February 12, 2008 by David.

Are you wanting to learn about audio mixers or are you considering purchasing your first audio mixer? A couple months ago I purchased my first mixer, a Behringer Zenyx 1204, to connect multiple mics (including one needing phantom power) to my Sony VX2100 as I tape studio lectures. Granted, my mixing needs are super basic. I don’t need special effects, multi-track recording, or anything “fancy.” In fact, the 1204 is quite overkill from a features point of view on what I need.

Well, the manual that came with the Behringer might be of use to experienced console operators, but I found it totally confusing, having never used a mixer before. I did some searching and came up with a book I just finished reading, Mackie Compact Mixers by Rudy Trubitt (available on Amazon). Ok, I don’t have a Mackie (but am beginning to wish I’d spent the extra bucks to get one), but the general principles apply to any compact mixer. I learned tons and tons. Granted, I’m a very long way from being an accomplished mixer, but I finally have a vague idea of signal routing.

If you are in the market for a mixer or have one that you want to understand better, I couldn’t recommend this book more highly. It is written in simple language with a nice edge of humor. It is “Certified 100% math free” and indeed does avoid both math and technical jargon.

Posted in Audio/Video, All | Print | No Comments »

February 7, 2008 by David.

The last few months I’ve been doing a fair amount of video recording, primarily of lectures in a studio environment. This has been lots of fun for me to learn, from using a Sony VX2100 camera, to getting some good Westcott lights (mainly TD5’s), green screen backgrounds, adding in an audio mixer, and learning way more about white balance, depth of field, lighting, and many other details than I ever had experience with before.

One piece that became apparent was how useful a teleprompter could be. I’m currently using Prompt! but will eventually move on to a more robust package. Meanwhile I thought I’d post my findings on various PC based teleprompter software packages. There is naturally a pretty direct relationship between function and price.

You’ll find that most demo packages have a line of text that is inserted at random, replacing what was on that particular line with the name of the software (or something similar). This does allow you to get a real hands-on idea of how the software operates, but precludes actually using it.

Script-Q3:Auto changes resolution to 600X800 when entering and leaving prompt. .rtf input files. Good speed and speed increment adjustment settings. Side bar progress indicator & elapsed time (from when started prompt). Explorer manual. Frequent freeze, doesn’t work with ppt remote. Bug: Setting black background with white text in setup menu results in black background on black text in prompter; must change text (again) to white within prompter and save .rtf file to “hold” text color when open the next time. $130/$225.

Prompt! 7.0:Only imports .txt files and not even all .txt files. Works with a PowerPoint remote - kinda. Two screen resolutions, must set manually. Has back ground black out if don’t use full screen. 15 day free trial with full features/no text replacement in demo mode. No manual. Free version limited to 2,500 characters – not words. Ultra basic editor. Page up and down doesn’t even work – only cursor up and down. What you see in the “editor” is not what you see in the prompter – line feeds (carriage returns) may disappear. Cheap - $44 to buy (you get what you pay for!).

LitePrompter 4:Not bad. Choice of font and background colors & size, import .txt files, speed control up and down arrows. Choice of resolutions including full screen. No mirror. Name placed in prompt for demo. $184; $240 for two-screen studio version; $325 for pro version with mirror and numerous other features.

Ultra-LightPrompter: Gets the job done, basic. No mirror. Full screen w/o resetting.  Name placed in prompt for demo. $90.

PrompterPro 2.0: Demo does not allow hardly anything so hard to test but can tell super basic. $99.

EZPrompt XP 5.0: On the expensive side - $500, but appears to be a robust solution. Can be packaged with hardware to reduce s/w cost. No demo. Probably the most robust of the bunch.

Prosoft Digital Tele-Prompt: Just $69. No trial. Incorporates and audio recorder, something others don’t.

Posted in Audio/Video, All | Print | 1 Comment »