video capture + multi track audi

David-Whetstone wrote on 5/16/2021, 1:37 PM

Hello, my question is pre-sales. I want to record multitrack audio at the same time as video capture; then I want to be able to edit the multitrack audio and the video before export. This seems to be a bit unusual and I can't figure out whether Vegas will do it or not. In other words I am a musician wanting to make videos of myself, and I use three microphones. Each microphone needs to be recorded separately on its own track. Then I need to mix the recording after capture. I can't figure out why this isn't a more common topic! If responding, please tell me which of the Video products of Vegas is appropriate for me. Thank you so much, I am desperate!

 

Comments

Former user wrote on 5/16/2021, 4:07 PM

I don't think you can capture video at the same time as you are recording. Most people would shoot video with a camera while recording the audio. Then capture the video and sync it back. There are devices that allow multi-channel recording. I have not done it with Vegas though.

Musicvid wrote on 5/16/2021, 4:39 PM

Yeah, I misread your question. You can record audio at the same time you are shooting video and add that later, that is what I was visualizing.

Maybe OBS is worth trying if you want to capture it all at once. Even has individual latency adjustment.

Rednroll wrote on 5/18/2021, 8:18 AM

Vegas will easily handle the multiple audio track record portion for you but not the video.

I use a similar setup of having multiple wireless microphones, with multiple cameras. Here's how I accomplish that.

1. I start my cameras recording (onboard audio and video)

2. I start Vegas to record the multiple tracks of audio from my wireless microphones.

3. I stand in front of the cameras and say something like "Take1" then Clap my hands in front of the cameras.

So now what you have recorded are your multiple audio tracks in Vegas, and the different video angles and additional audio recorded on the storage media of each camera.

4. Now you take your storage media audio/video from the cameras and transfer it into your PC

5. Open your Vegas project where you recorded the multiple audio tracks and place each video on the timeline on separate tracks in Vegas with it's camera audio track.

Now the Magic of syncing them all together, as if you recorded them at the same time on individual tracks as you are trying to achieve.

6. Look for the transient peak of the audio from your hand clap that is recorded on each video track camera angle.

7. Align that transient peak of audio with one of the transient peaks of the audio track you recorded into Vegas. Zooming in helps when aligning those transient peaks. They should be simple to find, if you clapped loud enough.

8. Do that for each video angle you recorded.

9. Now mute each audio track from the camera video records, since that audio will likely not sound as good as separate mics you recorded into Vegas. They've served their purpose which is for video/audio sync alignment within Vegas.

Now you can cut and edit your different video tracks in Vegas to get your different camera angles, and everything should be in perfect sync. As a sanity check, make sure when you recorded yourself clapping your hands on the video, when your hands come together on the video, it aligns with the audio that was recorded separately in Vegas.

Wallah! Separately recorded, audio and video tracks now perfectly in sync!

If you've ever seen those "Clap boards" used in movie creation. Those are serving the same purpose as you saying "Take 1", and then clapping your hands together. It's a reminder of individual record takes, and the snap of the clap board is creating an audio transient spike which gets used by the editor for NLE post record sync purposes. If the hand clap in front of the camera doesn't work for you, getting one of those clap boards will work even better but I tend to carry my hands and mouth with me wherever I go, so it makes my life easier and serves the same purpose.

Rednroll wrote on 5/18/2021, 8:48 AM

Now that I just outlined how it's been typically done in the past. @jetdv just made me aware of "Vegas Stream" which is a separate product which comes with the Vegas 365 versions.

I haven't used it, but maybe this will work better for you if the above method seems confusing.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-stream/?AffiliateID=145&phash=BBPtCllArZvjlyXI&gclid=CjwKCAjwy42FBhB2EiwAJY0yQvO8oXHtLaI8V7MHgDd-plqaktL8qT7fkK8C5M1XppFPB7pqhZ7cZxoCCpIQAvD_BwE

Rednroll wrote on 5/18/2021, 11:56 AM

If you're not into subscription software, I've recently been a big fan of a shareware program called "OBS Studio" which allows you to record multiple video and audio sources on your PC. Essentially, if there's a device on your PC and you can hear or see it, OBS studio can record it. Your question got me looking into if OBS Studio could some how do this as well.

OBS Studio can be setup to record up to 6 separate audio tracks.

However for video it can only record 1 composite video track, but that video track can be composed from multiple video input sources. It records to a single video container file (MP4, MKV, etc.) What you could do for the video is record it in ultra wide mode in OBS. For example, let's say you have 2 separate cameras you want to record in 1920x1080 on separate video tracks. You could set up OBS Studio to record at 3840x1080 and place each video source side by side in OBS.

When you're done recording you'll have a single video format file with a single 3840x1080 video and 6 separate audio tracks, all in sync. You can import that file into Vegas, which will drag and drop on the timeline with the single video file and the 6 separate audio tracks. You can then duplicate that video track, so you now have 2 separate video tracks, then crop each track, so now you would have 2 separate video tracks at 1920x1080. You could do this with however many camera inputs you have and create separate tracks in Vegas after you finished recording. 4 1920x1080 camera inputs? Record at 3840x2160 in OBS and place each camera view in a corner.

Essentially, there's multiple ways to skin a cat as they say, pick one that works best for you. I have envisioned Record buttons showing up on the Vegas video tracks one day, the same as you can do for the separate audio tracks and do exactly what you originally described, but it's just not available today.

How to record ultra-wide video in OBS

How to record multitrack audio in OBS

OBS Studio Download

https://obsproject.com/download

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 5/19/2021, 3:22 AM

Do that all the time but I use an external flash recorder for the audio. Some clicks or claps at the beginning and end are helpful... otherwise I align visually looking at the waveforms. When I video jazz or barber shop, they often do finger snaps or drum stick hits all on their own. Maybe someday I'll spring for a Canon cinema camera... if you can deal with the cabling to the camera, they can record 4 channel 24-bit pcm right in their video clips.