Recording audio for video?

[NorseHorse]

Ditto. No noticeable drift on hour-long acts. This has held true for number of consumer/prosumer video cameras and digital audio recorders.

[rackdude]

Originally Posted by chris319

I once looked into this and all of the cheap video cameras I found didn't have an external audio input of any kind (maybe I didn't look hard enough?). They all had captive on-board mics, good enough for shooting your three-year-old's birthday party.

I wonder if there is a way to do this: Find a camcorder with a low-fi audio input and feed it external time code, and from the same time code generator feed one track of, say, an Edirol R-44. In theory you could have software synchronize the two time codes and preserve lip sync.

Sub $300 maybe not but the Canon HV, HF, and HG line have inputs and many people use those with external sources (including me).

[Sevitzky]

Canon FS-200.

I still think you should dub live to a cheapo DVD player. In fact, you might be able to bypass the camera audio input, and just go camera video output and -10 consumer output into your DVD recorder. Presto. Finished product. No messy post.



HERE'S the thing dude: you're not offering top-notch video (unless you decide to).

So you're offering a compromise in the first place. Why not give them the high quality audio track, the video with 'passable' sound, and let them sync it up themselves? It's the doubled-edged sword of consumer tech. It takes away the business of the pros, but you can include your clients in the workflow.

[chris319]

just go camera video output and -10 consumer output into your DVD recorder. Presto. Finished product. No messy post.

That's actually a good idea.

[Fran Guidry]

The Sanyo Xacti HD2000 has better than average low light performance, a stereo mic input, and manual control of the audio sensitivity at around $500.

Unfortunately it has no metering or even a way to preview the audio level that I've found, so it's a matter of either shooting tests or keeping levels low for safety. I've gotten some reasonably good sound with this cam.

At the very low end, the Kodak Zi8 shoots reasonable 720P and has a stereo mic input. Mine is giving me glitches in the audio though, even after two trips to the "repair" facility.

Fran