newfoundmass

So I'm going to put the TM-2X on my ringside / handheld camera and try the Movo VXR3000 on my hard camera to try and get cleaner arena / crowd noise. The two announcers will use my Audio-Technica AT875R and Azden SGM-250CX mics into a Zoom recorder. Making use of what I have. A Zoom H1 will go under the ring to get good ring noise. Not perfect but I'm hoping I'll see better sound that isn't so flat. I don't have the most knowledge about audio, it's one of the things I'm still learning, but it seems like a good start. ??

I've ordered the TM-2X and the Movo VXR3000. Figured I'd give the Movo a shot; I can always return it.

It's hard to suggest which one you'd be better off going with without knowing what kind of stuff you're going to be shooting. The Nikon Z6 would probably be better for narrative work, given how powerful it is with an Atomos recorder. The Sony is probably a better choice for documentary and vlogging. It also has the advantage right now with more native glass, though the Z6 with adapter opens you up to Nikon"s massive lens offerings. Do you own a GH5? What about it do you feel limits you? While I know full frame is the craze, I feel like it's way overblown. M43 and APS-C are more than adequate.

The West never had any delusions that China would become a democracy, the West "rewarded" China to further drive a wedge between it and the USSR and to fuel the West's economic growth. China's environmental policy and labor laws are poor and worth criticizing, but they are hardly the only country that knowingly exposes their population and workforce to hazardous materials and pollutants; The United States has been doing it for a hundred years. Heck Trump and his cronies have been trying to roll back environmental protections all while paying lip service to the coal industry. Go look up the health issues coal miners deal with, it isn't pleasant. Indeed, for that reason and to try and counter China's growth and influence. The West is hoping to make India a counter balance to China, particularly in the tech sector, while a lot of manufacturing moves to Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

I actually still use a DIY boom pole! ?

Thanks for the suggestions! I think I'm gonna try out the TM-2X!

It's a never ending battle ?

Yeah, I mean, when you're shooting in gymnasiums like that, with awful lighting, you need all the help you can get and if upping the audio game helps I'm all for it. In a prefect world I'd have enough lights to light the ring myself, but I'm not experienced so much in lighting venues like that and I imagine it'd be pretty expensive! I did just build 4 sets of bank lights to try and see if it helps, in hopes of being about to kill some of the house lights.

I should've noted I use a GH5 and G85. I also set up a Sony handy cam (pictured above) just as a back up.

To be fair, I don't think it's a lack of desire to work as much as, working 40 hours a week at a job you almost assuredly hate, to enrichen people that already have more money than they'll ever know what to do with, has younger generations thinking "what the fuck?" The older generations were sold on an American Dream that never really happened for a large majority of Americans. I'd say probably half of my friends that graduated college had to find work for this other than they're majors. I know college graduates who deliver pizza because they can't afford to start at $12-15 an hour in their field. My friend makes I think $10 an hour plus tips delivering pizza. Long term he'd be better off with the $15 an hour job, but between his college loans and living expenses, he'd be worse off.

In a prefect world I'd have the crowd, the ring and under the ring mic'd up, but that's just not feasible for a variety of reasons. I'm not looking for the best, given the circumstances and the budget, but hopefully something that gives fuller and richer sound than the camera mics. What I have now is the announcers going into a recorder and, sometimes, a Zoom H1 recorder I'll put under the ring to make the "bumps" sound more impressive. Ideally the stereo mics on the hard camera and my ringside camera would get better sound than I currently am getting. In terms of sound I'm already ahead of most of the people in my niche field, but I'd love to improve it more. I'm definitely not concerned with DR, especially in the venues we run!

You can vary the speed. I imagine more expensive ones can move faster, but mine is fast enough for my use when using DC power. It runs slower on batteries, especially as they get depleted.

I was referring more about Chinese companies in my post, as opposed to just products made in China. Product quality can be hit or miss wherever its made, really. I think China gets a bad rap because so much comes out of there, more than any other country on earth, from a wide variety of manufacturers. If China was, in general, a country that made shoddy products we'd be pretty fucked because even things that aren't made in China often have parts sourced from China. A huge chunk of televisions sold in the US these days are Chinese made or from Chinese companies. Look at TCL and the deals they've made with brands and retailers. We're a long way from the days when I was a kid and you'd hear regularly about recalls for toys made in China because they were made with lead paints. Basically, China makes great products and so does Japan, Japan just has a longer history of providing stuff to the US and global markets, whether it's electronics or automobiles.

