- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Does anyone know how to set the camera to the right video settings so that it doesn’t sound like static when replaying the video?
It would be very helpful to know!!
Thank you!! 🙂Does the video sound staticky (sorry, invented a word there!) only when it is played in camera or do you hear static both in camera and on the computer? If it is only in the camera, you may have the playback volume turned up too high. The tiny speakers in the camera are easily overdriven, which makes the static. Hope this helps! I am not very familiar with Nikon, but my 70d behaves the same way when I crank the volume up too much.
Hi @hannahm,
I’ve found that the quality of the microphones on Nikon cameras aren’t that good all around. I’d recommend using an external microphone for better sound quality.
@josiahw has a good point about the playback volume, but also, check your microphone settings. You may have the volume set to high if you are in manual.
Hope this helps! 🙂I have a Nikon too, Hannah. I don’t know if this is the “static” that you’re referring to but if I have my camera in auto-focus, it’s constantly trying to focus and that makes a lot of noise, so I have to manually focus to avoid that. I don’t use my camera for videoing very much though.
@hannahm, being an audio guy myself, I think there are two different types of static you might be experiencing. I’m assuming you are hearing the static on the computer and NOT from your camera speaker. Both are probably a result of leaving your audio input setting in Manual when you might be better suited to Automatic.
The first one is if your audio level is set too low. If your audio is set too low, you will have to crank up the audio on your computer speakers. It’s a little like taking an underexposed image. You can brighten it up in Photoshop or Lightroom with the exposure slider, but this introduces noise. It’s the same with audio. You can boost your levels after the fact, but this will also amplify the underlying hiss that’s present on every recording device (even on my dad’s $400 microphones he uses for voiceover work and podcasting).
The second “static” you might be referring to is better referred to as distortion. If your audio is set too high, it “peaks” and sounds a lot like one of those walky-talkies the guys at your local builder supply store use. It’s the same as having blown highlights in an image. You can try to darken them in post production, but you can’t recover the lost information. In the same way, if your audio is peaking (you might be able to check this in your settings by looking at your audio meters. Are they always hitting the ceiling? You really never want your audio meters to hit the ceiling unless you are recording a gunshot).
There is another type of static, and that is when you use a Canon camera with some external microphones. I noticed it when I bought a Rode VideoMicro for my 60D, and it sounded worse than if I had used the internal microphones. Unfortunately, my problem couldn’t easily be fixed unless I hacked the firmware on my camera or used a dedicated audio recorder instead of the camera. I didn’t notice this hiss with the Rode VideoMicro when I tried my friend’s Nikon (it sounded great), so I won’t discuss it here.
@joseph is right—internal mics aren’t great. If you are serious about better audio, an external mic is a must. Your camera is built for pictures (and now video). The microphone is a bit of an extra that’s crammed in there. It’s beyond useful—but it’s hard for it to capture amazing audio (like using your phone camera instead of your DSLR).However, to get the most of your internal microphone, I would change the Audio setting depending on what you are doing. If you are running around grabbing interviews of people or do a lot of video shooting just for fun (like shooting goofy videos of your siblings), leave it in Automatic. It will keep your audio levels consistent and should consistently keep your levels at an acceptable level (not peaking and not too quiet). However, if you are recording a concert or something where the loudness should rightly fluctuate from quiet to soft, switch it to Manual and find a level where the meters are hitting around the 2/3 mark below the ceiling (if you have numbers on your meters, between -12 and -6; though I’ve heard filmmakers shoot for meters around -20), but note that having meters that hit a tad too low are better than meters that hit their heads on the ceiling. You never want meters that hit their heads on the ceiling (peak), as I stated earlier.
I hope this helps?
–Logan
Thank you for sharing from your experience, @loganlamar!
@josiahw, @joseph, @bennett-family and @loganlamar. Thank you for taking your time to answer my question!
I use my camera mainly when we do specials at church, so when the notes of either instraments or voices get higher, the noise on the camera also expresses that,and therefore it doesn’t sound crispy clear. The other day I changed Manual movie settings “off” and thought that would work, but the noise still seemed to be there. Right now I just tried working with my camera settings agian, and went ino movies settings, and into Microphone and changed it to “Auto” sensitivity instead of “manual.” Now we’ll see if that works!!
@loganlamarI’m assuming you are hearing the static on the computer and NOT from your camera speaker
I unfortunately, hear it on both the camera and the computer.
