Moving audio "just a skosh"

[Jim Andrada]

Going nuts trying to sync up audio and video for a classical concert. Since I was sound and main cam I had my wife operate the clapper and all is well. Problem is the other cam that was in the back of the orchestra focused on the conductor got started after the clap so no clean sync point.

I finally have things really, really close but sound (and main cam) need to shift by maybe 0.1 sec at most.

Is there any way to nudge a track precisely by a specified amount of time rather than going crazy trying to drag it with the mouse?

Thanks

[Juris Lielpeteris]

Ctrl + Shift + I show a variety of information, including sound lag

[Mike Kujbida]

The 1 and 3 keys on the numeric keypad will shift an event forward or backward in 1 frame (0.033 sec.) increments.
You don't want to go less than a frame with video as it can really mess things up at render time.

[Juris Lielpeteris]

Originally Posted by Mike Kujbida

1 frame (0.33 sec.)

1 frame is 33 ms (NTSC) or 40 ms (PAL)

[Mike Kujbida]

Thanks Juris. I corrected my original post.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Mike Kujbida

...You don't want to go less than a frame with video as it can really mess things up at render time.

Mike is quite right. However, you can move sound events in sub-frame increments, something that Vegas makes easier than other NLEs.

Earlier versions of Vegas Pro, I think it was v10 and earlier, have a "quantize to frames" control. You can turn it off for editing audio, but you really want it ON for video.

Later versions, I think V11 and on, automatically quantize (edit in one-frame increments) on video tracks, and automatically don't when editing audio events.

In either case, then zoom in to the point that a video frame takes perhaps an inch or more of timeline space (mouse wheel or up/down arrow). Ungroup the audio track you're editing from any grouped video tracks. Select the audio track. Use "4" on the numpad to nudge to the left, "6" to nudge to the right. The amount will depend on the level of zoom.

Power technique for sync:
In the case of dual-system sound, or multi-camera, the 4 and 6 nudges can be done during playback. Listen to the reference audio recorded on a camera, nudge the audio-only recording, and reduce echo to zero. As it turns out, the human ear is very sensitive to this. If you're nudging the A/V of an additional camera, you'll have to go by frames, and usually can't get echo to none, just make it sound the best you can, that has to be good enough.

[Roberto Diaz]

when aligning audio from different sources (e.g., main audio and video cam audio), i zoom in as mentioned by another poster and use the audio waveforms to align the two audio tracks using cymbal crashes or other obviously visible changes in the audio signals.

also, as a final check, i pan one source full left and the other full right, then listen on headphones to confirm that the audio sources are aligned.

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks much! I'll give it a try as soon as I get back o the house.








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[Jim Andrada]

Well, I tried it and - the keypad keys did things like zoom or cursor moves, but no track nudging

I'm running Vegas 9 - is there somewhere I have to set the key functions?

[Juris Lielpeteris]

Did you use numpad keys? (NumLock must be set On.)

[Jim Andrada]

Oh yeah - Numlock! I was using an Apple keyboard and there was no Numlock key to be found. Switched to a logitech keyboard and all was well.

Thanks much