Digital Commons at Penn State

Steven Sodebergh said in the commentary of his indie film Full Frontal that it didn’t matter how ugly or beautiful the video was, if the audio was bad then the audience would walk out. This same rule applies to projects of all sizes. From feature films all the way down to a YouTube video journal, you need to have good audio in your video productions.

That being said, the world of audio can be very confusing. With video you can see your results in the LCD display. You know if you are getting a good result. But with audio it can be much harder to tell if you are having audio drop-outs, static, over modulation, or any other audio glitches even if you are monitoring with headphones. So what are some good options for ensuring you have the best audio possible?

1.) Control your environment: Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Fluorescent Lights - all off these things put off noise that we usually tune out with our ears, but microphones pick them up very well. Try your best to eliminate as much environmental noise as possible.

2.) Microphone position: The further your microphone is from your subject the more environmental noise you are going to hear in the final product. That does not mean that you should put the microphone right in the subject's mouth, but you want to pay attention to mic position. The proper placement is dependent on the type of microphone you have and its pick up pattern, but closer is usually better.

3.) Watch your levels: Different people speak at different volumes and that is why it is important to watch your levels while recording. If you are recording a podcast and one person whispers while the other person screams into the microphone it will make for a very annoying podcast to listen to. Pay attention to your speaking level and the level you are recording at so that your recording has an even volume. Also pay attention to the level of any music you add to your project. It is very easy to overlook doing a final mix once you have added your music and sound effects. Make sure you give your project one last listen all the way through before it goes out.

4.) Re-Record if needed: If you shoot something and notice that the audio quality is very poor, take the time to re-shoot it. There is no sense spending all the time editing something you are not going to be happy with due to an easily fixable audio problem.

Hopefully these tips will help you improve your audio quality, if not, your audience will just walk out on you and leave you penniless.