Double System Sync-So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

[Joe Kras]

I don't know how you guys are sync'ing up your double system sound nowadays. Pros get to use sync'ed time code to line up their audio and video tracks on their editors. We lowly people were relegated to manually lining up the slate at the beginning of a take, and checking it at the end.

Now there's this dead simple thing I found on the web today. It's presently a plug in for FCP, but there's a beta version for Premiere Pro, too. It's called PluralEyes, by Singular Software. You can find it at:

http://www.singularsoftware.com/index.html

Here's a nice little video showing how easy it is to use:

http://www.abelcine.com/articles/index. ... &Itemid=35

I haven't used it myself, but if it's half as easy as it looks, it's twice as good as one could expect for $150.

[yagfxg33k]

They have 15 licences for this at work. The editors swear by it.

[Bill Pryor]

I know one guy who's been using it for several months and he says it works great. I've never bought it because I really don't have any problem syncing clips. I use a clapboard...put an in point just before the spike on my camera's reference track, same thing on the H4N track and drop it in. Generally I hit it right on, sometimes have to shift left or right one frame.

Then I link both tracks together because the H4N track won't let me know I screw up and slip it out of sync later, whereas if they're linked, then I get the red plus or minus numbers.

Pluraleyes has a great reputation so far and it would be worth the money if you have a lot of sync footage. If I get involved in another long documentary project, I might be inclined to buy it. On the other hand, if I get involved in another long documentary project, I might be more inclined to get the Juicedlink and go for single system sound.

[Joe Kras]

I just noticed that they have a Vegas version, too:

http://www.singularsoftware.com/pluraleyes.html

[Bill Pryor]

Hmmm...a Vegas version sure would go nicely with Chris' new Zoom.

[Joe Kras]

Just what I was thinking.

[Joe Kras]

Here's another tutorial (from Phillip Bloom) that also shows how easy it is.

http://vimeo.com/5774898

[chris]

I'm going to beat my head against manual sync for a while before trying the demo. Whether I spend the money will depend on how much pain reduction there is.

The plan is to use a clicker at first. But that's a hassle and it can intimidate interview subjects. When I first met Craig Brewer, he never used a slate but I bet he does now.

If sync is really that painful, I'll probably spring for the $$$. But I've still got to get my Zoom and a copy of Cineform first.

[Bill Pryor]

Sync is NOT painful in the DSLR world. Back in the film days, it was painful. You had to have an assistant go stand in front of the talent and whack the clapboard a couple of inches in front of his nose because you needed the visual slate as well as the sound. The DSLR has a built-in mic, so it captures sound too and you have that as a reference.

What I do is simply whack the slate out to the side, don't even bother with a visual slate. That gives me a spike on the camera audio as well as the recorder's audio. It will be louder on the camera since I'm standing there, but it's not a problem.

I drop my video and camera audio clip in the timeline. Find the clap, mark an in point one frame before. Then I drop the recorder audio into the player window, find the clap and put an in point one frame before. Edit it into an audio track below the camera track, and about 95% of the time I'm right on. Sometimes I may have to slip it one frame left or right if I've mis-marked the in point.

It probably takes me a minute or less to sync a clip.

Be sure to add a verbal slate too, to identify the subject and take for the recorder, otherwise you might have trouble matching the right sound to the video.

One other thing I do--FCP will show you with red numbers if you move something out of sync when editing. But the audio from the recorder has no relation to the video clip. So what I do is unlink the camera's audio track and link it with the recorder's track after they're in sync. That way if I slip sync when editing, I'll get the red numbers. Obviously, take the camera track level down to zero after the tracks are synched.

[RonH]

I've used PluralEyes for when I shoot in an filled auditorium and have the Zoom setup and recording up front long before I turn the cam on in the back. Those shoots involve letting a business meeting and discussion take place followed by the performance I need to record -- and there's no way I can slate it in the middle of the evening.

It has worked unbelievably well. You can download a fully-functioning demo version (I did three separate shoots with the demo before I bought it). I've even thrown tracks together willy-nilly into the timeline, purposefully incorrect, and it rebuilds and delivers a well-synced arrangement. I believe it was $150 or something, the kind of money I won't even think twice about if it will save me greater than a equivalent time cost over the course of ownership (in my case a couple billable hours).

Slating is great if you can do it, but PluralEyes covers your butt against gotchas, like if someone you're recording is talking with their back to the cam, walking away while you follow. I think it would be exceptionally useful for run and gun type journalism or documentary work.

[Bill Pryor]

That's a good use for it, so you can let the recorder run while turning the camera on and off. Yeah, it was $150 last time I looked.