**The Importance of Sound in Video Production**

When it comes to creating high-quality video content, sound plays an equally important role as visuals. In fact, for many viewers, the audio is just as engaging and essential as the video itself. Whether you're recording a live stream, vlogging, or producing a film, having good sound can make all the difference in keeping your audience engaged.

**Amateur Sound Effects**

As an amateur content creator, it's likely that you'll be using your own voice for commentary or narration in your videos. In this case, your voice is essentially your audio effect. The quality of your voice will set the tone for the rest of your video, so it's worth paying attention to how you sound.

For my amateur sound effects, I'd say I'm doing a decent job, but I wouldn't call myself a professional. When I mention "sound," I'm talking about audio in general, not just the sound of my voice. So if I were to describe a particular sound effect that I've added to one of my videos, such as the sound of an engine revving or a crowd cheering, I'd do my best to create it using my own vocal talents.

**The Difference Between Audio and Video**

To illustrate the importance of sound in video production, let's take a look at what happens when we remove the audio from a video. Imagine watching a video without any sound – it's still possible to get some idea of what's going on from the visuals alone, but it's much harder to pay attention or become fully engaged.

For example, watch this video (points to an image slideshow of John Legend) – even though there's no audio, I can still see that it's a photo of John Legend. If I were to add sound effects to the video, such as his voice or music, it would make all the difference in creating a more immersive experience.

**External vs Internal Microphones**

When it comes to capturing high-quality audio for your videos, there are two main options: using an external microphone and using the internal microphone built into your camera. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

If you choose to use an external microphone, you'll need to invest in a good quality microphone that can capture clear, crisp sound. This will give you more control over the audio quality and allow you to position the microphone closer to yourself or your subject for better sound. The Blue Snowball Microphone is one popular option that I've found works well.

However, using an external microphone also means that you'll need to sync up the audio with the video in post-production, which can be a bit more time-consuming and technical. On the other hand, if you're already comfortable recording with your camera's internal microphone, it's definitely worth exploring options like using a lavalier or a shotgun microphone for better sound quality.

**Rode Video Mic vs Blue Snowball**

One popular option for external microphones is the Rode Video Mic. This microphone is designed specifically for capturing high-quality video audio and is often used in film and television production. However, it's also a bit more expensive than some other options, such as the Blue Snowball Microphone.

While the Rode Video Mic may be worth the investment if you're looking to record professional-grade audio, there are times when I've found that the sound quality of the internal microphone on my camera is sufficient for amateur video making. For example, I can hear my CPU fan in this room quite clearly, and the sound of a loud fan noise can be distracting.

**Synchronization and Audio Enhancement**

Once you've captured your audio, you'll need to sync it up with the video in post-production. This can involve using software like Adobe Audition or Pro Tools to edit and synchronize the audio tracks. It's not as difficult as it sounds, but it does require some technical knowledge and attention to detail.

