Recommended workflow for PluralEyes / Media Composer

[Shane Ross]

Did you convert the Canon footage to DNxHD first? Don’t skip that step.

Sorry, never used pluraleyes, I just want to make sure you aren’t trying to edit H.264 native.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Jennifer Jones]

Hi Shane, yes, we converted to DNxHD. Thanks for the response, though. This is really baffling us, being that so many people are using the 7D/5D and recording separate audio these days. Is everyone manually syncing everything? Say it ain’t so!

Thanks again,
Jennifer

[Michael Hancock]

When dealing with DSLR footage I sync manually because the audio recorded on the DSLR is often off by 1 or 2 frames.

To quickly sync, select all of your video takes and drop them into a sequence so the shots are sequential. Drop the audio under it and start lining the clap on video up with the spike on the corresponding audio take. Shouldn’t take long at all if you slated it.

Once it’s all laid out, go to first clip and mark In/Out on it and subclip it so you have just the video and clean audio (you can keep the camera audio if you want, but I prefer not to). This will make a subsequence. Map it to your keyboard so you can blow through your timeline in a matter of seconds until every take is its own sequence. Select them all and go to Bin–>AutoSync. Now all of your clips are synced and turned into sync clips. Edit away.

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Daniel Frome]

AMA link all your footage.

Place all your shots in chronological order on a timeline.

Then place all your audio on the same timeline in chronological order.

Export an AAF of the sequence. Load it into Pluraleyes.

A few minutes later it spits out a new AAF (timeline) with all your stuff synced.

Import the AAF, relink to your DnxHD media and start cutting.

[Jennifer Jones]

Hi Michael & Daniel, thanks for the responses.

Daniel, we did just that with ‘not-so-great’ results.

Michael – we’ll try it manually, as per your suggestions.

I guess we just expected PluralEyes to be more of a ‘magic bullet’ :0

Thanks again,
Jennifer

[David Powell]

Are you using Plural eyes 2 or 3?

[Michael Phillips]

While I have had good results with PluralEyes, there have been times when based on the quality of reference file, it really didn’t sync anything. I also find the AAF process to be clumsy as editing from a sequence it not the best – and going through the subsequence, AutoSync to make a subclip to track sync offsets, then rename to proper source (Scene/take for example) takes up a lot of time. I have found, that with a clear clap in visual and audio, I can sync faster manually most of the time and be frame accurate.

I actually work in a film 35mm project even though there is not film as I will sync down to the 1/4 frame.

Michael

[Michael Phillips]

Adam Wilt did a good overview of using reference sync on an DSLR. The camera itself is 1 to 1.1 frame out of sync to when comparing its own picture and audio, then add to that distance (speed of sound versus light) and it could be another .5 frames. See his article here:

https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/awilt/story/dslr_audio_do_you_know_where_your_sync_is/

Frame offset adjustment is probably something you will see in an update to PluralEyes, as internal offset from the camera is consistent for all recorded media – distance will be subject to change.

Michael

[Jennifer Jones]

Hi David & Michael, thanks for the info. We are using v.2, but will try to upgrade and try again, though. Maybe this will make a difference. I didn’t realize there was a more recent version.

Thanks again!

[Sal Fabbri]

Here’s my current workflow:

1. In PluralEyes, select “Camera 1” and drop all source video into the import box

2. Select “Audio Recorder 1” and drop all external audio recordings into the import box

3. Synchronize. PluralEyes will match your camera audio with the external recording and align the 2 tracks.

4. Export for your edit. I like to skip the individual editors (FCP, Premiere, Avid) and export new synced clips. As far as I know, exporting via the various editors will sync clips in your timeline, but the actual clips themselves will still reference separate video and audio sources. To me, this leaves room for error to get out of sync during my edits. Call me old school, but I like my audio and video to be synced in ONE clip 🙂
In this case, I would choose the “Media Files” option under OTHER in the Export dialogue. Checking “Copy of video files” will make a copy of your source video clips and insert the external audio into them (and remove the camera audio). Make sure you choose a separate output directory and do not overwrite your original clips. I like to output to a new sub-folder within my source clips called “Synced Clips”

5. Import/AMA link in Avid. Make separate bins for your sync clips. I like to color mine so i know which have good audio just by looking in a bin/sequence. Showing the Source Path Bin Heading will also help you keep track of which clips are which.

I’ve had occasions where the camera op will have the audio gain jacked right up on the camera, resulting in heavily distorted audio. In these cases, PluralEyes may not be able to interpret the audio to make the sync (and who can blame them!). In that case, you’ll need a good Assistant Editor to perform a manual sync. I like using the AutoSync method in Avid in cases like this.

Sal Fabbri
Supervising Editor
Blue Ant Media