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Tips and tricks for recording interior car dialog?


OneLouder

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Hi everyone,

I'm new here on jwsound. (first post).

I have a job coming up that has a lot of interior car scenes with dial (while driving).

I was wondering what the best way to record them might be. What kind of mics, placement etc.?

Would love to hear some of your tips and tricks for a tight squeeze situation like this. What worked, what didn't work …

Thanks.

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Greetings 'One',

A search of previous topics and content on this forum will garnish a ton of info, but the short answer is, it depends...

The long answer?:

There are so many variables with INT moving vehicle dialog recording, so questions are in order:

What type of vehicle? (Sedan, Coup, SUV, etc.)

How many speaking, and where are they sitting?

How many cameras? (Are the windows down?) Hostess trays and / or EXT cam mounts or are cams inside?

Free driving vehicle or tow dolly / process trailer? If process trailer, are generators involved, and how loud are they?

If free driving vehicle, what kind of follow/lead vehicles will be involved, and what is the potential maximum distance that might occur between vehicles?

Will the actors be wearing seatbelts?

Depending on these and other variables, there are several solutions possible.

You could use boundary mics, lav mics, plant mics in the visors or console or headliner, even a shotgun on a short pole or just hand-held depending on the parameters of each set of shots.

There's the 'set-it-and-forget-it' approach (not my favorite) if there is no room for a Mixer to ride in the vehicle, and no process trailer or support vehicle(s)... (putting the recorder in the trunk, pressing record and get what you get...)

As far as mics go, any combination of the aforementioned mics might be used.

I like Schoeps CMC6/mk41's in the visors with GVC swivels... boundary mics rigged to the headliner often get great results. COS-11's (or other lav mics) on the talent (seatbelts make this tricky) or even lav mics rigged to the visors will often work.

It all comes back to "It depends" though. I'd start by asking the decision makers the aforementioned questions.

~tt

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Cars all sound different.

I have found the most reliable and consistently adequate to be lavs on the visors or on the headliner over the actors. They can easily be moved around as camera angles change.

But for best quality, I like the MKH50 from below or the Schoeps from above, depending upon what you own and what can be out of frame. In the age of hand-held and other unpredictable camera work, the Schoeps on the visor has become increasingly less viable, and switching to it for close-ups can affect the continuity of sound.

Robert

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The Sanken cubs work well.Easy to hide,directionality and they plug in and are powered from lectro xmitters.The big screw-up is when they decide last minute that they need to roll down the window and you only have plant mics. sometimes it's o.k. if you've figured for wind.also you can double mic. and lav. them.

J.D.

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I have used DPA lavs in a car and they sound fine.

IMHO your biggest concern is if you have to follow in another car.

After trying my TX at 50mw and mounting it on the back window I just ended leaving my bag in the trunk.

WP_000004.jpg

Search the site from google for more info about cars - site:jwsoundgroup.net XXXXXX

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...IMHO your biggest concern is if you have to follow in another car.

After trying my TX at 50mw and mounting it on the back window I just ended leaving my bag in the trunk...

Man, I don't miss having that problem -- a good RF system (more info available in other threads) is invaluable in this scenario... well worth the investment, IMHO.

~tt

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Thanks Guys. Great suggestions.

I was thinking about double micing them (lav and plant mic).

I don't think I can afford the Sanken cubs although I'd like to try them.

​Have any of you had experience with the Rode NT6. it has a detached capsule so might make it easier to mount/hide.

http://www.rodemic.com/mics/nt6

not too expensive. and maybe I can sell them after the shoot and try and get some money back. (another low/no budget project)

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The rode nt6 is decent. I own the nt5 and they are the same mics, only that the head itself is set apart from the preamp is the difference. I wouldn't use the for dialogue tho. You'd be better off with the oktava mini, which is the same principle, but it sounds better IMHO. About the same price as well...

Op:

I agree with Robert on MKH50. Good decision to double mic.

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you can try to do without wireless, putting the mics on the visors and laying cables to the back of the car where your bag can sit and record everything. Usually the cam won't see the cable if you run it along the top of the doors. But that depends of course... As for mics Oktava mini or maybe a Rode Lavalier with the XLR connector are worthy not too costly inverstments.

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Sanken CUB, or two are the ticket for me. Planted in between the seats, on the roof or on the console works quite well. On a Lectro Plug.

If there are people in the back then I can put a sec on one or COS-11.

The CUB is easy to rig, move and hide. Custom made wind fluff takes care of the wind noise if windows are open.

