6. MetaRecorder Basics [5:57 min]
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What You'll Need: Apogee MetaRecorder
TRANSCRIPT
Hi! This is Aubrey from the filmmaking community We Make Movies.
Once you’ve mastered the visual component of production you may want to level up your shoots by using second source audio from a lavalier microphone or from a boom mic. It’s widely agreed that most audiences will be more forgiving of poor video than they are of poor audio. So, the apps and gear we cover in this video are definitely a worthwhile investment if you’re looking to create professional content. Fortunately you can still use your iPhone to capture this high quality audio using the Apogee MetaRecorder app and a lavalier mic that plugs right into the lightning connector like Sennheiser’s ClipMic Digital.
MetaRecorder is free to download from the App store — but will require either an upgrade in the app to unlock unlimited recording time and satellite linking to multiple devices. However, unlimited recordings can also be unlocked by plugging in an Apogee or Sennheiser iOs device.
Open MetaRecorder and make sure your phone is registering your external microphone by seeing the name listed above the audio levels. Starting recording is easy by pressing the red RECORD button — if you press the PAUSE button to stop and then record again —- the recording will pick back up in the same file you started. If you want to do a new take press the STOP button. Now when you press record again you’ll see MetaRecorder automatically logged it as a new take and this audio will be recorded into a new file.
This interface makes it nearly impossible to record OVER existing audio, but can be tricky to remember to hit STOP and not PAUSE if you don’t want all your takes to end up in one massive file.
You can adjust your gain by dragging the white bar to the left and making sure your audio levels aren’t peaking.
Reviewing your clips is easy by pressing the PLAY button and scrolling up or down over the wav forms to select different takes.
You can insert markers while recording by hitting the marker button and then clicking on it to enter descriptive text to remind you of specific points in each take to review all while your recording remains uninterrupted. To FAVORITE a take - double click the WAV form and then click TOGGLE FAVORITE. You’ll see a star appear in the upper right corner.
Speaking of metadata — just like FilmicPro, Apogee MetaRecorder allows you to label and organize all of your files before shooting making syncing and post production infinitely faster and easier. To start labeling — tap SCENES at the button left and then SCENE NAME to input either the shot number or a descriptive title like Kitchen Interior. Next you’ll want to label the INPUT NAME at the bottom of the screen — either the character role or actor’s name or the source like BOOM MIC. If you’re editing in FINALCUTPRO Apogee automatically sends all of this metadata via XML making syncing multiple audio tracks a breeze. Again, we know metadata isn’t the most exciting topic — but when you take the time to use it it makes sorting and filtering clips by role, favorites, or location/scene name really easy.
You can adjust the exact file format labeling by selecting FILENAME FORMAT and checking which metadata you’d like included. You can even organize the sequence by hitting EDIT in the upper right hand corner and then dragging and dropping in the order you prefer.
Remember just like you need to update the SCENE name in FILMICPRO for each new setup — you will want to create a new SCENE in MetaRecorder to match. To do so, hit SCENES and the PLUS button in the upper right corner — now input the new scene name and character role if the microphone was passed to another person. Hit CREATE in the upper corner to SAVE and bring you back to the recording screen. Unlike FilmicPro you don’t need to reset the TAKES back to 1. MetaRecorder automatically resets the takes each time you create a new SCENE.
If you’re using MetaRecorder to capture lavalier audio — you will need to hide the iPhone on the actor or your interviewee exactly like a regular mic pack for standard lavalier microphones. [TOO MUCH? Investing in some mole skin and double sticky tape or a pre-made option like the RYCOTE UNDERCOVERS to safely hide the microphones under clothing and prevent rustling from clothes moving on top.] To prevent any accidents while recording swipe your finger across the STOP, RECORD AND MARKER buttons to lock the screen.
Once you’re ready for post production — hit SCENES to start sharing your files. Tap SELECT in the upper right hand corner and then choose the scenes you want to share. Tap the SHARE SQUARE in the button left to either sync with a Dropbox account, send via email or Airdrop via EXPORT TO OTHER. Airdropping is usually fairly fast due to the small file sizes. You can also AIRDROP via the FILES app on your iPhone, hitting BROWSE, ON MY IPHONE and then opening the METARECORDER folder. Select and share just like you did with FILMICPRO files. Each scene will export as a FOLDER and importing into FINALCUTPRO is easy by just clicking on the XML file in each folder.

Next we’ll show you how you can start and stop multiple audio recordings at once using the SATELLITE linking option in MetaRecorder — this eliminates any potential for mistakes
