Harris K

So, you're not using a mixer in front? If so, what mixer?

The ntg-2 was designed as an on camera Mic, and the quality and output reflect its non-pro pricing and specs. A client had one in the office the other day, and I played with it a bit just to see. I indeed found the output a hair low, but moreover it was crappy sounding and noisy anyway.

Additionally, I can't tell what you're expecting from your levels. From your post, it appears you may be expecting average dialogue levels to hover at -6dbfs. They shouldn't, and there's a fundamental problem if you're shooting for that.

I don't mean to be shitty, but judging by the apparent unfamiliarity with the equipment you mention in your original post, I'd say the first step is learn more, lurk more. The relative position of the gain knob is fairly irrelevant across the ocean of different gear out there. If it sounds like shit, then it is, and that's probably on the operator as much as the gear, especially insofar as a knowledgeable operator requests or provides the proper gear.

Tl;dr: the ntg-2 is a crappy video Mic

This one is specific to us, but we're pretty dang proud.

Well Dang if I don't know some of those faces. Nice one.

I was delivering poly files to a regular client for about a year until the staff assistant editor, who I checked in with regularly, mentioned an issue.

Apparently, their instance of final cut (didnt catch version number but its not X) is stupid with polys and was only ingesting the first two tracks ( L+R mix from 788) and igniting my isos. They'd been splitting everything to monos with wave agent for a year, adding unnecessary time to their already tight turn-arounds. Switching to mono deliverables cured everything.

So, there's a potential issue with polys. Haven't heard of this before or since, though.

The sticky slate button on the cl8 burned me a few times, with just enough time in between not to think of it soon enough. I think I've learned my lesson now.

I have the 13', and I frequently feel too short on bag work. I tend to use a little extra as a counterweight when I have the space. I'd go for as much as you can, vary it up later as the bankroll allows. You won't really be annoyed at having options with long length, and later on if you want something shorter and lighter you can vary it up.

Nobody seems to have pointed this out: Low cut and notch filters have different Qs, depending on the design and internal choices. Assuming a low-cut at 80 Hz is "safe" because dialog has very low energy below that point is incredibly risky: One 80Hz cutoff might be down 6 db at 120 Hz; a different one might be down nothing at 120 Hz but only 3 dB at 80!

If you know your equipment absolutely, and have listened to the effect of various filters on good monitors in good listening environments, go ahead and use them. Otherwise tread lightly. Unless LF is so bad that it causes distortion in the recorder, we can always apply the same filter in post. But we can never restore frequencies that somebody threw away in production.

Jay, you make several great points, but I stand by my broad generalizations.

The human voice can fundamentals and undertones down to around 100hz. I agree that 120 is too high, you can hear the difference in many male voices if you A/B. I never go over 90hz on boom, usually 80, though I'm a bit more liberal on wires.

Mark, that's a great point on the effects of camera moves.

I reckon I should clarify my first post. The facility is still actively under construction though in working condition. Proper acoustical treatment may be down the line, but I'm hoping to improve the quality of my work there in the shorter term. Isolation between stages and from the outside world and between stages was done just fine. Thanks for the links, I'll include these in my briefing.

Hi all,

A regular client of mine has an agreement with a stage facility that's in it's infancy. The green screen cyc we use most often, about 50 long by 20 wide and 20 high, was not constructed with proper sound dampening on it's walls and ceiling and sounds pretty cavernous. They've tried hanging some convoluted foam around, but unsurprisingly it hasn't done too much. I've been asked what can be done moving forward, although ive pointed out im not an acoustician. That said: i don't think they have the budget for proper acoustical treatment of walls, but they have a strong DIY ethic.

My first thought was a bunch of utility carpeting to both deaden foot falls and and take down reverberation directly below talent. My second thought comes from my studio days. I thought gobos, or baffling, panels. I was thinking either a bunch fo stackable ones or some larger rolling panels. perhaps one side could be painted chroma green and the other black for light reflection.

I feel like I may be thinking in the wrong direction, or missing something obvious. Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I think you're over thinking it, a little electrical tape has always solved this kind of problem for me, and its aesthetically pretty subtle.

FWIW, I recently had great results planting a team inside an acoustic guitar. May have options along that line of thought. That said, I think one well placed hypercardiod will probably sound great.

As room tone, sort of. The sample should be identical to the background noise under the dialogue.

In the proper applications, a bounce board can do a great job reflecting.better in city applications though.

Great find Mark! Is been pretty curioud about the 435 as well, glad to hear it doesn't suck. I'd thought the 406 was speced as super cardiod though. Sounds like it. I'll follow through on Mark's find I suppose. I'm getting kind of addicted to these vintage sennheisers. They just sound like movies!

By the way, anyone know where to pick up tuchell connectors nowadays?

It's a T-powered model from around that era. It matches well with my 416. Used it on a c-stand today with better results, so we'll see

Hey all,

I'm hoping someone's used the Mic above. I picked on up cheap recently. Sounded nice and matched decently with my 416, but something was loose and it had terrible handling noise. Gotham sent it back to Sennheiser in Germany, and it came back solid but with much higher self noise than I remember. The hiss reminds me of an Azden my roommate had. Anyway, the question is:

Is the simply an attribute of the mic, or should o have it checked out again?

The zoom should be on the full apple, safer than the two halves

Hi All,

I find myself using Garfield Foot Foam more and more, on everything, especially on props. It's often great, but now and again it ends up a smidge too visible. Are there any similar products I can be looking at other colors? There are the tan furniture fur pads, but they'fe a bit limited in terms of stiffness and size. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

FWIW, I tend to put off large purchases until I have an approaching job justifying it, though the danger if this is relying on new gear you don't know well yet. My ass has indeed been bitten by this. So deploy the strategy with caution.

I apologize in advanced if I derail this thread at all. With all due respect to the Senator and Greg, even if some technical details have been reiterated, I'm always excited when this group encourages a specifically passionate discussion of our craft, and a thread regarding our appreciation of someone's work is always encouraging, educational and uplifting to me.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile for someone to drop an email to the mixer in question and invite him to detail his experiences mixing Portlandia, as he certainly has a few fans here. As much as this board is a conversational spot, its a learning resource for all of us and a rare immersive territory for a very lonely department. Personally, I encourage using this place as an oppurtunity to celebrate our fellow technicians and their successes, and as a chance to learn from those we respect.

Tl;Dr. Shut up you guys

An active Dave and Busters. They killed a couple machines, but drop in a lake. Me and the producer still high-five because they did no adr.

Maybe some rupees.

I lol'd

I use whatever standard foams I hve on hand for interior and its pretty much fine. In a pinch before, I've used the $40-ish windtech socks sized for a shotgun and rolled it up a bit. It's ugly, but it's worked just fine in light wind conditions.

I had this issue, and the relevant variable ended up being a bad CF card. The card had worked for me in my Fostex for years, but for some reason the 788 hated it. Since taking it out of rotation I haven't had a problem. No idea why this happens, but at least the problem was definitively identified.

If I may post another question, I'm starting to feel the most secure option for a number of reasons may involve taking my recorder and a little other gear straight in a petrol with me for carry on. Will it be impossible to get through security with a lectro or two, a 788 and a shotgun? Have I missed any x-ray warnings?