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Activity Forums Audio Field Recording

  • Field Recording

    Posted by Lou Williams on December 16, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    I am trying to record a live band performance using Canon Video camera and Sound Forge on a laptop. I have the PAs mic-ed running through a portable mixer into the laptop with Sound Forge running. The sound came out great but I can not synch the video with the sound. Is there any easy solution to this problem?

    Lou

    Ty Ford replied 12 years, 5 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Brian Reynolds

    December 17, 2013 at 12:13 am

    Get a copy of ‘Pluraleyes’ an audio sync program.
    Here is a link to a 30 day trial version. (I think)
    https://insideindie.com/2010/10/22/pluraleyes-free-trial/

  • Bill Davis

    December 17, 2013 at 2:00 am

    I’m going to recommend against this. Pluraleyes is a fine program, but in my experience when video and audio sync has two components. The first is the need to do the initial synchronization.

    This is typically amazingly easy, regardless of whether you do it manually, or use a program like Pluraleyes.

    (Pluraleyes of the built in sync facilities in many software is most useful if you have a lot of content that you need to batch sync. For a few clips, it’s often more hassle than it’s worth, that that’s a personal decision)

    The second and most important factor, IMO, is getting the time base synchronized between the video and audio files. It’s all too common for example, for people to have a video timeline running at 48kh for audio – and drop 44.khz or even 32khz audio files on it – then they get freaked when the sync drifts over time.

    Basically you want to KNOW what the sound file statistics of any audio attached to your video is coming in – hen you want to make sure that any sound you’re syncing is being brought in at exactly the same sample rate.

    If so, modern digital recording will mean that if you sync the beginning – the end will be in perfect sync as well.

    Essentially sync drift is nearly always a problem of competing sample rates. Fis that and you fix the whole issue.

    Good luck.

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  • Ty Ford

    December 17, 2013 at 2:52 am

    Hello Lou and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

    Bill offers some very good advice. Even if both devices are recording 48 kHz, you can still get drift. SMPTE is your friend. Planning on short shots instead long ones may help if the clocks don’t run at the same time.

    Some folks luck out and have two devices that have very similar clocks and can run long. You just never know until you try it.

    Regards,

    Ty Ford
    Cow Audio Forum Leader

    Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
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