How do you use an external microphone with your camera?

A seasoned CBS producer once told me that in video production, audio is more important. We all start by focusing on the camera, lenses, sensor sizes, etc, often audio is left last in our budget. - Make the decision to use additional microphones and you will have already won the audio battle. - Use a boom mic and get it as close to your subject as possible. - Use a lav mic and pan them to separate channels. Budget for an audio professional to avoid any issues, a client will accept b-roll and graphics used to cover bad footage, bad audio is unprofessional. Fixing bad audio is very challenging and sometimes impossible.

Understanding the inverse square rule helps emphasize the properties of sound. Double the distance from a microphone and the level drops not in half, but by a factor of four. This is why proximity is so important. Get the microphone close to the subject for great sound and help eliminate background noise and add clarity to your production.

Audio is such a vital part of shooting content that so often gets overlooked by those starting out. The importance of an external mic is just as important as important and taking batteries for your camera. Without good audio you can't have good content.

Part- 1 You can tolerate & watch low quality video with a good audio but it's very unlikely that you would tolerate & watch a video with poor audio quality. For some reason, production companies dose not give the level of attention audio deserves- But they always complain when it goes wrong- So why use external mic ? Well, the short answer is because the built in mic on almost all cameras are not equipped well to capture good audio quality- it's build to capture every ambiance sound that surround the camera- It dose not give an emphasis to the main speaker or to it's target . How to use external mic ? In my opinion, what ultimately rules the type of equp't we use for any project is the purpose of the task. Part 2 continues.

An External Mic has some significant advantages. It improves on the sound quality and helps control and reduce noise levels. It also allows you to place the mic in a better position.

Position the microphone correctly. The position of the microphone will have a big impact on the quality of the sound. For example, if you are recording dialogue, you will want to position the microphone close to the speaker's mouth. If you are recording music, you may want to position the microphone further away to capture a more natural sound.

Make sure your cables connected correctly and fully engaged. The connection source is the place where you will see the most complications. You might hear unwanted noise, crackle, or no sound at all if the equipment isn't fully plugged into the mic and recorder.

Connect the wires properly. Mic connects to an external sound recorder which saves the data in a memory card, or the mic can directly be connect to the camera, which will record the audio directly in the video.

There are many external audio units, some for use on a budget and some more prosumer oriented. Some of these even have recording on them so you have a back up recording. I used one of these long time because I had an XLR mic and no XLR jack on camera. Also, if I used an adapter it created a huge humming noise so it did not work good. Also, there is also monitoring jack which I did not have on my camera so it worked great! Also had three more input jacks!

most powerful mice i use is super Cardoied as a boom mic in my c-stand with scouts boob filter to avoid any bufing air sounds in my sound recording because the cameras can't do this .

Use a shock mount or a pop filter. A shock mount will help to reduce vibrations from the environment, which can cause noise in your recording. A pop filter will help to reduce plosives, which are the popping sounds that can be caused by certain consonants.

the external mic can be mounted on a boom pole for dialogues between people or clipped to a person as a lapel mic or even mounted on a small tripod, depending on the use case.

If you are using a lavalier microphone be careful how you mount it on the talent. You need to be careful that is close enough to the mouth, but also not to much distracting the wardrobe. Be also careful that it is not picking up noise from the clothing, especially if you are taping the mic behind the clothing.

Adjust the audio level near -12db so as to get clean audio. This will also help in reducing the external noise from the surroundings.

Monitor your levels. It is important to monitor your levels so that you do not over- or under-amplify the microphone signal. You can use a sound meter to do this.

For decades, I've used large, studio quality headphones for capturing audio -especially in remote or louder environments. The studio headphones cut out a lot of the ambient noise vs little ear buds, allowing you to hear noise issues in the background, that might otherwise be missed.

Use high quality headphones and also try to monitor the levels while you can. If you are unsure record a quick test recording and doble check it with you video or audio editing software.

Use good quality inear or over the ear headphone which are not very bassy or have a high treble sound signature. Find the most balanced ones, this will help you hear the most accurate audio which the mic is listening to.

Use a noise gate. A noise gate is a filter that can be used to remove unwanted noise from your recording. This can be useful if you are recording in a noisy environment.

If you plan to use lavalier mics and your camera is a good distance away from your subjects, or near other electronics that may impact the audio signal going back to the camera and receiver, consider using wireless microphone systems that can also record locally onto the transmitter itself as a backup, instead of relying on the signal strength from transmitter to receiver. These systems may also let you record a secondary "safety channel" at a lower level, so if your speaker gets excited or talks much louder than expected, you can recover those sections without the levels clipping or distorting.

An important factor to consider when opting for either a wired or wireless microphone for recording at a distance is the potential echo rebounding from other microphones in the room. Implementing a gate filter becomes essential in this scenario.

Along with choosing the right microphone for your audio it's imperative that you also consider your location. Sometimes a better quality mic means a more sensitive mic, which in turn means it will pick up EVERYTHING. So consider your surroundings. Opt to record in a room that doesn't have too much echo to begin with. Bring in soft furnishings to absorb echo: a rug, some cushions, a couch, bedding covers, even house plants help attenuate annoying echoes in the sound. Also be wary of external sounds like traffic noise, electronic appliances, even fans and air conditioners that may affect audio clarity and intelligibility. Remember, a microphone is only as good as the audio that you feed into it.