How to get good audio for videos in your Cat

[mph]

Hello folks,

I put a wee video together explaining how I do the audio in my Caterham.

Hope it's of help to some.

--Mark

 

[Simon.Rogers]

Top Tip - Don't use a GoPro.  

Yes its possible but such a faff!

[mph]

[David aka Blue7]

Thanks for posting Mark. I still use my Go Pro 3+ because by fitting an additional battery "back pack" it provides me with two mini usb ports, so I can use the Go Pro port for the external mic fitted with the adaptor and the back pack port to provide external power source as ringed in red below. Does that "Media Mod" allow you to fit an external mic and also external power?

My recent problem has been interference and loss of audio altogether which I have traced to a faulty mic extension lead so replacement just fitted.  Your mic lead seems to be long enough to reach that position wiithout necessity to fit an extension lead.

David

 

[mph]

You'll

that's what I do David — run the car power into the GoPro via the media mod

[David aka Blue7]

It is difficult  to see the 3.5 mm port in the video but I think I see it now, so you can use a standard 3.5 mm mic jack connection  and use the mini usb port for external power as shown below.  The position of the ports in the camera mount section of the video had me confused but I eventually realised that it is an Australian Go Pro or you have the camera mounted upside down ... or maybe I need to make an appointment with Specsavers

 

[aerobod - near CYYC]

I have found that a cheap lapel microphone with just a foam cover works well when placed in the footwell. I use Velcro strips on the microphone and at intervals along the cable to allow quick attachment to the carpet and wrap around the rollbar to the camera.

In this video 

I have an exhaust noise suppressor (knocks off about 6dB on the track noise measurement), which gives a somewhat different sound track to the exhaust without noise suppression on this video

, but otherwise microphone position is exactly the same.

I could do with updating my GoPro though, as my old Hero 3 is only capable of 720p at 60 frames/sec.

[mph]

#6 Yes, it's upside down David! I find it stays there that way. Sometimes, if it's mounted the 'right' way up, the weight and good ole gravity can cause it to droop down. 'Hanging' seems to be more stable — although to be fair, the Smallrig mounts I use are rock solid.

You can just about see the mic port

, although it's a bit dark isn't it. At

how it's plugged in.

--Mark

[mph]

#7 They both sound great James! Nice  Incidentally, what's the noise suppressor? I might need to keep something like that handy. Now mine has the PPE 225 mod it's a bit noisy 

[aerobod - near CYYC]

Hi Mark, the noise suppressor is an adapted SuperTrapp system, 18 plates on my custom machined mount that has 2 half clamping segments and a recess that fits the lip on the Caterham exhaust. It also has a protection protrusion on the front to deflect cones and a deflector to protect the lower corner of the rear wing from hot exhaust gas:

It bolts on from the rear with 4 M6 Allen bolts, only takes about 2 mins to fit:

The 18 plates have a cumulative gap that is equivalent to about 125% of the exhaust cross section, but I think horsepower is down about 5% at the top end (going by a loss of about 2km/h in speed on the fastest straights), but torque is subjectively up in the lower half of the rev range due to the increased back pressure due to turning the gases through 90 degrees through the plates:

 

[mph]

Most helpful! Thank you James 

[David aka Blue7]

#8 Mark, I assume you just use your authoring software to invert the footage but that is a bit of a hassle.  I started videoing back in 2008 with lots of good advice from Angus and I think Teresa who may or may not still be members.  I started with a Dog Cam bullet camera and the roll bar clamp was a jubilee clip with rubber protection insert.  I recently tried the new GoPro roll bar clamp but sadly there is slight vibration which spoils the video,  My most reliable roll bar clamp was purchased through Dog Cam named Manfrotto ... you'll get no droop with a Manfrotto and I won't mention the "V" word

From what I have read about the new Go Pro it is waterproof so no need for the outer casing that I use with my Hero 3 but it looks like you need the Media Mod surround to be able to mount it.  Maybe I will consider one for Christmas.

I dread to think what our esteemed leader Nippy would say if she knew you had been videoing Scotland upside down which puts Scotland down in England and England in Scotland!

[mph]

No need these days, they know which way up they are and automatically right the image 

Over time GoPros have got more and more rubbish though. They can be terribly unreliable. My 8 freezes every now and then for no apparent reason. The 9s were supposed to be total dogs, and the 10s overheat. Albeit not sat on a roll over bar in the wind 

If the DJI Action 2 did GPS I would ditch GoPro in an instant. 

[David aka Blue7]

#13 remarkable, I hadn't realised that correct horizon capability and thanks for the info on v8, 9 & 10 which ties in with a lot of on line comments.

I hadn't considered a DJI but may have a look because the one supplied with my drone is certainly remarkably good and reliability is key.  I remember the first time we visited Portmeirion, I was so determined to get the footage of entering and leaving the Village that I had 3 cameras mounted on the roll bar, Sony bullet camera, something called an Astak Action Pro and a Go Pro ... and they all worked perfectly ... !

Back to the sound aspect, I have always had my ext. mic. located under the dash and like #7 James, I use velcro strips that stick to the carpet.  Of late I have been getting electrical interference so repositioned to the back of the seat but in that position there is a lot of dif. whine so my latest position is just next to the hand brake which seems quite good with no wind noise. 

It is an interesting location because it picks up cockpit conversation quite clearly.  On a recent club run my loved one can be clearly heard reading out the written instructions about preventing convoys, "If you see more than four cars close behind you you should do something about it".  In the video I made I followed those words with a clip from the end of the film Where Eagles Dare, where Clint Eastwood smashes the rear window of the coach and machine guns the following vehicles!

David

[The_Dr]

I've been testing out a Zoom H1n audio recorder, details in this post.

Setting the gain can be a bit tricky, as loudness varies a lot during road driving. I used the built-in limiter and had to do some post-processing compression and EQ.

Wind noise is still there, even with shields over the microphones.

It's not easy getting good sound !