Workflow: Pluraleyes + FCP + 5D + H4N – Overambitious?

[Jason Brown]

I’ve used everything you mentioned EXCEPT plural eyes with success. The h4n leaves alot to be desired…but I ALWAYS sync my audio and video with a clap board. Did you do that?

FYI, if you are using multiple sources (2 channel)…the h4n treats it as a stereo source and adjusts levels as a stereo track…you can’t adjust ch1 input level independent of ch2. (my biggest disappointment with that device)

I’ve seen Plural Eyes demo’ed and it looks impressive, but nothing beats old fashioned organization 🙂

-Jason

[Kai Cheong]

Hi Jason,

Got to admit – we got a little complacent with how well Pluraleyes worked on our previous shoots [which were more limited in complexity/number of shots], that we didn’t go for the good ‘ol fashioned clapper.

I’m not sure if you’ve seen the latest Firmware update for the H4N, but I believe it allows you to adjust each channel’s level separately now: https://www.zoom.co.jp/english/download/software/h4n.php – that’s what we’ve been working with recently. What would be REALLY cool is if it could split 1 XLR input into 2 channels and allow independent levels for each channel.

Kai
FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
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[Jason Brown]

WOW…great find! Thanks so much…that will help considerably!

Good luck on your Plural Eyes question. I believe I saw Robbie Carman (he’s a cow leader in Color) demo that software. He may offer some help if you don’t get what you need here.

-Jason

[Naiche Lujan]

You may be stretching the capabilities of pluraeyes to its limits. They say that you can process tons of footage. But, maybe you’ll want to do it in smaller batches. Surely you can just pull 1/4 or 1/3 of that footage and see if it works better.

Let us know how it goes.

Naiche

Mac Pro
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16GB RAM
ATI Radeon 256MB
320GB 7200rpm
3TB 7200rpm Internal Software RAID0
Blackmagic Studio Card (working good so far)

[Walter Soyka]

You might want to check out the new Mac OS X beta of DualEyes. It uses the same techology as PluralEyes, but the workflow is designed for syncing dual-system audio.

https://www.singularsoftware.com/dualeyes.html

In both cases, I’d think that you’d get better results if you can easily split audio and video into separate scenes.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
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[Phil Balsdon]

I use a 7D with the earlier Zoom H4. I shoot a lot of interview footage as a one man band crew and have to stop start the camera a lot during a question due to the max file size restriction, but I let the audio run. To keep the files reasonably organised I change the camera card and H4 card together. I then transfer (using “New Image” with Disc Utility on a Mac) and put these .dmg files (labeled video and audio) in the same folder on a hard drive. This is so as not to confuse the file naming protocol of the H4 which starts each card with 000 file number.

In post I then sync these files with PluralEyes a card at a time, with files loaded in correct sequence. This seems to keep the amount of work PluralEyes has to do to a manageable volume and keeps my original files organised for archiving.

The only time I’ve had a problem was with talent reading numerous takes of the same short pieces from a teleprompter – the wave forms were obviously very similar. In future I’d always id this type of recording with a visual and audio clap.

I would love an audio recorder that recorded time of day as this would make locating which audio and video files belonged together in the event of a problem.

Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Phil Balsdon] “I would love an audio recorder that recorded time of day as this would make locating which audio and video files belonged together in the event of a problem.”

Done:

https://www.sounddevices.com/products/702t.htm

Let me guess. You don’t want to pay for it? 🙂

Jeremy

[Phil Balsdon]

I’ll clarify that,

I would love an audio recorder that recorded time of day as this would make locating which audio and video files belonged together in the event of a problem.

And that’s small and light weight enough to be attached to the camera when necessary.

Probably why I haven’t upgraded to the H4n (which unlike the H4 doesn’t have separate line and headphone out and therefore the headphone volume controls the line output volume) or the Tascam which looks easier / simpler to use than the H4n.

I’m sure if I wait it’ll eventually be invented.

Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/

[Jeremy Garchow]

The 702t is “only” a couple of pounds. It’s about as small and light as you can get for an all in one package with a full feature set.

I should add timecode is not easy otherwise everyone would do it..

[Michael Gissing]

As Pluraleyes relies on comparing the guide audio to the double system files, perhaps part of your problem is the quality of the guide audio.

In noisy locations or where the camera is away from the audio source, use clapper boards as a backup to syncing.