7 deadly video sins that cannot be fixed in post.


Bamboopictures

Bamboopictures

Senior Member
My worst nightmares:

No.7 clipped audio.
Tried many de-clipper softwares. Nothing works!

No.6 blown highlights.
Can't restore details when none exist!

No 5. lens fog.
No easy way to unsmear footage shot with fungus/moisture in the lens

No.4 crossing the line.
Mirror/flop filters just look weird especially when there's text, moles/tatoos, and over the shoulder shots

No.3 Audio drop outs
How do you fill gaps in the waveform other than resorting to ADR

No 2. Out of focus subject.
in HD, it's really obvious. Edge Sharpening filters just add more noise.

No 1. STOPPED recording.
The ultimate gone case, lost cause, catastrophe. No shot at all due to dead battery, card error, or pressing record twice!

Any horror stories to share?
 

Not into video.. but just itchy to throw one all time famous.. forget to remove lens cap.. ;)
 

8. SD Card run out of space

9. External Mic plug in but forgot to switch on (the external Mic) … Worst thing is you won't have onboard sound either. LOL
(More relevant for those using Rode Video Mic + 5D3, those using phantom powered mics like NTG2 + C100 no need to worry)
 

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Let me share one recent c**k-up. Tested a podium mic via venue mixer line-out and set camera audio accordingly. Recording started well with MC at podium. So removed my headphones and went over to man a second camera (no line-in). Main speaker arrives but uses a wireless instead. Levels peaked wildly even though I had second safety track set at a lower level. In the end, had to use onboard mic audio instead.
Lessons learned:
Check the levels of EVERY mic in a venue.
Do not leave main audio recording unattended. Use bluetooth headphone if you have to walk away.
Always have at least one over-the-air audio to fall back on.
If shooting alone, may be good to buy one of these remote control mixer
http://www.sound-logic.com/
 

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I agree with bamboo on the 'manning' of the audio and checking 'every' mic

But for situations that just doesn't have the kind of timing (esp church wedding) where we could be arriving only 15mins before the ceremony.

If its a 2 man team, 1 man will be shooting the required 'fill-in' scenes, the other guy will be setting up the audio (5min) and preparing equipment(5min) + talking to the in charge (pastors)(5min).

We'll never have time to check 'EVERY SINGLE' Mic. The sound logic iPhone mixer looks good but it means you will look like you are SMSing while on job.

This was my real life situation. The Pastor podium mic was a completely different level from the handheld mic. The handheld mic the pastor used while doing the solemnisation was extremely soft and if you had the bluetooth headphone, you will only realise it once they started the ceremony.

Imagine this now: You are standing in front shooting the solemnisation, you realise the volume issue but the ceremony has started, When the pastor is asking them the standard stuff like 'do you bah bah bah', you whip out your iPhone (while still shooting) and flidder with the controls.

You are standing right in front of either side parents and relatives, imagine their astonishment.
 

Bamboopictures said:
Let me share one recent c**k-up. Tested a podium mic via venue mixer line-out and set camera audio accordingly. Recording started well with MC at podium. So removed my headphones and went over to man a second camera (no line-in). Main speaker arrives but uses a wireless instead. Levels peaked wildly even though I had second safety track set at a lower level. In the end, had to use onboard mic audio instead.
Lessons learned:
Check the levels of EVERY mic in a venue.
Do not leave main audio recording unattended. Use bluetooth headphone if you have to walk away.
Always have at least one over-the-air audio to fall back on.
If shooting alone, may be good to buy one of these remote control mixer
http://www.sound-logic.com/
Click to expand...
I'm surprised that you didn't check with the organizers/AV guys whether there will be other mics in use.

Recently I had a client who asked me to man 2 cameras because she didn't have budget for 2 shooters. I had a conversation with her on the phone for close to half an hour explaining to her why I couldn't do so, why I needed the extra man and why I never leave a camera unmanned. No matter how clearly I explained myself, she just kept asking me to accede to her request. I ended up rejecting this client.

What were my reasons?

If the sound ****-up, whose fault?
If stop recording because card full, whose fault?
If recording cut off halfway because no battery, whose fault?
If someone accidentally knocked into the camera and changed the framing, whose fault?

XsenseX said:
I agree with bamboo on the 'manning' of the audio and checking 'every' mic

But for situations that just doesn't have the kind of timing (esp church wedding) where we could be arriving only 15mins before the ceremony.

If its a 2 man team, 1 man will be shooting the required 'fill-in' scenes, the other guy will be setting up the audio (5min) and preparing equipment(5min) + talking to the in charge (pastors)(5min).

We'll never have time to check 'EVERY SINGLE' Mic. The sound logic iPhone mixer looks good but it means you will look like you are SMSing while on job.

This was my real life situation. The Pastor podium mic was a completely different level from the handheld mic. The handheld mic the pastor used while doing the solemnisation was extremely soft and if you had the bluetooth headphone, you will only realise it once they started the ceremony.

Imagine this now: You are standing in front shooting the solemnisation, you realise the volume issue but the ceremony has started, When the pastor is asking them the standard stuff like 'do you bah bah bah', you whip out your iPhone (while still shooting) and flidder with the controls.

