Wind noise.

[Rondel]

Hi to everyone on the Forum. I recently bought a new Sony DV camcorder and took it on holiday with me, when filming by the sea on windy days and the microphone being very sensitive the noise that comes through on the final DVD is very irritating. I have looked in the hand book to see if I could change the sensitivity of the microphone but there is no facility available, I was wondering if anyone on the forum has encountered this problem and has any ideas of how to get round this....I noticed one day a man with a camcorder filming by a railway and he had some sort of sticky tape over the microphone, is this a possible solution I wonder, or some sort of foam to soften the incoming sound?
Thanks in advance.
Ron.

[Mr.D]

http://www.joelandkaren.com/mic-zeppelin/

[sbowler]

Try experimenting with different materials over the microphone. Like old toweling or velvet or thin cotton anything to shield from the wind.

[john key]

I've got a Sony DV camcorder too, and found the same problem as you. I bought a microphone from Jessops for 30 quid which goes on the flash bracket and improves the sound no end. Just a faff to carry it round, and you've got to remember to switch it on when you film something, and switch it off when you're done as it has its own battery. Sony external mikes can run off the camcorder battery, but they cost a lot more. Never tried sticking foam over the mike as I didn't want to start putting sticky tape on the camera, but it should work as thats all the external mikes do to cut wind noise. The other thing I found about the internal mike was that the slightest little noise if you moved your fingers or whatever while you're filming is picked up and magnified, which is improved again by an external mike. Still, I'm new to this, photography's my usual thing, so it could just be crap technique from me.

[redsox_mark]

A couple of points.

Generally use of an external mic will improve audio overall. But in windy conditions, external mics are also affected by wind. The solution to minimise this with external mics is to use a "wind gag"... or as it's called on my Rode mic a "dead cat". A fluffy thing you put over the mic (like what Mr. D linked to). Here is the mic, shown at the bottom with the wind gag (dead cat).
http://www.keene.co.uk/multi.php?mycode=RVMDEAL

With an internal mic it is harder to cover it. You could try experimenting with various materials to cover it, or buy a purpose build solution like this
http://www.keene.co.uk/multi.php?mycode=INTGB

Hi all,

You may want to try a WindCutter fur windscreen. I use one on my Canon XL2 and it's well made and works great!

[J1mbo]

Given that I'm a TV sound recordist I'm always going to notice this but...it never fails to exasperate me that people will spend a fortune on a camcorder to shoot with, a PC to edit the footage, and 42" plasma with surround sound to watch it on, but balk at the idea of investing any money at all on any decent sound gear!!! *SIGH*

Mr D ; I applaud the ingenuity of the Joel and Karen stickybackplastic windshield (in particular their desire to make a shockmount is laudable) but...

a) it will fall apart really quickly and will need constant repairs

b) it's a pain in the arse to make

c) it looks like crap - you have a £900 camcorder and what appears to be some cobbled together window cleaning products for your sound recording!

d) you can buy an OK windshield off Ebay for not much cash and a lot less trouble.

Rondel - if you don't want to go to the expense of buying an external mic, you can try taping a little foam over the on-board mic. You'll find that anything over a light breeze will pass straight through it tho - hence the furry 'dog' on the pro mics. Using thicker materials may work to reduce wind noise but may muffle the mic to much, no good if you want record speech for instance. If the Onboard mic is very small you may be able to cover it with a couple of the small WindCutter lavalier mic covers (see the top of the list in Michael007's post) or I would recommend Rycotes own version of these (they make the pro gear) which have a sticky pad to attach them - nice and easy! You can get them here:

http://www.filmtech.co.uk/acatalog/O...nsumables.html

If its larger then the bigger wind gags will obviously fit the bill.

From what you've said I imagine there is no bass attenuation for the mic on your camera - it would help enormously if there was. You might consider trying to EQ out some of the bassy wind noise from previous recordings if you have a PC to edit on. It won't remove it, but may help to lessen the impact on big speakers!

Onboard mics are rarely good quality unless you have a semi-pro camcorder, so if you don't want to go own the external route you may have to accept that recordings in high wind/high noise environments will be a problem.

Welcome to my world!

The only thing I've found that really stops wind noise from a built-in mike is a rain jacket. They cost around £50 but are well worth it if you want noise-free sound. They also allow you to shoot in rain and spray without worrying about damaging your camera, although in this case you will pick up the sound of the droplets hitting the jacket.

[tom51]

If using a consumer level camera with the supplied internal mic, there's a new product on the market that's designed for these cameras. It's called a Stick-On WindCutter. It's a little fur windscreen that has a good adhesive backing that sticks directly over the microphone area. Unlike the strap-on type pictured in a previous post, wind can't get under the edge of the WindCutter and it doesn't interfere with the lens or camera operation. The Stick-On is the smartest designed windscreen I've seen for these small consumer cameras. They work absolutely great, and don't cost much either. You can find these at TheWindCutter.com.

[ade4all]

listen to j1mbo, buy an external mic with wind protection & your sound stands half a chance of living up to the images your camera can create

[tom51]

I agree, an external mic is always better than any microphone built into a camcorder.

Some consumer camcorders have no port to connect an external mic. You can either use a Stick-On WindCutter over the camera's built-in mic for greatly reduced wind noise without spending much money, or consider using a mini sound recorder like the Zoom H2/H4, (with a fur windscreen) to get a better quality of sound. But this would of course add expense and require later editing the video and sound together with an editing software.

[moriartygm]

This last weekend I tried a 'Windcutter' stick on fuzzy thing to help with the wind noise on my Sony Camcorder.

The results were much improved and certainly for the cost (around 15$ including shipping to the UK) it is most certainly worthwhile.

The device does not remove all wind noise but does remove the high pitched whistling noise, while some noise remains in the low end frequencies.

Overall, a very good option.

[cherokee1111]

Originally Posted by moriartygm

This last weekend I tried a 'Windcutter' stick on fuzzy thing to help with the wind noise on my Sony Camcorder.

The results were much improved and certainly for the cost (around 15$ including shipping to the UK) it is most certainly worthwhile.

The device does not remove all wind noise but does remove the high pitched whistling noise, while some noise remains in the low end frequencies.

Overall, a very good option.

got a link? cant see any domestic Panasonic options, however my old Panasonic had a wind cut option which dramatically cut down interference

[alpine101]

Had my SD1 down in the wind of Cornwall last week, with its cheapo faux fur dead mouse over the mike. Wind noise considerably reduced, very successful. Wonderful to think of the 'professionals' paying lots of money for the same fur, no matter what they might believe. But then the media business always has been full of conmen.

[JH4]

Yeh, I've used a piece of fur stuck on with duck tape on a Sony TG3 as a wind gag - works a treat but looks ridiculous !
Don't use foam though - it doesn't work nearly so well.
It has to be fur.