Should I record lav and boom to separate tracks on a documentary?

Yes. A pre mixed track removes the only choice you get in post when one microphone is compromised.

How should I name documentary sound files?

Date, location, subject, sequence number. Set the scheme in the recorder so metadata matches the filename.

Do I need timecode on a documentary?

It helps enormously with interview sync, but waveform sync is usually sufficient when the camera has a usable scratch track.

7 min read

Documentary audio workflow: from a chaotic shoot to an organised edit

Documentary sound is not harder than fiction. It is just less repeatable, which makes the file discipline matter more.

On a documentary nobody calls a slate, scenes have no numbers and the shoot may run for two years across three countries. The audio itself is often simpler than fiction. The organisation is far harder.

Capture: two mics, always

Lav on the subject as the reliable track, boom above for the natural one.
Record both to separate channels, never pre mixed to a single track.
Run 32 bit float where the recorder allows it, because levels are unpredictable.
Grab two minutes of room tone in every new location before leaving.

Naming: decide once, on day one

Without scene numbers you need a naming scheme that still makes sense in eighteen months. Date, location, subject and a sequence number works: 20260410_Lisbon_Ana_001. Set it in the recorder rather than renaming later, so metadata and filenames agree.

Daily offload, non negotiable

Copy cards to two drives, verify checksums, never format a card the same day.
Inspect one file per card for sample rate, bit depth and timecode.
Split poly takes into named mono stems for the working copies.
Log the day in a simple sheet: location, subjects, notable sound problems.

Prepare before the assembly

Long documentary interviews mean hundreds of hours in the timeline. Splitting poly files up front so lav and boom sit on their own tracks means the editor can mute a problematic microphone instantly instead of asking sound for a new export.

Folder structure that survives

Keep one archive tree of untouched originals, organised by shoot date, and a separate working tree of split stems and converted files. Never edit inside the archive. When a hard drive dies two years in, the difference between those two trees is the difference between an inconvenience and a disaster.

Inspection, splitting and conversion all run in the browser here, which suits a laptop in a hotel room with no software licences and no upload bandwidth.