As a former college-level audio instructor, I have to say that this is an excellent primer on audio for video recording, full of practical tips. John does a great job of presenting the theoretical aspects of audio (which can be dry and boring to some) in an interesting and relevant fashion. Just one nit-pick on the factual info: consumer level is -10dBV (with a capital "V", referenced to 1 volt), not -10dBv (referenced to .775 volts).
I used to be an engineer in a radio station. This is probably the best combined explanation of the entire process I've seen. Also, I bought a Sennheiser 835 years back, now I understand why it makes my voice sound so good, like a late night radio DJ!
I'm not a filmmaker, have little desire to be a filmmaker and many times numbers and tech-talk goes over my head and my eyes glaze over. But, John, there's just something great, fascinating and interesting about watching these lessons of yours and seeing the knowledge and passion you put into them. The videos covering the history of cinema and the various aspects of them are utterly fascinating and great to watch, but it says something about your presentation that I can watch the overly talky and technical videos like this one and just really get into it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion with us. It does make me want to go out there and make a movie myself as I feel your passion.
Brian Straight I know exactly what you mean, there's something great isn't there about watching someone who really knows what he's talking about and is so talented at presenting
John, you should consider publishing a book as a companion work to all this stuff you've done. You've obviously done a lot of background research and your videos are very clear. Your level of knowledge on multiple subjects and ability to explain is it is impressive.
I went to graduate film school with a master's in film. But this guy is splendid and irrevocably superb in 21st Century sound acquisition. Exquisitely professorial and great to watch with propulsive musical cadence. Great job! -Godfrey Silas cinematographer
Thank you for making audio more understandable for me. Your lessons are well organized, full of great info and perfectly executed. You waste none of my time and make complex concepts simple to grasp.
I did not expect to learn as much as I did. This was a great video. I even learned my recorder is much better than I realized thanks to your explanation of frequency and bit depth. Thanks so much.
this was exactly what I was looking for! some of the other "basics of sound" tutorials i watched were way too technical and jargony and this was perfect for a beginner like myself :) clear and concise with really helpful graphics and diagrams
Once again, what an incredible and exhaustive lesson. Can't wait for your next video! I knew nothing about audio and have been reading left and right, your lesson not only taught me so much, but also helped me get an organized and clear understanding of audio in my head. Filmmaker IQ is golden, as always, I have watched many film school lectures online and live and none are even close to being as compressed and helpful. You are a great teacher!
Great video, John! Just to help your audience: 00:38 Part 1: Audio Signal Chain and Audio Recorders 07:37 Part 2: Pre-amp and Recording Levels 11:16 Part 3: Audio Cables 15:31 Part 4: Microphone Placement & Types
I started my recording journey recently, coming from an audiophile background I thought it’s gonna be easy as I do have an understanding to a certain degree, but boy oh boy was I wrong. This video helped me connect the dots and clear the fog that my previous knowledge kept me in. Thanks you lots
I am just new to recordings, photography, and videomaking. I am so happy that I got the chance to see this video. I am planning to buy an audio recorder with the best quality. Thanks for this. I just subscribed. 😊
Great video - here's why. 1) Intro - straight to the point, no waffle. I often think when listening to TH-cam videos, `must I listen to this guy's life story, that runs like a CV! 2) Your voiceover is natural in tone, meaning that you have avoided that `TH-cam sound` that is compressed, raised and over processed. 3) Explaining a very technical subject at a pace that is easy to follow.
Although I'm a couple years late on this, I just wanted to say that this video is phenomenal. Very informative and very good delivery of the concepts at play. Instant subscriber.
Of all the audio videos I've watched, I have to say yours had the most technical information-which paints in the missing puzzle piece I've been searching for. Thank you!
I HATE that you didn't hit a million views! I've been gathering this information for several years by buying and trying, and now I have it all in a single video. This is a MUST SEE video for film making beginners! Thank you..!
