Jul 6, 2009

Hand Hardware-- a rig for shooting video and recording audio at the same time

Anyone who has shot video or recorded audio at a street demonstration appreciates mobility.

I've been experimenting with ways to carry my shooting rig around with me so that I can also hook it up to a recorder. I also wanted to run a microphone to the MiniDV camera -- a Canon MD 120.

Since I had a HiMD recorder-- Sony MD Walkman MZ NH 700 -- with plug in power microphones to go with it I wanted to integrate the two systems.

I also had learnt that if I'm on an "assignment" I needed to record much more audio than I'd videod. I wanted a system which would enable me to keep the audio recording running while I selectively shot video . I also wanted better audio quality than the inbuilt microphone that came with the camera.

And since I podcast audio and videoblog in effect I wanted to get the best out of two separate mediums.

I had previously hung all this rig from bags and pouches on my person and it proved very cumbersome and hard to monitor and manipulate -- such as turning either device on or off. But I had been using the Ultrapod monopod for some time and loved it. The Ultrapod is a small, lightweight, folding camera tripod with adjustable ball & socket head and Velcro securing strap.

(I've also been using small camera tripods to support my microphones.)

So with a bit of Velcro strapping, I combined the lot-- Voila!

By rights -- and I've yet to confirm this -- the audio that runs from the HiMD should also be automatically gained before it is taken in as audio on the video as I run the HiMD audio out into the microphone in for the Video camera.



The RatbagMedia Channel