No apologies necessary. Shit happens, man, don’t worry about it. We understand.

That is soul-crushingly annoying for you, dude. I’ve had the same thing happen to me. Seriously, don’t apologise. Totally understand, I’m sure everyone will (well, they should). I’d say go for a new camera, just to try and stop the same thing from happening again. But if there’s any way it can be fixed…..

That is soul-crushingly annoying for you, dude. I’ve had the same thing happen to me. Seriously, don’t apologise. Totally understand, I’m sure everyone will (well, they should). I’d say go for a new camera, just to try and stop the same thing from happening again. But if there’s any way it can be fixed…..

Your reviews are worth waiting for. Well at least you won the epic battle against the hellbeast.

Your reviews are worth waiting for. Well at least you won the epic battle against the hellbeast.

Sorry to hear about your tech troubles dude, your reviews are worth waiting for, cant wait for your next Ripper installment though ; D

That’s really unfortunate Spoony. I know the frustration, the same thing happened to me too. Are you sure its the camera? It might be the wires or the adapter from your mic to the camera.

Ouch. As has been said your videos and reviews are well worth the wait good Spoony. Best of luck with the camera troubles and to life in general.

Absolutely no need to apologize, shit happens. Good luck, man.

I feel your pain, dude. My friends and I lost an entire film a few weeks ago–footage, audio, everything–because the harddrive we stored it on got dropped and we couldn’t access it. Even sent it out to a data retrieval company. Couldn’t do it. So we wasted MONTHS, and lots of hard work in acting, writing, editing, etc.

I know that sounds like a “who’s more unlucky” contest, but really, I’m just saying you’re not alone in the world of misfortune, and it could’ve been a lot worse.

Sorry to hear that man, must be double frustrating since you said you spent all freaking day recording two reviews only to find them usless. No need to apologize to us and as poster007 says your stuff is worth waiting for…just don’t keep us waiting too long. j/k lol

ooooh man, YES not for all the bad stuff, but because i really really love your swat series woooo

I bet you are pretty pissed off right now good ol’ Spoony, but I can reasure you that your reviews are well worth waiting for! Don’t rush them or anything, just try and get the cam-problem solved and try again in a few days when you’ve got the time.
This is your most active year so far, so just chill out, you won’t dissapoint us!!
Cheers from Norway!

I bet you are pretty pissed off right now good ol’ Spoony, but I can reasure you that your reviews are well worth waiting for! Don’t rush them or anything, just try and get the cam-problem solved and try again in a few days when you’ve got the time.
This is your most active year so far, so just chill out, you won’t dissapoint us!!
Cheers from Norway!

Quickly Spoonlonians! Give him teh moneyz to buy more stuffz!!! I would do it myself but seeing as my people are in debt for the next decade i won’t be of any help.

Man Spoony Im sorry to hear that. If I was so deep in dept then I would buy you a brand new camara myself.

Im gunna miss that “High-Quality” mic now that thing was boss.

Try:
http://www.mxlmics.com/products/USB/USB_007/USB_007.html

I bought one of these a few months back. Condenser mic with the same principals of the XLR just uses USB instead. No mixer required. Quality is awesome and adds extra depth since it’s stereo. Just record your voice through Audacity or something and overlay it to your video later. Bit of mucking around but hey, same results minus new camera!

No worries, no need to be sorry. I hope you manage to salvage that old camera, a new one’s quite the financial setback I wager.
Regardless the reviews are well worth the wait! Also greetings from this dutch Spoony-fan :P

I’m very sorry to hear about your camera. Cannon has come out with a new series of videocams with the mic jack built right into the camera. You can pick up their midrange price camera for about $300-400. I don’t know if you can afford it right now, but it might be worth looking into. I got one and a mic and it seems to work OK. Hope you can figure this out. I’m sure you will. Don’t feel too down about it. I’ve got a 4 yr old, so he’s always getting into stuff and breaking things. But he MAY NOT TOUCH MY CAMERA!! ;}

well all I know, the whole city of Nijmegen still supports the Spoony One!
NIJMEGEN and SPOONY HOOGH!!!!!!

Shame about the camera it was a pretty good quality bit of hardware. Although I always have a backup plan. If your sad like me you can mod software for an Eye-toy to run as a fairly deacent/crappy camera with fairly good/oh dear god its horrible sound. I always use it just as a backup for my camera when it goes ka funked. Wich it did many times, and now that I am poor I just use the eyetoy, but I supose you are looking for something in the region of quality….ah well, you never know.

Take your time Spoony, I’m sure you’ll find a way.

