multicam synchronisation.

[T. Payton]

i have found that accurate Creation Dates are unbelievable valuable for organization. We ensure that all our devices are as close to atomic time as possible before we shoot and it saves a huge amount of time.

If for some reason you can’t adjust the time on a camera or device, do a little offset measurement. Grab an iPhone or iPad with MovieSlate (awesome by the way) or other TOD generator, and then point all your cameras and audio devices to it and record and audio slate like “(device name) Timecode Offset Measurement” then give out the time code and then clap. If you can’t get the cameras together, no problem, just do it individually.

See here this camera is off by an hour:

(this is a simplistic example because it is a still camera, you obesely need to be a little bit more sophisticated in calculating the offset for a video, or audio.)

Now when you are in Final Cut, when you find that first clip, you can know the exact amount of offset you need to adjust each devices “creation time and date” (you select all the clips for one camera/device and adjust them together), so everything is accurate.

Now you will have a much easier time syncing, creating multicam clips, etc. This is especially critical when you are shooting images or clips without sound.

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque