Why this is a bad idea:
While this sounds like a good idea from a financial standpoint, let alone the ease of editing or playback, it is actually going to hurt your production more than you think. Professional sound equipment incorporates expensive and precision parts that ensure the quality of the sound coming into the machine is as good as it can be, while offering outstanding recording options. Sending to camera requires all tracks to be mixed down and sent into the camera's inferior recorder. Many cameras do not offer the dynamic range that an audio recorder would offer standard, and the converters arent always adequate either. The biggest problem however is the trouble with the mixdown.
It sounds nice on paper to have your audio pre mixed and already attached to your picture, but mixing on the fly for final results is like starting a project from a very weak connection. In camera perspectives, it's like shooting your film or TV show with your iPhone. Sure, it's HD video, but the quality isnt there.
These days we see more and more "One Man Band" type audio guys on sets, whereas not too long ago it was standard to have a mixer/recorder and a boom op. This setup is like having a camera operator and an assistant camera. Operating your camera, pulling focus, and doing all the other tasks involved in shooting a picture (be it for film or television) can be quite daunting, and one cannot expect a one man camera crew to do as good of a job as a two man crew. The same goes for sound. When I am holding my boom over my head, how am I supposed to adjust levels during the take? The simple answer is that I cant. So if I cant actually do an on the fly mix that is being sent to camera, what am I sending? All the tracks together with the levels kind of set where I think they may be best at, but I cant do a proper job while booming.
Another problem that can occur is how the signal is sent to the camera. Many ENG teams use whats called a Break-Away cable, which has your audio sends, and monitoring returns. Normally this would tether the camera man to the sound mixer. The camera man could quickly release the cable if he needed to move fast. Of course at that point no audio would be sent to the camera until the sound mixer could catch up with the camera man and re attach the cable.
Other times we use wireless sends to the camera to avoid the tether. But the wireless devices are considerably expensive, and use a lot of power. Batteries dying during a take are pretty common, and the possibility for radio interference or drop outs are very high, and happen quite frequently.
Whenever I am asked to do this type of thing, I always record all my tracks separate on my recorder as well as send to the cameras because more often than not some sort of problem occurs. I have saved many projects from being thrown out or re shot because the on camera audio was no good, and they were able to take my recorded tracks, re sync, and do a proper mix in post. This does not mean I am sending my audio incorrectly, it means that I cant be responsible for the integrity of my audio if it is being recorded on a machine that I would never use, and operated by someone who knows nothing or very little about what I do.
This of course is why it is important to always remember to slate every take, even if you are shooting non scripted material. Programs like Plural Eyes are also very helpful in quickly syncing sound to picture, as well as multi-cam shots. With inexpensive programs like that, the need for time code or cutting corners and going into camera seem expensive to the sound department, lazy, and irresponsible.
A recent film I worked on had an on site DIT that would ingest footage from the camera's cards, as well as my audio, and sync them on site. That way he wasnt bored all day, and the editor already had everything set up for him to just jump in. Knowing that this was going to be the case, I attached a small discrete mic on the camera so that the DIT would also have an audio reference (though not my audio) so that he could hear what was happening in case of a mis labeled slate, or to use as a reference track in Plural Eyes to sync with my audio tracks.
To me this is the absolute best solution for saving money on your production without compromising the quality of your sound or picture. Chances are you already have someone on site ingesting your media as you shoot, so why not put them to work syncing audio to picture? That will keep them away from hanging out at the crafty table or bothering the makeup girls!
That will also help coordinate media specifications so that everyone is on the same page. 90% of the time on an Indie film shoot, no one tells me what frame rate we are shooting at, whether they want me to deliver mono or poly files, how they want things labeled, if they want sound reports, or anything. Usually the only direction I get is whether or not they want me to send to camera. Often I will be asked at the end of a shoot for sound reports, but if no one asked me to make them before we began shooting, I cant deliver them. I also wont do sound reports if I am mixing and booming at the same time. I need three arms to mix and boom, and a fourth to make sound reports. You try doing it and tell me how it was easy to do all your jobs correctly and simultaneously. If there was a DIT on site however that was concerned with syncing things up, they could tell me to shoot at 23.98 or 24 fps, how to label my tracks so things are easier for them, or a number of other things that will help streamline the process and minimize room for failure.
Well, I got a little off topic, though related and important. So the point I am trying to make, plain and simple, is that recording audio to camera can be done, but dont plan on using it for anything more than a reference track. There are too many reasons for it to fail, and then you will be left with nothing at all that's useable. Do things right, and you will save money in the long run.
If you are looking to save money on your production, there are countless resources on the internet (and my web site: http://cymbaline.org) about stretching your budget to get the best bang for your buck without compromising the quality of your project. The minute you start making decisions that your department heads should be making is when you are setting yourself up for failure. You hired the expert, take his advice when he talks to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment