Now that we are moving to a hybrid teaching model for the next academic year and more staff are creating content for online learning, recording good quality educational material is more important than ever. This might take the form of lecture capture, video, online tutorials, podcasts or other media. You may be using ReView to capture multi-purpose audio/video screen recordings, for example mini lectures, demonstrations, walk throughs, etc.
The following tips for successful audio recording have been put together by Adam Kendrick (Senior AV Technician, Campus Services). These tips will be particularly helpful if your audio recording software facilitates the production of auto-captions and will give you the best chance of generating accurate captions.
Teaching Space/Boundary Mic
Ensure the boundary microphone is pointing towards you, or in the general direction you intend to be – our microphones have a lateral envelope of 120 degrees. The USB cable plugs into the back of the microphone, so this should be facing away from you.
Ensure you are no further than 7.5m from the boundary microphone, this is the limit of the microphone’s range. Being comfortably within this is preferable.
In a teaching space, speak clearly with your head up, projecting into the room/towards the microphone. A volume that addresses the room, rather than of that you would use in a one on one conversation will yield the best results.
Teaching Space/Lapel Mic
Lapel mics should be securely clipped in the general chest area, clear of loose clothing that may rub on the microphone as you move. Check also that the batteries have plenty of charge!
In a teaching space, speak clearly with your head up, projecting into the room/towards the microphone. A volume that addresses the room, rather than of that you would use in a one on one conversation will yield the best results.
Working from Home/Portable Device Mic
If at home, speaking into a laptop microphone or similar, ensure you sit facing the device at all times.
If speaking into a laptop microphone or similar, sit no further than 1m from the microphone. These types of microphones are generally much less sensitive than boundary microphones.
In the case of a laptop microphone at home, for example, it may be better to lower your voice a little as not to create a distorted recording. Microphones in portable devices are intended for one on one Teams-style conversation volume. A quiet space with no background noise, and plenty of furniture to deaden any reverberations will also significantly improve the recording quality.