Sony PD 150 Shooting Manual page 14

PD 150 shooting guide
the track you want. Press the menu button to clear the screen. Press the 'audio level' button at the back of the camera, and
use the wheel to select and adjust the relevant track to peak to about –10 on the meters.
Let's assume however that 'AGC on' has been selected. Press the 'audio level' button at the back of the camera to
show the sound meters. On-screen level meters that respond to the sound coming in to the camera on each track
will appear. Check that the sound meter is bouncing around the –12 region. If it's too high, use an external 10dB
attenuator, or if it's really high use the 'atten' switch on the front of the camera. If it's too low, use a more sensitive
mic (such as the ME66 gun), move the mic nearer the sound, adjust the radio mic level, or get the person to talk a
little louder. Press the audio level button to clear the display.
If you're using a mixer, simply switch to 'line' on the front of camera box, and keep in auto level. This assumes the
mixer is producing the standard professional level (0dBu). Tone should read at –20. You will not get any 'pumping'
or other auto level problems, but have the significant advantage of the lower hiss in auto level.
It is vital to use good quality headphones to constantly monitor the quality of sound. Also, as the PD 150 can
produce dangerous levels of sound, you must use limited headphones. Plug them into the green socket on the
panel at the front right of the camera. Use the headphone volume control on the lower left corner of the LCD
screen to set a sensible level, usually about three quarters. You get each track in each ear of the headphones, so
take an ear off if you don't want to hear that sound. You should be listening for a whole range of things such as
distortion, hiss, rustling and crackling, to name but a few. Bear in mind that monitoring on headphones can sound
more hissy than the same sound through a loudspeaker.
50. FRONT OF CAMERA SOUND SWITCHES
On each track you can select 'mic', 'line', or 'mic atten'. The 'mic atten' position is quite a severe reduction in mic
level, and would suit loud sounds like a rock concert or an explosion. The idea of this switch is that the sound is
reduced right at the input to the camera, so as not to cause distortion in the input circuits. It's quite possible to
have the level meter reading OK but still to have distortion caused at the input. This also applies if you're in auto
level (AGC on). Watch out if the level scale (not to be confused with the level meter) is below about a quarter, and
you're getting high levels on the meter. If you're expecting loud sounds, switch to mic atten. Some mics naturally
have a high output, such as the Sennhieser ME66 gun mic in common use. You might find that even moderately
loud sounds will distort the input with this mic. The mic atten puts in about 20dB reduction of sound, which is
quite a lot. An external 10dB XLR attenuator can be useful to give the best quality in average situations with this
mic.
The 'line' setting is for mixers or other external equipment with a 'line' (or very high level) output. These include p.a.
systems, sound desks, press conference feeds etc. It is worth mentioning that hired in radio mic kits sometimes have mic
and line level leads - they should be marked. It doesn't matter which you use, but make sure you have set the line/mic
switch accordingly.
There is a switch for 48V on/off, which means that if set to on, you don't need batteries in some mics. The gun mic
for instance will work whether switched on or off ! It's best to switch the 48V off if you're using radio mics, or mics
not designed to accept power, such as a reporters stick mic.
The other switch is useful if you want to send one mic to both tracks. In this case, input socket 1 is sent to the
processing for both tracks. This means you can set a different level on each track for the same sound, or have one
track in auto and one in manual, giving protection against distortion if you're only using one mic.
51. CAMERA SOUND MENU SETTINGS
You can set the tracks to auto or manual level here, and also select whether the tracks are 'ganged'. This means
that the level adjustment for track one will also apply exactly to track 2. The idea of this is for using true stereo
mics, which are not used typically for DV location sound. Also a mic NR setting is in the menu. It can reduce motor