a practical question on editing

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 7:59 AM

I have a live music performance project ready, consisting of 3 camera shots already synchronized (with music projects, synchronization is a top priority). I need to apply some further editing (mainly cuts, and some time stretching) to synchronize that with the new master audio track I got from my sound engineer.

What is the best method to deal with that? The problem is that of the 3 cameras, the CAM 1 video & audio are "Leading", so I'd like to base on them when conforming the project to the new audio master track. While editing, what should I do with the remaining 2 cams' video and audio - group them all with CAM 1? Use Auto Ripple, or not?

The reason I'm asking this is that while applying those necessary edits to the CAM 1 tracks, I still feel uncomfortable about it loosing the synchronization they already have with the remaining 2 cams. Ideally, I'd like to hide the CMA 2 and CAM 3 tracks (both video and audio), being 100% certain they would remain in synchro with my CAM1 while it's being cut and stretched.

Any ideas welcome,

Piotr

Comments

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 9:17 AM

PS.

I know this is a very basic question, but I'm really curious about your best practices here.

One solution to "protect" the current synchronization would be to edit the current project as a nested one, along with the new master track - but I need to keep all my tracks separate, as my goal is to create a multicamera track at some point, and finish up editing in multicamera mode.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/13/2008, 9:57 AM

if cam 1 2 & 3 are all synced to cam 1's audio, then ditch the audio on cam 2 & 3 & sync up the audio from the engy to audio track 1. I'm assuming cam 1 had recorded live audio & the audio from the engy is from the board. They SHOULD be identical, minus ambient noises cam 1 picked up.

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 10:05 AM

Your assumption is right.

However, ditching audio from cam2-3 is dangerous, as -- should they de-synchronize - I'd need them again.

As I said, ideally I'd like to get the 2 cameras' audio and video out of the way while editing Cam 1, but be certain they'll remain in sync with the Cam 1 audio/video tracks, whatever I do to the latter..

musicvid10 wrote on 10/13/2008, 10:18 AM

Since the three cameras are synced, Multicamera Editing mode will do everything you want. Be sure to enable "Quantize to Frames."

Be sure to uncheck the "Enable Multicamera Audio with Video" option and it will leave your three audio tracks untouched for any use you choose. Leaving the camera 1 audio locked to the video track is pretty standard, whether you use it exclusively or not.

If you need to "fit" an audio track that is not synced to a video track such as you mention, I prefer to stretch / squeeze the audio a bit to line it up to the locked audio track, rather than stretch / squeeze the video to match the unanchored audio. Just a matter of preference, I assume, because there are advantages and pitfalls to either approach ;?)

I do projects like yours for live events quite a lot, usually just with two cameras but with four or five audio feeds.

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 10:21 AM

Musicvid, thanks for reply - but multicamera editing is NOT my problem ;)

musicvid10 wrote on 10/13/2008, 10:40 AM

**Ideally, I'd like to hide the CMA 2 and CAM 3 tracks (both video and audio), being 100% certain they would remain in synchro with my CAM1 while it's being cut and stretched.**

This is why I replied as I did, because multicamera editing mode takes care of all this for you automatically, allowing you to stretch all the cams and takes (edited or not) as one, keeping them in perfect sync.

You also caught me in mid-edit about the need to stretch video to match an audio track. Either way, multicam is a simple approach to the question you asked, unless I've missed something. If the approach is not right for your needs, I guess you could select and group all the sets of audio/video tracks and stretch them together as one.

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 10:54 AM

Ah, OK - by "multicamera editing" you probably mean what I call "normal" editing, but with the multicamera track created of the 3 ready cams, and cutting/stretching this track to the new master audio, right?

My first understanding was you were advising to do it in the multicamera mode.

musicvid10 wrote on 10/13/2008, 11:43 AM

Sorry, just a difference in terms, I turn off "Enable multicamera editing" except when I am editing takes. If I was going to stretch a multicamera video event to match an audio track, I would also uncheck "Quantize to frames" because my stretch would not necessarily end at a frame boundary. HTH

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/13/2008, 1:04 PM

put everything as a group. that will move everything, stretch, etc. just tried it.

megabit wrote on 10/13/2008, 1:25 PM

Thanks guys - both approaches work, using multi track having the advantage of a less cluttered timeline.