rodevideo mic boom pole

[scotsMANNN888]

okay so for crhistmas i got the rode videomic...yeah! awesome! great sound clarity!
one problem.
as mentioned in countless other threads, the sound of the camera is clearly audible.
Im disappointed in this. to fix it I'm supposed to buy a boom pole with wiring? thats like another 80 bux! help! should i return the mic and get my $ back and try and get something else or go for the boom baby? help please

[Seo]

You want to boom your audio no matter what. If you camera mount a shotgun, it's gonna sound bad no matter how good the shotgun is.

Don't skimp on the boom pole too much. Your boom op will thank you if you get one that's light, long enough so it can be balanced and still be usable, and quiet and maneuverable. There are two types, carbon fiber and aluminum alloy. You can check out the K-tek or Gitzo booms, or get Rode's own boom pole.

EDIT: An alternative is to raise up your mic. This won't better the audio quality but it'll remove most of the camera noise.

[KingDucky]

Welcome to the forum!

I've tried a K-tek one before and I liked it a lot. It was carbon fiber.

But listen to Seo....always listen to Seo....


Always!

[weaton1230]

Hi all, not sure if I should have started a new thread but anyway... speaking of Rode Video Mic and Boom pole, I have a nagging question.

Is it common to put a inexpensive wireless tranmitter on the Boom pole and Videomic to eleviate wires and the 10' max wire rule I have read about on this forum ??

[justinisloco]

I have a simple trick I did, the cheap way out.

I noticed i never had camera audio with my rode, but rather a low hum that is just there constantly. I would lower the mic level on the camera itself, and it would help, but the subject would be too quiet.

I went to home depot, bought a cheap painters pole (a 4'-8' for $13) and one of those plastic handles to add on for a painters brush.

I bought a 20' stereo cord w/ 3.5mm jack adapters for like $10. Screwed the rode mic on the plastic holder with a bolt to secure it, and it fits perfecty. Cheap boom pole, no need for XLR cables. Ill show pictures later on

[Dust'n the Callipygous]

If I'm just running around shooting, I just put mine on a cheap flash bracket. It gets rid of the motor noise. I've used a ktek boom pole several times. It was nice, but I'd say definitely get the longest/ lightest you can afford

[Seo]

Not necessarily (but here's when things start getting picked apart bone by bone). Carbon fiber poles are generally the lightest but the thing is the surface material makes handling noise and noise transmission more apparent. If you have a skilled boom op, both carbon fiber and aluminum poles will work, so you should ask your boom op which he prefers. This means if you are your own boom op, try both out and see which you like better.

Hi all, not sure if I should have started a new thread but anyway... speaking of Rode Video Mic and Boom pole, I have a nagging question.

Is it common to put a inexpensive wireless tranmitter on the Boom pole and Videomic to eleviate wires and the 10' max wire rule I have read about on this forum ??

Wireless transmitters go on the body of the person being miked. How are you going to put both the VideoMic and the transmitter onto a boom? Not only will the inexpensive transmitter introduce interference (due to it probably being VHF), but the unshielded cables and body of the mic will introduce more interference. You're just making it worse than it already is. But I may have understood your question incorrectly.

[tcindie]

The problem with putting a Rode video mic on a boom is that it's got a unbalanced audio signal traveling through its little 1/8" jack. By using an extension to plug into a camera and keep the mic off the camera, you're going to basically be sticking a massive antenna into your audio signal path that will pull in all the errant RF interference on set.

You really need an XLR mic and XLR interface for the camera (Beachtek or Juicedlink) to get high quality audio when booming audio. It's going to cost several hundred dollars to over 1000 dollars, but the investment in better mics is very worthwhile, and a good mic will outlast a camera many times over with proper care.

[NOCSUCOW]

What's better and immediately useable vs the Home Depot painter's pole?

TARGUS MONOPOD FROM TARGET/WALMART/RADIOSHACK

I bought mine from Radio Shack for $10. If you remove the mount from the mic there's a 1/4-20 and 3/8? screw mount on the bottom of the shock mount. You can get a shielded 1/8 plug extension from Radio Shack too for a few bucks. And all this won't look ghetto.

[drapeama]

For myself, i partially fixed the problem that way. It's just enough distant to avoid picking up the HVxx motor sound.
[see here for the whole rig]
But all the good advices have already been said! A good XLR mic and an XLR adapter is the way to go.

[justinisloco]

What's better and immediately useable vs the Home Depot painter's pole?

TARGUS MONOPOD FROM TARGET/WALMART/RADIOSHACK

I bought mine from Radio Shack for $10. If you remove the mount from the mic there's a 1/4-20 and 3/8? screw mount on the bottom of the shock mount. You can get a shielded 1/8 plug extension from Radio Shack too for a few bucks. And all this won't look ghetto.

Yeah but wouldnt that get heavy for the boom op? let alone unadjustable for the mic angle? i mean its a good idea, but I have the boom at an angle facing the talent so this way, I can stay out of frame a little more. It reaches 8 feet, compared to a monopod which might be 4-5 ft. And best of all, the pole is maybe 2 or 3 lbs and durable. I added some sound foam and tape for the handles to cut out some noise (of course they still need to be steady as possible) It might look a little ghetto, but it works. I can always paint it of I choose.

I do reccomend getting an XLR mic an adapter as well, but i mean you just got the rode VM for xmas, im not going to tell you to ditch it since you JUST got it, but i mean this would be the next best thing.

and some pix as promised

[NOCSUCOW]

^ my monopod is long as crap, at least 6 feet. It's also just as light as the naked camera. As far as the angle, you can get a ball head from a small table tripod and mount it to the top of the monopod.

[debuys]

Let me point out a small observation. The automatic mic level setting on the camera is arguably the main culprit in motor and handling noise. It seems to be a brick wall limiter with a silly low threshold gained up. In other words it makes everything loud at the expense of the signal to noise ratio. Set mic gain manually

[Seo]

^ my monopod is long as crap, at least 6 feet. It's also just as light as the naked camera. As far as the angle, you can get a ball head from a small table tripod and mount it to the top of the monopod.

6 feet is on the lower end for all boom poles. It's a good temporary solution but not one you'd use to replace a real boom.

The reason you get a 10 foot+ boom is to better balance the weight. 10 feet is just the right length for me in most out door situations, so I agree with monopods being impractical.

[localstreethero]

How come more people don't use Zoom H2's on a boom? Great sound, light, NO cables to get tangled on and oh yeah, great sound. Just curious, I will be doing this soon.
I have the rode videomic and it doesn't pick up cam noise at all, but I do have it on a diy top handle with shoe mount.

[Seo]

I've only ever seen shotguns and hypercardiods mounted on booms. They're the ones with the narrowest pickup pattern. An H2 has a very wide pickup pattern, so booming it wouldn't be required.