Mark iii ML raw WITH AUDIO !?!?

[Dylan Tobias]

Has anyone done at least 10 minutes of shooting in ML raw WITH AUDIO, and how did you sort it out in an editor, I can imagine it will become very complicated, and for this reason I am leaning back to getting BMCC again since it has an easier workflow for including audio and not having to do some complicated adjusting and matching just to get the audio in the right place.

I can't imagine if I had like 150 raw shots with audio (on the mark iii) how on earth I would keep track of what goes with what and where and how to bring them all into an editor AFTER I color correct the video in a raw editor.
What I would like to be able to do is use the ML raw, use the internal audio plus an external higher quality audio recorder, then be able to use pluraleyes and match the audio to the in camera audio, but I don't know how much trouble it would be when using ML raw.

If anyone has figured out a truly workable workflow for working with audio and raw ML on the mark iii I would greatly appreciate it if you shared what you found works and doesn't work.

Thanks.

[John Wiley]

What exactly are you shooting?

I realise this is not the answer you're looking for but at this stage the only realistic audio workflow with the 5DmkIII RAW is to use a clapper - the same way its been done for decades with film cameras.

If you're shooting something other than narrative, and you can't afford to have a clapper for each take, then the Blackmagic is probably a much better option for you.

[Ted Ramasola]

The ML Raw option for now was problems with audio so they removed it, they leave you with a sync beep every time you start and stop raw video recording. This will be your guide for syncing with an external recorder, like a zoom h4n or a tascam hdr100 for instance.

I have tried it and its really not that difficult. If your a one man crew, just let your audio recorder run while you start and stop the video, in post just look for the sync beeps in the wav form to sync with your raw video.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I like the Robert Rodriquez method. (He describes it in the extra materials with El Mariachi.) He has the actors hold up fingers to show the shot number, they clap, and immediately do the scene. It gets you what you need with a minimum of film burned.

In the uncompressed RAW world, bits are as valuable as film. Fast cards are over $100 each and hold about as much content as a film cartridge.

1080p @ 14 bits is 3.63 MB/frame. At 24 fps, it's 87.1 MB/s. That's 5.3 GB/min. That's about 24 minutes for a 128 GB card.

A 1,000 ft roll of 35mm film gives you almost 15 minutes if you shoot 3 perf (1.85:1). If you shoot 2-perf (2.35:1), you get 22 minutes and 12 seconds per roll.

While we don't have to buy film stock and film processing services, we have to have enough cards to keep rolling and we need to spend time wrangling, including transferring, backing up, and transcoding to an editable format. RAW might not cost as much money but it still costs time. If you don't have enough cards or a good process, RAW could bottleneck your production.

So, like Robert Rodriguez, don't waste time with a slow clapper on otherwise quick takes. :)

[Dylan Tobias]

Thanks everyone,

Yes the clapper method of course would work but would add massive amounts of manual time aligning hundreds of different shots in an editor. I was not aware of the ML sync beep so perhaps that would work in pluraleyes, but maybe I will just wait for some other option as I don't have to get anything till the end of this year or early next year.

If anyone has used to sync beep with ML and an external audio recorder, is there a setting to match the raw frames better, I envision if they don't match that over time out of sync problems would start in your editor. I am shooting documentary stuff with audio so audio is just as important and needs to be synced right, otherwise maybe I will just use a GH3 and the ML raw to get shots that don't need audio, or the BMCC or BMPCC.

[Ted Ramasola]

At 24 FPS (23.976) the precision is at 4-5 framed lead for the video before the beep.

So on your NLE alignment, the start of the beep waveform, should be at the 4-5th frame.

[Dylan Tobias]

Thanks Ted, if I used the true 24 choice in ML rather than the 23.976 choice could I avoid putting the beep at 4-5th frame? Or is there even that choice in magic lantern anyways as I have not yet used it. Or is there only the 23.976 choice in ML?

Thanks