Rob Whitehurst

Hey Simon, Out of sync sound is one of my pet peeves too. There are so many reasons for what you've mentioned that it would take a long time to cover each one fully. The YouTube issue usually lies in the ripping software that a person uses prior to uploading their video. I have uploaded already synced videos to YouTube and they stayed in sync with no problem. But the ripping programs that are used sometimes don't keep the audio and video together. It's maddening to watch and with the proper program, very easy to "slip" the video back or forth to get sync. Broadcast television is a different problem all together. The major cause of sync problems with television, whether it be commercials or shows, is the fact that the video and audio signals normally travel different paths through the whole system. Whether it's local or a network uplink that is then received locally, the video signal travels through a multitude of signal processors before it's sent back out, either by use of terrestrial towers or down the pipe of a cable system. Audio signals typically don't travel through a lot of processing so there can quickly develop a time lag in the video signal that is noticable to some people (my wife can't see it but I can see it even if it's only fractions of a second). And if a signal experiences this "slow down" at several different places in it's path, then the difference is more noticable. For example, in November of 2007, PBS aired a 14 hour long series by Ken Burns called The War, focusing on World War II participants. The series was being sent live from PBS, rather than pre-sent to the stations, and the video was off by 8 frames or about a quarter of a second, according to PBS. I happened to be shooting in a large sound stage at a local PBS station all week and asked an inhouse guy about the delay. He rolled his eyes and said all the station's big wigs were up stairs on a nationwide conference call to try and find the cause and what to do about it. The second night was better but still not perfect. By the third night, it had been resolved and when the show was replayed off of tape or computer drives, the sync problem had been eliminated. So what can a station do? Pay attention to what they air. It's not that difficult to put the audio signal through a processor, and set the delay to try and match the amount the video is being delayed. And they would have to monitor everything off the air, rather than the feed coming into their facility. But it just takes someone doing it and that involves people doing it and most stations would either say that they don't have enough people to constantly monitor every commercial and show, or they would simple say, hey, it's not our problem. There are probably engineers here that can give you a more detailed explanation, but it's pretty much a processing issue with the video and audio signals where the sync problems occur. I've discussed this issue with different engineers I work with and they all say it's a problem that could be easily solved, if someone really cared about it. Apparently, not many in management seem to care. Hope that helped. rob sound mixer/recordist

Luke, you are correct and who in the world knows why I put ground instead of double leads. I've pounded the pavement for over 20 years for Star Quad so you think that when I go to type it, it would come out right. The point is, their construction great reduces hum that is generated by other sources. And Charlie. Actually,for over ten years, over half of my work was film. 35mm and 16mm commercials, documentary films and also features. So I'm with you. A little Indie film I worked on is in limited release right now and getting some headlines and making some controversy. It's called Facing The Giants and I did the sound recording for that. But in recent years, a lot of film work has gone to video and now high def video. Same guys, same crews, same companies, but a video camera instead of an Ari or Aaton. Though this year we've had a flux of film jobs, including some for NFL Films, who I've freelanced for for the last 18 years. Take care, Rob

Glad you are happy with it Noah. Sorry for the late reply!

I understand your cost issue but for what you may have to do, get the three channel. Never "Y" two mics together in that kind of situation. There are times when that may work but not for interviews. You have no control over individual volume if two mics are Y'd together. And it can cause all kind of other problems too. Just not a good idea. Go with the three. A two input mixer is highly specialized and limited. Good luck!

A good place to ask questions of professional sound mixers and recordists is the news group RAMPS found at rec.arts.movies.production.sound in your news groups. An easy portal to find it is at: http://www.trewaudio.com/frames/ramps.htm or RAMPS Lots of great information in the archives and the members are very friendly. Good luck!

Both posts are good advice. I worked with Travolta after Ladder 49 and we talked about that film. He says he loved doing it and to both of our knowledge, it's the only feature about sound recordists. He also said that he (at the time) had just gotten back from Hollywood (he lives in Florida now) where he had been asked to give out the awards at an awards show for just sound guys, because of his role in that film. He said he had a great time!

I have one and have used them on Imax films. They record very good sound. And that was going to be my advice to you. To check the type of plug. Have fun.

Well hey Charlie. How in the world are you? Can you guess my surprise in finding this thread with you and my name mentioned. Thanks for the props. You are correct. Shielding is probably the most important factor in chosing a mic cable, if you had to chose just one. I would avoid buying any no-name brand or cheap xlr cables on eBay or anywhere else. I've been there and done that and it doesn't pay. I've still got a couple of cheapies in my kit and occasionally they get pulled out and I'm always having to put wedges under them or hang them from c-stand to c-stand to get them away from hum makers like header cables. The one brand of cable many of us use are Canare cable. This is a high quality cable with a feature they developed many years ago. It's called Star Quad and what it does is use a double ground on each of the high and low conductors, thus the "quad". The theory is that hum is not conducted equally and if one conductor is shorting or broken, the other won't be. When the two are combined on the pins, the hum will be cancelled out. The system works well and I rarely get any hum with the Star Quads. I DO get hum if they lay directly on top of a header cable but the energy running through those cable is intense so a sandbag or pancake between the two is good insurance. Other companies like Mogami also make quad mic cable and I've used them with good success. They aren't cheap but this is not an area where you will want to go cheap. And stay away from the cables you get at music stores. They are inexpensively made and not designed for the same type of use as the Canare or Mogami. Here's more info about Canare cable: Canare If you have any other questions, feel free to write me. Good to hear from you Charlie. Write me and let me know how you are. Peace, Rob W. Sounddude.com *