff action cams for GoPros, the DSLR for a "proper" video camera, the Rode for a "proper" shotgun, better sound recorders etc
tl;dr:
Rode Videomic Go or Pro?
Zoom H1 windshield/deadcat for engine bay?
What mic for cabin recording in convertible?
Is this setup good?
So what I'm looking at at the moment setup-wise will leave me with:
2x 1080p actioncams (with 2 suction mounts and a spare battery each) [already own]
1x Nikon D3200 (external mic input and possibly a spare battery) [own now as I needed a new DSLR anyway and it was cheap]
1x Zoom H1 (windshield/deadcat required?)[buy?]
1x Rode Videomic Go (not sure whether to get a Go or Pro as reviews seem to be inconsistent) [buy?]
I don't know if this setup sounds a bit too complicated but I guess I'd be left with a few different options:
All at once I could:
Record audio off the H1from the engine bay. (intake/engine noise)
Record video off the D3200 in the cabin. (speaking to camera)
Record audio off the Rode Videomic of the exhaust onto the D3200. (exhaust noise)
Record audio in the cabin off my phone, maybe with a cheap lav mic? (speaking to camera)
Or would it be best to get another cheap sound recorder to plug the Rode Videomic into for the exhaust and use the D3200 just for the sound and video in the cabin, that way I wouldn't have non-cabin sound attached to cabin audio. I guess it can all be sorted in post, but for simplicities sake?
Any recommendations for cheap mic for recording monologues to camera in the cabin, bearing in mind some footage will be with the roof down in the SLK. I guess a simple windshield/deadcat would do for slow speeds / windows up (as much as I dislike having the windows up with the roof down!).
I guess with these as the bare bones I can slowly replace parts of the setup E.G. the knockoff action cams for GoPros, the DSLR for a "proper" video camera, the Rode for a "proper" shotgun, better sound recorders etc
tl;dr:
Rode Videomic Go or Pro?
Zoom H1 windshield/deadcat for engine bay?
What mic for cabin recording in convertible?
Is this setup good?
maurauth said:
pidsy said:
As long as you can edit the sound post process - that's the way I'd go.
Editing would just be syncing up the two tracks and then dropping the volume on one or the other depending on what shot you are showing? 
I often think this is one of the most overlooked areas of car footage.
Anyway, as you say, external mic input is what's needed with wind muffling.
I've ended up using a cheap stereo lapel mic from Maplin. Works a treat and comes with a v long cable so you can have the camera and mic in different positions.
In terms of wind muffling, I've found the easiest method to wrap the mic up in LOTS of cotton wool and then tape it in place. It literally looks like a miniature sheep (about 6-10cm in diameter) attached to the car.
Position wise, Ive taped it near the exhausts, in the engine bay, behind the rear window etc. Anywhere out of direct wind buffeting and been very pleased with the results.
Its worthwhile checking your sound input levels and adjusting accordingly if you can on the camera, as different positioning will ahve different volumes (right near the exhaust being quite loud, obvs).
One tip I would give is that if you have the mic in the car with you, turn the stereo off...
Anyway, as you say, external mic input is what's needed with wind muffling.
I've ended up using a cheap stereo lapel mic from Maplin. Works a treat and comes with a v long cable so you can have the camera and mic in different positions.
In terms of wind muffling, I've found the easiest method to wrap the mic up in LOTS of cotton wool and then tape it in place. It literally looks like a miniature sheep (about 6-10cm in diameter) attached to the car.
Position wise, Ive taped it near the exhausts, in the engine bay, behind the rear window etc. Anywhere out of direct wind buffeting and been very pleased with the results.
Its worthwhile checking your sound input levels and adjusting accordingly if you can on the camera, as different positioning will ahve different volumes (right near the exhaust being quite loud, obvs).
One tip I would give is that if you have the mic in the car with you, turn the stereo off...
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