The best way to improve your video right off the bat is to improve your audio. This video compares 6 different microphone solutions you can hear them being used in an iPhone video.
I’ll let you be the judge on the different mics. The price range is free (for the built-in mic) to around $500 for the high-end Sony UWP-V1. All the links above are affiliate links to Amazon where you can read and learn more about each mic. But I wanted to provide a video so you could HEAR the difference between all of them.
Hope this helps. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The iPhone accepts wireless microphones if you use a kVConnection cable. In this video, I demonstrate the iPhone 4 along with the Sony UWP-V1[aff] wireless microphone. I think you’ll notice exceptional voice quality.
Now that I’ve been using this mic setup for a few months, I’m really impressed with it. I use it in my home office and outside and get perfect results every time. The mic has 2 parts. The transmitter has a small wired lav microphone that clips to your shirt. You can run the wire underneath your shirt and plug it into the transmitter. I clip the transmitter onto my back pocket or belt. The receiver is a tad larger and attaches to a camera cold shoe connector. If I use with my iPhone, I just attach it to the tripod. I plug the receivers audio out to the kVConnection cable and that plugs into my iPhone.
I will say though, the UWP-V1[aff] isn’t cheap. It’s around $500 on Amazon. But if you’re looking for a great mic, I highly recommend it. The demonstration speaks for itself.
*** Updated 1/11/12 with transcript ***
Hey, everybody. This is Scott. If you’ve followed my stuff for any length of time, you know I’m always on the lookout for that perfect audio solution. We all know that if we’re going to have the best possible video we have to have good audio. The way we make audio work with our iPhone 4 is with the KV connection cable so you can plug in an external microphone.
I think I’ve finally found that perfect external microphone. I’m using a professional Sony system right now. This is the Lavalier mike. It’s all metal, it’s high quality, great frequencies, UHF wireless mike. I think you’d have to agree that the audio quality is exquisite. It’s perfect. It sounds really, really good. You know how far away I’ve been from the camera. I’ve got to tell you, I really think this is it.
If you’re looking for a great solution to your iPhone 4 video, I found it. I think you will, too. Definitely check out the Sony set-up.
Do me a favor. If you like this stuff, subscribe up above if we’re on YouTube, or feel free to share this with your friends. Make a comment below if we’re on YouTube. I’d love to hear from you. Let me know what you think.
Improve your iPhone videos by improving your audio quality. The Fostex AR-4i helps you capture better audio while shooting video with your iPhone 4.
I like to shoot a lot of iPhone 4 video and I think it can be the perfect way to create to create small business videos. One thing lacking, and it’ll ruin your credibility, is the poor audio quality of your videos because you’re using the on-board mic of the iPhone. You can improve the quality and credibility of your videos simply by improving your audio quality. The new Fostex AR-4i helps you capture that better audio.
The AR-4i is a sled you slide your iPhone 4 into. It has 2, directional microphones attached to it. More importantly, it has a gain control so you can increase the sensitivity of the mics. An added touch are the level LED lights so you can visually monitor the audio strength. The sled makes your iPhone feel like a quality point-and-shoot camera. This heft actually helps you hold and keep your camera still.
In addition, the sled adds a cold shoe for a battery operated light, a headphone jack with volume control so you can monitor the audio, and screw holes compatible with tripod heads.
In the above video, you’ll definitely notice that the Fostex AR-4i improved the original audio quality. I think this setup would be great for doing interviews, customer testimonials, or quick self-videos. Remember though, as you place the mic further way from your subject, you’ll pick-up what’s called “white noise” or “room noise.” Like I show in the video, this light hiss can be quickly corrected while editing your video if your editor has a noise filter.
Note: This post originally appeared on MacScreencasting at http://www.macscreencasting.com/imovie-11-audio-enhancements-for-iphone-videos on 10.22.2010. Due to recent hacking activity, I’m consolidating my sites and moving the MacScreencasting posts into SkillCasting. I’ll then be shutting down MacScreencasting.
The new iLife ’11 just came out yesterday and I wanted to see the changes in iMovie. As you know, I use iMovie quite a bit for my video editing. I find it faster than Final Cut Express and well, good enough. One of the major improvements Steve Jobs touted was the improved audio. Did he deliver?
This video takes a quick iPhone 4 video, with the raw audio, and shows you 5 key enhancements iMovie brings to the table. They include:
The new iMovie brings lots of improved audio control to your videos. If you’re shooting with the iPhone, I still recommend using a microphone with the kVConnection cable for the best possible audio. But if you need to make adjustments to your raw audio, the new iMovie ’11 definitely does the trick.
