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Summary: Audio recording is a huge part of video production, so learn about using external mics for audio recording with a Canon XH A1 video camera in this free production video.
"Now I want to talk about the importance of external microphones and we'll be setting all these mics up in a minute. Basically, as I've saying, good audio is essential to good video and with external microphones you can really get that. The on-board on your XH A1is a pretty good microphone, but I definitely recommend investing in an external microphone and even a couple of different microphones to fit the situation that you need a microphone for. Our first mic is a Lavalier system which is what I use almost exclusively. It's just a little tiny microphone that hooks up to your talent, whoever is on camera, clips to their shirt and basically it picks up their voice without a lot of background noise which is great for interview shots and all that kind of stuff. It's a wireless system. The next microphone is a shotgun mic, a very directional microphone, forward. It's mainly picking up what is directly in front of it. The next mic looks similar to the shotgun, but it has a little bit more wider range in pick-up, and more of just a generic microphone. The next microphone has a very wide range of pick-up and is actually recording in stereo, well. Be showing you a little bit more about this later. And then we have a dynamic microphone on the end here, mainly used for recording instruments and bands, like that kind of stuff. We'll be setting all this up on our XH A1 and telling you why you would set each one up, and then, eventually, how to set up in wall tall microphones. Definitely very important to invest in a good external microphone. My suggestion being, a great Lavalier system if you're doing interview shots, and then a great shotgun microphone, similar to this, not so much for interview, maybe just field work. But, definitely pick up an external microphone and once you do, we'll be showing you how to connect those next."
eHow Article: Canon XH A1 Audio Recording with External Mics