This camera – Its un-fucking-believable.

Man this must suck and i feel sorry for you… it wouldn’t of mattered if it was just any-other day but it happens just after the fans donate money (some of them at least) so this must be really annoying but hey you will get through it so dont be so hard on yourself and remember your fans have your back. WOLVERINES!!!

Considering it is just static, is there any chance you might be able to clean it up to something usable? I think Audacity can clean noise..? Eh, I never work with recording programs.

Damn Spoony I feel your pain, I’ve got experience in spending hours on an end trying to get projects done, only to find out that files are corrupted or hardware broken. The feeling of helplessness, frustration and pure rage are just… indescribable.

Take your time, at least all your content is always worth the wait!

I think we should starts a “Buy Spoony a kickass HD Camera’ fund!

*speaking as sort of as a sound engineer* sounds like there is an interference between the microphone and the camera Spoony, i’d would say the audio cables between the mic and the camera have a gap or a damaged microcable somewhere which is causing the static, if that’s the problem i really don’t know what you can do to fix it because it’s most likely busted.
you could re-record the audiosamples but that would take as much time as it would take to re-record the whole thing again.
but I can’t honestly say if you can salvage the audio or not since i don’t have enough experience to answer that

I’d just get a new camera. Have a fundraising drive – everyone who complains about not having new videos fast enough can pony up $5 and you should have more than enough in no time.

Should do what That Guy with the Glasses did and have a fundraiser (but smaller on scale). Then get yourself a nice HD camera and recording software if any is left over.

I’d say back up both audio and video so you will be sure both are present if 1 device fails. Since you’ve had trouble with your sound before I think it would be good to hook up an additional audio line directly to your pc, or even use a second mic set.

>Considering it is just static, is there any chance you might be able to clean it up to something usable? I think Audacity can clean noise..?

You can remove a little bit of background noise with Audacity, but that doesn’t help with the snowstorm kind of noise. Now, if we were living in bizarro CSI world one could just mute the noise track and everything would be sorted. ;)

Unfortunately you really need perfect source material (little noise, good levels, no clipping) for excellent quality.

>I think we should starts a “Buy Spoony a kickass HD Camera’ fund!

Just donated 20 bucks. :)

Sounds like you need to start doing tests or something each time you try to record a review to make sure things are working. Since this is like the 5th time you have failed to film something. But hey maybe it just increases the quality of them when you get to remake thme.

I was going to suggest the same things as brentmc @18 and Donders @32, so I’ll just second them. I made a short video documentary last autumn, and we conducted a telephone interview for it. We didn’t have any hardware to tap the phone with, so we put the phone on speaker and just recorded that. It was passable quality through the camera mike, but not really good enough, so we set up a microphone and recorded it not into Audacity, which also would have worked, but directly into my editing software. It was then a cinch to sync the track with the video. You could also do the same with a digital audio recorded and then import the audio file, but that wouldn’t be as high quality and it would take longer.

Sorry about your mic/camera woes. Like everybody else has said, take your time but keep up the good work.

I can’t speak for anyone else but I can say you have done fine work so far and any work you do will be equal or even of better quality, even if it is a bit later than you expect.

Do what you can to right your audio setup and try not to freak out too bad.

That MXL doesn’t look too bad, for about $180 or so, it doesn’t look like a bad idea. Keeps the camera alive.

Ugh, I know, there’s nothing more depressing than creating something and your computer shutting down spontaneously or locking up, or maybe even your hard drive going kaput and all of your datas are lost. I back everything up to a CD now to prevent that.

Must have been pretty disappointing to see all your work and not hear it, lol.

Couldn’t you just take out the sound from the video and download another program like Audacity to record your voice on the computer, then splice it in with the video? Wouldn’t be GREAT but it’d be clear-er…

My uncle’s a pro television editor and is really knowledgeable about all this. If you’d like, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with him so you can have a little help thrown your way.

Suggestion?

Use a clapboard! and record the audio into your computer directly then sync it in your editing software (Vegas FTW!). That will probably get you some of the best sound quality anyways.

We’re patient Spoony. Looking forward to it all, no matter how long it takes.

Your loyal fans will remain patient.

This might sound odd coming from an atheist but I have found that blameing witchcraft on a tech-savvy female and threatning to burn her unless she undoes her evil magic tends to help with these things.

id say the camera is kind of messed up.

if you want to keep useing that camera no nomater what, you may want to take it to some place by you to have it looked at. repair may cost less than buying a new camera.

and i say a place by you instead of mailing it to manufacturer because you will get a responce FAR faster from a drive in than a mail away setup.

may also want to try syncing voice, but that can be a real bitch where for some reason even though the video and the audio are the same lengh the audio ends faster than the video dose or it runs a lot longer.