I have a question though. Should I be changing my settings to Auto or manual? If I change them to manual, I have no clue of how to set everything just right or even quickly change it around if need be. Mainly because I take more pictures in manual, than I take videos in Manual!! I also don’t have a camera book either with this camera, so for me, step by step works!!
Also the other day I changed Manual movie settings “off” and thought that would work, but the noise still seemed to be there.
Thank you again for your help, and I’m looking forward to getting it working as good as it can be!!- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Hey @hannahm!
If you set your camera audio settings to Manual (just clarifying myself), I don’t believe you will have any way of quickly changing them once you press record. Personally, I shoot on a Canon (and Nikons confuse me!) so I can’t give you any step by step directions on how to best set your audio meters. However, I do know that there is no way for me to change my audio settings once I press record on my 60D.Can you describe what type of static you’re experiencing? Is it sort of an underlying hiss that gets louder when you stop talking? Like “Hi HannahpsssSSSSSSSWhat’s up?” If this is your problem, you have your camera audio settings on Automatic.
Or is it just an underlying hiss” Like “Hi Hannah!ssssssWhat’s up? Or is it distorted? Like… HKIK HANNAKH! KWHAT”S UP? but if I whisper instead of talk normally it’s fine” I used ks because I couldn’t find a better way to show distorted audio…
I use my camera mainly when we do specials at church, so when the notes of either instraments or voices get higher, the noise on the camera also expresses that,and therefore it doesn’t sound crispy clear.
So when the singing/instruments get louder, your audio gets worse. I think your audio meters in Manual, and are set too high. For what you are doing (recording stationary musicians and singers from a fixed distance away), it might be best to keep your camera audio settings in Manual—if you want to learn how to use it. It’s a little like learning to shoot pictures in Manual mode.
I’m looking at an online tutorial right now for Nikons, so I might be able to help you a bit. To use Manual audio settings, find in your menus somewhere the settings for the audio controls. It looks like it might be underneath something called movie settings (I need to switch my camara to Movie mode before it gives up these settings). There should be a submenu underneath that called “Microphone”. Switch it to Manual sensitivity. You’ll need to do this at your church while the singers are actually singing (or practicing, as long as the loudness/softness is the same) to get the right sensitivity. When you click Manual sensitivity (not Microphone off!), I think you should find a number or something that allows you to adjust your audio levels (which you should see in the menu bouncing around as the singer sings). If you lower the number, the levels will logically not bounce so high. If you raise it, they will bounce higher. You want them to bounce generally just below the number 12 (so they don’t turn yellow). The yellow is just a warning for minor distortion. If the levels do about half the time turn yellow and go past twelve, I think that’s about where you want it at the loudest point of the singing/playing. So if you have a group, it will logically be louder than a soloist. Generally speaking, it’s better to set your audio meters a tad too low than a tad too high, because if they go higher than that and hit the 0 on the end, you will end up with distorted audio (which is the HKIK HANNAKH! KWHAT’S UP? type of audio).
I would also recommend you turn off the “Wind noise reduction” as you aren’t outside. If you were, keep it on at your discretion.
If you try these and you still get distorted audio, it’s probably your microphone. Internal mics aren’t winners for clean audio. If you want better audio, I’d consider—do your research—getting a shotgun mic. These are great because they are unidirectional—they will only capture audio from what’s in front of them (so you can point it at what you want and it won’t pay attention to much of your conversation with your friend behind the camera). This will record straight into your camera and you won’t have to do much post-production to get your audio synced up.
I need to sign off, let me know if this helps.
— Logan
@hannahm, just one other thing. If you are considering a shotgun mic, see if you can’t try a friend’s first. I bought a Rode VideoMicro for my 60D, and it unfortunately made my audio worse. Fortunately, however, my dad has an external audio recorder (a now-obsolete Edirol R09 HR) and I now use that to capture my audio coming off of the Rode (and then sync it up in post production). I did get the opportunity to try the Rode VideoMicro on my friends Nikon DSLR, and it sounded just fine, though (so you might be okay).
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
@loganlamar
Because I changed the settings yesterday and tried videoing music, I found that it wasn’t “staticky” as before!Right now I just tried working with my camera settings again, and went into movie settings, and into Microphone and changed it to “Auto” sensitivity instead of “manual.”
If I could only show a video of music being played where it showed the static, because I don’t feel I can explain it very well!!
But with this fix, hopefully it will work better.
Thank you!
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.