When to Sync audio & video from a 7D? Pluraleyes' Place in the Workflow? at DVinfo.net

John Hewat · May 29th, 2011, 08:48 AM

Hello all,

I am ploughing through 80 hours of documentary footage shot on a 7D with literally no indication of which audio files match which video files. The audio from the camera is so poor that some of the waveforms are just blocks of sound.

I've just discovered Pluraleyes and am wondering when best to use it in the workflow.

Should I start the entire project by dragging all 80 hours into a sequence and telling Pluraleyes to do its thing?

Or should I edit first, so that Pluraleyes will only need to sync what is necessary? I ask this because there is literally no way for me to know which audio clips need to be assigned to which video files and I would have to create an 80 hour sequence to allow for all combinations of audio/video syncs. Does that make sense?

But if I edit first, is Pluraleyes smart enough to understand where I've split clips and re-ordered them and stuff? If it doesn't understand that then I suppose I'm stuck with piling every single audio and video file into a sequence...

Is there a limit to sequence length? I once tried to see how long a sequence I could create in Premiere Pro and got to about 24 hours and it wouldn't let me add any more.

Harry Bromley-Davenport · May 29th, 2011, 11:52 AM

The Pluraleyes people do excellent tech support via email and will advise you.

But I believe that FCPX - out shortly - has an automatic syncing thing within it. So maybe consider that.

Harry.

Kevin McRoberts · May 30th, 2011, 02:20 PM

Recommendation:

Definitely need more than one sequence to manage it all.

Start by sorting footage, at least by the day. Hopefully your raw footage has some sort of creation date stamp or some other identifier so you at least can put vid and aud from the same days together into a single sequence each. That should at least get you into the realm of manageable sequence lengths.

Other ways to sort:

Preview the audio, see if you can find footage that's a likely match (ie, if they're interviewing an elderly woman, audio of a running gun battle in a techno club probably isn't the right match).

Sort out obvious crap that you'll never use (inevitable with 80 hours of footage) before syncing

Naturally, exactly how you organize depends on your personal working style, but just tossing it all into a single sequence isn't organizing, and if you aren't organizing, you aren't editing.

May 29th, 2011, 08:48 AM	#1
John Hewat Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Posts: 735	When to Sync audio & video from a 7D? Pluraleyes' Place in the Workflow? Hello all, I am ploughing through 80 hours of documentary footage shot on a 7D with literally no indication of which audio files match which video files. The audio from the camera is so poor that some of the waveforms are just blocks of sound. I've just discovered Pluraleyes and am wondering when best to use it in the workflow. Should I start the entire project by dragging all 80 hours into a sequence and telling Pluraleyes to do its thing? Or should I edit first, so that Pluraleyes will only need to sync what is necessary? I ask this because there is literally no way for me to know which audio clips need to be assigned to which video files and I would have to create an 80 hour sequence to allow for all combinations of audio/video syncs. Does that make sense? But if I edit first, is Pluraleyes smart enough to understand where I've split clips and re-ordered them and stuff? If it doesn't understand that then I suppose I'm stuck with piling every single audio and video file into a sequence... Is there a limit to sequence length? I once tried to see how long a sequence I could create in Premiere Pro and got to about 24 hours and it wouldn't let me add any more. __________________ John Hewat Mammoth Media Productions

May 29th, 2011, 11:52 AM	#2
Harry Bromley-Davenport Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: LA CA Posts: 317	Re: When to Sync audio & video from a 7D? Pluraleyes' Place in the Workflow? The Pluraleyes people do excellent tech support via email and will advise you. But I believe that FCPX - out shortly - has an automatic syncing thing within it. So maybe consider that. Harry.

May 30th, 2011, 02:20 PM	#3
Kevin McRoberts Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 700	Re: When to Sync audio & video from a 7D? Pluraleyes' Place in the Workflow? Recommendation: Definitely need more than one sequence to manage it all. Start by sorting footage, at least by the day. Hopefully your raw footage has some sort of creation date stamp or some other identifier so you at least can put vid and aud from the same days together into a single sequence each. That should at least get you into the realm of manageable sequence lengths. Other ways to sort: Preview the audio, see if you can find footage that's a likely match (ie, if they're interviewing an elderly woman, audio of a running gun battle in a techno club probably isn't the right match). Sort out obvious crap that you'll never use (inevitable with 80 hours of footage) before syncing Naturally, exactly how you organize depends on your personal working style, but just tossing it all into a single sequence isn't organizing, and if you aren't organizing, you aren't editing. __________________ Freelance pudgy bearded lighting camera operator www.mcbob.tv