Wednesday, September 08, 2010
I've moved.
If by some miracle you actually enjoy hearing me ramble on, you can now find me at gregnstuff.wordpress.com.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Can't pay attention
So in my crusade to help folks improve their attempts at posting their self produced videos online, I figured I'd tackle another subject that annoys me. Of course it's in regards to audio. Do you see the pattern yet?!
This one is in regards to using music with lyrics. First off, if you are using commercially available music that you did not create yourself or obtain written permission to use, you are technically breaking the law. If you get caught, more than likely you'll be asked to take the video down or the online service you use will remove it. For some of you this may not be a big deal. For a company, well I would hope you had a legal department that would kibosh it before it ever made it online. But in case you don't like to listen to your legal, this would mean all that effort to create a video to showcase the new product that no one really needs would be removed from rotation. What a waste.
And for those of you about to yell out 'fair use', don't bother. Unless you're doing a video that compares the musical differences between polka and punk, it's not fair use. Even then it's a pretty grey area.
Anyway, I digress, the whole point of this is that lately I've been seeing some videos using music that have lyrics. What's so annoying about that you ask?! Well the vocals of these songs are right over interviews or voice-overs. If you really want to keep people's attention to what you have to say, don't bombard them with multiple vocal tracks.
Like I've referenced in a previous post, audio is very subconscious. What will happen is you'll have folks who may recognize that catchy tune you've chosen and will more than likely begin to listen to those lyrics. You've now just lost your viewer and the whole point of the video is...well, pointless.
How audio is used in videos, for some folks is an after thought. When in reality, the quality and care in your audio is what will make a shitty video great.
This one is in regards to using music with lyrics. First off, if you are using commercially available music that you did not create yourself or obtain written permission to use, you are technically breaking the law. If you get caught, more than likely you'll be asked to take the video down or the online service you use will remove it. For some of you this may not be a big deal. For a company, well I would hope you had a legal department that would kibosh it before it ever made it online. But in case you don't like to listen to your legal, this would mean all that effort to create a video to showcase the new product that no one really needs would be removed from rotation. What a waste.
And for those of you about to yell out 'fair use', don't bother. Unless you're doing a video that compares the musical differences between polka and punk, it's not fair use. Even then it's a pretty grey area.
Anyway, I digress, the whole point of this is that lately I've been seeing some videos using music that have lyrics. What's so annoying about that you ask?! Well the vocals of these songs are right over interviews or voice-overs. If you really want to keep people's attention to what you have to say, don't bombard them with multiple vocal tracks.
Like I've referenced in a previous post, audio is very subconscious. What will happen is you'll have folks who may recognize that catchy tune you've chosen and will more than likely begin to listen to those lyrics. You've now just lost your viewer and the whole point of the video is...well, pointless.
How audio is used in videos, for some folks is an after thought. When in reality, the quality and care in your audio is what will make a shitty video great.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
I beg of you...
I haven't posted in a really long time, as you can see. It's more the laziness in me than anything else. I think about blogging and even write it in my head but when the opportunity arises to actually put anything done, meh.
So today I figured maybe I should put something down. You see, if you follow me on twitter at @CoolGuyGreg, you may have seen me bitching about poor audio in online video and streams. So I figured maybe I'll explain to folks how to get good audio and who knows, just maybe someone will listen and I can once again hear what may be some good content.
The technology, both online and off, has finally gotten to a point where anyone can record and post videos to a website or social network. I think this is grand. Although it makes my job as a multi-media producer a bit harder to sell professional video at times. I am pleased that folks have finally come around to the benefits of what a video can offer to their brand or cause or whatever.
But lets keep in mind folks that you are still speaking to an audience with short attention spans. An audience that at times will multitask while watching your video of you interviewing the next online star. If the audio is poor, it's very likely that you'll loose your audience before they ever hear how to start that next big pyramid scheme.
You see, audio is very subconscious. An untrained ear will not be able to tell the difference between good audio and poor audio, unless it's really bad or a side-by-side comparison. But with poor audio, at a subconscious level, your viewer's attention begin to drift and they begin to think of other things even to a point of changing the channel. How many videos have you watched online where you maybe had to back up and watch something over again? Or you don't quite recall what you just watched was about? Very likely the audio was poor. You can usually get away with bad video, but not bad audio.
Now, let's talk about how you can improve this. It first starts with camera selection. As sad as it may be, not all camcorders have an external audio input. For example, The Flip family of camcorders helped usher in this DIY video revolution but for some reason left off the external audio input, and even more mysteriously continues to leave it off. An on-camera mic may be fine if you're a foot or two away from the camera and in a somewhat quite surrounding, but when you try and conduct an interview with an on-camera mic from 6 feet away, well...IT SUCKS. So, if you haven't yet purchased a camera make sure you find one with this feature.
"But Greg, I've already bought a camera without an external audio input", no worries, I'll cover this later. Just let me finish with the folks who like to do things right the first time around. :)
So, now that you have a camera with an external audio input lets look at you audio choices. The biggest excuse I hear from folks is that you can't get a microphone without spending hundreds of dollars. Horseshit? Spend a few minutes doing some research on this great but little known website called Google and you'd be amazed at what you'd find.