This is an amazing channel and the videos are very informative and dive deep enough into the subject. I want to add one thing though: Recording in 96kHz is really not necessary, and you should not be disappointed if your recorder doesn't support it. I have a friend who actually wrote his diploma thesis on this subject (which quality reductions are actually audible in the ears of professional mixing engineers). And he found that 48kHz in general is enough and any increase does not affect the quality at all, and it also doesn't matter in post production. 16 Bit on the other hand is actually not sufficient for many applications, and professionals can actually hear the difference to 24 Bit recording. So, to sum up: 48kHz is usually enough, but 16 Bit isn't. :)
I was going back and forth whether it was 96kHz or the 24bit that was contributing to the translucent quality of the audio I get off the recorder. I realize a lot of it is "psychological" - but I'll still stick to my 96kHz suggestion even if it's not entirely necessary ;)
Filmmaker IQ You are absolutely right: if your recorder supports 96kHz, there really is no reason not to use it. :) I mean, audio won't be what's breaking your disk size limits, and better safe than sorry. I just wanted to add the comment for other viewers that sound devices that don't support 96kHz are no dealbreaker and that the 24 Bit support is more important if your budget allows only for one of the two. :)
Just thought I'd throw in my programmer's perspective. Just because your software supports 24-bit samples, doesn't mean it'll work with them internally. More likely, it'll convert them to 32-bit floating-point (maybe keeping a buffer in that format on disk in a temporary file) and work on that, only converting to 24-bit again when saving the results. Trying to work with 24-bit values is a headache, because there's no provided way in hardware of working with them as a single unit. The easiest way to handle it is to convert it to some 32-bit format, which the computer can pass around as a single unit, using a third more memory and have readable source code without the clutter of moving odd-sized amounts of memory around. 32-bit floating-point tends to be the format of choice, because nearly everything has a floating-point unit which supports the IEEE754 standard and it's a reasonable amount of memory used for the precision available. It also has the advantage of floating-point versions of many algorithms being much easier to understand than integer versions. On the downside, 32-bit floats only have 23 bits of precision, so you will end up with rounding errors caused by truncation creeping in when doing a lot of summing of values, though they'll probably be small enough to be lost in the background noise.
***** You are right that most likely, the computer software internally will work with 32-bit-floats. But that doesn't really mean anything for the recording quality. An audio quality of "24 bit depth" means that there are 24 bits used to assign a value between roughly -8 million and 8 million as a signed integer with 23 bits precision. This can be, as you know, easily converted to a 32-bit-float with 23 bit precision and an additional exponent, with basically no computing power. On the other hand, if you record with 16 bits, the conversion will just fill in the additional precision of the 32-bit-float with zeros... So you still retain the full quality improvement when switching from 16 to 24 bit recording, which is what all the fuzz is about. :-) Also: Something is really broken with my comment, parts of it seems to be crossed out...
Absolutely the BEST presentation of "Recording Audio for Digital Video" I have ever seen. I have a new Audio Hero. Thanks so much. Highly informative and clarifies much of the mystery of recording great audio. Bravo!
And: the only difference between 16 and 24 bits is that the first guarantees a theoretical 96dB range between 0dBFS (the limit before distortion) and the quantization noise, while 24 bits guarantees a theoretical value of more than 144dB. What that means in practical terms is that you can have more headroom between the 0dBFS limit and the audio peaks. In comparison, you can record more than 30dB lower than you would at 16 bit with no signal to noise ratio loss. ;)
Dude, before I got t your channel I didn't even know I had a passion for movies, Video and Audio recording. I've been bing watching your videos for days.
Immensely informative! I've made the mistake of plugging a mic signal into a line level input and had low sound. I ended up using a TASCAM iXJ2 for my preamp in a dual system.
I very rarely comment on TH-cam videos. However...I'm just breaking out from shooting stills with my DSLR (it's primary use of course) to shooting short film. The element that I'm finding the hardest to digest is how to get the sound element right. I've invested in a Zoom digital recorder but didn't really understand what I was doing. This is the single best, informative & un-patronising video I have watched to date. Thank you!
Why can I only give one "thumbs up" on this video? ;) So much valuable information not only as a video creator but for my role as the one who does the sound for our judo events, too. ;)
Excellent intro to sound recording. Love how you give the full perspective of the "audio signal chain". Perfect balance of providing detailed tech info but still offering easy to understand explanations. Thank you! Will share with my students.
@Garan Fitzgerald - a lav mic plugged into a smartphone... personally I've never done that but I can't say it's a bad idea. I think the downsides of doing that is you drain your phone battery - if it's a long shoot you can't just pop in fresh batteries like with a dedicated audio recorder. Sound Quality should be good if you have the proper inputs. Pulling files is what it is from the phone - it's probably not a whole lot more complicated than pulling from an SD card... Personally, I like having a dedicated audio device as I think the phone could be used for other things during a shoot but it'll work just fine.
Actually that is what I use right now and it's awesome! A lav mic plugged into a smartphone is no problem if you get the right app. I use an Android phone, a cheap LG L15G with Neewer lav mic from Amazon. There is no concern for low battery, just turn on Airplane mode and put the phone on silence. I don't use the phone for any other thing as I got it specifically for this purpose so there is no sim or data connectivity on the phone. There are some things to note though, there is no way to monitor the levels while the recording is going on, also ensure the app you get records 48khz or else you will have audio sync issues and again, ensure to set the right levels to avoid clipping, which applies to all audio capture systems anyway. My system has been working great and I have two of it in case I need to record a dialogue. If I want to improve the quality of my audio, I found out that getting a better condenser mic is all I need at the moment. I still plan to get a Zoom H4N Pro with wireless lav mics but I don't have to do so at the moment but will still do later.
