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PluralEyes for sound sync
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  • invievinviev

    Try a wedding and reception with various cameras stopping almost randomly as the batteries die. You see no tally light on the GF2

  • nomadnomad

    @DrDave: Sure, good advice you are giving there for many situations.

    But we tend to shoot intra settings in the theater because of their extreme lighting, so we can't shoot through the whole performance. We need to stop cameras at certain intervals and we need to change cards. Plus, cameras like the GH2 wouldn't hold sync for 90 minutes, only 10 to 20 on continuous shooting. For us, PluralEyes is great.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    If it is a fast, lead guitar I find it helpful to zoom in to say 200 percent and then scrub forward at 1/4 speed. Then you can match the pluck of the guitar pick exactly with the sound. Slow motion emphasizes the contrast between the attack of the pick and the rest of the note.

  • brianlucebrianluce

    I've been stuck before trying to sync a guitar soloist on the timeline. BAD experience!

  • DrDaveDrDave

    The clapper allows you to precisely calculate the audio offset for each camera, using the formula of roughly one ms delay for each foot of distance. A camera in a balcony can easily require two full frames of offset, as sound travels slower than light. A camcorder such as the Canon HF G10 will precisely calculate the distance in MF mode right on the screen, to make the calculation fast and easy. Even in a small room, I adjust the spot mics with a delay of 2-8 ms, depending on mic placement. At 30-50 feet, you will lose visible sync, which is one of several reasons why audio is often out of sync with video. Imagine that you have two cameras, connected by a time code. Those cameras will be visually in sync. However, the audio will reach the camcorders internal microphones at different times. This is not an issue if the separately recorded audio is slaved to a camera that is close to the source, as the offset, say 10ms, is small. The clapper allows you to quickly fix the delay, and also measure the built-in offset of the camcorder. You can test this easily by filming yourself clap (or use the glass jar) at a distance of say fifty feet with a spot mic. Once could take a program that purports to sync clips, and add a delay input feature that calculates the offset, based on distance, but you would need to know the internal offset for each camcorder (easy enough to measure, but there are lots of camcorders).

  • DrDaveDrDave

    I think the professional thing to do is to get into the theatre early, let the lights warm up, and then do several things. Film a WB card and optionally a Color Checker card from different angles and with different lighting from the computerized console, and synchronize the cams before the audience is let in with a clapper. You can use a large flash when the audience is seated to provide one more sync point without attracting attention. Then simply let the cams run the extra 15 minutes before the show starts, and reset at intermission if desired. As far as exporting to DAW, if done properly, this should present no problems with a sample accurate DAW. Many DAWS have video sync built in.

  • nomadnomad

    You don't run onto the stage and use a clapper during a theater recording.

    Professionals use cameras with wireless TC sync, of course ;-9

    I second the advice on testing your whole workflow before even starting a project, though.

  • TheNewDealTheNewDeal

    While it can make working in video editor easier, it can dramatically mess up the workflow options if you export to an audio editing workstation. Understand you entire end to end workflow needs before using anything like this.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    A glass jar and the side edge of a knife or spoon will produce a very sharp spike, sharper than the dog clicker or hands clapping.

  • ahblezaahbleza

    @nomad A quick tip -- if you don't have a slate, just call a sequence number then use a cheap plastic dog clicker -- available for $2.50 from your local pet store. Makes a nice spike on the timeline for sync.

  • MeierhansMeierhans

    Imagine you would record some kind of event with multiple cameras. The operators don´t need to waste cardspace and keep their cams running all the time, but can just take pictures as usual. (Well, one wide should run all time as backup anyways..) Then you trow it all onto Plural eyes and voila, its all sorted in time.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @DrDave

    For example you can have 30-40 interviews short takes. Where you did not clapped to not look like fool.

    All this thing is doing - saving your time.

  • nomadnomad

    Not really.

    It'll sync hundred of clips on it's own and find the right clip to do so – how fast are you doing this (and how much do you like it) ?

    Really great if you are not happy with the camera audio and do a separate high-quality recording. Very helpful with any camera that doesn't know what external TC is - like true GH2.

    We have been using it for about a year now for theater recordings and the like and it has saved us lots of tedious mousing…

  • DrDaveDrDave

    It takes me about 10 to 20 seconds to draaaaaaaaaaaaaag my video file to the matching spot on the audio timeline. If I remembered to clap my hands three times it takes me five seconds. Am I missing something, or is this like a program to show you which mouse button is the left one?

  • brianlucebrianluce

    Yes the sound is bad but it's in sync!

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • No_SuRReNDeRNo_SuRReNDeR

    Well yeah I know that.. Im just sayin... Still good info was thinking about trying that out with the next GH2 project because sync is such a pain in the neck...

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    As I understand they are not responsible for sound here.
    And it is not really sound product, it is just math soft that operates with sound files. :-)

  • No_SuRReNDeRNo_SuRReNDeR

    For a video about a sound product....the sound is pretty bad lol..

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