Barry Beckham

Tonton That was an interesting test, but no different to what I was asking for above, just a little sample and an idea how it was done. Before I played your test recordings I looked on the forum for what microphones they were, but didn't find anything. I settled on number 3 as the one that I liked best and was surprised when I clicked a button and the list appeared to tell me the makes. Not being a French speaker I might have missed something and wasn't even sure what I was clicking on , but the recordings were all good That is what I was hoping to hear from the Blue Snowball with a little info such as you posted "The 4 microphones were located at the same distance. I was with friends in the drawing-room, and the recordings were made without any special precautions. Under Audacity I normalized the 4 recordings to -6 db and I did not touch anything else." When it comes to relevance, your recordings were great, but they are exactly what I wanted to hear from the Blue Snowball. So, I am not sure sure where relevance comes in. I wasn't asking for a test of multiple microphones for comparison (as good as yours is) because there are so many out there, but yours helps.

TC Thank you for your interest, but a reference to a website selling the kit doesn't really help. I am a sceptic, which means that I need just a little evidence in support of a claim that something is wonderful. I don't personally have an issue with recording, I can record to a standard I am happy with and have done for the past 15+ years, but the equipment I bought to achieve that may be a little expensive for the casual AV enthusiast. What microphone to use is a subject that does come up in AV circles and its not an easy one to give advice. My mate has one and says it's good isn't enough for me. A little demo from a practical user who does the same things we all do or want to do carries much more weight and that is what I was interested in. I am sure there are demos on the site that sell the mic's, but its not hard to make a demo in ideal surroundings, which the average user will struggle to achieve. A practical demo by an experienced PTE user with some of their experiences would have been great, but no worries. Lets leave it there

Thanks, but I am also not interested in being directed to a site that sells them. I was hoping that another AV enthusiast who uses one in a practical sense would share some of their experiences with the mic, but never mind. The info I felt might be useful was not for me as I have a system that works. So end of discussion

So, do I deduce from the deafening silence that there are no actual users of the Blue Snowball

Thanks

Igor Can you give some thought to changing the way this small "Encoding Mp3 audio" window works. I always convert tracks to Mp3 for exe files, but the "Encoding Mp3 audio" always sits on the top of any other program I open, sometimes forcing me to sit and wait for the process to complete. I make a camera club slide show every month and I just timed this process at 50s. This is OK, but it should continue in the background so I can multi-task and keep working without that "Encoding Mp3 audio" window sitting in the middle of the screen

No, I wasn't aware of that and just did a search on YouTube for French military music. I doubt many others will be aware either, so perhaps I will get away with my mistake.

Jeff. I do sit right on top of my PC while making recordings and always have, but modern PC's are not as noisy as they used to be and I always stipulate I want quiet fans when I have a PC built. Even so, I still need to use noise reduction and have always done that too. A decent microphone and a pre-amp is a good way to go if you are going to do a fair amount of recording, but not everyone will want to spend a £200 (or more) for the privilege. I chose a headphones and mic setup, so that as I am speaking and moving my head, as you will do if your making a tutorial video, the mic is always in the same place. I also use the tone controls on the pre-amp to get a sound I am happy with and I have added extra foam to the business end. Your recordings are very much like mine. The Zoom has the edge, but those made with a phone are not a disaster. I have heard a lot worse used in slide shows. I am sure that if we spent some time trying out the various effects in Audacity, we could get the phone recording to have more depth. It just struck me that here is an AV forum, but the one bit of information an enthusiast may want is not available with very much conviction. Many people have plenty to say on the subject, but maybe a lot is anecdotal. I am a sceptic and all I want is to hear the results from those who tell me mic A is the best option. A little evidence will allow us to suggest a way forward with a degree of confidence. I am not that happy with the wet finger in the air approach.

This question reminds me of a view I have always had and that a button so useful to start a preview from a selected point, should be far more prominent and up front and centre. The original questioner is not the first to get hung up on this point and why would anyone think of clicking on what looks like a piece of toast anyway.

Yes, I guess you're right, they would probably like the stack of old prints too. They are all about 6*6, but I guess they also may have a commercial value. Knowing nothing about them doesn't help though. Worth a view and I don't know why I did do this sooner.

A few years ago I scanned a lot of old images taken in the early 1900's for a friend. I have taken a closer look at them recently and I think many people will enjoy viewing them, especially those with a history interest. There are about 160 images, so I made a presentation in two parts. The images have just been batch processed in Photoshop and Camera Raw, but no spotting or retouching, there are too many. For PC - Mac and Youtube below The French at War Part 1 The French at War Part 2

Two people mentioned the Blue Snowball and I am interested in what you have, what it cost and I would love to hear a short recording to show the quality. I think there is a big gap in the AV knowledge with regard to mic's and much confusion. I took the route suggested to me by a Musician many years ago and have a more professional mic and pre-amp. At a cost some would not want to pay. Because I gives me the results I want, I have had no need to try anything else, but I am interested in what is out there, what it costs, but personal experience is the thing I am most interested in. I can search the net, but I want to know and hear what results other AV enthusiasts are getting.

