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Aiming better audio video sync
Hi all
Could you guys please give your views about the process of making good audio video sync for AE projects. Like there might be two scenarios:
1) You have an audio clip, sort of background music or loop, and you brainstorm a bit, and then make your video clips matching that background music.2) You make your video first and then try to find something from your music library to suit that movie clip. (Note I am talking about royalty free music, not about biug companies who could hire a singer and a composer to do that stuff)
Please tell me about this. Most of the times I really find it hard to do this audio video sync. I am not an AE pro, I am getting through a learning curve but still I want to see my short 10-15 seconds animations full of life with a supporting background music or sound effects for that matter.
Kind regards
TweenGuy -
3 Replies
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I think it depends on what your end goal is. If the music is the top priority (like a music video), then I would sync to the audio. If your composition is the most important and the music is just for mood. I would generally place the music in as a secondary thought. That being said, you will still want to make sure there is some unity between picture and sound.
As far as syncing up visuals to audio:
At the very least, lay down a bunch of markers and label them so you can animate to match those markers. What I have done in the past is in an NLE (I used FCP). I cut together a bunch of ugly slates and edited them to the music. So I “Felt” the timing in an editor till the text (or simple image) slates were all timed the way I like them. I rendered this out and brought it into AE. Kept it as a reference track I turn on and off to match the AE animations timings to.
Another thing I’ve done a few times, is set up a DV cam in front of a plain bg (like a wall). Then I will perform hand movements in front of the lens like bad mime. These hand movements represent the timing and movement of what will eventually be graphics. I’ll throw those into the rough edit with my slates. This way I have a very specific and somewhat human-like motion reference to work from.
Since NLE’s are all about timing, I use that strength and use it as the “sheet music” to do graphics to.
Hope this makes sense.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com -
Dear Chris
Thank you very much for your response. Yes, of course, it all makes sense and I would love to see a tutorial for new comers like me on this. Kindly give it a thought as the tutorials with screen shots here have their own worth.You said that for non linear ediing you used Final Cut Pro (FCP), I have Pinnacle Studio, do you think this could also serve that purpose? as it has a story board feature. And I guess the slates you have talked about do refer to those story board place holders in Pinnacle Studio where you could put your image or video and then garb some audio and finally do your sync work. Please clarify this, otherwise I can understand most of what you have said and I am very thankful for your prompt assistance.
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I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Pinnacle studio. But any editor usually will do (even iMovie). What I mean by slates are sometimes just white words on a black background. They represent timing only really. So if I am doing the intro to your reel for example. In the editor I may make a text slate that says ‘tween’ for the first 20 frames, then cut to a second slate that says ‘guy’ or ‘tweenguy’ for another handful of frames. So in AE I know that when I do an animation in AE for the TweenGuy animation, I know exactly where to bring in the Tween part then animate the guy part coming in to join it. With out guessing. I establish all the timing cues in an editor so that when all the text slates, reference photos, or DV recorded hand animations are all cut together in what look like a freaky, ugly mosaic, I know that when I animate to it, the animations will be dead on. It saves Tons of time guessing. If you animate to something you’ve already approved the timing of, it takes a lot of the burden of your shoulders in AE.
Chris Smith
https://www.sugarfilmproduction.com
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