P3 Audio, Lets Think About Audio Solutions

Phantom751874 · Apr 19, 2015

I know I know no one wants to hear the buzzing of the drone not all the time at least.
This seems to be possible with GoPro mounted cameras as they obviously include audio but not
so much with the P2 Vision+ or P3, no audio.

This is great for certain captures, majestic stuff in the mountains in CO or say the Grand
Canyon. Edit and mix in your favorite music there really isn't the need to capture any audio
in shots like that.

But I can imagine use cases where audio would be very beneficial to capture conversations
or to get the full effect at sporting events etc. Audio would add context and emotion to video
capture.

How could this be done? I think maybe via wireless microphones paired up to the P3 so
that video and audio stay in sync. Range could be a concern but if you're getting somewhat
close action shots like this:

Being able to hear the skateboards would add a lot to the video i think.

Do solutions like this exist? When if ever do you think Dij would implement a solution like this?
They could sell the remote microphones as clip-on add-ons and would just need to work out the
technical details on how to get them synced up with the video being captured.

4wd · Apr 19, 2015

With some subjects you can cheat a bit and find sound effects online

https://www.freesound.org/

Mal_PV2_Ireland · Apr 19, 2015

Why? Even gopro drone videos have the audio edited out. The only drone videos with sound that I find useful are the crash videos so you can hear the motors go nuts and the horrible crunching crash sound. You want to hear a conversation from a drone camera?

Meta4 · Apr 19, 2015

You're kidding?
At 50 feet a Phantom sounds like a tornado of killer bees.
How do you think placing a microphone a few inches from that is going to record anything useful?

jason · Apr 19, 2015

That's what mega movie studios pay big money to sound foleys for. What you would like isn't as simple as it may seem.

GoPro have audio because they are multi use cameras whereas DJI's cameras are not. In post it's easy enough to turn unwanted audio off and add what you'd like in whether it be sound effects of skateboards or people talking with music in the background.

herein2014 · Apr 19, 2015

Audio on a Phantom? Pretty horrible idea and one of the main things I do not like about the GoPro is that I cannot disable the mic in the software. Disabling the mic would decrease batt consumption and save file space.

When I do want quality audio what I will do is set up a high gain directional mic on the ground to catch the audio, fly the Phantom overhead, then overlay the terrestrial mic track with the aerial video clip when I want viewers to get the full effect. That is my setup for customers that want me to film events. I'll add a music track or commentary track then fade it out to bring in the mic track for sections of the video. Viewers never know the audio source is from the ground.

Even with that setup, it takes a little work in post production to ensure the mic did not pick up the prop noise from the Phantom.

Phantom751874 · Apr 19, 2015

Remote mics fellas, remote.

jason · Apr 19, 2015

Meta4 said:
You're kidding?
At 50 feet a Phantom sounds like a tornado of killer bees.
How do you think placing a microphone a few inches from that is going to record anything useful?

The sound of a swarm of killer bees sound better than the noise from a drone.

Mal_PV2_Ireland · Apr 19, 2015

Phantom751874 said:
Remote mics fellas, remote.

And if you aren't in the audio visual game any phone can be used as a sound recording device

jason · Apr 19, 2015

Phantom751874 said:
Remote mics fellas, remote.

You have allot to learn about video and audio.

jason · Apr 19, 2015

Mal_PV2_Ireland said:
And if you aren't in the audio visual game any phone can be used as a sound recording device

Sure you can use any phone but then what do you do with the unwanted ambient audio.

Mal_PV2_Ireland · Apr 19, 2015

It was just a cheap alternative, better than a hive of killer bees

F6Rider · Apr 19, 2015

OK, to settle this I will add my .02. I took a USB thumb recorder and velcro'ed it to the skid of my P2v just as an experiment and got the predicted result, sounded like a swarm of killed bees. So instead I jest recorded the sound, then filmed the scene, then used final cut to kind of sync them up, like this Halloween video I tried.
https://www.facebook.com/jesse.snow.33/videos/vb.1289156454/10203017769027037/?type=2

jason · Apr 19, 2015

F6Rider said:
OK, to settle this I will add my .02. I took a USB thumb recorder and velcro'ed it to the skid of my P2v just as an experiment and got the predicted result, sounded like a swarm of killed bees. So instead I jest recorded the sound, then filmed the scene, then used final cut to kind of sync them up, like this Halloween video I tried.
https://www.facebook.com/jesse.snow.33/videos/vb.1289156454/10203017769027037/?type=2

If you wanted someone to see your video you should make it available for viewing

auen1 · Apr 19, 2015

Maybe something like this would work?
Active noise control

F6Rider · Apr 19, 2015

jason said:
If you wanted someone to see your video you should make it available for viewing

Sorry about that, missed that entirely, video is now public.

TonG · Apr 20, 2015

auen1 said:
Maybe something like this would work?
Active noise control

Not at all!!!

Ezookiel · Apr 20, 2015

I like the sound the GoPro gives me.
I use the initial silence, then the sound of the motors starting up, and then the props beginning to bite as it takes to the air, as the initial sound on the video, and it slowly fades out, as music fades in, then I reverse that at the end and fade the music out as the sound of the drone fades back in, and the motors shut down.
It's also been valuable to some who've been harassed by bystanders, to have had both the audio and the video captured by their camera. If you don't want audio from the quad, you can easily remove it, but it's far harder to add it in if it wasn't ever recorded in the first place.
Having the option would be nice.