Need basic help

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by fwellers

Yes. There's a standard Mike jack, I believe it's on the sound card.
I didn't mention this before, this is a standard HP desktop running Windows 10.

Thanks,
Floyd

You're better off with a USB mic. You can get very inexpensive ones, up to quite nice. Something like a Blue Yeti (avail for around $100) will give good results. Built-in computer sound cards usually aren't that great, so I'd skip anything that goes through the mic jack.

The Windows Camera app doesn't seem to have a setting to choose a different mic, but you can probably find other software that can do webcam recordings with an alternate mic. This would allow better sound quality but you could record "all at once" and save the step of combining audio and video later.

Of course, recording audio and video separately and combining later gives you the most flexibility, both in terms of gear (different cameras, different mics) and editing later. It depends on how complicated you want to go.

[fwellers]

That's a great idea Chipotle.
Now that I get a little bit how it works, I would rather go for the simplest solution that sounds nice.
I have an idea how I can do more should the need ever arise now, but yea if I can just buy a mic plug it in and find a software to record using that mic and the webcam, I'd be accomplishing just what I want for now.

Thank you!

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by fwellers

Yes. There's a standard Mike jack, I believe it's on the sound card.
I didn't mention this before, this is a standard HP desktop running Windows 10.

Thanks,
Floyd

I think he meant does the webcam have a place to plug an external microphone. If it doesn't, you're probably going to need software as previously described.

[Rudy4]

If you use a smart phone you'll find the video and combined audio is most likely far superior to what your webcam mic is providing.

Something as simple as a phone holder for a cheap tripod is very helpful to framing your shot appropriately.

I'm recording audio seperately in the photo, but just the phone camera's mic might be sufficient. I use a free app called "Open Camera" that has extra features like being able to lock focus and white balance for making better videos.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by fwellers

That's a great idea Chipotle.
Now that I get a little bit how it works, I would rather go for the simplest solution that sounds nice.
I have an idea how I can do more should the need ever arise now, but yea if I can just buy a mic plug it in and find a software to record using that mic and the webcam, I'd be accomplishing just what I want for now.

Thank you!

One piece of software that can do this for free is OBS Studio. It's really designed for streaming/multiple cameras, but will work fine with one camera & audio source and can record as well as stream. Not the easiest to use but not terribly difficult either. You can download it at https://obsproject.com/.

Once downloaded and started, you'll have to create a Scene, then add both a video source (video capture device) and audio source (audio input capture). Select where you want to save the resulting video with Settings > Output (at lower right) and then simply hit "Start Recording".

Others may be able to recommend even easier-to-use-software.

[fwellers]

Thank you Chipotle. I'll check that out.
appreciate it.

[Gdjjr]

I record straight to my iPhone7 (SE)- a couple of the videos I have on my you tube channel were with straight to my lap top and one or two were to a mini iPad- going straight to the phone worked better. I tried using one of the tri-pod things and the sound just went past the phone, so I resorted to, as I had in the beginning, leaning the phone against my lap top screen and the results were plenty good enough for amateur recording- amateur being key- as well as simplicity- upload the video to my lap top via usb because accessing the create studio on you tube is easier than doing it on my phone and doesn't tie my phone up for extended periods.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I think he meant does the webcam have a place to plug an external microphone.

Right!

I think Rudy4's post above is probably the best advice at this point. It's something I've got to get into myself! I use Cubase Elements and a Scarlett interface for recording audio, which has a very steep learning curve. Solo beginners probably don't need it, but I totally dig the multitrack capability so I can play different instruments along with myself.

[lcgeek]

Since you're using the Windows Camera App now, just a bit about that if you want to keep using it.

In the Camera app you can choose which Camera to use, the laptop internal or your usb external webcam (although selection of which is not at first obvious) In the top right of the App there is a camera icon, click it and each time it will cycle through every camera you have connected to the laptop.

The Camera app does not allow you to select different microphones, but no problem, just go to your Windows "Sound Settings" and choose your active Microphone from the Mics connected to your laptop. Your Camera app will use whatever the active mic is.

In summary, if you get a decent USB mic you can use the Windows Camera app no problem.

[fwellers]

Originally Posted by lcgeek

Since you're using the Windows Camera App now, just a bit about that if you want to keep using it.

In the Camera app you can choose which Camera to use, the laptop internal or your usb external webcam (although selection of which is not at first obvious) In the top right of the App there is a camera icon, click it and each time it will cycle through every camera you have connected to the laptop.