Best, most comprehensive video I've ever seen on the often-neglected realm of audio. Unlike video, there are no zoom lenses in audio (although shotgun microphones certainly help)! He explained complicated concepts like bit rate and impedance very clearly, and straightened me out on several things I didn't know about sound. Excellent, overall, might actually make me part with some cash, this series is so instructive and so well done!
If I ever taught a college course in film/video, I would simply put on Filmmaker IQ lectures every day, because I've learned more relevant information watching John Hess videos than I did from most of my college video instructors.
Thank you for your video, you explain things so well, you managed to make me understand impedance, bit rate, bit depth, balanced/unbalanced while the 1000 sites I've read about it all in the past were useless... Really, thank you...
Wow! By far the best informative and comprehensive educational video on audio recording I've ever seen. Answered all of those questions that I always had around the cables, the different types of mics and all of those different numbers/stats on the audio equipment. Thank you very much for sharing this video and boosting my audio recording IQ!
In my experience, the sound is definitely slightly more important than video. It's much harder editing broken sound in post or getting an actor deliver the same exact dialogue because the previous take had the perfect delivery but bad audio.
I just finished my schooling at The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, and I must say I really enjoy your videos. You remind me of some of my instructors. :)
18:05 the eternal position of the sound guy monitoring an interview. Gazing into the horizon, mild smile and ready to tell you to "Give me that one again" after the perfect answer, because he heard a male cuckoo two miles away
Brilliant tutorial. I come from cinema, that is film, shooting. I understand double system sound. But, your information is just some much more detailed and helpful.
Biggest pain in the ass in managing 16 wireless lav mic's with 16 different subjects who keep asking "is it on?". Not to mention you need a tub of batteries because they die all the time! Then hooking it into the mixing console...fun..lol
WOW... Where was this video befors ? Why - in all my researchs - it never popped up ? This is litterally the best information I have ever found online on microphones, bits and stuff. A big big thank you for this !
Provided that your recording and playback systems don't have problems in ADC and DAC, the 48 and 96khz should have no audible difference. Some systems have problems in playback if you're up or downsampling from one to the other in realtime. It's a good idea to record in 96khz 24-bit though, if you're planning to do any editing or processing afterwards just to have that extra headroom both dynamic and frequency domain wise. Audibly though as said it doesn't matter.
Audibly, it does matter. If you're not careful, 96 kHz can actually sound WORSE. Recording at 96 kHz includes inaudible ultrasonic frequencies. If you don't do postprocessing correctly, this will cause audible distortions when playing back on systems that can't reproduce ultrasonic frequencies (most of them). End result: don't just record at 96 kHz unless you know what you're doing, and only if your analog equipment is pretty high quality.
lentostinato Dithering isn't really necessary. Simple truncation in that case will only cause some minor articats in the -96db to -120db region which is inaudible. Sure, proper dithering is good to use, but no recording ever got ruined for the lack of it.
The best explanation on sound basics I've ever seen... Even for me that didn't know anything on this matter. Congratulations...!!! It was very useful for me...!
Channels like FilmRiot have a place, but they sometimes just waste time in their efforts to be interesting. This channel's the best filmmaker training channel I've seen, partly because of that.
Actually the audio is quite good! The problem here are different standards for audio loudness aka LUFS wars... by modern standards louder means better, even if it degrades the signal...
WOW! I've been watching A LOT of video's about "film" making (both audio and video techniques) and this is by far THE BEST tutorial I've watched. So good in fact this is the first time I was ever inspired to make a comment. Keep up the great work!
I have been tempted on several occasions to pick up the Tascam DR60D just to have it but since I have and use the HD-P2 I just haven't pulled the trigger. The P2 is a great recorder (which I got used from a guy in Alaska) and it's got a ton of pro features like gen lock (which I haven't used). I'm a fan of Tascam, I've had them repair the P2 and they're a solid company with good products.
Filmmaker IQ I did eventually pick up a DR60D. It's good but I've had some issues with batteries and long recordings (1hr +) I got a DR70D as well but I had to send it into the factory because of a faulty screen.
I have one and it's definitely a step up in quality from the Zoom H4 I used to use. Filmmaker IQ is right though, it eats batteries like crazy (as most higher quality systems do) so you want to plan ahead with many rechargeable batteries or run off of AC whenever possible.
Daiman Webb don't get too caught up in the recording settings - the single most important thing to get right (aside from decent microphone placement) is recording levels and also mixing levels...
This is an incredibly well-made video with an absolute wealth of valuable information in it. One of the very best on the subject that I've seen so far. Great work!