Note: This post originally appeared on MacScreencasting at http://www.macscreencasting.com/improve-iphone-4-audio-with-kvconnection-cable on 10.6.2010. Due to recent hacking activity, I’m consolidating my sites and moving the MacScreencasting posts into SkillCasting. I’ll then be shutting down MacScreencasting.
On my previous posts regarding an iPhone 4 microphone, I wasn’t able to test out the kVConnection audio cable because I didn’t have one. Well I ordered one and here are the results.
This simple adapter plugs into the headphone jack of your iPhone 4. You can then add one of your microphones to the other end. For this test I used one of my favorites, the Audio Technica ATR-3350 [aff].
I’m very pleased with the results. It makes iPhone 4 video sound as good as it looks. I highly recommend it.
Note: This post originally appeared at http://www.macscreencasting.com/audio-and-microphone-comparison-for-screencasting on 6.21.2010. Due to recent WordPress hacks, I’m consolidating my sites and I’ll be moving the MacScreencasting posts over to SkillCasting. Then I’ll shut down MacScreencasting.
The quality of your audio is an important consideration for your screencasts. In fact, poor audio can ruin an otherwise great screencast. But which microphone is best?
This tutorial compares 5 different microphones so you can hear the difference between them. Now these preferences may be subjective. The different microphones compared are:
• The built-in Mac microphone
• Andrea NC-61 USB headset microphone
• Audio-Technica lapel microphone
• Samson CO3U desktop USB microphone
• Griffin SmartTalk iPhone microphone
These range from free to about $120. Which one do you prefer?
You’ve probably seen some of my other posts where I talk about the importance of good audio for your videos. I’m always looking for a better microphone solution. I may have found one.
I’ve recommended wired lav mics like the Audio Technica ATR-3350 [aff] because they improve your audio by getting the mic closer to you when you’re on camera. And having a 20-foot cord means you can get pretty far back from your camera. But that long of cord creates other issues and it’s always getting in the way.
Shotgun mics like the Azden SMX-10 [aff], lets you avoid tripping over the cord. But I find the audio typically isn’t as good if your far away. And if you’re using a small camera, like an iPhone or a Kodak Zi8, there isn’t a way to attach the microphone to the camera because they don’t have a “hot shoe” attachment like regular video cameras. So even these are a bit unwieldy to use when you’re out and about shooting.
In my perfect world, I’d like to find a WIRELESS solution that would let you get a mic on your subject but still be small enough so you can carry it with your iPhone or pocket digital camcorder. Most of the solutions I came across are actually LARGER than the cameras themselves. The receiver and antenna would literally dwarf an iPhone. Oh, and you still have run wires on your subject because they have a transmitter pack and a wired lav mic they have to wear. It was beginning to look like more of hassle to try to take a wireless mic set and pocket digital camcorder out.
This little unit has 2 small silver capsules. You wear the transmitter (more on this in a second) and then plug the receiver into your 3.5mm jack on your camera. They each operate with a single AAA battery. They’re very small and light weight. And most importantly, I think they sound good enough. Make sure you watch the video above to listen to the quality.
What I’m not crazy about is the fact the transmitter is like a baby Coors beer can in the fact it’s a “silver bullet.” I wish Sony would have made these units black in color so they’d be a little more discreet. In the video, I’m wearing mine inside my shirt and I’ve placed some black electrical tape on it. Tacky I know. I suppose you could take a Sharpie pen to it. That’s definitely more permanent and maybe even tackier. But I digress…
I like the fact that it improves my audio even when I’m pretty far away from the camera. It’s small, light weight, and is compatible with my iPhone (if you use a kVConnection cable), a Kodak Zi8, or my Canon Vixia.
If you’re looking for a way to avoid the wires, you may want to check ‘em out. And if you want to learn more about shooting great pocket digital videos, check out Pocket Video Power [aff] by Jules Watkins. It’s a great video course that’ll help you shoot better pocket videos.
*** Updated 1/11/12 with transcript ***
Hey, everybody. Scott here. You know, one of the things I’m always looking
for is a good audio solution when we’re shooting iPhone 4 video. It’s the
piece that’s really missing in so many videos with the iPhone. What I’m
using for this video is the Sony ECM-AW3 Bluetooth Wireless Microphones,
and I’ve got to tell you, I really do like this solution. It is so small,
so compact, and so portable. So many of the other solutions I was looking
at, the transmitter and the receiver are so big. It’s actually bigger and
it’s a pain to schlep and carry and all that.
