What does everybody use to sync audio and video in Premiere Pro?

[Steve Frank]

What does everybody use to sync audio and video in Premiere Pro?

I've been using Pluraleyes from Red Giant to sync footage for years now. Pluraleyes has never given me any issues...until now. A month ago we shot a wedding and everything was normal as always. But whenever I would use the software to line up the footage this happened (this is not my video):

Plural eyes 3 sync issues - YouTube

The exact same thing happens to me. We then shot another wedding two weeks later, and I wanted to see if Pluraleyes would line that footage up. Guess what...I lined up everything perfectly, just as it always has. So I'm thinking, "Great it works." Now I have the same issue just slightly different. Pluraleyes lined up the wedding ceremony, no problems. Pluraleyes lined up the rehearsal dinner speeches, perfect as can be. But then I tell Pluraleyes to line up the reception, it will not sync it.

I have tried using Adobe's version of video/audio syncing and it doesn't work.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Steve Frank

What does everybody use to sync audio and video in Premiere Pro?...
...I have tried using Adobe's version of video/audio syncing and it doesn't work.

PluralEyes and the two methods Adobe has built into Premiere Pro CC work fine for me. I've also done manual syncing - lots!

Both depend on an in-camera audio recording, and the better that works, the easier the sync.

The YouTube shooter seems to be blaming PluralEyes for his bad in-camera audio. Recording low in camera then boosting in post does *not* improve pre-amp noise. His method for recording in-camera audio is suspect. It's kind of hard to listen to his screed - blowing off steam online doesn't really change anything. PluralEyes is still a great product. Premiere's sync still mostly works, though not as efficiently as PE.

What about yours? "It doesn't work" doesn't provide much to work with. How is the quality of your in-camera audio? How is the quality of the 2nd system audio? Do you have experience with the Premiere methods, or do you need guidance on using them?

[Steve Frank]

Thank you Seth for responding to my question.

We shoot with 5d mk III's along with a T3i and GH4. Most of the time we will setup a Zoom H1 or H4n in front of the band. We have used this setup for five years. Initially we had Sony Vegas as our primary editor, but after getting the Gh4 last year we needed to switch to Premiere Pro for workflow purposes.

Occasionally we would encounter a small error with Pluraleyes, and Red Giant was able to help. But up until now Pluraleyes has worked fine for both Sony Vegas and Premiere Pro.

The 5D's in camera audio has always been less than ideal, but Pluraleyes has always been able to sync it with the H1 or H4n. We don't ever use the camera audio unless we have no other options, but we like to use the H1 as much as possible, due to its superior audio. For us, the camera audio is simply used to get the H1 in sync with the video.

As in the video, Pluraleyes has no problem lining the footage up. I can play the video in Pluraleyes and everything sounds fine. It's only when I export the XML file from Pluraleyes to Premiere Pro that things don't line up. Everything is off by about five seconds. However, the general location of footage on the timeline in relation to the external audio is correct. It's not completely off.

I have watched tutorials for lining up footage using Adobe's built in software, but the tutorials lack to explain how to line up footage for three cameras and maybe two additional recorders. We don't document the entire reception, just a minute here and there over the course of five hours or more. If there is a way to do this I would very much appreciate some advice.