I'll post a picture or two next time I do a car interior.

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Find a shop that does plastic fabrication and have two pieces of plexiglas cut to about the size of a visor (or slighlty smaller). The Cub can easily be mounted to the piece of plexi. It's a minimal expense and you just carry the plexi pieces as part of our kit.

Since the Cub is a boundry layer mike, it's better to have it on a hard surface anyway, although the benefits of such a small panel (maybe 5 inches x 10 inches) are debatable. But, once affixed to a plastic panel, the panel itself can be attached to a visor no matter how much it may have been treated with Armour-All because the tape can wrap around the whole visor and attach to itself.

David

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Find a shop that does plastic fabrication and have two pieces of plexiglas cut to about the size of a visor (or slighlty smaller). The Cub can easily be mounted to the piece of plexi. It's a minimal expense and you just carry the plexi pieces as part of our kit.

Since the Cub is a boundry layer mike, it's better to have it on a hard surface anyway, although the benefits of such a small panel (maybe 5 inches x 10 inches) are debatable. But, once affixed to a plastic panel, the panel itself can be attached to a visor no matter how much it may have been treated with Armour-All because the tape can wrap around the whole visor and attach to itself.

David

Great idea. I ve always been strugling with making a cub hold.

Also. For a cub microphone, the most strategic placement of the sound source is anywhere from 0degree (horizontally) to 90degree (vertically) in the direction of the heart shaped pickup pattern diagram right? How do you typically place your mic to get best result of subject?

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Wish Frank Stettner was active here. Just finished listening to (watching) Season 1 of "Hack" available on Netflix streaming, and his car stuff sounds great. I'm guessing it's Schoeps, planted. He's over on FB. Maybe we could inquire how he did it. Guess he's busy with the next season of "Boardwalk" but...one may hope.

Echo Waelder's use of small rectangles of plexi to ease CUB placement issues and optimizing their sound. +1 for that.

-- Jan

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Every situation like others is different... as has been mentioned.... moving, static, car type, whats been removed from the car (doors-sunroofs etc.)... so many variables...

But, that being said, we have had really good luck with Sanken COS 11s in the visors.... FOR PROCESS TRAILER OR MOVING deals... This really sounds nice, especially in situations where the car tends to have the visors CLOSER to the passengers and the car is nicely quiet... duhhhhh...

The mics set in this way are also nice because they can either be tucked in where they are really hard to see, or placed out on a custom made spun wire mount, with a tape loop (big wire loop on one end) on one side so tape will stick the wire (4 to 6 inches) to the car... the other side the Sanken simple is taped to.... This wire then can be bent out, up down or tucked back in for concealment..

We also use these wires for the BACK seat situations where you see everything on the top, but the seat hides a mounting point on the back.... The wire mount can be used to get the Sanken out and closer to the talent...

' Now, sometimes we use CMC6s on mounts of various types, but these days with multiple cameras, this is harder to get away with... They are harder to conceal. The bumping by talent also is a pain in the ass. If the vehicle is moving, other problems seem to present themselves noise wise, but sometimes it works really well... especially static...

Other benefits of the Sankens are (if used with a MM, SM or even SMQ) are that you can many times get the trans under the visor as well.... It is high up and ready for better reception.... it helps.....

Talent worn lavs sound great, but packs are low, or if stashed, opens up other pains in the ass... Seat belts wreak havoc as well as abrupt head turns and body movement of all things inside the car.... you would think it is better, but in most cases, it's worse...

The multiple cameras these days, removed doors and noise galore are the real problems we encounter, but they can in many cases be overcome.... I hate car gigs.... I just cringe.... never cared for it, never will.... Even though I try to keep gear just for this situation separate, I always find myself tearing up the package a bit to get everything rigged, then rebuilt quickly to get back on the cart... This is what bugs me most, it gets messy at times, but it is part of the deal, the more I try to stay organized, the more things get "messed up"... Uggggg

Always big ALP 620 ants, always ISO tracks, unless they want a drive away rig, then still wireless, but from a bag in the back... and a kiss goodbye.....

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" A search of previous topics and content on this forum will garnish a ton of info, but the short answer is, it depends... "

::)

I couldn't have said it better...

" There's the 'set-it-and-forget-it' approach "

In a free driving vehicle, --pretty standard for lo-bidget stuff-- with multi-track's for ISO, a real favorite of mine, and I have been doing that since way back when I put a NAGRA in the boot!

Rule #1: safety. It is unsafe to be in the boot of a vehicle being driven by actors acting!

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