Jeff Yes, I waited until we got to the last few weeks of autumn before shutting myself in a darkened room. A cooler weather project

Open our Pdf from HERE

Judy I think you're missing the point of my post and I dare say that is my fault for not explaining things well enough, but it was just a simple suggestion for those who don't do much of this, but want to dip their toe in the voice-over water. It's a no cost chance to have a go and having done so they may then splash out on something better. I wasn't suggesting for a moment that we all abandon our recording methods and replace them with a iPhone.

Recording directly into the computer is definately a no-no If I am recording on screen content, it helps a lot to be in the same room as the computer I find

Jose Yes I did find it necessary, but perhaps you're missing the point. I am not suggesting you or any AV enthusiast should use this method. Just that it's a possibility for someone new to AV to try commentary at no cost. lin Do you have personal experience of this mic? If so, can you give a paragraph on your experiences, what you have and your experiences with it. Also, do you need any noisenreduction or is it OK as is. I find I need some noise reduction using Camtasia and a mic + pre amp

I am sure I am not the first to think of using an iPhone to record commentary. There have been questions raised regarding microphones and commentary on the forum over the years and it's almost impossible to give advice given the variables in microphones, sound cards and PC's. Some seem to get great results with low cost mic's while others struggle. I tried an iPhone and think the results are far better than I have heard some use on their slide shows, but where you record is obviously important. I chose a walk in wardrobe, so the acoustics were be pretty good. I laid the iPhone down and spoke across it, rather than at the microphone and then just ran the mp3 through Audacity noise reduction. For those who don't do much of this, but want to dip their toe in the voice-over water, perhaps here is a no cost chance to have a go. Mp3 sample

I am a Windows 7 user and can see all resolutions to HD size via Chrome or Windows Explorer

I just wrote the above and checked my emails and the following came in, so who knows, we may get some changes to how video is treated with the new owners of Flickr If you haven’t heard, Yahoo plans to sell its operating business, including Flickr, to Verizon Communications Inc. We anticipate the completion of the transaction to occur in June 2017. Upon the completion of this proposed transaction, Yahoo products and services, including Flickr, will be provided by a new Verizon-owned company called Yahoo Holdings, Inc. In connection with this proposed transaction, Yahoo is updating its Terms of Service. You can review the changes by visiting our Terms of Service These updated terms will automatically be effective on June 8, 2017, unless you cancel your Yahoo account before then. That’s it! We look forward to continuing to deliver your favorite products and services.

Denisb Thanks for posting the link, it never occurred to me that there would a 3:00 restriction in this day and age Igor Sorry to admit that I haven't really thought too much about a Html 5. Most of my storage is on Mediafire so my web space is limited, but the plus is it doesn't cost a fortune either Gary Perhaps in the fullness of time Flickr will relax that 3:00 length. Either that or we have to make a special version of our slideshow for Flickr and there's no way I will be doing that. There are too many AV rules anyway

Roel Depends what you want to do in PTE, but colour correction would not be a problem. Why not consider making the change to one image and then saving that as a slide style. That can be applied to the rest

Maybe not so useful after all I watched a minute of each of the slide shows I posted and never thought to go through them till the end as I knew they were all complete and working shows. It appears videos are limited to 2.59 seconds, which rather spoils the whole idea

As many may already know, Flickr has become well known as a great host for our images and I have used it for quite some time now. I purchased a low cost account a while back, but never considered putting videos up as well as still images. I have now done so and it works great. The videos are HD videos created at 60p to ensure great performance. I have uploaded a few of my recent slide shows that I have placed in an album called Audio Visual. I has discovered one small issue. All our slide shows start with a blank and Flickr shows the first image in the video/AV as a thumbnail to potential viewers. Unlike YouTube it does not allow us to select an image for display. (if it does I haven't found it yet) Well, looking at a black oblong isn't very inspiring. So I recreated the videos, which was a quick process with the project file and added an image in the first second of the sequence, using the objects and animation screen and a couple of keyframes. As a viewer starts the video, that image will be removed and the audio visual will start normally. Another way to get PTE out there

There is something about the ocean that must be in our genes. We are attracted to it and it can get quite mesmerising at times. It's the one thing that even impatient people can just sit and look at for quite a while. I was just lucky to turn up at a photogenic beach when the tide was very high. That always adds something. Glad you enjoyed it too