Line level into mic input on video camera

[goetzpd]

In a hurry I recorded a presentation in a large room. Channel one is the camera shotgun mic (XLR in) and channel two is an XLR in from a mixer attached to talent mics. Presentation was spoken word, no music or singing. Channel two on the camera was set to MIC LEVEL so of course the LINE LEVEL I was given over drove the channel. What do you recommend in Audition to try to correct? Limiting? Clip restore? It's not that the audio level is peaking, it is that there are no dynamics to it. It sounds like it was recorded in a metal shed. I also have Cubase 4 at my disposal, by I don't know how to use it as well. I am waiting on the Cubase 4 training DVD to go on sale since they are up to version 5 now.

[jagcmos]

There's no dynamics because any level of input signal immediately clipped.
It's like recording a square wave modulated by a voice.

How good was channel 1 (shotgun mic) ? Could you get away with only that channel ?

[garageband]

And you're not going to be able to fix that one recording your talking about.

[goetzpd]

Thanks for the input. Jaqcmos - I have the shotgun mic but it is all the way at the back of the room. I left a little bit of it in and then tweaked the blown track. I can picture what you are saying about the audio clipping immediately and it being a squared wave. I got into AUDITION and did a "resore moderately clipped" and that just seemed to reduce the volume. I had to turn it up again to hear anything but it seemed to sound better then. I was hoping some sort of processing could tell that the audio should not have been flat in certain places and round it out or some intelligent way discover what was supposed to be there. Long shot, but I was hoping the resotre could find it. It sort of did. The camera is a four thousand dollar HDV camera, a SONY HVR-Z1U, and the audio was monitored manually. The manual audio control on the camera can turn the line level up and down but it was crunchy through and through. There was no automatic gain control. There is a line / mic switch though. It's one of those mistakes you don't make twice.