Capturing audio
A good soundtrack can transform your finished video
Sound is worlds apart from the silent imagery we photographers are used to, but your video needs it, otherwise your carefully-crafted footage will play as one long embarrassed
silence. The sound you’ll get if you simply record it via the camera’s mic, however, is of terrible quality. That’s not Nikon’s fault – good audio needs a good (and usually large) microphone, and there’s no room for one in a D-SLR.
At a pinch, you can get away with recording ambient sound using the camera’s microphone, as long as you don’t play it at full volume. To record good-quality sound for your videos, however, you will need at least one good microphone, and a portable sound recorder. Together they are quite expensive – you can expect to pay around £500/$600 for both bundled together.
If you’re on a budget and really can’t stretch to a sound recorder and good microphone, one alternative option is to add a separate soundtrack, which generally means either a voice-over or music. The voice-over would usually be a commentary; either yours or someone featured in your video. The least expensive way to do this is with a lapel microphone, or Lavalier, which start from as little as £12/$15. Find a room that is quiet and small (without echoes) to record the commentary. Music can be even easier still, but you may need to pay for its use (if you plan to show your video to anyone other than friends and family) or find a website offering free music. In the latter case, the music is often produced by young musicians wanting exposure for their work, so it’s polite to credit them at the end of your video.