[Michael Brown]

Hi Brad,

I don’t know of any other tool than time remapping that works only slightly like pitch and time for audio (like in pro-tools, which seems to be what you’re looking for), but I’m frequently faced with (lip-)sync problems as I often edit multitrack music videos and live performance relays. The one I’m finishing right now was shot 15 times with one camera, then another 2 live takes with audience, so I’m looking at 17 superimposed dailies video tracks and over 30 audio tracks to edit, plus the usual several effects tracks on top. I don’t use time remapping because I find it very inconvenient to have to use such long handles to make it work efficiently. In this case I’ll use the example of a progressive rock band whose drummer used a click to stay on time, but you can bet your fanny that despite the click, he was off by at least 1 or 2 16ths every 4 to eight measures, so over 3 minutes of hard rock, I had discrepancies of up to 10″ (short or long) on almost every track, and I needed to have them all in sync! Not to mention instrumental solos and vocals that are never identical from one take to the next. So here is how I do it if it’s of any help:
1) I select an audio/video track that’s going to be my (usually best performance) reference track and that I leave in sync on my timeline no matter what happens.
2) I sync up all my other tracks to the reference track by using audio phasing, listening to the reference on the left, and the track to sync up on the right, and sitting in the middle. When the reference audio and the audio of the track to sync up phase each other out, then they’re perfectly in sync. Headphones are best for that, but a good speaker set up is more comfortable and works too. Leave the audio of the tracks to sync up linked to the video, so when you make shifts later, you can compare and verify audio sync at any time, although your audio may sound off key (that’s where audio/video pitch & time would be convenient). There are 2 ways to do this: you can place cuts on the track to sync up every time it goes in and out of sync and shift that short section back and forth, which either leaves gaps to have to work around or shortened edits on that track. That’s ok if your tracks only go out of sync occasionally and if the synced sections are long enough for you not to be missing footage to edit with, but when you’re resyncing a track every 5 or 10″, you have too much loss to work around. That’s when “stretching” or “compressing” time comes in. Instead of shifting your track, you can use ins and outs to compare the length of your reference audio and the part you want to sync up. If you know that you’re reference section is 25 frames and your video is only 20, then you’ll want to use your speed tool (apple + ‘j’) to apply that length to the video, but don’t yet, or you’ll move all the following video out of sync!:
3) Keep your IN marker where it is (at the beginning of your reference IN), select the video section to modify, cut it (x), go to the end of your timeline (use a convenient shortcut key), copy (v) on the same track (always at the end of your timeline)!, command ‘j’ to open speed, change the length of the video (in frames, not in %age), don’t render yet, cut again, go back to IN, and copy again. Your video should now be in perfect sync with your audio and it should fit exactly in your reference track’s INs and OUTs. Now render that clip if needed and see for yourself. This may have sounded tedious, but when you get used to your shortcut keys, the whole procedure doesn’t last more than about 5″ or 10″.
4) Yes, there could be a gap to your next clip on the track section you just synced, but that’s normal. Either that next clip will be in sync again where it’s supposed to be, or it will need to be synced in turn. And so on and so forth.
5) There is an inconvenience to this that one can work around (very tedious!): depending on your system, your speed, and your FCP version, you may notice that you can no longer turn your tracks on and off without losing your render files (due to speed changes). You can either live with that by leaving all your tracks turned on and watching your dailies sections in the viewer, or you can export them to .dv for example and put them (rendered) back in to a new sequence, resync their staring points and you’re in business again. I did that for this last clip, but it was tedious and I’ll pass on that next time around and opt to make my selections using the browser.

All this also works to lip-sync any other clip you want. I recently made a kind of just-for-fun home video clip in which I used on-screen dialogues to sync up to lyrics (competely different from the dialogue), by using markers to mark the consonants (lips closed on v’s, p’s, m’s and so on) and then stretching or compressing the time between those markers for the individual syllables. It’s tedious and very basic too, but it sure works and it’s loads of fun.

Hope this was of any help at all, all the best and good luck. Michael.

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Hi Chris, I wish your tip had done it, but no. I had tried that and I tried again after reading your post. I have already trashed prefs as well. My MBP only has a DVi port, no more VGA. That was good with the PB G4! I was told in a previous thread that the issue was running FCP 4.5 on Leopard, and I was even told that 4.5 would not run on Leopard at all, but I can prove that it does, and it’s as stable and quick as can be! Eberything else in FCP works just fine. Since that theory was never sustained by a 2nd voice, I tended to doubt it. You have any other ideas or any one else out there? Thanks!

