New Canon HV40 and Sennheiser microphone head-set (Lizards)

[rolawren]

Hi there,

Since I finally got around to buying a HD Canon HV40 - thought I would show you a short video I did with it. No fancy settings (i.e. auto-focus, just set it to sun setting - due to our bright light). I also said I would give an indication of a voice-over with my new Sennheiser 166 USB stereo head-set. I kept the background noise of this video and recorded a narration over the top in order to show you the sound from the head-set. I am very happy with it.

A short clip of some Shingleback lizards we saw on our walk this morning. We also saw four Common Bearded Dragons. The animals are in the wild in bushland close to the Canberra airport, so no where remote - just 10 minutes from home. The lizards are quite unusual in that they mate for life and bear live young. The babies are meant to be a 1/3rd of the length of the mother, which is just incredible to think of.



Regards,

Robyn

[Paul LS]

Nice video, your set up certainly gives excellent quality video and audio. And yes, I can certainly see why it is known as the "pine cone" lizard... has this one lost his tail at some stage?

[rolawren]

These lizards have another less used common name of bobtails. It is thought that having this sort of weird bobtail confuses their predators to which end is the head and the predator might attack their tail instead of their head. Sort of like a Dr Dolittle kind-of creature - push-me-pull-you. When they lose condition their fat bobtail gets thinner, just like a camel's hump. The video had three different Shinglebacks - they all still have their tail - but some do lose their tails when attacked (see comment above) - I have never seen a Shingleback without his tail, but many of our other lizards, skinks, dragons are often minus some or all of their tails.

Thanks for looking and your comments - Paul.

Cheers ... Robyn

[Steve Grisetti]

The picture is terrific and the color is perfect, Robyn!

But I sure wouldn't want to step on one of those on a walk some night!

[Bobby]

Yes, very good quality - like the mic.

The only suggestion I might make was that it is too quiet! You might consider bleeding in a little of the original tape background noise (wind, rustle of the grass, etc.). I know this was not your original intent, but just a comment...

[Chuck Engels]

Ahh yes, a little ambient audio would be nice. I agree

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Or use something like this which I think was suggested by Shrimpy(?):

http://www.vectormediasoftware.com/atmdeluxehome.htm

[Kitwn]

Christie found a shigleback (commonly called a 'bobtail' in WA) in our bedroom in our former home in Stoneville, Western Australia a few years back. I can remember the shriek now. The important thing to know is that if they do get annoyed enough to bite you, they never let go. Always get hold of them just behind the head and by the tail.

I like the low viewpoint pictures and the audio from that microphone. This is exactly the kind of 'mini David Attenbourough' piece I like to produce.
I'm not sure about the idea of adding fake ambient sounds. Reminds me of that awful canned laughter on old comedy shows. If I'm recording video in a natural environment I usualy leave the camcorder on it's tripod and record about 5 minutes of the ambient sound as a seperate shot whilst I have a break a few metres away. This gives me a clean sondtrack with no handling noise or heavy breathing which gives a continous reference soundscape behind different video shots. It will also contain the bird calls and animal sounds appropriate to that environment. Sir David would never have added stock American native birdsong behind an Australian picture!!!
Record a good 5 minutes so you have enough to repeat it if required without being obvious. Never forget that your camcorder is an excelent sound recorder even if there are no pictures you want.

Kit

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

It will also contain the bird calls and animal sounds appropriate to that environment. Sir David would never have added stock American native birdsong behind an Australian picture!!!

You are quite right, of course. But if all one wants is, for example, some generic sounds like gentle breeze, sound of seagulls, waves breaking etc. to add a bit of atmosphere then it is a useful tool to have in the software toolbox. (I chose a seaside setting as the generic example because that is where wind noise from the on board mic can often ruin a good video - from personal experience )

[rolawren]

Hi,

Thanks for the idea to increase the background sound. I like the idea of Kit's to record some sound independantly to ensure you have some useful sound from the day's filming. I increased the sound that I did have against the video to 4 db. Because I was next to the airport a couple of the clips had planes taking off noise. So I used the background noise in between flights. It was pretty quiet that day besides a bit of cricket or cicada noise, not a lot of bird sound when I was filming the lizards. I was hoping to get one with its mouth open, but did not want to deliberately cause them to get upset so they didn't do it.



Thanks,

Robyn

[Bobby]

Thanks Robyn - much improved. Now that you mention it, I went back and played the original and in fact there was ambient noise - I guess I just had my volume too low. Better now!

[Kitwn]

I like the idea of Kit's to record some sound independantly to ensure you have some useful sound from the day's filming.

I learned this trick the hard way: I recorded a friend's wedding and had lots of short shots of all the aunts and grannies etc arriving at the church or sitting waiting (you daren't leave anybody out!). The whole section felt horribly dissjointed as the original recorded sound of the organ playing was jumping all over the place. Fortunately I had a longer shot inside the church with continous sound which I used behind the string of short portrait shots. The whole feel was completely different. The coherent, uninterupted background of music, footfalls and chatter made the fast edits between the pictures much more tollerable. I decided this was something too important to leave to chance in future.

Kit

[Greg mgm]

Very nice video. Good quality audio as well.

[momoffduty]

Very good & good quality. And great idea Kit on recording ambient sounds to mix in later if needed.

[chooks]

this brings back memories
We called them "stumpy tailed lizards" and used to catch them as kids,remove any ticks and let them go again. Ours are a lot lighter in colour. They are not very flexible, so can be just held around the tummy safely (unlike bluetougues that will stretch around and bite you. Very crisp footage, but plays a bit choppy on my computer. Thanks for sharing