ANOTHER terror trax?

I am so looking forward to that.

Does your XLR adapter have phantom power? If so it’s possible the phantom power on/off switch may have shorted. That could cause the problems you mentioned. Also maybe try a new XLR cable especially if the locking mechanism on your current one is not 100% solid. I know this is quite obvious but I’ll just say that if you have a passive XLR adapter then it’s almost certainly a connection problem either from the mini-plug jack to the adapter or the XLR input from the adapter to your mic.

I used to get that problem a lot; what happened in my case is the solder on the connection between the mini-jack and the board cracked, which caused the connection to be crappy whenever the mini-jack got torqued a little (even if it was just the audio cable swinging a bit). If that’s what happened in your case, it’s an easy fix for anyone who’s slick enough with a soldering iron.

Sorry Spoony :(( When I get a little extra i’ll try to donate some to lend a hand, unfortunately i just broke down and finaly bought an HDTV this week so im a little short right now

I had that same problem recording my podcast once before. Sorta. I made the mistake of buying a cheap ass mixer for a two-mic setup and just to ensure that it couldn’t be called a ‘professional’ mixer, the genius that engineered it added a feature that causes it to generate it’s own wind tunnel-like background noise.

In the end, we discovered a mixture of audio filters that could minimize the effect to the point where it bothers me and no one else.

Take all the time you need, Spoony. Looking forward to the updates. You rock!

I wish I had even the slightest idea how to help, but like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest, I may have to sit this one out.

No i don’t accept your apologise! There is NO excuse for what you have done! That is so un-fucking-believable. Stop making your equipment responsible!! jk ^^

Really no worry keep your good work up..and we all know it’s worth waiting for ;)

If you are looking for a new camcorder, try a Sony HDR-HD1. It’s high-def, reliable, and affordable! You can also find it’s cousin, the HDR-A1U (?). It comes with XLR ports.

Awww, too bad, was really looking forward for something new with Spoony. Specially the Lets Play’s …
Watching Spoony playing is like …. uh, watching Spoony play. It’s fun.
I prefer ya use the inbuilt if that means we’re getting a video faster ;) Might sound weird though, I assume you use the ultramega-awesome-super-dooper-fancy-pantsy (C) Mic when you’re at the computer and voiceovers the game :P
Oooor, use your computer-mic and record the sound on the computer and merge the video later … OK, I’d rather spend all my money on a new cam myself. Weheeey, look who’s overtired and can’t stop typing!

Record audio to the computer, and sync it in post.

Although I think SWAT4 is some of your best stuff, so I’m perfectly happy “settling” for that. :)

Two minds, same thought xD
However, if he really DOES do that, you can bet the comments will get spammed with “OUT OF SYNC DAMMIT” if it’s not spot on the 1/1000 of a second.
Yeah, you know you’re out there people.

When you have to re-review something like Terror TRAX, do you acknowledge that you already know all of it, or do you use the same lines you did the first time? I guess then you have to act… as yourself. Huh.

This might sound odd, but would it be possible to ADR the dialogue? There’s tons of recording software available, as I’m sure you’re well aware, and it might be hard to sync everything up, but at least it wouldn’t be a complete waste. Or it could be a complete headache. Maybe it’s a dumb suggestion.

Just have a back-up recording device for audio. Then at least you can use audio directly from the device or
at least if you came up with some awesome jokes, now you won’t forget about them.

You’re the first person besides myself I’ve seen use the word “tetchy” in a reeeeeaalllyyy long time. (It’s such a great word! Why does nobody use it?!)

You’re the first person besides myself I’ve seen use the word “tetchy” in a reeeeeaalllyyy long time. (It’s such a great word! Why does nobody use it?!)

Blame gremlins.

Well shit

my laptop power cord causes interferance when i have it pluged into the same wall jack as my sound board. I dont know why but i can’t have them pluged into the same power source or i get completely staticy and unusable audio.

damn, well your more persistent than i am. when something like that happens i tend to slip into an alcohol induced coma.

@ Sifer2: Read the entry again. Spoony DID check his equipment.

Hang in there. It’s a real shame, I loved the previous TRAX. But I’ll wait like a nice little fan.

Sorry to hear, Spoony. As someone suggested, any way you could just record the audio separately and add it into the video during editing so your entire day isn’t wasted?