I'm looking for something that picks up pretty much all the noise, from the action in the wrestling ring / to the crowd. I want the viewer to feel like they're there in the building. While the camera mics aren't terrible for this, I would like something better.

My view of Chinese gear has changed significantly over the last ten and even five years. Ten years ago it very much was "well, you get what you paid for." Things were cheaply made and would often fall apart. That started to change around five years ago. It was around then that you really started to see high quality stuff coming out of Japan. I think you can kinda of trace the change with the quality of GoPro knock offs, because those were the first things I really noticed people giving positive feedback on. The first ones were garbage, but around 2014/2015 you started to hear about Yi and SJCAM putting out good quality ones. Also around that time you started to see lights coming out of China that were comparable to much more expensive lighting, and then the flood gates kinda opened with quality budget options for everything from mics to gimbals. In many ways it has killed the DIY filmmaking scene. I remember when people would carry around DIY light set ups to shoots; they'd go all out trying to make them look as professional as possible. Now everyone has affordable Chinese lights. It's kinda sad, cause the DIY era was the most fun era for me. But it's hard to justify spending hours building a light panel when you can buy some that cost less than the parts you'd need to make your own. Seems cameras and lenses are the next phase. That first Z-Cam wasn't particularly impressive, but the second one and their cinema cameras are. I think the Pocket4K really kinda stole their thunder though. Still there's a lot of garbage coming out of China. I don't stray far from the recognizable companies making stuff there.

What is frustrating about 90% of the video reviews for stereo mics I'm watching is that the reviewer doesn't understand what a stereo mic is for. So you've got a lot of videos where the reviewer is using it like you'd use a shotgun mic or comparing it to a shotgun mic. Example: "The RODE is better because it doesn't pick up background noise." Ahhh!

That hits the sweet spot, I think! I'm looking at videos now! Still open to suggestions! Any and all are appreciated!

I've been thinking of adding a stereo mic to my set up, in hopes of getting better crowd noise during events I'm shooting. There aren't a ton of reviews though on YouTube for stereo mics. There are some for RODE's Stereo Video Mic X, Stereo VideoMic Pro, etc. but not many for budget friendly options. Anyone have suggestions or reviews they can point me to? Thanks!

I have the I have the Bescor one. It's wonderful when you are in a tight space. I think you can get it now for $100 or so? I recommend getting the longer cable for the remote control!

Frankly if they didn't ban him after finding out his past, what does it take to be banned on DPR? No community should be welcoming of someone like that.

I think both are confusing me. I've never really worked with nodes before. Nothing about it feels intuitive. It's frustrating for me and I get discouraged.

Fusion continues to baffle me. I'm quite competent in After Effects in that I'm pretty advanced, don't rely on templates, etc. But I have trouble doing even the most basic things in Fusion that would take me 5 minutes in After Effects. People tell me that Fusion is more powerful than AE, which is great, but that doesn't help me if the learning curve is too hard for me to wrap my head around!

We did live streaming, we usually only had regular cable internet connections because everything was so low budget/DIY. So there were times when a stream would crap out due to internet issues at the venue. I've live streamed a 6 hour wrestling event using a 4G hot spot before! ? Money is in short demand, expectations are high though. I kinda mastered getting the most out of little!

I think, at the very least, it's overblown. I know that Griffin Hammond has talked about his Sriracha documentary looking good on movie theater screens even though it's only 1080p. It's wild that we're hearing more and more about 8K, given I think most of us are still delivering in 1080p and I notice very little demand for 4K from my clients. Are there even stations that air in 4K in the US?

I have a 55 inch 4K TV. When I'm within 2 or 3 feet of it I see a difference between 1080p and 4K. Sitting a normal distance away the difference is almost negligible and I think has as much to do with the higher bit rate than higher resolution. 4K is still nice in post. I do think it results in better 1080p. I just think, in order to really appreciate 4K on a television or monitor, without being inches away from the screen, you have to have a giant television most of us don't have and can't afford.