Why can’t PluralEyes sync camera footage with an audio recorder?

[Graham Bernard]

If I used PE, I’d be all over for you!

Next time . . . . .

G

Video Content Creator and Potter
PC 7 64-bit 16gb * Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core 3.40GHz * 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti
Cameras: Canon XF300 and two elderly XM2s

[Theo Van laar]

It looks like the amplitude of the upper audio track is much bigger then the amplitude from the lower audio track. My experience is that this sometimes confuses plural eyes. What helped me in those cases is not synchronizing all the short clips at the same time with the longer audio events but only a few each time. Just see if that helps for you.

Theo

[Dan Thompson]

John, did you stop and start the camera during the event? If you did and the audio kept recording, you’ll probably need to split the camera event everywhere that it stopped and started, then rerun PE, and cut out the extra. This is what I have done, someone else may know a better way, but this works for me. Hope it helps, Dan

[John Rofrano]

[Dan Thompson] “John, did you stop and start the camera during the event? If you did and the audio kept recording, you’ll probably need to split the camera event everywhere that it stopped and started, then rerun PE, and cut out the extra.”

No the camera ran continuously except for having to change the tape after one hour. That’s why there are only two camera events. This was a 2 hr play with the camera and audio running continuously.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

[Theo van Laar] “What helped me in those cases is not synchronizing all the short clips at the same time with the longer audio events but only a few each time. Just see if that helps for you.”

I tried just selecting the first camera event and the first audio event and I had already synced them by hand. PluralEyes moved them way out of sync and interesting, it moved the camera event which is NOT what I want.

Is there any way to tell PluralEyes that the camera is the master and the audio is the slave I’m trying to sync? I don’t want the camera events moved at all.

Perhaps it simply wasn’t designed to sync audio with video. 🙁

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

[Theo van Laar] “It looks like the amplitude of the upper audio track is much bigger then the amplitude from the lower audio track. “

You know, it is possible that the audio from the camera is too muddy to be synced. There is a lot of room echo/reverberation because it’s in an auditorium while the audio from the mixer is clean and dry. It may just be too different given the reverb/dry mix. Even though I can hear the words clearly, the human brain can filter the human voice much better than a computer program ever could.

I was really hoping this would work too. 🙁

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Michael Acres]

Tell it to try really hard(its an option)
Try not splitting the audio file
Try not telling it they are in chronological order
Try splitting the video files into a couple segments instead of audio

my guess is that your audio files plays slightly slower than your video files and the ‘drift back is confusing PE.

FYI it has been my experience that audio feeds run a frame or 2 longer per 30minutes than my video capture but I only know that to be true for the cameras and gear I use

[Theo Van laar]

If the audio from the camera is ‘too muddy’, you can still try the TRY REALLY HARD option. This might do the trick in your case.

Theo

[John Rofrano]

[Shoestring Videos] “Tell it to try really hard(its an option)
Try not splitting the audio file
Try not telling it they are in chronological order
Try splitting the video files into a couple segments instead of audio”

I tried everything but nothing worked. I even added media markers and turned on the option to use them and it still gave the same results.

I’ve wasted more time at this point than it would have taken me to sync the audio by hand (usually only a 15 – 20 minute job) so I’m guessing that PluralEyes cannot help my workflow. 🙁

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I guess my audio is too different between camera mic and console mix for PluralEyes to it figure out. (on the bright side I saved $200)

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

[Theo van Laar] “If the audio from the camera is ‘too muddy’, you can still try the TRY REALLY HARD option. This might do the trick in your case.”

Tried that. No go. I think the reverberation of the auditorium is throwing it off.

Maybe they need a Try really, really, really, hard mode. 😉

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com