Audio Playback for video

[Mark Allen]

I need to do an audio playback for a couple hours for a music video. The talent will be lip synching to the track. We will be shooting on the HVX200.

 

What is the best method. For a film shoot we'd use crystal synch and a clapper board. For video - is it the same deal?

 

If I was going totally guerilla could we just use a portable computer to play it back and some external speakers? I don't want to "BOOM" the audio anyway. And with no clapper, just use the recorded audio on the camera to synch and then eye it in? OR feed the camera audio from the computer as well?

 

Thoughts and tips appreciated.

[Michael Nash]

Feeding the playback audio to the camera sounds like a good idea. I've seen playback on music videos done from a Powerbook (and of course simple boom boxes), but obviously a more rock-solid deck and timecode slate give you the most insurance.

 

Since you're shooting 23.98P video (I assume) and not 24fps film, you shouldn't have to deal with the drift you get with film transferred to 29.97 video. Can anyone confirm that the HVX records 23.98? It seems like it should...

 

After the drift issue is taken care of, the rest is simply a matter of providing a reference for the music when you get to post. A scratch audio track can work, but tc is better for the editor. I would leave the camera mic on as a backup.

[Mitch Gross]

Can anyone confirm that the HVX records 23.98? It seems like it should...

 

Yes.

 

Good advice.

[Mark Allen]

Thanks for the advice...

 

We ended up using a 744 with a Time Code Slate. We could have gotten by with the powerbook to camera solution - but in the end the client was high profile enough that we thought we'd better have a slate if for looks alone - and that hunch proved to be correct.

 

Thanks for tips and info!