This is really helpful because I’ve been trying to figure out the best ways to record good audio on set. I personally am very confident in my ability to record good video, but audio is always the part of filmmaking that intimates me the most
Thanks John. As a DJ there are similarities to understanding the technical aspects of recording live audio DJ Mixes and video/audio sound recordings. I appreciate the in-depth specifics of your tutorial. My current focus is to film/record my sets and quality sound is imperative. Again - thanks for sharing, and I look forward to learning more...
Totally inspiring. I start my journey with audio recording from zero. This movie motivate me to searching, learning and practicing more. Thanks John Hess. You are great teacher. :)
Minor corrections. The 1/4" TS [Tip and Sleeve] connector is known as a phone connector, not a phono connector. The phone connector evolved from the 19th century connector used in telephone switchboards: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio) The RCA connector is sometimes referred to as a phono connector: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector
As an Audio Engineer who is getting in to video, I was curious to see a veteran video guy talk audio. I gotta say, you know your stuff, man. Great job!
This video was well done. The speaker was clear and the information was communicated in a way that could help anyone. Don't know how people could have voted down...Thank you for taking the time to provide this information! You have helped make our project a success!
Excellent tutorial. In our early channel videos we weren't concerned with audio quality as such. We now are! Still a way to go due to auditorium acoustics
One of the best tutorials regarding basic sound recording. Always nice to get a refresher course, as it was eons ago that I first studied audio/visual sound design. Man I was rusty! Excellent, and subscribed!
Basics of all sound recording and using of various microphones brilliantly explained in this nicely packed teaching-video. Hey thanks man, you're super !
As a former college-level audio instructor, I have to say that this is an excellent primer on audio for video recording, full of practical tips. John does a great job of presenting the theoretical aspects of audio (which can be dry and boring to some) in an interesting and relevant fashion. Just one nit-pick on the factual info: consumer level is -10dBV (with a capital "V", referenced to 1 volt), not -10dBv (referenced to .775 volts).
Pistachio Studio Thanks! Those dB designations can be so confusing :/
hey @@FilmmakerIQ can u put the following line in description before the line containing "0:38 ..."
0:00 Intro
Every 6 months I come back to this video and learn something new. Such an asset to the internet!
I used to be an engineer in a radio station. This is probably the best combined explanation of the entire process I've seen.
Also, I bought a Sennheiser 835 years back, now I understand why it makes my voice sound so good, like a late night radio DJ!
I'm not a filmmaker, have little desire to be a filmmaker and many times numbers and tech-talk goes over my head and my eyes glaze over. But, John, there's just something great, fascinating and interesting about watching these lessons of yours and seeing the knowledge and passion you put into them. The videos covering the history of cinema and the various aspects of them are utterly fascinating and great to watch, but it says something about your presentation that I can watch the overly talky and technical videos like this one and just really get into it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion with us. It does make me want to go out there and make a movie myself as I feel your passion.
Brian Straight I know exactly what you mean, there's something great isn't there about watching someone who really knows what he's talking about and is so talented at presenting
John, you should consider publishing a book as a companion work to all this stuff you've done. You've obviously done a lot of background research and your videos are very clear. Your level of knowledge on multiple subjects and ability to explain is it is impressive.
Deep enough to be really useful, shallow enough to catch the really critical info the first time around. Thanks!
Dead wombat? Seems to me they missed an opportunity. Surely it has to be called "RØDE kill"!
+William Millard brilliant
Buahahahahaha! - Has been hit on the ""RØDE to glory"! - Made my day, William. Thank you!!! :-D
William Millard what about Dead Rodent?
You WIN!
William Millard was it a combat wombat?
I went to graduate film school with a master's in film. But this guy is splendid and irrevocably superb in 21st Century sound acquisition. Exquisitely professorial and great to watch with propulsive musical cadence. Great job!
-Godfrey Silas
cinematographer
+Digital Glamour Television Wow - thank you!!
With videos like these, you are definitely improving Internet itself, as a source of knowledge, empowerment and education. Thank you, guys!
Discovered the goldmine 9 years later..O my god !..This is phenomenal..Thankyou so much.
another brilliant video, it's nice to have all of the relevant (and oh so important) audio knowledge in one series!
DSLRguide I learnt from you too from your channel. Good to see free sharing of knowledge. That helps breed creativity.
I like your videos.
DSLRguide I agree
Thank you for making audio more understandable for me. Your lessons are well organized, full of great info and perfectly executed. You waste none of my time and make complex concepts simple to grasp.
I did not expect to learn as much as I did. This was a great video. I even learned my recorder is much better than I realized thanks to your explanation of frequency and bit depth. Thanks so much.