In addition to syncing up the audio, there are also various techniques for enhancing and improving sound quality. For example, you can use audio compression and EQ to even out the levels and remove any background noise or hiss. This can make a big difference in creating an immersive experience for your viewers.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, sound is just as important as visuals when it comes to creating high-quality video content. By using an external microphone and investing in good quality audio equipment, you can create professional-grade audio that will engage and entertain your audience. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out with video production, paying attention to the importance of sound can make all the difference in creating a compelling and enjoyable viewing experience.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhow's it going guys it's john q here from technobuffalo and we're back again with another video to help you guys out with your video production in the last one i covered very basic lighting techniques if you missed that then i'll be sure to include a link in the description box or if not i'll ask john lakers to do that he's cool like that for this video i'm going to cover basic sound for video production something a lot of people overlook especially people who are new to amateur video production would be sound now when i say sound i'm not talking about sound effects or anything ow those are my amateur sound effects by the way when i mention sound i'm talking about audio as a whole like my voice for example for quality video sound means everything is even more important than the video itself watch see even though there's nothing there at this point the video is still rather watchable i can even start an image slideshow if i wanted to as long as i'm still talking this is a pic of john lakers all chubbed up from one of his live streams isn't it epic so what if we swap it around now there's no audio only video regardless of what's going on in the video i'm sure it's a lot harder to focus and pay attention to maybe not yet but imagine this for like two or three minutes then it get crazy now that we all know the importance of sound let's look at our options we have two main options here one of course would be to use an external microphone and two would be to use the internal microphone on your camera so see i'm not very enthusiastic about this one because the internal microphone on the camera is just it's just nasty i highly highly recommend you choose the external microphone option and if so try your best to get the absolute best microphone you can get all you got to do is plug it in and record with your favorite audio recording program and you're good to go for my videos i use a blue snowball microphone which would retail for about 80 or 90 dollars nowadays a huge advantage of using an external microphone would be that the quality would be so so much better because you can have the microphone closer to you when you speak the closer the subject is to the microphone the better the sound that's why you see there are boom people in film and tv on top of that it's a lot easier to do voiceovers because you don't need to turn on the camera in order to record your vocals a minor disadvantage would be that you'd have to sync up your audio file with the camera's audio file in your video editor which isn't as hard as it sounds and honestly it's not too bad another option involving microphones would be to use an external mic for your camera if your camera supports it you can use an external microphone such as the rode video mic right here usually they're a little bit more expensive compared to something like the snowball mic right here but you're paying for the convenience there's no audio syncing involved and regardless of where you film you know that audio will be rather decent and everything's just right there ready to go a huge disadvantage would be that if you're in an environment where the room is echoey and there's a lot of background noise and everything the mic probably will pick it up for videos like this one the audio would have no doubt been compromised because look at how far the camera is for me compared to this usb mic right here if i were to use it of course i actually bought the rode videomic for my canon t2y but i ended up returning it in about two days i picked up all the echo here from this room and even my cpu fan which is offensively loud even though my canon t2i supports an external microphone i like the quality a lot better from the snowball but that's just me personally the second option i mentioned earlier would be to use the internal microphone from your camera the sound quality isn't too bad in the canon t2i internal microphone which is what you're hearing right now it's definitely a lot better compared to the internal microphone of this sony hd camera right here i can't describe it the one on the sony is just not as good yeah the internal microphone from my panasonic lumix camera is even worse it sounds like i'm inside of a tin can or something very unpretty sounding so for amateur video making i highly recommend you get a microphone of some kind it can be for your camera or for your computer but if it's for your computer try to have the microphone as close to you as possible if you can have the microphone as close to you as possible without being in the shot of the camera unless of course you don't mind it being there then in which case all the power to ya if you're stuck using the camera's internal microphone then try to be as close to the camera as possible without being too close for comfort this level is acceptable this is a little bit creepy but the audio will be a lot better well that's it for my basic sound guide in the next one i'm gonna go more in depth and show you guys what you can do in post-production to sync up the audio with your camera and make yourself sound more epic and manly by doing audio enhancements that doesn't sound very manly i don't have a very manly voice i really hope you guys found this video helpful and i'll see you guys in the next one ladieshow's it going guys it's john q here from technobuffalo and we're back again with another video to help you guys out with your video production in the last one i covered very basic lighting techniques if you missed that then i'll be sure to include a link in the description box or if not i'll ask john lakers to do that he's cool like that for this video i'm going to cover basic sound for video production something a lot of people overlook especially people who are new to amateur video production would be sound now when i say sound i'm not talking about sound effects or anything ow those are my amateur sound effects by the way when i mention sound i'm talking about audio as a whole like my voice for example for quality video sound means everything is even more important than the video itself watch see even though there's nothing there at this point the video is still rather watchable i can even start an image slideshow if i wanted to as long as i'm still talking this is a pic of john lakers all chubbed up from one of his live streams isn't it epic so what if we swap it around now there's no audio only video regardless of what's going on in the video i'm sure it's a lot harder to focus and pay attention to maybe not yet but imagine this for like two or three minutes then it get crazy now that we all know the importance of sound let's look at our options we have two main options here one of course would be to use an external microphone and two would be to use the internal microphone on your camera so see i'm not very enthusiastic about this one because the internal microphone on the camera is just it's just nasty i highly highly recommend you choose the external microphone option and if so try your best to get the absolute best microphone you can get all you got to do is plug it in and record with your favorite audio recording program and you're good to go for my videos i use a blue snowball microphone which would retail for about 80 or 90 dollars nowadays a huge advantage of using an external microphone would be that the quality would be so so much better because you can have the microphone closer to you when you speak the closer the subject is to the microphone the better the sound that's why you see there are boom people in film and tv on top of that it's a lot easier to do voiceovers because you don't need to turn on the camera in order to record your vocals a minor disadvantage would be that you'd have to sync up your audio file with the camera's audio file in your video editor which isn't as hard as it sounds and honestly it's not too bad another option involving microphones would be to use an external mic for your camera if your camera supports it you can use an external microphone such as the rode video mic right here usually they're a little bit more expensive compared to something like the snowball mic right here but you're paying for the convenience there's no audio syncing involved and regardless of where you film you know that audio will be rather decent and everything's just right there ready to go a huge disadvantage would be that if you're in an environment where the room is echoey and there's a lot of background noise and everything the mic probably will pick it up for videos like this one the audio would have no doubt been compromised because look at how far the camera is for me compared to this usb mic right here if i were to use it of course i actually bought the rode videomic for my canon t2y but i ended up returning it in about two days i picked up all the echo here from this room and even my cpu fan which is offensively loud even though my canon t2i supports an external microphone i like the quality a lot better from the snowball but that's just me personally the second option i mentioned earlier would be to use the internal microphone from your camera the sound quality isn't too bad in the canon t2i internal microphone which is what you're hearing right now it's definitely a lot better compared to the internal microphone of this sony hd camera right here i can't describe it the one on the sony is just not as good yeah the internal microphone from my panasonic lumix camera is even worse it sounds like i'm inside of a tin can or something very unpretty sounding so for amateur video making i highly recommend you get a microphone of some kind it can be for your camera or for your computer but if it's for your computer try to have the microphone as close to you as possible if you can have the microphone as close to you as possible without being in the shot of the camera unless of course you don't mind it being there then in which case all the power to ya if you're stuck using the camera's internal microphone then try to be as close to the camera as possible without being too close for comfort this level is acceptable this is a little bit creepy but the audio will be a lot better well that's it for my basic sound guide in the next one i'm gonna go more in depth and show you guys what you can do in post-production to sync up the audio with your camera and make yourself sound more epic and manly by doing audio enhancements that doesn't sound very manly i don't have a very manly voice i really hope you guys found this video helpful and i'll see you guys in the next one ladies\n"