The Camera app does not allow you to select different microphones, but no problem, just go to your Windows "Sound Settings" and choose your active Microphone from the Mics connected to your laptop. Your Camera app will use whatever the active mic is.

In summary, if you get a decent USB mic you can use the Windows Camera app no problem.

Thanks ! That's great to know. I am using a desktop, but same thing really. I can just define the usb mic and be done with it.
I'm just trying to figure out the best way I am going to be able to have the mic positioned perfectly for the guitar.

I sit in front of my desk with my desktop at the rear corner. So the mic has to be able to reach in front of the desk and a few inches lower than the desk, while at the same time it's usb cord has to reach the desktop.

I've seen the boom that comes with the blue yeti, and it looks like it may not like to stay in the down position too well. But that's kind of where I am thinking, get a Yeti or a AKG LYRA and some kind of boom. Oh and then some kind of software that would take the mic output file and the webcam output file and mix them for editing a little.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by fwellers

Oh and then some kind of software that would take the mic output file and the webcam output file and mix them for editing a little.

The beauty of using something like the Windows Camera app or OBS is that you don't have to mix them later. They record the audio from the USB mic right along with the video from the camera in one video file.

You only need video editing software if you are capturing video with one device (e.g. your phone) and better audio with another (e.g. mic plugged into a USB audio interface being recorded with a DAW). Then you need the extra software to combine the separate audio and video files.

(Of course, video editing software can be helpful to trim the clip ends, add titles, etc., even if you have audio & video in the same file.)

[fwellers]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

The beauty of using something like the Windows Camera app or OBS is that you don't have to mix them later. They record the audio from the USB mic right along with the video from the camera in one video file.



You only need video editing software if you are capturing video with one device (e.g. your phone) and better audio with another (e.g. mic plugged into a USB audio interface being recorded with a DAW). Then you need the extra software to combine the separate audio and video files.



(Of course, video editing software can be helpful to trim the clip ends, add titles, etc., even if you have audio & video in the same file.)

Oh right I forgot. Thanks Chipotle. That's even easier. Yup gotta clip the ends.
So someday if I want to edit the sound by adding a touch of reverb or bumping the base, then I guess I would have to run video and audio as separate discrete channels and then worry about syncing them and combining them.
That makes sense I would be trading ease for flexibility.
But for now, I'm getting me a USB mic and doing it that simple way.

Thanks again!

[shufflebeat]

Adapting what you already have and know is probably going to get the most useful results so adding a USB mic to your PC and running the Windows app is probably favourite. A good USB mic has what we used to call a soundcard built in so you can monitor your performance as you play from the headphone socket on the mic.

You can load whatever video file you create into Reaper which is mostly used for audio but can handle simple video trimming/editing as well. At any point where you want to process the audio there are some world class tools for very little outlay.

I've done a few projects in DaVinci Resolve and it's a wonderful tool but the initial learning curve is very steep compared to Reaper. If you have any recent iPad then Lumafusion is well worth exploring if you want to do something more adventurous.

#1 tip though, find a good space to record in. Home recordists of the past could only dream about the tech we have access to today. The weak link is very unlikely to be that, much more likely a crap sounding room which good gear will only capture in finer detail.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by fwellers

So someday if I want to edit the sound by adding a touch of reverb or bumping the base, then I guess I would have to run video and audio as separate discrete channels and then worry about syncing them and combining them.

Not necessarily. A video file has an audio track too. If you load the video file, taken with good audio at the same time, into a video editing program, you'll usually have some capacity to tweak the sound as well. Most video editors won't have extensive audio editing, but you can at least EQ a bit, adjust volumes, etc. If you use Reaper, it's primarily an audio program with some video capability, so you can do anything to the included audio in your recording that you could do to standalone audio, like reverb.

The reason many people record audio and video separately is that it gives you the most control over each end of the process. You can use specialized tools (better cameras, better mics, better software) to create each one individually. And the video pretty much always contains an audio track, but if you recorded the sound separately you just mute that when you combine them.

[fwellers]

Thanks Shuffkebeat, yes I guess I'll hear how my little crap room sounds. I'll be back for your all help to deal with that when the time comes. [emoji57], although I have some ideas.

Cool Chipotle you did it again. I didn't know recording in camera provides separate audio and video that I can get to.
Gonna check out reaper for sure.

Man the more I talk to you the easier this gets. [emoji1787]