Six years old. Still valid and interesting content. That's just awesome.
this was exactly what I was looking for! some of the other "basics of sound" tutorials i watched were way too technical and jargony and this was perfect for a beginner like myself :) clear and concise with really helpful graphics and diagrams
Once again, what an incredible and exhaustive lesson. Can't wait for your next video! I knew nothing about audio and have been reading left and right, your lesson not only taught me so much, but also helped me get an organized and clear understanding of audio in my head. Filmmaker IQ is golden, as always, I have watched many film school lectures online and live and none are even close to being as compressed and helpful. You are a great teacher!
Great video, John! Just to help your audience:
00:38 Part 1: Audio Signal Chain and Audio Recorders
07:37 Part 2: Pre-amp and Recording Levels
11:16 Part 3: Audio Cables
15:31 Part 4: Microphone Placement & Types
I started my recording journey recently, coming from an audiophile background I thought it’s gonna be easy as I do have an understanding to a certain degree, but boy oh boy was I wrong. This video helped me connect the dots and clear the fog that my previous knowledge kept me in. Thanks you lots
Best tutorials on the web. Great teacher.
Thanks
Honestly a wonderful intro into filmmaking without any BS filler.
I am just new to recordings, photography, and videomaking. I am so happy that I got the chance to see this video. I am planning to buy an audio recorder with the best quality. Thanks for this. I just subscribed. 😊
Me too, today
Great video - here's why. 1) Intro - straight to the point, no waffle. I often think when listening to TH-cam videos, `must I listen to this guy's life story, that runs like a CV! 2) Your voiceover is natural in tone, meaning that you have avoided that `TH-cam sound` that is compressed, raised and over processed. 3) Explaining a very technical subject at a pace that is easy to follow.
Although I'm a couple years late on this, I just wanted to say that this video is phenomenal. Very informative and very good delivery of the concepts at play. Instant subscriber.
Well I'm five years late, but I'll say the same thing.
@@FreeStockHub Hold my beer..
@@FreeStockHub 6 years and i also agree.
Of all the audio videos I've watched, I have to say yours had the most technical information-which paints in the missing puzzle piece I've been searching for. Thank you!
I HATE that you didn't hit a million views! I've been gathering this information for several years by buying and trying, and now I have it all in a single video. This is a MUST SEE video for film making beginners!
Thank you..!
This is an amazing channel and the videos are very informative and dive deep enough into the subject.
I want to add one thing though: Recording in 96kHz is really not necessary, and you should not be disappointed if your recorder doesn't support it. I have a friend who actually wrote his diploma thesis on this subject (which quality reductions are actually audible in the ears of professional mixing engineers). And he found that 48kHz in general is enough and any increase does not affect the quality at all, and it also doesn't matter in post production. 16 Bit on the other hand is actually not sufficient for many applications, and professionals can actually hear the difference to 24 Bit recording.
So, to sum up: 48kHz is usually enough, but 16 Bit isn't. :)
I was going back and forth whether it was 96kHz or the 24bit that was contributing to the translucent quality of the audio I get off the recorder. I realize a lot of it is "psychological" - but I'll still stick to my 96kHz suggestion even if it's not entirely necessary ;)
Filmmaker IQ
You are absolutely right: if your recorder supports 96kHz, there really is no reason not to use it. :) I mean, audio won't be what's breaking your disk size limits, and better safe than sorry. I just wanted to add the comment for other viewers that sound devices that don't support 96kHz are no dealbreaker and that the 24 Bit support is more important if your budget allows only for one of the two. :)
Just thought I'd throw in my programmer's perspective. Just because your software supports 24-bit samples, doesn't mean it'll work with them internally. More likely, it'll convert them to 32-bit floating-point (maybe keeping a buffer in that format on disk in a temporary file) and work on that, only converting to 24-bit again when saving the results.
Trying to work with 24-bit values is a headache, because there's no provided way in hardware of working with them as a single unit. The easiest way to handle it is to convert it to some 32-bit format, which the computer can pass around as a single unit, using a third more memory and have readable source code without the clutter of moving odd-sized amounts of memory around.
32-bit floating-point tends to be the format of choice, because nearly everything has a floating-point unit which supports the IEEE754 standard and it's a reasonable amount of memory used for the precision available. It also has the advantage of floating-point versions of many algorithms being much easier to understand than integer versions. On the downside, 32-bit floats only have 23 bits of precision, so you will end up with rounding errors caused by truncation creeping in when doing a lot of summing of values, though they'll probably be small enough to be lost in the background noise.
