Multi-Camera Editing Flow

robert-bogue wrote on 4/10/2012, 8:53 PM
I've got two cameras and a high-resolution audio recorder in a studio w/ Green/Chroma Keying. I am trying to find a decent workflow for working with multi-camera and the OOTB support doesn't seem to fit my needs. I'm trying to figure out what workflows folks might have come up with in similar situations that aren't completely silly.

The cameras aren't the same so even with white balance it's necessary to tweak the individual output to get the appearance the same and to get the Chroma to drop out well. Losing track positioning, etc., is also problematic.

So how are folks managing multi-camera outside of the multi-camera facilities?

How are you managing multiple individual media files like a single file (for instance for event pan/crop, filter settings, etc.) One of the cameras is laying down a new file every few minutes so synchronizing settings between multiple clips can be painful.

I've considered doing nested projects, having the first level project do all of the positioning and chroma and then layering this into my project to put it all together but this seemed like it might be kludgy. Does anyone have a better approach/workflow?

Comments

altarvic wrote on 4/10/2012, 11:23 PM
Consider using PluralEyes for automatic synchronization...
robert-bogue wrote on 4/11/2012, 9:16 AM
It looks like the product will help me to line up video -- but as I mentioned in my original post, that's not really the issue.
Arthur.S wrote on 4/11/2012, 11:14 AM
When editing in the multicam mode, I usually do my colour matching using the project media dialogue.
xberk wrote on 4/11/2012, 1:44 PM
I’m working on a two camera project right now that includes a track recorded on my H1 Zoom Recorder. So, at times, I have two video tracks and three "live" sound tracks for the same bit of coverage.

Most important for me, is to edit in sequences of less than 5 min. No long timelines. I can't stress this enough whatever the project.

So far I haven’t used Multi-cam edit. I’m not experienced with it and have not really found a need for it yet. Instead, I place the 2nd camera video on a separate track above or below the main camera. It’s been failry easy so far for me to sync these together by hand or using Plural Eyes. Generally, I’ll only use the live sound track off my main camera for the rough cut. So -- I’ll use two video tracks and any other graphics or titles needed but only one “live” audio track. In my case, I’m using a music background, so I’m cutting my visuals with that music background track as well. Once I have the rough cut with music, I’ll try to improve my “live” sound by syncing up the track off the H1 Zoom (or in some cases the audio from Camera 2). For this I use another instance of Vegas open at the same time as my main edit. In this second instance of Vegas I sync the H1 Zoom to each of the “edited” events – one at a time – alone – by themselves, using Plural Eyes (saves a lot of time) or by hand (sometimes Plural Eyes fails). The trick is to isolate just the edited event, get it syncd and then copy the edited event back to the main edit with the syncd H1 track. So far, this workflow has worked well for me. But, I’m certainly open to suggestions.

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Arthur.S wrote on 4/11/2012, 2:45 PM
Not quite sure why only 5mins at a time. If I've got something that's 45mins long, that's what I'm going to edit - in one go. Your workflow obviously works for you, but multi-cam is a whole lot simpler (and I'll bet quicker) than that. Give it a try.
cold ones wrote on 4/11/2012, 3:36 PM
RobBogue,
I synch all my multicam footage (even outtakes) into nested files, make my cuts, and then bring these nested files into a new file (call it "master file" for simplicity) for final editing.

Pro: you can make changes to the original nested file (for instance, cropping or color correction on any or all cameras, audio noise reduction, etc) and all these changes will automatically update within your master file.

Con: same as the Pro, since you're essentially editing your (edited) nested file, you can get into trouble when you make changes. Also, each time you revise the nested file you've got to wait for it to render out before the changes will be visible in your master file.

But sInce I often make multiple edits of the same multicam footage, I've gravitated to this method. I haven't had much trouble synching different sources (video cams, DSLR, Zoom audio, etc) even with long form material (an hour or so).
robert-bogue wrote on 4/11/2012, 4:01 PM
Can you clarify what you mean by the Project Media Dialog? I don't understand how you're doing color matching except via track/event fx. How are you navigating to this dialog? What is it allowing you to set?
robert-bogue wrote on 4/11/2012, 4:05 PM
The problem w/ Multi-camera is that it removes the ability to apply track-level fx for chroma keying. So I have to apply chroma keying -- and color correction -- for each event / each cut. That can be pretty tedious.
cold ones wrote on 4/11/2012, 6:45 PM
Try applying the FX at the Media level. Go to the Project Media window & right-click the movie that you want to add effects to (like chromakey, etc). Select Media FX, and every time that movie appears in your timeline (whether it be in multicam edit or not) if will display those effects.
robert-bogue wrote on 4/12/2012, 6:14 AM
That's a good idea -- at the very least for the camera that doesn't do a new file every 10 minutes :) I'll play with that to see how that seems to work.
Arthur.S wrote on 4/12/2012, 7:16 AM
"Can you clarify what you mean by the Project Media Dialog?"

Wot coldone's sed. You can also key frame those effects, but for some reason, not sync to cursor, which can be a pain. :-(
Just wondering, which version Vegas are you using? Because 11 will let you 'unmulticam' the track afterwards, so everything is back on separate tracks.
cold ones wrote on 4/12/2012, 9:19 AM
Arthur.S, good point! I haven't used that unmulticam feature but I can see where it would be really helpful