Topic: mics and space question

[jeromejello]

i have a question about mic placement, i hope trying to explain this it makes sense... whenever you see the polar pattern for mics, whether for cards, hypers, subs, etc., what is the spacial / directional relation of the mic to that polar patter?

i think that i sorta know and understand that the mic is considered to be pointed towards the source in the polar graphs. but is there a more 3 dimensional rendering on the graph (which i can only imagine to have limitations on).  the reason i am asking is b/c you sometimes see omnis (which i undestand have a more uniform polar pattern) pointed up or nondirectional.

basically, i am kinda asking, are the polar patterns spherical to an extent and would directional caps decrease the 3-d model. 

[MattD]

If you're looking at a typical polar graph (see the DPA graphs for example), you can imagine the entire graph being rotated about a line drawn from top to bottom of the image - so yes, the patterns are 3-D. I'm not sure what you're asking in your second question about decreasing the 3-D model, though.

[jeromejello]

ok, i found this...

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=795.0

which sorta confirms some of my thoughts... but i still dont quite understand why i couldnt just point a cardiod pattern mic at the ceiling and get a decent recording (i know from my ears i cannot, but the spherical model suggests that i should be able to get a majority of the freq captured as long as i was in a close proximity to the source)

again i am not sure if i am even knowledgeble enough to explain the question i am asking... thanks for the (((space))) 

[jeromejello]

it does, and it also explains clearer why i can point omnis 'up' lilke in the j-disc design.

thanks moke +t

[jeromejello]

again thanks for clearing that up...

new mantra - alway point towards source