***** You are right that most likely, the computer software internally will work with 32-bit-floats. But that doesn't really mean anything for the recording quality. An audio quality of "24 bit depth" means that there are 24 bits used to assign a value between roughly -8 million and 8 million as a signed integer with 23 bits precision. This can be, as you know, easily converted to a 32-bit-float with 23 bit precision and an additional exponent, with basically no computing power. On the other hand, if you record with 16 bits, the conversion will just fill in the additional precision of the 32-bit-float with zeros... So you still retain the full quality improvement when switching from 16 to 24 bit recording, which is what all the fuzz is about. :-)
Also: Something is really broken with my comment, parts of it seems to be crossed out...
Must be the illuminati...
Absolutely the BEST presentation of "Recording Audio for Digital Video" I have ever seen. I have a new Audio Hero. Thanks so much. Highly informative and clarifies much of the mystery of recording great audio. Bravo!
And: the only difference between 16 and 24 bits is that the first guarantees a theoretical 96dB range between 0dBFS (the limit before distortion) and the quantization noise, while 24 bits guarantees a theoretical value of more than 144dB. What that means in practical terms is that you can have more headroom between the 0dBFS limit and the audio peaks. In comparison, you can record more than 30dB lower than you would at 16 bit with no signal to noise ratio loss. ;)
Wow! This was incredibly helpful... even 8 years later. Thank you for this quality product and great descriptions!
i learned a lot , thanks , big thanks for your hardwork to explain it :D
Eh ada mas
Pripun kabare mas laiqul ?
Alhamdulilah
Dude, before I got t your channel I didn't even know I had a passion for movies, Video and Audio recording. I've been bing watching your videos for days.
I don't even make films, but I love this guys' videos! :)
Nearly didn’t watch this…. Glad that I did, because I learned more in that video than in all the others that I’ve watched.
Immensely informative! I've made the mistake of plugging a mic signal into a line level input and had low sound. I ended up using a TASCAM iXJ2 for my preamp in a dual system.
Least it's not the other way around - you can fry a preamp if you accidently send a electric spike into a mic level input ;)
Thanks for the info! The device I thought had a built-in preamp was a MacBook Pro. I guess the key thing was line input.
I very rarely comment on TH-cam videos. However...I'm just breaking out from shooting stills with my DSLR (it's primary use of course) to shooting short film. The element that I'm finding the hardest to digest is how to get the sound element right. I've invested in a Zoom digital recorder but didn't really understand what I was doing. This is the single best, informative & un-patronising video I have watched to date. Thank you!
Great video man he really knows how to explain this subject
This may be the most perfect video I've come across. Feels like I'm back in high school classes, amazing
Why can I only give one "thumbs up" on this video? ;) So much valuable information not only as a video creator but for my role as the one who does the sound for our judo events, too. ;)
Excellent intro to sound recording. Love how you give the full perspective of the "audio signal chain". Perfect balance of providing detailed tech info but still offering easy to understand explanations. Thank you! Will share with my students.
@Garan Fitzgerald - a lav mic plugged into a smartphone... personally I've never done that but I can't say it's a bad idea. I think the downsides of doing that is you drain your phone battery - if it's a long shoot you can't just pop in fresh batteries like with a dedicated audio recorder. Sound Quality should be good if you have the proper inputs. Pulling files is what it is from the phone - it's probably not a whole lot more complicated than pulling from an SD card...
Personally, I like having a dedicated audio device as I think the phone could be used for other things during a shoot but it'll work just fine.
Actually that is what I use right now and it's awesome!
A lav mic plugged into a smartphone is no problem if you get the right app.
I use an Android phone, a cheap LG L15G with Neewer lav mic from Amazon. There is no concern for low battery, just turn on Airplane mode and put the phone on silence. I don't use the phone for any other thing as I got it specifically for this purpose so there is no sim or data connectivity on the phone. There are some things to note though, there is no way to monitor the levels while the recording is going on, also ensure the app you get records 48khz or else you will have audio sync issues and again, ensure to set the right levels to avoid clipping, which applies to all audio capture systems anyway.
My system has been working great and I have two of it in case I need to record a dialogue. If I want to improve the quality of my audio, I found out that getting a better condenser mic is all I need at the moment. I still plan to get a Zoom H4N Pro with wireless lav mics but I don't have to do so at the moment but will still do later.
Best, most comprehensive video I've ever seen on the often-neglected realm of audio. Unlike video, there are no zoom lenses in audio (although shotgun microphones certainly help)! He explained complicated concepts like bit rate and impedance very clearly, and straightened me out on several things I didn't know about sound. Excellent, overall, might actually make me part with some cash, this series is so instructive and so well done!
This. Is. Gold.
Thank you.
If I ever taught a college course in film/video, I would simply put on Filmmaker IQ lectures every day, because I've learned more relevant information watching John Hess videos than I did from most of my college video instructors.
God bless your beautiful face. I spent way too much time spinning my wheels on audio due to lack of understanding. Thanks a lot!!
