Synchronizing 7D with other video cams in multicam shoot at DVinfo.net

Alex Raskin · July 6th, 2010, 07:32 PM

OK, ideally all cameras must have sync'd timecodes recorded onto their video clips.

In reality we rarely have such luxury in the indie/small commercial productions world.

So I thought it'd be great to have a solution for multicam setup that would NOT require mega-investments + awkward equipment to handle.

Here's my solution, hope you find it useful.

In short:

- Use EOS utility to set 7D's clock to match other cam's clock

- Shoot at will

- Use Date Created timestamp in the resulting video clips for rough sync in post - and yes, this can be automated (at least in Vegas... still looking for Premiere CS5 automation script.)

- Use Blooper Beeper (see photo of my DIY version attached) during acquisition as clapper board substitute (sans logging) for fine manual sync in post.

Voila! :)

Evan Donn · July 7th, 2010, 10:52 AM

Or just use Pluraleyes - as long as all the cameras have similar audio it will sync them for you in post. No need to clap or worry about timecode. In FCP it will create multiclips for you - not sure if Vegas has a similar type of feature. In any case you can just throw all your clips on a timeline, one track per camera, then run pluraleyes and get a sequence where everything is synced perfectly. The only time I've had it fail to sync something is when one camera is so far away from the subject that it doesn't pick up enough of the audio.

Bryan McCullough · July 7th, 2010, 10:55 AM

Agreed on PluralEyes, some of the best money I've ever spent. Don't have to think about a thing, just throw all the clips on the timeline, let it run and come back to edit.

I recently had a full day shoot with a 7D and a T2i. I basically let the audio run all day and shot with the two cameras whenever I needed to. I threw the huge audio clip onto the timeline, put the 7D on one track and the T2i on a second track and let PluralEyes do its thing. It took a really long time to get everything synced (about 5 hours of footage) but once it was done everything was perfect and ready for editing.

Dennis Stevens · July 7th, 2010, 11:22 AM

Is PluralEyes Final Cut only? I'm an Adobe CS4 user, would love to get something like that.

Alex Raskin · July 7th, 2010, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan McCullough

Agreed on PluralEyes, ... once it was done everything was perfect and ready for editing.

I wish I could say the same.

In my experience with PE Beta 1.1.0 3037 for Premiere CS5 (Win 7 64-bit), it:

- Did not sync half of the files
- Out of the ones it said were sync'd, many are false positives
- It disregarded Preserve Order checkbox and consistently shuffled files around the timeline
- It created XML project that, when opened in Premiere, showed empty gap between the files on timeline - yet that gap plays some video! Obviously bad XML on part of PluralEyes, I haven;'t seen that with anything else...

Initially I was also very excited about PluralEyes but when I looked closely at the results of the syncing it did, I'd say based on my experience that it is definitely more trouble than it's worth, sorry.

Read PE's support forums, many more complaints there that I do not see the company responses to.

Bryan McCullough · July 7th, 2010, 01:22 PM

I've only ever used with with Final Cut, so I've got no idea how good it works with other editors.

I've probably used it on about 20 projects so far and it's been perfect every time. I do always have the "level audio" and "try really hard" options checked, that has sync'd some clips it previously said it couldn't.

July 6th, 2010, 07:32 PM	#1
Alex Raskin Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,435	Synchronizing 7D with other video cams in multicam shoot OK, ideally all cameras must have sync'd timecodes recorded onto their video clips. In reality we rarely have such luxury in the indie/small commercial productions world. So I thought it'd be great to have a solution for multicam setup that would NOT require mega-investments + awkward equipment to handle. Here's my solution, hope you find it useful. In short: - Use EOS utility to set 7D's clock to match other cam's clock - Shoot at will - Use Date Created timestamp in the resulting video clips for rough sync in post - and yes, this can be automated (at least in Vegas... still looking for Premiere CS5 automation script.) - Use Blooper Beeper (see photo of my DIY version attached) during acquisition as clapper board substitute (sans logging) for fine manual sync in post. Voila! :) Attached Thumbnails

July 7th, 2010, 10:52 AM	#2
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	Or just use Pluraleyes - as long as all the cameras have similar audio it will sync them for you in post. No need to clap or worry about timecode. In FCP it will create multiclips for you - not sure if Vegas has a similar type of feature. In any case you can just throw all your clips on a timeline, one track per camera, then run pluraleyes and get a sequence where everything is synced perfectly. The only time I've had it fail to sync something is when one camera is so far away from the subject that it doesn't pick up enough of the audio. __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

July 7th, 2010, 10:55 AM	#3
Bryan McCullough Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Richardson, TX Posts: 842	Agreed on PluralEyes, some of the best money I've ever spent. Don't have to think about a thing, just throw all the clips on the timeline, let it run and come back to edit. I recently had a full day shoot with a 7D and a T2i. I basically let the audio run all day and shot with the two cameras whenever I needed to. I threw the huge audio clip onto the timeline, put the 7D on one track and the T2i on a second track and let PluralEyes do its thing. It took a really long time to get everything synced (about 5 hours of footage) but once it was done everything was perfect and ready for editing.

July 7th, 2010, 11:22 AM	#4
Dennis Stevens Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 425	Is PluralEyes Final Cut only? I'm an Adobe CS4 user, would love to get something like that.

July 7th, 2010, 01:22 PM	#6
Bryan McCullough Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Richardson, TX Posts: 842	I've only ever used with with Final Cut, so I've got no idea how good it works with other editors. I've probably used it on about 20 projects so far and it's been perfect every time. I do always have the "level audio" and "try really hard" options checked, that has sync'd some clips it previously said it couldn't.