Ventilation noise, a rustling jacket or a noisy road can quickly ruin your video recording. Audio quality is one of the parts a viewer considers most important in a video. In this guide, you get five quick and concrete tips on how to avoid the most common audio mistakes, and how to succeed with your audio recording.
1. Make a test recording at the intended location.
If you have access to your intended recording location in advance, it may be worthwhile to do a test recording. In this way, you can quickly locate if you need a microphone and in some cases which kind, if you need to turn off any sound, bring up textiles, or if the recording location may simply not be the optimal place to be.
2. Use the right microphone for the right occasion.
Different recording locations require different types of microphones. If you are most often at the same recording location, it may be worth investing in a microphone that is best suited for the location. However, if you often film in different environments and contexts, it is good to rent good microphones from different production companies. If you want to know more about microphone selection, you can read our guide "Choose the right microphone for your recording".
3. Consider acoustics, wind and materials
Rusty jackets, jewelry that rattles when you move, or an empty room that echoes can be treacherous for your recording. Not to mention the weather. Consider the following:
- Take off bracelets, necklaces and earrings that can hit each other.
- Take off rustling clothes.
- Turn off background noise such as ventilation, radio or an open window.
- Avoid hard surfaces such as bathrooms with walls made of tiles, glass and metal. Then the sound bounces.
- Cover a bare room with fabric to avoid echoes. Don't forget the floor and ceiling.
- Try to adjust the recording day according to the weather if you are going to record outdoors. Avoid wind and rain. If you often record outdoors, it may be worth investing in a microphone cover that protects against wind.
- Rather let a microphone be visible in the image and that the sound is good, than the other way around.
4. Distance between microphone and sound source
The shorter the distance between microphone and sound source, the better. A rule of thumb can be about 50 centimeters. If you are in a bare room, you should have the microphone closer to avoid echo. However, having the microphone too close to the mouth can create noise as a puff sound can easily occur when you say words with, for example, the letter P, which then affects the microphone membrane. Feel free to carry out a short test recording to assess whether you get sufficiently good sound quality.
5. Headphones
If you are filming someone else, we recommend that you use headphones, preferably with covers that cover the entire ear. Then you can immediately hear how the sound will turn out and have a chance to correct or re-record. Otherwise, you may get unpleasant surprises when you get home and listen to the files and may not have the opportunity to film again.