H4n and other questions and tips

First I would like to say thank you for all of the help in the video section so far. It has helped me make a few key purchases, and I would like to see where I need to go next.

I have the gear in my signature thread, and the video related gear I have is as follows:
LCDVF
Zoom H4n
I am working on building a DIY glider. Now I have a few questions.

H4n questions:
For the H4n, any tips to find some good tutorials? I plan to use it to conduct interview style audio, outdoors. My immediate goal is to create a Engagement video for a bride (Im shooting her wedding as well). I am going to over lay the audio in post and try to be a little creative with it.

What audio format should I record in? WAV? MP3? I have Adobe Premiere Pro which I plan to use to edit the video, which I believe I can do basic audio cutting.
Also, what size memory card? It came with a 1 gig, but I just bought an 8 gig. Im thinking that will probably work well.
What batteries? I know it uses AA but do you have any you recommend. I have a few rechargeable ones I use for my flash, so I was thinking about using those. How long do your batteries last for? Will it give you a warning when you are running out so you dont miss something important?

Where do I place the H4n when recording? Tripod, hang it, hold it (im thinking probably tripod at chest/face level?)

I plan on getting a RedHead Wind Screen. Good idea?

I am sure I have more questions, but this starts it out pretty well.

Bryan,
For the h4n record in .wav. If you are using only the zoom then get a "dead cat" to reduce wind noise. The stock windscreen is not good enough outdoors. Always check the recording volume so you are not to low or clipping. Keep it as close to the subject as possible. Just regular aa batteries in stamina mode is plenty- so is a 1 gig card.

For syncing get plural eyes and be done with it.

Practice and run tests to get used to it. The manual is also a huge help.

Good luck!

roaming oregon wrote in post #11360035
Bryan,
For the h4n record in .wav. If you are using only the zoom then get a "dead cat" to reduce wind noise. The stock windscreen is not good enough outdoors. Always check the recording volume so you are not to low or clipping. Keep it as close to the subject as possible. Just regular aa batteries in stamina mode is plenty- so is a 1 gig card.

For syncing get plural eyes and be done with it.

Practice and run tests to get used to it. The manual is also a huge help.

Good luck!

Yeah, the windscreen included isn't great.....

If you aren't in stamina mode, the H4N eats batteries for breakfast lunch and dinner. and sometimes a midnight snack.

But yeah, I would say get some rechargeable, you will save money in the long run.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #11359959
For the H4n, any tips to find some good tutorials? I plan to use it to conduct interview style audio, outdoors. My immediate goal is to create a Engagement video for a bride (Im shooting her wedding as well). I am going to over lay the audio in post and try to be a little creative with it.

Look here:
http://www.2090.org/zo​om/bbs/viewforum.php?f​=15

As to Plural eyes....Try the free trial first.
I just finished testing Pluraleyes and Dual eyes.

While Pluraleyes is somewhat better than Dualeyes, IMO, both suck and aren't worth the money.
I'll stick to the old clapper spike.

peter nap wrote in post #11363973
Look here:
http://www.2090.org/zo​om/bbs/viewforum.php?f​=15

As to Plural eyes....Try the free trial first.
I just finished testing Pluraleyes and Dual eyes.

While Pluraleyes is somewhat better than Dualeyes, IMO, both suck and aren't worth the money.
I'll stick to the old clapper spike.

Hmm, that forum looks to be exactly what I need, thank you.
And I will try the trial first. We will see how much difficulty I have with it.

works well for me and hundreds of other ppl. seems to me you haven't done too many shoots.

peter nap wrote in post #11363973
...

While Pluraleyes is somewhat better than Dualeyes, IMO, both suck and aren't worth the money.
I'll stick to the old clapper spike.

So did I get the wrong device to do interviews? Like I said, I plan to do an engagement video, asking them a few questions and overlaying it on top of the video. What is the best way to produce what I need?

Trey T wrote in post #11370573
works well for me and hundreds of other ppl. seems to me you haven't done too many shoots.

Well, that's not true Trey but everyone has an opinion.
I haven't used Pluraleyes before or Dualeyes.

I tried both and Pluraleyes works better but not enough to justify buying it.

Thinking I had done something wrong and unlike you, not being a sound expert, I talked to a sound engineer with 26 years of experience. He told me what he'd heard but he never used them either.

They may run better on Mac's. Don't have one and don't plan on getting one so I'll stick with the clapper.

Check out StillMotion.ca or they blog/vimeo and see what they use for DSLR. Look at their tutorial. Mind you, they charges min of $10k per wedding.

sound engineer? you ever heard of embedded software engineer? they're both not real engineers w/ very ambiguous title. btw, what does sound have to do w/ lining up audio and video in a software?

many old school are reluctant to step out of their comfort zone. look at the video-DSLR genre and how much effort it took for giant production company to begin to tap into the technology.

Trey T wrote in post #11371051
Check out StillMotion.ca or they blog/vimeo and see what they use for DSLR. Look at their tutorial. Mind you, they charges min of $10k per wedding.

sound engineer? you ever heard of embedded software engineer? they're both not real engineers w/ very ambiguous title. btw, what does sound have to do w/ lining up audio and video in a software?

many old school are reluctant to step out of their comfort zone. look at the video-DSLR genre and how much effort it took for giant production company to begin to tap into the technology.

Why are we having this conversation?
If you like it...use it! I gave my opinion and it isn't going to change.
They hang...PluralEyes takes hours to do what I can do manually in minutes. DualEyes just hangs and never finishes.

I have read some issues with PluralEyes in CS5 and Windows 7 but I don't care if it's a bug or not. They don't work well for me and went into the trash.