User`s guide

Making Great Presentations
High Quality Audio
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Wirecast User Guide | 104730
High Quality Audio
Audio has an artistic aspect to it. You can make a great live event even better by
remembering to focus on a few details. Here are some suggestions on producing clean
audio.
• Use a Good Microphone Though this may sound obvious, a good microphone can
make a huge difference. Most DV cameras have an audio input for an external
microphone. Use this, whenever possible, instead of the built-in microphone that
comes with the camera. Built-in microphones are usually not good quality and tend
to pick up hum from the electronics inside the camera. Even when it is not a great
microphone, an external microphone almost always sound better.
• Use a Microphone Splitter If you are doing an interview with one camera, you can
use two microphones with a splitter (less than $5). This often gives better results
than one omni-directional microphone at a distance. You can also use a dual lapel
microphone with a splitter.
• Position the Microphone Properly Place any microphone as close to the sound
source as possible, even when using omni-directional microphones, because sound
volume decreases greatly the farther away the microphone is placed. Stronger sig-
nals coming into the microphone results in better quality.
• Use Lapel Microphones Even inexpensive (less than $20) lapel microphones can
make a huge difference because it places the microphone much closer to the per-
son speaking.
• Control Environmental Noise If a chair squeaks, use a different one. If you have a
wood floor and you can hear people shuffling their feet as they talk, put down a
rug. Do whatever it takes to keep noise at a minimum. Microphones pick up every-
thing.
Good Lighting
Do not underestimate the power of lighting. When an event is shot outdoors, a great
deal of attention goes into lighting. For professionals, lighting is viewed as an artistic
task. Many people make their living controlling lighting, so there is a lot to it. Here are a
few suggestions to help you obtain reasonably good lighting:
• If you are using only one lighting source, do not shine it directly on your subject.
You should diffuse the light.
• Avoid deep shadows. Make sure you fill all areas of your subject with light. Some-
times this requires adjusting the light to bounce off a different wall or use two
lights. Placing a light low and another one high is often a good way to light evenly.
• Do not light too evenly. If you evenly light a set, you may actually be worse off than
not lighting the set at all. Take a sample shot and see if it looks natural. Good light-
ing usually has a little more light coming from above than any other direction. You
should very rarely light just from below a subject.
• Beware of having too much light on your subject. If your subjects are people and
you must use a lot of light, use make-up to compensate for the overly bright light-