Help! Maybe I am making this more difficult than it should be. I have a new Macbook Pro 13″.
I want to get the best sounding audio from my acoustic guitar onto Youtube along with decent looking video. This would be my first time upload.
My first idea was to use my dv camcorder and plug my guitar into a mixer, have it go back to the camcorder mic input so as not to use the camera’s lousy internal mic. Then put all of this to iMovie, edit and upload it to YT.
My second idea would be to mic my guitar using an Apogee Duet ( not purchased yet ) and use GarageBand for the audio. For the video portion, I also learned i can maybe upgrade its quality by using the iSight camera through iMovie instead of the camcorder.
My problem is that I do not know how OR if both audio & video can be used together this way while recording an event at the same time. I want to use the iSight camera to record the video, but have the advantage of superior sound using Apogee/Garageband while doing it and not the internal Macbook Pro mic.
Am I making any sense or am I lost, clueless, and making this into a bigger thing than it needs to be? Thanks!!
— John Kozlowski
First: Camcorder is almost always better than iSight for video. The iSight and any other "webcam" device is usually not as good as a camcorder. So I would try that first since you already have everything. Just record into your camcorder. Then import into iMovie. It is also the simplest setup.
If you wanted to record with iSight, you can definitely use another audio input. Just use the System Preferences to choose your Sound Input and you are set. iMovie should record from your iSight, and also from the sound source you specify. This is done all the time even in video chatting since people use headsets instead of the internal mic.
Thank you. I will go with your simple set up suggestion.
I have the same problem as John Kozlowski the imovie preferences does not give you a choice for an audio imput. I have duet by APOGEE and it works great with garageband but I cannot get it up and running with imovie it keeps using the internal mic. I want to do a video of me singing and playing
Jeff Arthur
Have you tried setting the Input in the System Preferences?
I cannot find the audio input selection in the preference selections: general, browse, video & fonts
Apple menu, System Preferences. Then Sound. Then Input. You'll see it.
Yes I have done all that but imovies has a default setting for some reason to only use the in built audio. I can hear through the head phones the Duet mix but will not record with it!!
Jeff
I just tried it. When I hit the mic button in iMovie, I can see a pop-up menu of microphones. The internal mic was the only one listed. But then when I plugged in a USB headset, that was listed as an option too. So it works for me.