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So, if you want to use a high-end microphone with your camcorder and you don't have an XLR jack, you'll have to find a way to convert from the XLR cable to the 3.5mm connector on your camera. We explored two alternatives.The first was a "line matc

So those are the microphones and the ways they connect. But how do they perform?To test performance, we used a high-quality, digitized recording of a woman speaking, played back over computer speakers at a standardized volume. To create ambient so

There are two ways to connect external microphones to camcorders, though not all camcorders offer either or both options. First, of course, is your microphone port, which comes in two general categories. One is an XLR connector, which is typicall

Figure 3 shows a good cross section of the types of microphones you should be considering for your shoots. Let's briefly identify them, and then cover the three characteristics of microphones you need to learn before buying. Figure

The dramatic shadows created by three-point lighting have been a staple of movies and television production since their inception, and three-point lighting remains highly touted in most tutorials, articles, and books on video lighting. However, a

After speaking with Chang, I was eager to try his idea of using one key light behind the camera because this would save transporting another light on portable shoots and would guarantee absolute even lighting across the face. Rather than using the

As mentioned above, the interviews with local band No Speed Limit were primarily to create a DVD to send to festival promoters along with a couple of songs from a concert I shot on New Year's Eve. The group also wanted to upload the interviews to

I had my own opinions on the matter of which lighting technique to use for streaming. However, I wanted confirmation, so I contacted Roger Chang, who produces two shows for Ziff Davis Media — DL.TV with Patrick Norton and Robert Heron and Cr

Our tasks are arguably a bit out of sequence here, because when I apply compression I typically do it before normalization or other amplification. But for discussion purposes, it’s better placed here. To apply Soundbooth’s Advanced Co

Although AVCHD first appeared in consumer camcorders, a variation—AVC-Intra—will soon show up in broadcast cameras from Panasonic. Given that the MPEG-4 technology that fuels AVCHD is roughly twice as efficient as the MPEG-2 technology used in HDV, the new Sony-Panasonic standard will likely supplant HDV in the prosumer space. For this reason, it’s a standard you need to know about, …