Let me show you what’s going on on the iPhone side that I’m talking to
right now. You’re going to see here, this is the Sony transmitter. It’s
very small and it’s powered with one AAA battery. I have it connected to my
iPhone 4 with the KV connection cable. This is a must if you’re going to do
any type of audio. This is the receiver and I am wearing the transmitter on
my shirt. You can see it right there. So that’s the actual set-up I’m
using.
I’ve got to tell you, this is a great portable solution. The one downside
that I see to this is that, “Sony, what are you thinking? Are you out of
touch with what we need again?” That large silver bullet, you can’t hide
it. I actually have mine turned around on my lapel and I’ve put some black
electrical tape over it. I know, kind of tacky, but it least it covers it
up a little bit more.
If you wanted to, another great solution would be to conduct interviews
with this. You can literally hold this in your hand and [inaudible 02:12]
just like that. I’ve got to tell you, I think this is a great solution. I
really do like this. I think it sounds pretty good, it’s completely
wireless and it’s Bluetooth. It operates with a single AAA battery in both
the transmitter and receiver, and the quality is good. You may want to
check this out. I’m pretty pleased with it.
When I was interviewing Jules Watkins, the creator of Pocket Video Power [aff], it occurred to me that we can liven up our iPhone 4 videos by adding sound effects to the video.
In the video, you see I have 2 simple cuts. I think normally, they’re fine. But by adding a quick swoosh to them, it gives it a little more flair. You can do all this editing in your iPhone iMovie too.
Here’s how you do it:
Create a playlist in iTunes.
Add your sound effects to the playlist and sync them to your iPhone.
While editing your video in iMovie, position the scrub bar over a transition.
Click the Add Media button and select your sound effect to add.
Drag the sound file to align it to the visual transition.
I find half-second transitions work best because it keeps your videos pretty fast paced.
I’ve had different sound effects in my audio library for years. If you don’t have any in yours, I found this collection over at Audio Jungle to have a good assortment to start with.
Have fun adding audio sound effects to your iPhone iMovie projects.
While leading an e-learning workshop last week, I shared with the class some tips for increasing their narrating effectiveness. This is because I’ve seen too many e-learning modules really fall apart because of poor narration. Nothing will erode your credibility like poor speaking skills.
Now these tips aren’t just limited to e-learning though. These are also great for screencasts and videos too.
This importance was highlighted this week when my Screenr video received a lot of Twitter re-tweets due to the quality of the narration. If there is one thing I can say about that piece it’s the fact that it’s coming from the heart. I didn’t polish that delivery up at all. Perhaps that’s why it’s so effective – it’s authentic.
The 2:30 minute video below shares the 5 P’s of presenting. (If you’re RSS feed doesn’t show the video, head on over to the actual site to see it embedded in the page.)
If you want to get great feedback on your next narration, apply these 5 tips.
There is an interesting article over at Learning Visions about audio in e-learning. While the results aren’t scientific, they’re finding that slightly un-polished audio comes across as more authentic. I think in a word, it’s because it’s real.
Having professional talent read a script isn’t the same as the expert explaining it from the heart.
That deep “radio voice” in the perfect sound proof room is too much. If your production is “over-the-top” listeners wonder why it’s so slick and start thinking about what you’re trying to cover up.
Here are three tips to keeping your audio real:
Stand-up and talk with your hands. I used to remotely record subject matter experts for technical sales training. While these engineers knew their stuff, they were kinda boring. Even though I was recording these over the phone, I would have them stand up and talk with their hands. I wanted to capture their energy, enthusiasm, and passion. Trust me, it comes through your voice when you do.
Never, ever, read a script verbatim. I introduced one of the PowerPoint to Flash tools to my organization and the HR department decided to use the tool to literally read policy to the employees. It was 45 minutes of hell. And oh yeah, it was required for compliance. What a waste. And worse, the tool was blamed for being ineffective. If you’re reading it, save us all the trouble and just send a document out. People read faster than you can speak so save everyone the aggravation. Do use a script as an outline to make sure you stay focused, but don’t let it sound like you’re reading it.
Talk from the heart. People won’t remember the exact words you use, they’ll remember the way you made them feel. Speaking from the heart allows you to connect with your listeners. I remember working with an executive who just couldn’t get his words out. He was getting so frustrated during our recording session because he was so concerned with his word choice, phrasing, and perception. After the f-bombs started flying in frustration, I calmly sat him down and just had him talk to me about why this was so important to him. His true passion came through when we talked about how he felt. It was more moving than anything that could’ve been scripted.
Keep your presentations and training real by being authentic.
Hi, I'm Scott Skibell. I help people "productize their knowledge" by creating videos, screencasts, and e-learning, around their expertise. If you ever have questions, I'm more than happy to help out. Call me at
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