Is it possible to use two audio sources, like your high-quality mic AND the on-board mic or another source, so you always have a backup audio stream in case something goes wrong. I’m pretty sure we’re all satisfied with a lower quality audio instead of nothing at all :)

I feel your pain, things like that make me want to chew my own foot off.

Sorry to hear about this, so frustrating for you Spoony. Nothing must kill interest in something more than that.

Maybe it’s a damaged wire? You could try your hand at soldering together a replacement out of cat5 or something.

Why doesn’t he just record the audio on a computer and then just add that audio track to the video recorded on the camera? Besides almost all recording software has those really nice red-green bars that show noise levels so you can tell it’s just static that’s recording.

You probably don’t have cash lying around but if you do you might want to consider getting a portable digital audio recorder if the current setup is still acting wonky. Something like a Zoom H4n which is a pretty nice unit that can do a bit of everything audio-wise and is about $350.

@TotallyUninspired
Because he needs it to look like he’s talking rather than voice-overing himself. He’s not talking game footage here, he’s talking proper filming

Yeah, you could use some other device than camera as a backup audio recorder when filming stuff. If camera audio doesn’t work you’d still have some other source of audio to sync with video.

sorry about your tech problems. i’d help but i’m not really educated in that stuff. no problems waiting for more videos at least.

It is possible that the connection port on the camera has become lose. That is, the solder connection to the board is broken, causing the connection to not be consistent. I’ve dealt with that problem at lot in headphones, car instrument panels, and computers. The only things I like about this problem is that it’s cheap and easy to fix.

This could be anything from a solder connection, to a connection cable wearing out, to simple corrosion on the contacts. I’ve never taken apart an XLR, but I have repaired other DV camcorders and there’s a few possible hangups with any given model. First thing I’d look for is the service manuals for both the device itself and the accessories, then I’d spray the contacts directly down with some automotive contact cleaner (it’s designed to dry fast and not harm electronics). If all else fails, take the unit apart CAREFULLY and start checking connections and leads.

Just remember: camcorders can be landmines to take apart, and you can’t manhandle them. If you have any doubts it’s not worth turning a simple problem into a wasted piece of equipment.

That sucks, a lot. I hope you solve this problem real soon, I’m really looking forward to all those new episodes.

Good luck, Spoony.

I feel your pain Spoony. I hate doing things twice. Even more so after losing the original material or getting it rendered useless.
I had to do I very similar thing last week and it didn’t turn out to be as the original product was.

In my humble, world renowned opinion, it might have something to do with one of the plastic or metal parts on your light recording machine. I am fairly certain of this. try moving around one of the parts, or using a piece of metal to fix another piece of metal. That should work. Your Friend, Internet Engineer

Spoony my man, the only solution is to film a little bit at a time and then checking it out to see if it worked…

Perhaps you could just dub over the video, or throw on subs though re-dubbing it would be more interesting, it’d be like how they’d put together some movies, yes even some American films had to be dubbed over for better sound quality. I’m looking forward to more Swat, great commentary in that playthrough!

ffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Spoony, just buy a new one man. A good HQ one would be around $50 – $100.

You can always dub yourself.

It would be a revolucion!

You just can’t catch a break, can you?

I think i might have a temporary solution, until you sort out the XLR input into the camera. If there’s a way that you can hook your microphone up to your computer via XLR (be it mini-mixing desk, DI box or converter or whatever) then record the audio within Cubase or Audacity, you can still film on the camera – and during the editing process sync up the audio recording with the video. It’s a slightly longer process than recording the video and the audio within the same file, but it’s what i’d recommend if you don’t fancy forking out the cash for a new camera.

It’s just a suggestion. It’s a shame how off-putting it can be when an enormous fuck-up like this happens, but I wish you the best of luck in finding a solution.

Perhaps cables are damaged?
Yes, I agree with Wagner Paiva, you really should check your stuff between takes – and while it check out how take turned out.

Too bad man. Hope you get it fixed soon.

Hey Spoony,
Why don’t you just plug your mic to an audio interface and record the sound directly into the computer? After that you’ll only have to sync the audio with camera take and replace the audio tracks. I mean, if your camera is still good to recording the video, there’s no need to replace it.

May the machine spirits hear your voice! try asking your friendly neighbourhood techpriest

Sorry to hear about your camera troubles, Noah. You don’t have to apologize, we all understand the camera troubles. Don’t feel that you need to rush your projects, we would rather wait until everything’s good to go before you start your work. I would be a little suspicious too about using the camera and recording the sound.

