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How to record good audio for your video presentations

Selecting your audio source

The big question is how you will record your video and audio. When using a video camera, or smartphone, you can record the audio with the built in microphones. This audio source is quite adequate for most purposes.

The biggest problem when using the internal microphone of a video camera or smartphone is that the microphone is too far away from the subject. The resulting audio will suffer from the ‘roomy’ effect with a hollow or empty background sound.

An external microphone that is attached to the camera, either by a lead or by wireless, will record better and clearer sound. However, the best of these microphones are expensive, so do your research before buying.

As with everything, what you pay for is what you get. But in microphones there are some inexpensive options that will work very well for most purposes, while still suiting most budgets. Choices in microphones include :

  • Mobile phones
  • Portable digital audio recorders
  • Lavalier microphones
  • Shotgun microphones

Smartphones have quite a good microphone built in so you can use this. The main drawback is that the microphone in the smartphone is omnidirectional, which means that it will pick up and record sound from all around you.

To get around this borrow a friend’s phone to record the audio separately. Or you could use a portable audio recorder, which will also record good sound. Your subject can hold either of these during the recording.

Another option is the lavalier – a small microphone that can clip onto your speaker’s clothing, usually somewhere around the neckline. These microphones cut out a lot of the ambient and background noise. There are wired and wireless options and many inexpensive choices available. However, a drawback is that lavaliers will be quite obvious on your subject in your video.

The shotgun microphone is uni-directional so will only record sound from the subject. Like the lavalier microphone it will capture clear sound, but unlike the lavalier it won’t appear in the shot. The disadvantage is that it requires a stand or someone to hold it and these microphones can be more expensive than other options.

Where to place your external microphone

You need to get your external microphone as close as possible to your subject without it appearing in your shot. Check carefully in your view finder to make sure that it hasn’t slipped in around the edges somewhere.

You can place your microphone above, on either side of, or in front of your subject, but low enough not to appear in your shot. If using another mobile phone or digital audio recorder, your subject could hold these out of the shot, while you film only their head and shoulders or a mid range shot.

Be aware of all background noises that might occur during your recording. Turn off as many as possible, such as chiming clocks, air conditioning and the radio. Be aware of any other noises as they occur and record your presentation again. Even indoors you can still hear the birds calling outside or a noisy truck in the street.

When editing the presentation, take the video from your phone and line it up with the audio from the second phone. You can use the audio from the first phone so that you know where to sync the good audio from the second phone to the video file.

As a final suggestion – when using any external audio recording device not attached to the camera, start the recording with a clap or other loud noise so that you can synchronise your video and audio. This will provide a reference point, which makes the editing of your presentation much easier.

Producing video presentations for your website can be a lot of fun – so take your time and enjoy the whole process.

 

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Steps to think about when deciding where to shoot your video

Where will I film my video?

One of the first decisions about shooting your video is – where is the best spot? Here are a few ideas of what to look out for when you are choosing your location.

Indoors or outdoors?

There are some ‘hidden’ problems with shooting in an outdoor situation. You need to be aware of the background noises that you hear every day and don’t even think about. Your camera will record all background noise, including a few you are aware of, such as bird song, childrens’ voices as they are playing, lawn mowers and road noises from cars, as well as noises you aren’t aware of such as wind noise.

You might even find that you have recorded the sound of the garbage trucks at work. A garden does present a pleasant background for your video, but you might end up with audio that you are disappointed with.

Indoors will be more reliable particularly if you can find a quiet room as far away as possible from all noise sources. Also use a room with carpet and furniture or curtains to produce maximum dampening so that your audio doesn’t sound empty like you were recording at the bottom of a water tank or similar.

Choose the spot where you will stand for your presentation carefully. You might have a bookcase to highlight your expertise, or a plain wall with a nice painting or photograph on it, or perhaps a vase of flowers or decoration set to one side behind you.

Make sure you are not standing in front of a window as the outside light will cause a problem with backlighting. You will become a silhouette as the camera tries to balance the light from the window with the interior lighting. Backlighting is great for effects but not so good when you are trying to present yourself to your prospective customers.

Instead choose a spot with even lighting in a room that is well-lit. You might need to add extra lights such as table or free-standing lamps to enhance the natural lighting. But be careful with your placement and use the extra lights to prevent shadows on your face.

Depending on your natural light source, you might need more than one extra light to decrease shadows. Position these to your left or right side and experiment with another behind you. Make sure that the lights are not in the camera view.

Where will you set up?

With a camcorder and tripod you can choose to sit or stand. The same is possible with a mobile phone, which is also best used with a tripod.

If you are using a webcam as your recording device, you will need to sit at a desk and this set up can work well with an appropriate background.

And talking about tripods – for the best professional look, tripods are a must. Shaky cam doesn’t look good in a business environment and it looks like an amateur has filmed the video for you. Tripods come with attachments that can be used for all types of cameras. Special attachments are available for mobile phones and are fairly inexpensive to buy.

No matter what the device, the main rules apply – camera with tripod, in a quiet, well-lit room using extra lighting if necessary, and away from background noise – and you will achieve the best results for your video presentation.