A question about mics

[dkmontgomery]

Sure

We have two sets of Sure headsets that we purchased from Musician's Friends many years ago. We have used them for puppetry and ventriloquism for many years now with good success.
I think the sound system also plays a role in relation to your headset as well. As we have performed in various size locations, we could tell a difference based on the sound systems they had installed. You can buy the really nice headsets, but if the sound system is poor quality then it will not sound good regardless. Of course I don't know what your sound system is like at the theater. I would check out Ebay for headsets. You might check musicians friends as well. I did know a sound specialist one time that did highly recommend Telex. He installed a system in a church for us one time and that was the brand of mikes he recommended to us. And they did work nicely as well! I do think someone has already mentioned, "You get what you pay for." But I think you can find some headsets at a reasonable price.

 

[CoOKiE]

cookie - I think I've confused myself while reading your mission.

What is your camcorder model? You said SC-CX103 in another thread, but I can't find that model number.

on the lower left side of the box it says Sc-dx103. Its a digital camcorder from Samsung. It records mini DVDs.

I bought it at Wal-Mart... but Target had it with a better price cut. I think the sale is instore only (if n e one cared to look into it).

I bought it because i could record onto DVD and put it right into my camera. But the bad things about this camcorder are:

No shoe. I cant add a mic or lights... which also leads to...

No spotlight. I bought it because i already own some worklights to use for recording, so it didn't matter to me.

I'm going to radio shack tomorrow with my soundboard and camcorder to see which wires i'll need to connect them. I know one of them is like a 1/4 size wire.. but yea so i'm just going to see if i can get help there.

 

[Jinx]

You have to realize though that just having the right size connectors is only half the battle. The signal type is also vitally important for good sound. A line level signal plugged into a mic input, unless properly attenuated, will be way too hot and will give distorted sound and could possibly damage the camera. My cameras have built-in attenuators for this purpose. (they're $2200 cameras) And even at that I use a separate field audio mixer/recorder to capture sound and then sync it up in the editing software.

The bottom line is that you are putting together a piecemeal rig and will not likely get good results. I fear you are spending a lot of money that will in the end give you only mediocre results at best.

The folks at Radio Snack will certainly be happy to sell you the connections that will fit, but it's kind of like entering the Indianapolis 500 in a 1974 Chevy Vega.... sure the car will go around the track, but it is simply the wrong tool for the job.

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but it is important to realize that video production requires highly specialized equipment, and home video equipment will give home video results.

You can find out all kinds of information on video production at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/

It is an excellent forum for video production, and I would look there for expert video advice, not here (with all due respect to my fellow puppeteers here at Muppet Central!). I certainly would not ask over there for qualified puppetry advice, but for all things video (and audio... check out the "All Things Audio" topic) you'll be hard pressed to find a better forum.

Again, this is not to say that there are not knowledgable people here, but there are a whole lot more over at dvinfo!

Good Luck, and be careful!

 

[CoOKiE]

thanks for the info. I want better then minimum quality, but at the same time, i really dont have all that money to be getting the equipment for the best quality.

I'm making short videos for fun. I have a crew of actors, however i'm doing most of the work behind scenes.

I think after a few episodes, i'll have their attention. I have a habbit of working really hard on something and not completing it because i'm working alone, so i'm sure they don't take me 100% seriouse off the bat lol.

Its really not easy to be doing everything alone tho. all ideas are one sided... which isn't a bad thing. prevents conflict... ahem... most of the time.