Synchronizing Audio with Video

ceviche

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
208
Reaction score
0
Location
Shoreline, WA
When people are sync'ing their video with audio, how do you go about it? What I mean by that is: Are you doing things like first mixing all your audio tracks and later sync'ing the video or having sync'ed video and audio and then overdubbing the rest of the audio tracks.

I'm still perplexed about how people are managing the process. Whenever I watch a Pomplamoose music video, I get all dizzy trying to imagine how they did it.
 
Record audio separately to video, then sync by trial and error.
 
Record audio separately to video, then sync by trial and error.

Sounds like a pain. I was hoping software would be able to recognize matching sound signatures between audio and video and line the two up. If no software exists that can do this, then we're effectively back to the old Hollywood clapboard, used at the beginning of a take to provide a visual mark for synching audio.
 
I am a somewhat experienced computer audio recorder and a novice at the video thing. The only video that I have attempted so far is with my daughter's Flip camera which records audio and video at the same time. I think next time we try it, we will record the audio into a multitrack program and in some video/audio editor program it should be fairly simple to match the good audio track up with the built in Flip camera audio track, then delete the original audio.

Oddly enough, my daughter just found a clapboard in one of our closets. We have no idea how it got there. Now we can put it to use.
 
When people are sync'ing their video with audio, how do you go about it? What I mean by that is: Are you doing things like first mixing all your audio tracks and later sync'ing the video or having sync'ed video and audio and then overdubbing the rest of the audio tracks.

I'm still perplexed about how people are managing the process. Whenever I watch a Pomplamoose music video, I get all dizzy trying to imagine how they did it.

One of the things that I do is make a loud "sound" initially so I can see the spike on both the mastered track and the original, I match them up then remove the original audio track. That seems to work for me...
 
I'd make that sound (clapboard or otherwise) at both the beginning and end. I've had to "stretch" clips to make them fit, especially if the video and audio come from separate sources. Even when they start on time, by the end of the take, they can be something like a quarter second off.
 
... match the good audio track up with the built in Flip camera audio track, then delete the original audio.
That's a pretty good way. I'd still look for a signature noise at each end so theres a nice precise "mark" on both audio tracks. My comment about separate sources was when I tried to sync up a Flip video with a simultaneous audio track recorded through a mic mixer. You can stretch the audio fairly well. If the audio quality suffers too much, then I try stretching the video instead. Come to think of it, I'd do the video first to preserve the quality of the good audio.
 
I'd make that sound (clapboard or otherwise) at both the beginning and end.
I have never made a loud sound at both ends of the recording. In attempting to transfer old cassette 4 track tapes from the cassette recorder to PC audio, I have heard of people finding a short gap in the beginning of the 4 track recording, then making a loud clap that records on all 4 tracks of the cassette and then recording one track at a time and using the visual representation of the clap sound to line up the old cassette tracks on your PC multitracker.

We never went that far with all our old 4 track cassette recordings. We copied them into the PC as a single wav file and left them that way.

That is a good idea Dave, to make a sound on both ends of the recording. I have never actually attempted to stretch a recording. Sounds like you would need Pro Tools or a higher end audio recording program than I currently have running.

The other week my son was showing me how he quantizes audio files in Pro Tools just as easily as if it was a MIDI file.

Here is the clapboard we found in our closet when we started spring cleaning. Something left from a former owner of the house.
 

Attachments

  • clapboard..jpg
    clapboard..jpg
    54.5 KB · Views: 5
A sync tone is key. For most audio it can be the begining of the song... although the clap-board thing works. Some times I'll just strum a chord.

When you have a lead for example that does not begin at the start of the song, it's impossible to sync with out some kind of cue. I'll sometimes play the track on speakers to get the sync, and then plug the head-phones in if I have time. That way you just match that tone and away you go.
 
If you are recording a band, a snare hit by the drummer just before they start, gives a video and audio cue. A slap on the ukulele does the same job.
Penster
 
Top Bottom