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Hi Chris,

This thread and your response have made more sense than any others I’ve browsed through while searching for a solution for my similar problem: nothing other than Cinema Desktop Main or None! I’m on MBP 15″ 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM using external disks for capture and renders, SD only, FCP 4.5, OS 10.5.6. Whether I’ve restarted with the my Fujitsu/Siemens W-19 monitor hooked up or not, and same goes for a TV-Screen in the DVI port, no way to locate another Preview option, nowhere. Only 2 months ago I worked on a PB G4 12″ and OS 10.3.9 and it all worked fine. Any ideas ? Thanks, this is a nuisance!

Michael.

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Hi Tyrell,

Sorry I kept you waiting and thanks for your note. i’m not really following you about the YUV material issue. My issue is really the difference in behavior between my G4 Powerbook and my MacBook Pro. Viewing full screen on my external monitor (regardless which one – TV or 16:9 flat) was no problem on the G4. FCP doesn’t want to recognize the external screen on the MacBook Pro when full screen playback is selected (in FCP). All other dual screen utilities work just fine (I mean the whole computer and any other apps – I can select the second screen and adjust any way I want in the finder/display settings). This means it’s an FCP issue. The only differences between my workflows are a) MacBook Pro vs. PB G4 and b) OS X 3.9 vs. OS X 5.6 (I suspect this is the problem, but why ?), in both cases using FCP 4.5

Maybe someone can figure this out and spill the real beans. Thanks, Michael.

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Hi Zane,

Thanks for your reply. Well guess what? It runs like hell, smooth as can be, with only that drawback about not recognizing the external screen on the Playback drop-downs. DVDSP3 does too by the way.All I did was follow the wonderful instructions to import my G4 content to my MBP. It took about an hour, and the only problem I had was I needed to readdress FCP to the new graphics processor. Whether that’s any good to anyone else I don’t know. But I take your word for it and won’t be surprised if run into problems. You can help by telling me if I can upgrade to 5.1 without upgrading the whole suite to version 2. It’s a matter of finances, obviously.

Many thanks, best regards.

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Steve,

I beg to differ. When my Dad purchased the Final Cut Studio from a certified Apple dealer in 2004, he informed me that he added my name as co-owner of the software (I saw that on paper at the time), and that he was instructed that we were both entitled to install and use it. Furthermore, my software license number is registered to my name, and I used that registration when I switched just recently from my G4 to my MBP. So to the best of my knowledge, where am I violating Apple agreements? It’s even quite likely that my Dad (74) never even installed the software on his own computer, but I’ll be sure and ask.

Is this irrelevant to your statement that I cannot upgrade from my current 4.5 HD version of FCP?

I’m 50, in the film industry since 30 yrs, and I can assert that both my father and I know better than to breech agreements like that. If you know more than I think I do, please be kind to fill me in. In the mean time, I still haven’t found a solution to a problem I obviously share with others.

Thanks and regards,

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Thanks Tom.

That’s not the best of news but it sounds reasonable and like I have to live with it and have been otherwise lucky. Should I understand that Previewing (or Video Playback in FCP) is QT-based?

Can you give me a hint towards upgrading in my situation? I’m sharing an FCP Studio license that my Dad bought in California in 2004 (FCP 4.5 HD, DVDSP3 & Soundtrack) but I’m based in Hamburg Germany and the installation disks are in California. Can I use my license number to upgrade online right up to FCP 6 (and why not DVDSP4 while I’m at it) and will Apple send me a .dmg or something like that online to upgrade without snail mail getting in the way? Is this going to be expensive, and can I jump from 4.5 to 6 without upgrading to the whole Studio 2?

Thanks for being so fast and on the ball! Isn’t this supposed to be Saturday?

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

I should maybe add that I had to readdress the new graphic card to get FCP 4.5 to display. I found that on the Cow forum as well and it was effective and took a few clicks to solve. That was the only other conflict I’ve faced.

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for knowledge I don’t have and trust, but if that’s so, why is it that everything works perfectly except the Video Playback on an external screen? My FCP 4.5 HD runs perfectly on my MBP 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 10.5.5. This goes for Tom’s reply about Quicktime as well: I upgraded to the latest QT as soon as it came out, even on my previous PB G4 and I experienced no QT conflict whatsoever. What’s the mystery?

Michael Brown

[Michael Brown]

You may have seen Bill’s note below, but just in case, if I get an answer to the 4.5 vs. Leopard conflict, it would answer both our problems since we’re both on 4.5. We’ll keep each other posted.

Michael Brown