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I recently bought a RODE VideoMic Pro with dead cat and have updated my OM-D EM5 to the Mark 2 version. I went out today and recorded the following clip by sticking the mic on top of the camera and hitting record on a windy day. That is, no filter buttons or any alterations were done in preparation, no high/low pass buttons switched and nothing altered on the EM5.

Ignore the lighting and camera position as this was just an audio test in the wind. What bothers me is when the wind blows, right at the moment when I say that the viewer should be able to hear me above the wind (ironically), the audio drops.

I realise I should be using the filter buttons or some setting on the OM-D, but I don't know what.

Any pointers?

PS: I'm a complete noob to external audio recording. All my youtube videos so far have been with the internal mic so this is my first venture into external recording.

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Boswell Mon, 07/27/2015 - 08:50

Try using the high-pass filter on the microphone (not the one on the camera, intitially) and switch off the camera's auto level control (AVC or whatever the OM-D calls it). It will mean setting the record level manually.

If that does not do enough, there is also a Wind Noise Reduction setting on the OM-D.

demonboy Wed, 07/29/2015 - 04:22

Yep, how now turned off the auto gain on the camera and it will stay off. I have the dead cat for the Rode and it certainly makes a difference. I have a Roland external audio recorder which I'm going to try and use more often too.

I noticed the wind noise reduction feature on the OM-D. I'm interested to know exactly how this works. What's actually going on, technically, when this is turned on. Any ideas?

bouldersound Wed, 07/29/2015 - 09:45

The wind noise reduction may simply be a high pass filter. Turbulence from the wind makes low frequency noise around the mic which triggers the automatic gain control, filtering out the lows reduces the effect. With your auto gain off and your record level set lower you can avoid clipping and do better processing in post.

It may not be practical in your case, but one thing you can do is use a mic that's closer to the source. Every time you cut the distance in half you gain 6dB of signal relative to the background noise.

demonboy Mon, 08/03/2015 - 23:33

bouldersound, post: 431176, member: 38959 wrote: The wind noise reduction may simply be a high pass filter. Turbulence from the wind makes low frequency noise around the mic which triggers the automatic gain control, filtering out the lows reduces the effect. With your auto gain off and your record level set lower you can avoid clipping and do better processing in post.

It may not be practical in your case, but one thing you can do is use a mic that's closer to the source. Every time you cut the distance in half you gain 6dB of signal relative to the background noise.

Thanks for that info. Useful little equation to bear in mind.