Things You'll Need:
- Two shotgun microphones
- Video camera
- Two XLR cables
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Step 1
Plan ahead and check to see if you have all the equipment necessary for the shoot before you leave. Depending on exactly what you are recording, the XLR cables may need to be either extremely long, small or of a moderate length. Think about this beforehand, and perhaps bring an extra cable if that is an option. Equipment does break, but that doesn’t have to stop the shoot if you are well prepared.
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Step 2
Connect a very short XLR cable to the shotgun microphone that you will be mounting on your camera. In this instance, the camera-mounted shotgun would be working as a back up, so it would be plugged into channel two of your camera. However, this is not the only way to use your two shotgun mics.
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Step 3
Hook the second, mid-length XLR cable to input channel one on your camera. This will hook up to your primary shotgun mic, which would most likely be mounted on a boom to pick up speech without the use of a direct mic. The set up for steps two and three are for movie or documentary work. To record something in stereo, you’ll want to follow steps four and five.
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Step 4
Hook two very long XLR cables into input channels one and two and run them over to where your two shotgun mics are mounted. You will most likely need mic stands for this. Make sure that both the microphones are pointed directly at the object you want to record. Shotgun mics are highly directional, so placement is essential.
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Step 5
Check how the mics are hooked up to your camera. If you are following steps two and three, you’ll want both channels to be individual or mono channels. If you are following steps three and four, you’ll want the microphones to be recording is stereo. Recording in stereo will give you a richer range of sounds and should be used when sound is the focus of your piece, such as recording a concert.