Someone said that we should start a “camera fund.” That’s a good idea. Hopefully, once I get my next paycheck, you can expect a donation from me.

Spoony,

I notice your camera is a Sony PD-100. I have the same camera, dodgy XLR accessory and all, and I have a solution!

On the side of your camera, there is a red 1/8 inch mic input labeled “mic (plug-in power)”. Now while you might be able to get by with an el-cheapo mic plugged directly into that input, your best bet would be to get an XLR adapter from Beachtek. It’s a small box that mounts underneath the camera. It accepts XLR professional mics and plugs into the 1/8 mini jack. The Beachtek DXA6A is ideal if your mic uses 48V phantom power, but is kinda pricey at $309 from B&H Photo Video. However, if you’re on a budget and don’t require phantom power, then go for the DXA4 for $180. They work like a charm and are much cheaper than buying a new camera. Let me know what you think.

Spoony gets almost 100 comments in a day because his cam broke (condolences) and the WARRIOR gets 0 comments in two months when he directly asks his ‘fans’ a question on his blog… Poor WARRIOR =(

Dammit Spoony! Why do you suck so much!?!?

that sucks royally!
well ill be willing to wait a little longer for the reviews.
quality not quantity right! =)

Sounds a good idea for a T-shirt. Spoony the Gathering with Noah holding up a victorious camcorder atop a pile of other various camcorders. Just a thought. Good luck in your “Hunt the Camarumpus.” Let’s hope it ends more successful than the Wumpus hunt.

Thanks for the memo!

I Heart Spoony!

Hey Spoony dont give up! We NEED you!

Uh… that must suck Spoony. Take as much time as you please in getting the Street fighter 2010 and terror T.R.A.X videos done as long as they are high quality entertainment like always. Besides, Ripper and Swat 4 videos will be great as well. :)

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Wow, that blows. Er, better luck in future.

This is one of those rare occasions where I think it’s justified to beg the community for donations. I remember a popular audio-remixing member of YTMND.com who broke his expensive Sennheiser headset and successfully asked for donations from community members to buy a new one. I’d gladly add my 20$ to get you a new camera. Once that thing bites the dust for good.. I think you’ve got a good cause for a community rally of support.

Dude, time to get the soldering iron out!!!

Fully agreed with zorg.

The entertainment spoony gives us is easily worth that cash

Spoony you’re still THE ONE

less talk more fix

You insolent, inept FOOL! How DARE you deprive us, the Spoon heads, of your videos!? Ha, just kidding, seriously, that sucks cryptosporidian cock. Can’t wait to see any new videos you release. Keep up the good work, Spoon man!

Spoony, you are the man. Keep doing what you do, no matter what it takes. Never stop, and don’t let any setbacks slow you down. Push through them like a warrior, and we’ll keep watching your videos like the loyal SpoonHeads that we are. YOU ROCK SPOONY.

the description of the shoe and the shotgun mic, you have a Canon XL Series camera, dont ya

Oh, man, that sucks. I am really looking forward to those reviews. Maybe we could help you fund a new camera? How about selling som stuff on e-bay like the auction on TGWTG. That seemed to make some money. Love your photoshop work, how about printing some of that and signing it. Hey spoony DO IT!!

Well you could always make a Vlog and give us your opinion about The Hangover, Up, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 if you saw them because I’m really curious if they deserve my cash. You can be really natural and unscripted when you talk about movies, because it’s an opinion video and I usually take it in account.

Oh man I know the feeling of working on something for a long time and having nothing to show for it. That really sucks man! I’m sorry to hear it. I hope greatly things turn out better next time.

this is the first time i write a comment on your website…(sorry about my bad English)… I’m sorry to hear such bad news, Spoony, I hope you’ll be able to keep up the good work!
You rock, Spoony! don’t give up!!

If you’re in need of a decent camera but don’t have a lot of cash, you could always go for one of those pocket HD cams like the Kodak Zi6. I bought one for about $150, and it shoots beautiful video if you can light your shot well. The microphone on it blows, but you could just get a clip on mic with a 3.5″ jack(You can get decent ones dirt cheap through DealExtreme) and record the audio through your computer.

Let’s start a Camera Fund for Spoony.

You’re in my way, Sir.

I love Genghis Kahn. The only good thing coming from East Germany.

Speaking from experience that static noise you get and how it suddenly “fixes” itself leads me to think that the cable that connects the microphone is ripped internally so the camera isn’t the problem it’s the microphone. This usually happens when you manipulate the cable a lot and causes the wiring to stretch and break. Hope you get to read this and hope it helps.