There's an adage about filmmaking that states an audience will put up with poor cinematography so long as the audio is good -- but an audience will not put up with poor audio even if the cinematography is good. So for all of the digital camera advances over the past few years, for many low budget films, getting good sound on location remains a challenge -- and on top of that many indies do not have the time or budget for a proper foley artist and surround mix. 3D Mic Pro to the rescue?
Here's Vincent Laforet on the mic:
The basic thing you need to know about this microphone, is that it has two high quality mics that are spaced apart roughly the same distance as your ears are from one another. It also utilizes a sound modifier technology which captures immersive sound just like we hear it. Most, if not all mics out there are mono mics – and a normal stereo microphone cannot record the same information in the same manner. The beauty of this system is that you can handhold the Mitra mic or put it on a small tripod and let it roll. Just monitor your levels and you can have this incredibly immersive sound out of the box. You can then mix it into 5.1 if you want as well.
The 3D Mic Pro ($995) and 3D Mic Indie ($695) are exactly the same except the former includes two XLR outputs in addition to the single phono plug. Thanks to Vincent, you can get a 15% discount on the mic at 3D Mic Pro website by using the coupon code VL3D0012.
Philip Bloom also shot this very pretty short using the 3D Mic Pro and an ARRI ALEXA:
Of course, there is no substitute for a professional sound mix -- but perhaps gathering better ambient sound on location could help with the time and expense of doing so.
God I love the ALEXA. Too bad it's $75k!
Link: Mitra 3D Mic Pro
[via Vincent Laforet]
