Basic Recording Techniques for Video

[TheDrizzle]

When I trolled YouTube for clips and comparisons of pickup sounds when deciding on what to buy, there seemed to be two types of recordings:
1. Guys that had a recording device or mike near the amp (or, to be honest, just sometimes in the vicinity of the amp so they could also talk).  Let's call these Amp Mikers (AMs).
2. Guys that had a direct line-out into some kind of recording... thing.  I'll call them LOs.

Generally speaking, the AMs sounded kinda like crap, and the LOs sounded fantastic.  What's the best/easiest (hoping the same?) way to be a LO rather than an AM for making YouTube type videos?  I'm planning on giving back to the YouTube review community once I get my build done.  Is there some fancy way to have a LO signal match up to a video, or do I need to have an electrical engineering or production degree to get where I'm going?

I scrolled through the first five pages of this thread with no luck - apologies if this has been addressed a bunch of times on the past.

 

[mero]

I've done some recording with the first method using a DSLR for video and a Zoom H2n for audio, but the way I sync the two source files together might conceivably work for a line out signal with a video file.

This is assuming you are:
1) Running the line out signal into speakers/monitors so that your playing is audible
2) Have some sort of inbuilt mic for the video camera (which will probably be the case)

You basically just need a loud sudden sound before you start playing (a few seconds before is fine) so that the line out signal and the video(audio) signal will show a spike when you're looking at the volume levels in a DAW. Just match up the spikes in the two files when you import them, edit out the audio from the video file and cut the initial part before you start playing, and you're good to go.

FWIW, I usually use a loud clap or a loud strum to provide the volume spike.

 

[Cagey]

The movie folks use these things for not only that synchronizing snap, but to track takes...

Lotsa people make them - that particular unit is available here.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

There are clapperboard apps for your phone or tablet too.

 

[swarfrat]

Ya know, I never really thought about the purpose of the clapper board before - I just figured it was for the folks on set. Makes perfect sense now.