Were you wondering what special technical requirements would the audio segment of movie and video productions need?
Audio-Technica`s expertise is deeply rooted in the Broadcast & Productions segment, where high-quality conversion of sounds to electronic signals require dedicated microphones to very specific goals as well as ergonomic all-purpose solutions. At a small-scale video production, a conventional TV broadcast or a large format movie shooting usually needs high mobility, exceptional directionality, immunity to some environmental effects and a natural, reliable, low-noise sound on the equipments` part.
Mobility
Our System10 camera-mount receivers are one of the go-to solutions for run and gun video production. High-quality digital transmission coupled with ease of use allows the shooter to capture natural voice after quick and easy setup. Available with handheld or bodypack transmitters.
Some of the small-to-medium productions utilise only one shotgun microphone for capturing clear audio with relatively high off-axis rejection, so only the desired signal makes it to the output. The AT875R on the left is one of the introductory items in our offerings, ideal for booming due to its small weight, whilst providing a means to capture speech with surprisingly lot low-end.
Often placed upon the camera, the microphone directly records what the photographer has in the frame. The microphone illustrated here is the AT897, which is capable of battery operation if +48 V phantom power is not available.
Stepping up
Differences between their size, electronics quality, and the build-up of the interfernece tube that allows for exceedingly high off-axis rejection ratios will determine what application they would be the most appropriate for.
Based on their lengths which includes the electronics, the capsule itself and the interference tube in front of the capsule with filings designed to provide the acoustic properties, our shotgun mics (excluding the AT875 and consumer products of ours) can be put into three size ranges (20-30, 35-40 and 50-55 centimetres).
Of the smallest category, many microphones may be used for boom operation, capturing spoken word or sounds that need to get in clear isolation. Besides the already mentioned AT897 and the AT875R, our BP4073 resides here. Featuring advanced acoustic design, it is capable of providing directionality equivalent to much longer shotgun microphones. Its low self-noise and increased high frequency content makes post production particularly easy. As such you may often meet these kinds of microphones at broadcast vans and electronic news gathering (ENG) applications.
As the interference tube gets longer, the off-axis rejection generally gets stronger, but the backlobe (the microphone`s sensitivity of sounds from the back, which is generally more apparent at low frequencies) of the microphone does, as well. Great deal of engineering goes into reducing backlobes and keeping the self-noise of shotgun microphones at the minimum.
From the second size category the comparison of the AT8035 against the BP4071 deserves a few sentences, as the price difference is quite high, most differences are readily readable from their respective spec sheet.
Significantly lower self noise and externally polarized (“true”) condenser capsule allows for much wider dynamic range in the case of the BP4071 (128 dB versus 110 dB), but at the expense of battery operation which is available with the AT8035. As such, more involved ENG applications often use the AT8035, while the mic from the BP family is found in applications requiring finesse, such as nature documentary shootings.
To be continued…