You are standing right in front of either side parents and relatives, imagine their astonishment.
Click to expand...
How often does this happen? Do you shoot more 2man or 1 man?

If it was a known issue beforehand, I believe you should send your other shooter to the church to prep the audio stuffs. Besides, if you're talking church weddings, there'll definitely be members of the bridal party heading down earlier to set up the reception tables and whatnots. Your 2nd guy should follow them.

And the phone fiddling bit.....LOL
 

Wow! Thanks for sharing.

I am new to amateur video for fun (using D800 and now Sony PJ660). I think out of focus, blown highlights are my greatest fear.

Recently, did a video time lapse (walking around the temple in Tibet) twice and both failed miserably. Didn't dare to tell my wife that we had to walk a third time. Lol.
 

Recently I had a client who asked me to man 2 cameras because she didn't have budget for 2 shooters. I had a conversation with her on the phone for close to half an hour explaining to her why I couldn't do so, why I needed the extra man and why I never leave a camera unmanned. No matter how clearly I explained myself, she just kept asking me to accede to her request. I ended up rejecting this client.

Very familiar situation.
 

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Thanks for sharing!
I'm constantly changing my audio strategy to meet different contingencies. And mostly after painful setbacks. I really appreciate learning from other people's mistake so hopefully we can help each other here by sharing c**k-ups, remedies, solutions and tips.
So far, I've learned some hard truths about working with venue mixers:

1. Don't tap from the mixer's headphone monitor port. Very prone to ground loops.
Some AV guys will offer me this option to save the hassle of patching to AUX or when they are not familiar with the setup.

2. Don't count on the mixer to be in the same room or even same floor as the venue.(Example: Furama Hotel) Cabling may not even be possible. So bring wireless options and record a back up track to a wav recorders. Wireless is highly risky. Don't even count on there being just one mixer. (again Furama)Bring 2 recorders just in case.

3. Don't count on there being mics at all. Venue mics/mixers do break down or can be in terrible condition.

4. Don't count om there being an AV guy. Many venue managers are clueless about their sound system. You may have to patch your own audio. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-use-an-audio-mixer-soundboard/?ALLSTEPS

5. XLR recorders get much more cleaner signal than unbalanced recorders.

6. Even if the audio is pristine when you monitor through the Zoom recorder's headphone out, plugging a senheisser G3 transmitter into the same headphone out will significant degrade the quality when it gets to your on-cam receiver.

7. IMHO, the safest audio feed is the master mix going to the venue speakers. Because the AV guy is monitoring that; all mics are patched there; no fool will preview their music there. You just need to convince the sound guy to split his jacks- two to speakers, two to you! Always bring splitter cables for that purpose if you are to convince the man. But note if you go down this route, you cannot retrieve your splitter until the tear-down and no jiggling or the whole venue will know.

8. Both line and mic level signal can come through the same Aux out simultaneously. This is really a tough one to manage when two mics have widely disparate levels that crosses the mic-line chasm. Recording the same feed split into two - one recorded at line level and the other at mic level could be the only method.


9. Perhaps the best prevention for the above situation, is to bring your own field mixer and patch each mic individually before sending out your own master mix. But this takes plenty of time for testing and cabling, not to mention serious money for a field mixer. And that's really what a professional soundman gets paid to do.


I know I sound like a tightwad and a fly-by-night, corner-cutting scum to soundmen here. But I mean no disrespect to the important work you guys do. In fact, sometimes I think life might be simpler if I were a soundman and did the video solo instead. Just a couple of remote control JVC GV-LS2 PTZs in the right positions and an ipad. :D
 

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I almost screwed up my audio a few weeks ago with the AF105. Set it to VBR and realized that it doesn't receive audio with that setting. Luckily i noticed and changed back to PH mode.

No. 6 should be able to fix with Raw or even uncompressed format. Then again, who will have the money for huge size SSDs? :dunno:
 

out of focus shots and visible camera shake when panning or sliding.. OMG.

one of the reasons why I decided to invest in a 7 inch external monitor..
 

Deunamist said:
out of focus shots and visible camera shake when panning or sliding.. OMG.

one of the reasons why I decided to invest in a 7 inch external monitor..
Click to expand...

Are your eyes that bad? Hahaha.
 

On my Zoom H4N. I dunno why sometimes when I turn it back on, it resets to some weird track no. and not a new no. to start recording. And sometimes I record over the previously recorded track. Not sure if you guys have experienced this before. Happens sometimes only, not all the time. scary ****...
 

Woah! You should reset the H4N to factory setting and try 50 start stops. If it happens again, time to junk it.
Read the manual to see if you in overdub mode.
 

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1. Using Silicon Power SD card.
- You will get at least 5% scratched footages every time.

2. When your Zoom H4N or H1 stop working for no reasons.

3. When your camera cannot record audio. (in-built audio)

4. Shaky sliding shots.
 

daniyal said:

2. When your Zoom H4N or H1 stop working for no reasons.

Click to expand...

So far, two posts on H4N defect. I don't have a H4N but I junked my H1 after it stopped recording after 5 seconds.
 

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