syncing video/audio using multiple cameras

Phil_1 wrote on 12/10/2010, 4:34 PM
Can anyone recommend a good workflow for this? I want to switch angles during the video while keeping the narrative in sync with the speaker, I know there has to be an easy way to do this since it's such a common practice but I'm fairly new to VMS platinum10. I did this by zooming way in and manually moving the video or audio until it was as close as I could get it. Very cumbersome obviously.
Thanks

Comments

MSmart wrote on 12/10/2010, 5:09 PM
Zooming and moving is about all we can do in VMS. One trick is to lower the upper track opacity so you can see the lower track through it. This will help you see movement of both tracks and let you know if your tracks are synced. Using Help should show you how to adjust opacity.

Here is a recent thread discussing the subject:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=729177

After syncing the tracks. Ungroup the video from the audio from each track so when you do your cuts on the video, it won't delete the audio portion.
Phil_1 wrote on 12/10/2010, 9:34 PM
Thanks MSmart. This was very helpful.
MillerWD wrote on 12/11/2010, 8:03 AM
The most effective way I've found to edit multiple cameras, each with the same sound track, is to setup individual viewsof each camera (using video event pan/crop...) and one large view of all the cameras overlayed as "takes". Read about it here:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=635947

It's the reason I'm using Sony... it works great when it's setup correctly. (When you want the final render of the main track, change the size of the first event (full screen) Copy, right-click, Select events to end, right-click Paste event attributes.

Some tips to synch the sound...
A. Pop a flash at the begining of your shoot when the cameras are rolling. (I do this in a theater before the curtain raises... right after the "no photography" annoucement (ha)). To edit, find the flash in one view, the select another track. Move track L or R using num-pad 4 or 6 until flash appears. Select next track, repeat. (note: make sure your time line is zoomed in enough so that you are moving the event only one frame at a time. Watch the frame counter)

B. If no flash, then Loop through a small region where you can see the speakers lip. Use Event pan/crop to zoom in temporarily. Run the loop in slow motion and move the video event L or R.

C. Same thing with action only, set up multiple views and find a marker (kick, step, wave etc.). Find the extreme end of the motion the first track, then select another track and move L and R until to find the same extreme end. This could be the highest point of a leg kick or the lowest point of a bow etc. The point of first contact is also good... foot on ground, hand on face, hand touching water bottle etc.

Bottom line, learn to setup and use multiple views for the cameras. Toggling between the takes when you edit the main track is simply a delight. And don't forget <ctrl>+<alt> drag to slide the event boundaries (cuts).
richard-amirault wrote on 12/12/2010, 2:55 PM
I've synced sound to video from a digital audio recorder and (obviously) didn't use a video "cue". Just using the waveform shape is good enough (for me) One trick I've used is to combine the L and R tracks to a single track .. on every audio track that you are trying to sync. This makes it MUCH easier to compare the waveforms. (you still need to expand the timeline considerably to do this right)

Just remember to convert back to stereo once you have synced up.

Also .. just because your tracks are synced at the begining .. does not mean they will stay synced thru the length of the video (depending of the length of the video of course) Check sync every 15 minutes of video to see if sync needs to be adjusted again.