Syncing a compound clip

[Jordan Wilson]

Hmmm…

And was that syncing a sequence of multiple shorter video clips to a longer audio clip?

[T. Payton]

Jordan – I feel your pain, however don’t fret. I am in the same boat. I looks like a bug because it appears works the other way around, i.e. a single video clip and multiple audio clips. I’m guessing it is a problem with not creating gap clips correctly when syncing.

Good news, there is a simpler workaround than manually syncing. Just do this:

1. Sync each video clip to your “master” audio clip individually.

2. Rename your new synchronized clips “master”

3. open the other syncronized clips, copy the video clip to the clipboard, and then on your master compound clip choose “Paste as Connect clip”. It will place the new video exactly where it should go in sync with the audio (regular paste will not). It doesn’t matter the position of your playhead, it will add gap clips as needed.

4. Rinse and repeat step 2.

5. When you’re done pasting all the video clips, turn off all the scratch audio by select all the video clips (either by hand in the timeline or better yet in the timeline index) and disable all the scratch audio for all the clips by deselecting the audio under channel configuration.

BTW. If you really want to manually sync, it is surprisingly easy because FCP X can work with subframes and the audio waveforms are very clear. Use Option > and Option < to move audio by the subframe (add shift to move by 10 subframes).

(On a side note, doesn’t this drive you crazy! FCP X appears how have some incredible power as none of these features are in FCP X: pasting a clip from one sequence to another at the same point in time, subframe audio editing, group operations on clips. But then they missed properly implementing the audio sync feature for very common situations like ours. Plus the thing is horribly buggy and slow. I love FCP X and hate FCP X at the same time!)

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque

[Jordan Wilson]

Again, Tom. Most people’s definition of a “video camera” is different than yours.

For me, a “video camera” is something that delivers the highest quality picture and the biggest bang for the buck. For me (and MANY others) that’s a DSLR.

And of course you aren’t going to get stunning video holding the camera in your hand straight out of the box like you might with a “traditional” video camera. But once you put nice glass on a DSLR, stabilize it properly, and record audio externally to boot, then you have a very high-end “video camera.” It’s not a general tool you can use for any type of use. But if you know what you’re shooting and if you know how to use it (two big IFs), a DSLR is often the best choice.

[Jordan Wilson]

Yes! Hopefully this is exactly what I’m looking for. I’ll give this a try later when I get a few minutes.

And I think that the sync feature in FCPX might have been more geared toward a multicam situation. Because otherwise, there’s no explanation for the lack of functionality. That’s because syncing is usually based around your audio track. ie: you usually have 1 (or 2) audio files with many video files. Very rarely will you have one video file and many audio files.

So it looks like Apple did it all backward and based syncing on video rather than audio.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a run and report back.

[Tom Wolsky]

I would say that clearly it’s not the best choice for what you’re doing just from reading this thread and what you have to go through.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Coming in 2011 “Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press

[T. Payton]

I did some more testing and I made a mistake on that last post.

In step 3, you need to select the Gap clip AND the video clip. Then move your playhead to the beginning of your master audio, and then choose “paste as connected clip”.

Also scratch my comment about pasting in the same point in time. ;(

——
T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque

[Geoff Dills]

Exactly.

Best,
Geoff

[Andy Neil]

Some cameras will break clips apart but continue recording instantaneously…I thought that was your issue.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Jordan Wilson]

No worries. As far as Canon, I think only those with ML firmware have that function.

[Ben Scott]

this was what I needed to know for editing tomorrow (my own wedding)

thanks

was kinda wondering why smaller clips couldnt be created though, unless working exactly to full length of event (which u shouldnt)

editing is about cutting it down to something watchable, small source clips is part of that (if they have a long audio section seems to be of little consequence)