Recommended workflow for PluralEyes / Media Composer

[Jennifer Jones]

Thanks, Sal – will give this a try once we upgrade..!

[Gregg Grinnell]

I recommend setting sync to “try really hard” and level audio. Plural 3 for avid seems to need both of these set to work properly. I got used to using 2 with aaf export import workflow….it has worked great for me.

Cheers
gregg Grinnell

[Robert Ober]

[Sal Fabbri] “Here’s my current workflow:”

Thanks for this. That really helped on a day where many things were not going well with my vidcast project and Symphony 6. The Avid aaf did not work in PE 3.1.1, it would seem PE did not like the AVC Intra 100 mxf. Ended up using a ProRes HQ vid with cam audio and the separately recorded wav in your workflow and now I have finally have a beginning edit.

Have a good whatever,
Robert:-)

[Scott Clements]

Thanks for this tip, Michael. What would you suggest as the fastest workflow for syncing sound to DSLR picture, as well as creating DSLR multi cam clips (from a 2 camera shoot)? When laying the video and audio out on the timeline as you mention above, would you also lay down the 2nd camera angle, or would you “group clips” in the bin later? Any details you could give on your specific workflow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-Scott

Film Editor, London UK
http://www.scottclementseditor.com

[Michael Phillips]

Check out Sal’s workflow further down in the thread:

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/45/889277

Michael

[Scott Clements]

Thanks, Michael, but I’m curious about Michael Hancock’s method, because the guide track on the DSLR footage is in fact slightly out of sync with the picture. He says this is why he manually syncs in Avid. However, his manual method for syncing is much faster than the one I was using. I was curious though what he did with multi cam material that also needs to be synced. Also, his technique doesn’t seem to allow for different clip lengths amongst all the tracks in the newly created synced sub clips.

Film Editor, London UK
http://www.scottclementseditor.com

[Michael Phillips]

Ah sorry, I thought you were referring to me (Michael). 🙂

There are several ways to go about this. Either sync audio to each camera before making a group clip, only sync one of the cameras before grouping, or just group the entire camera set and the audio in one step.

Each have their advantages and disadvantages:

1. Syncing audio to each camera angle will give you individual sync clip but takes the longest as you are repeating steps.But should you ever need to edit any of the material single cam, it is synced for each angle. You can also slip sync on the resulting .sync clip of needed before grouping.

2. Syncing one camera to audio then grouping to all camera angles is probably the fastest method as manual sync would occur to only one clip, then grouping would use the common video timecode (if available). If not, then you could use a visual to group. When editing the sequence, lay down the good audio as the reference. You can also slip sync on the resulting .sync clip of needed before grouping.

3. find a common mark in all camera angles and audio then group directly. This removes one sync step but will not allow you to slip sync should it be needed.

My preferred method would be #2. I just mark an IN at each of the common frames/sync then use AutoSync. The resulting clip will be the shortest of the two. So sync to the longest before grouping. I never sync via the timeline method myself, I just do the marks to the sources, sync, then load subclip into source monitor with source monitor timeline to slip as needed. I also make my projects a 35mm/4 perf project so I can slip audio sync down to the quarter frame. This eliminates the sequence/subclip step as well as renaming the source clip steps.

Michael

[Scott Clements]

Thanks for the detailed step by step, Michael. Much appreciated!

-Scott

Film Editor, London UK
http://www.scottclementseditor.com

[Mandla Bolekaja]

[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
“

Sal,

When I follow your process, which I prefer, I get a really long clip name. Example: “soup kitchen maybe MVI_1665.MOV_for_soup kitchen maybe 1665.wav.MOV.”

Is there any way to get a shorter clip name when coming out of PluralEyes?

Thanks

MB
2.8 Quad-Core, 24 GB Ram, CS6, Mountain Lion