xha1 and pd170
 

My church wants to interview people using two cameras during the interviews. They have a sony pd170 and I have a canon xha1. Obviously, my xha1 will be shot in SD and 4:3. Any advice on how to deal with editing content from different cameras that can't be genlocked? The interviews will be shown in the church sanctuary on their power point screen. Thanks, Jerry

I'll point out the most obvious tip: create a sync point at the beginning of the interview. A hand clap visible by both cameras will give you an easy reference for syncing up the two sources in post. Then, use the multicam function in your NLE and you're off to the races.

Make life easy on yourself. Get the cheapest camera flash you can find on Ebay. And use that as your sync. Cheap one's are loud so the mics should get it. And even if you are standing off 30 ft, the cameras will SEE the flash, and it will put you within 1-2 frames of sync.

You should be able to get there for $10-$15.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUNPAK-AUTO-221-...3A1|240%3A1318

Thanks guys. I never thought about using a flash. I've got a couple of those. I appreciate the info. Jerry

Another Idea
 

Try a set of drum sticks. It leaves an obvious profound point on your sound file that is super easy to line up to another camera. When I use the sticks, I'm within 1 or 2 100ths of the other camera.

Since you're shooting single system sound, a light flash is probably as good or better than the traditional clapboard, or other device. You see a one-frame flash, line up each clip, and you're in.

flash
 

Well, I've got an old pair of drum sticks too. Having never done this though when using the flash, is the flash positioned off camera and just flashes the scene or is it in the shot to be seen by both cameras? Thanks for the responses, Jerry

Any visual marker has to be seen by both cameras. If you use an audio cue, it has to be close to the mic, not across the room. With a flash it doesn't matter because light moves a lot faster than sound. We used a clapboard in the film days because you got the point where the sticks clapped together as a visual cue, and the sound as an audio cue; then it was easy to sync up the sound track with the film. Since most people shoot single system sound with video (at least most of the time), all you really need is the visual cue if your purpose is to sync two cameras.