For you penny pinchers out there, try the Sima SDW-150 wireless microphone. Is it any good? I have no idea, but it was the cheapest one I found at about $58. Frankly I wouldn't spend less than $100 myself, but that's me.
My recommendation and still affordable would be the Audio Technica Pro 88W and the Azden WLX Pro. Are these "great" mics? Not by any stretch, but I've used them both and they work great for the kind of online videos you'll be doing. The great thing about them both is that they come with camera shoe mounts/adapters to put on the camera. Also, if you invest in a 1/8" to 1/4" cable, you can plug the transmitter into a sound system.
For those of you who are big spenders or pseudo audiophiles, my personal choice and mic that I use, the Lectrosonics 100 Series. This is a great microphone but comes with a hefty price and is not necessarily made for smaller consumer cameras. If you're wanting one of these, lets chat.
So now, for those of you who already have the cameras without an external audio input, fear not. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Get yourself a portable digital audio recorder like the Zoom H2 Ultra. This is a great little recorder and actually does a great job recording audio. You can hold it in your hand or plug in a lavaliere and slip the puppy in your pocket. These devices record to some flavor of flash media and can easily be imported into almost any editing program. When editing the audio to the video, use the crappy audio from the camera to help you match them up.
I hope this stuff is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully someday I can watch a DIY online video interview and be able to watch the whole thing all because I can intelligibly hear it.
So today I figured maybe I should put something down. You see, if you follow me on twitter at @CoolGuyGreg, you may have seen me bitching about poor audio in online video and streams. So I figured maybe I'll explain to folks how to get good audio and who knows, just maybe someone will listen and I can once again hear what may be some good content.
The technology, both online and off, has finally gotten to a point where anyone can record and post videos to a website or social network. I think this is grand. Although it makes my job as a multi-media producer a bit harder to sell professional video at times. I am pleased that folks have finally come around to the benefits of what a video can offer to their brand or cause or whatever.
But lets keep in mind folks that you are still speaking to an audience with short attention spans. An audience that at times will multitask while watching your video of you interviewing the next online star. If the audio is poor, it's very likely that you'll loose your audience before they ever hear how to start that next big pyramid scheme.
You see, audio is very subconscious. An untrained ear will not be able to tell the difference between good audio and poor audio, unless it's really bad or a side-by-side comparison. But with poor audio, at a subconscious level, your viewer's attention begin to drift and they begin to think of other things even to a point of changing the channel. How many videos have you watched online where you maybe had to back up and watch something over again? Or you don't quite recall what you just watched was about? Very likely the audio was poor. You can usually get away with bad video, but not bad audio.
Now, let's talk about how you can improve this. It first starts with camera selection. As sad as it may be, not all camcorders have an external audio input. For example, The Flip family of camcorders helped usher in this DIY video revolution but for some reason left off the external audio input, and even more mysteriously continues to leave it off. An on-camera mic may be fine if you're a foot or two away from the camera and in a somewhat quite surrounding, but when you try and conduct an interview with an on-camera mic from 6 feet away, well...IT SUCKS. So, if you haven't yet purchased a camera make sure you find one with this feature.
"But Greg, I've already bought a camera without an external audio input", no worries, I'll cover this later. Just let me finish with the folks who like to do things right the first time around. :)
So, now that you have a camera with an external audio input lets look at you audio choices. The biggest excuse I hear from folks is that you can't get a microphone without spending hundreds of dollars. Horseshit? Spend a few minutes doing some research on this great but little known website called Google and you'd be amazed at what you'd find.
For you penny pinchers out there, try the Sima SDW-150 wireless microphone. Is it any good? I have no idea, but it was the cheapest one I found at about $58. Frankly I wouldn't spend less than $100 myself, but that's me.
My recommendation and still affordable would be the Audio Technica Pro 88W and the Azden WLX Pro. Are these "great" mics? Not by any stretch, but I've used them both and they work great for the kind of online videos you'll be doing. The great thing about them both is that they come with camera shoe mounts/adapters to put on the camera. Also, if you invest in a 1/8" to 1/4" cable, you can plug the transmitter into a sound system.
For those of you who are big spenders or pseudo audiophiles, my personal choice and mic that I use, the Lectrosonics 100 Series. This is a great microphone but comes with a hefty price and is not necessarily made for smaller consumer cameras. If you're wanting one of these, lets chat.
So now, for those of you who already have the cameras without an external audio input, fear not. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Get yourself a portable digital audio recorder like the Zoom H2 Ultra. This is a great little recorder and actually does a great job recording audio. You can hold it in your hand or plug in a lavaliere and slip the puppy in your pocket. These devices record to some flavor of flash media and can easily be imported into almost any editing program. When editing the audio to the video, use the crappy audio from the camera to help you match them up.
I hope this stuff is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully someday I can watch a DIY online video interview and be able to watch the whole thing all because I can intelligibly hear it.
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