This is one of the best tutorials on the subject I've ever seen. Thank you and well done.
AWESOME VIDEO!!!
Man this guy could teach a post how to stand still. This was seriously good!!
this was sooo well made. wow
Thank you for your video, you explain things so well, you managed to make me understand impedance, bit rate, bit depth, balanced/unbalanced while the 1000 sites I've read about it all in the past were useless... Really, thank you...
that was very informative. A bit too technical for some people I imagine, for me it was perfect.
Wow! By far the best informative and comprehensive educational video on audio recording I've ever seen. Answered all of those questions that I always had around the cables, the different types of mics and all of those different numbers/stats on the audio equipment. Thank you very much for sharing this video and boosting my audio recording IQ!
Your audio is incredible. I hope I can learn to get decent sound too. Thank you for all the info!
Literally the best video I’ve seen on audio for video. Answered so many questions!
In my experience, the sound is definitely slightly more important than video.
It's much harder editing broken sound in post or getting an actor deliver the same exact dialogue because the previous take had the perfect delivery but bad audio.
I just finished my schooling at The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, and I must say I really enjoy your videos. You remind me of some of my instructors. :)
18:05 the eternal position of the sound guy monitoring an interview. Gazing into the horizon, mild smile and ready to tell you to "Give me that one again" after the perfect answer, because he heard a male cuckoo two miles away
Im impreesed by professionalism of this film. Big thumb up!
Why do I have to crank up my volume level to hear this video’s audio better. Ironically, it talks about good audio.
Me to. Doesnt help that they also used a sound effect that sounds like digital clipping???
@PH VlogLine. HaHa! That was my first thought, too.
ON LEFT BOTTOM Window type to search - take off enchancement -also you can type fix audio -i have to constantly do this --
Brilliant tutorial. I come from cinema, that is film, shooting. I understand double system sound. But, your information is just some much more detailed and helpful.
Biggest pain in the ass in managing 16 wireless lav mic's with 16 different subjects who keep asking "is it on?". Not to mention you need a tub of batteries because they die all the time! Then hooking it into the mixing console...fun..lol
LOL
Had to manage 96 Lav's about 2 Months ago
WOW... Where was this video befors ? Why - in all my researchs - it never popped up ? This is litterally the best information I have ever found online on microphones, bits and stuff. A big big thank you for this !
Funny. I've learned this in my sound design classes!
Very Accurate. :-)
I am glued to the screen and love everything about the presentation of the topic! Merci!!
Provided that your recording and playback systems don't have problems in ADC and DAC, the 48 and 96khz should have no audible difference. Some systems have problems in playback if you're up or downsampling from one to the other in realtime. It's a good idea to record in 96khz 24-bit though, if you're planning to do any editing or processing afterwards just to have that extra headroom both dynamic and frequency domain wise. Audibly though as said it doesn't matter.
Audibly, it does matter. If you're not careful, 96 kHz can actually sound WORSE. Recording at 96 kHz includes inaudible ultrasonic frequencies. If you don't do postprocessing correctly, this will cause audible distortions when playing back on systems that can't reproduce ultrasonic frequencies (most of them). End result: don't just record at 96 kHz unless you know what you're doing, and only if your analog equipment is pretty high quality.
You need add digital dithering when converting 24bit to 16bit in order to avoid distortion.
***** You sir, are very confused by sample rate vs frequency response. Though they all us Herz as unit, but they mean totally different things.
***** This is true. When downsampling to 44.1 or 48khz you need to do careful lowpass filtering to avoid aliasing artifacts.
lentostinato Dithering isn't really necessary. Simple truncation in that case will only cause some minor articats in the -96db to -120db region which is inaudible. Sure, proper dithering is good to use, but no recording ever got ruined for the lack of it.
The best explanation on sound basics I've ever seen... Even for me that didn't know anything on this matter. Congratulations...!!! It was very useful for me...!
Nice Reservoir Dogs reference on the radio announcer gag.
Channels like FilmRiot have a place, but they sometimes just waste time in their efforts to be interesting. This channel's the best filmmaker training channel I've seen, partly because of that.
Ironically I could hardly hear the audio on this video! Had to whack my volume up to full!
I'm using a Galaxy 10 phone right now and the audio is loud and xrystal clear. You may have a not so great set of speaker(s).
I agree.
I even put headphones on and it was difficult to hear.
The content of the video was good but the audio sucked.
Thumbs down for me sorry.
Maybe get some not so shitty headphones or watch in a quieter environment.
@@FilmmakerIQ
Other people complained as well.
So it's not just me.
Actually the audio is quite good!
The problem here are different standards for audio loudness aka LUFS wars... by modern standards louder means better, even if it degrades the signal...
Excellent! You've validated so many things, as an amateur, I learn by trial and error.
John P. Hess you beautiful man, that was super informative, just love it
WOW! I've been watching A LOT of video's about "film" making (both audio and video techniques) and this is by far THE BEST tutorial I've watched. So good in fact this is the first time I was ever inspired to make a comment. Keep up the great work!
Good info but felt the audio quality was bad for the video itself
Absolutely totally I agree lousy audio on this video.
Learn the difference between low levels and bad audio. Levels were low I admit, but the quality is just fine.
@@FilmmakerIQ
I agree good quality
But the level was too low. Just curious?
Were you using the mic on the camera or Lav of Mike ?
Keith Kuhn
Boom mic. Watch the video. It's all laid out.
Really well made an informative video. It should be illegal that this has only 500k views
Very good! thank you very much! what do you think about Tascam DR60D?
I have been tempted on several occasions to pick up the Tascam DR60D just to have it but since I have and use the HD-P2 I just haven't pulled the trigger. The P2 is a great recorder (which I got used from a guy in Alaska) and it's got a ton of pro features like gen lock (which I haven't used). I'm a fan of Tascam, I've had them repair the P2 and they're a solid company with good products.
Filmmaker IQ I did eventually pick up a DR60D. It's good but I've had some issues with batteries and long recordings (1hr +) I got a DR70D as well but I had to send it into the factory because of a faulty screen.
I have one and it's definitely a step up in quality from the Zoom H4 I used to use. Filmmaker IQ is right though, it eats batteries like crazy (as most higher quality systems do) so you want to plan ahead with many rechargeable batteries or run off of AC whenever possible.
John Hess, this was easily the best video I have seen on sound recording. I am now a fan and intend to watch your other videos.
Yeah he lost me someone help
Daiman Webb don't get too caught up in the recording settings - the single most important thing to get right (aside from decent microphone placement) is recording levels and also mixing levels...
Daiman Webb how are you going bro trust me I struggle alot to understand stuff too
Oh my gosh this guy is AMAZING. I know nothing about this stuff and trying to learn and he is SO GOOD!
Thanks, Gospel John. It's like you did all the homework and let us see your notes. I've watched quite a few of your videos. Well done!
This is an incredibly well-made video with an absolute wealth of valuable information in it. One of the very best on the subject that I've seen so far. Great work!
Now THIS is how you make an educational video. Subscribed.
This Audio series is gold! Thank you guys!
best channel ever. probably took me about 50 times as long over months/years to pick this information up through mistakes
This is really helpful because I’ve been trying to figure out the best ways to record good audio on set. I personally am very confident in my ability to record good video, but audio is always the part of filmmaking that intimates me the most
One of the best videos I've seen on TH-cam explaining audio. Thanks so much for the upload!
Thanks John. As a DJ there are similarities to understanding the technical aspects of recording live audio DJ Mixes and video/audio sound recordings. I appreciate the in-depth specifics of your tutorial. My current focus is to film/record my sets and quality sound is imperative. Again - thanks for sharing, and I look forward to learning more...
How does this not have a million views. Excellent excellent excellent video. And John is just so damned lovable.
Totally inspiring. I start my journey with audio recording from zero. This movie motivate me to searching, learning and practicing more. Thanks John Hess. You are great teacher. :)
This guy is the best! I want to send him some flowers!
Minor corrections. The 1/4" TS [Tip and Sleeve] connector is known as a phone connector, not a phono connector. The phone connector evolved from the 19th century connector used in telephone switchboards:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)
The RCA connector is sometimes referred to as a phono connector:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector
As an Audio Engineer who is getting in to video, I was curious to see a veteran video guy talk audio.
I gotta say, you know your stuff, man.
Great job!
You are a true educator ! Thank you for that lesson, so clear and pedagogical!
This video was well done. The speaker was clear and the information was communicated in a way that could help anyone. Don't know how people could have voted down...Thank you for taking the time to provide this information! You have helped make our project a success!
Hey,your videos just make me want to get out of my chair and make some great film.
Excellent tutorial. In our early channel videos we weren't concerned with audio quality as such. We now are! Still a way to go due to auditorium acoustics
Most helpful video till now!
Amazing documentary. It summarizes all of I what to know about microphones and how they work. Amazing.
One of the best tutorials regarding basic sound recording. Always nice to get a refresher course, as it was eons ago that I first studied audio/visual sound design. Man I was rusty! Excellent, and subscribed!
Basics of all sound recording and using of various microphones brilliantly explained in this nicely packed teaching-video. Hey thanks man, you're super !
As a beginning Filmmaker, this video was so amazing and well done. Thank you so much.
Awesome video and excellent work. So much knowledge to absorb. Your presentation is better than most of instructors at school.