Seth Bloombaum |
July 10th, 2007 04:25 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve House
(Post 709826)
Guess my reflexes are too slow <grin> to manually set two separate TOD clocks to be close enough to be of much use...
|
Not hard to get within about 10 frames. Sometimes I do a countdown to time with the audio or camera op, we count down to a preset time - 3, 2, 1, mark, we hit the button at the same time. It's close.
Other times, I'll just use the second hand on my watch and do cameras & recorders one at a time. Takes a couple minutes per device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve House
(Post 709826)
...some multicam shooters ... set code on all of them by arranging them so they can all see the same remote control and setting each camera's clock to the same value but not completing the final entry, then completing the setting of all of them at once using the remote control seems viable, but just barely...
|
I've done it, it works on some cameras, doesn't on others. Precise when it works. (within a frame).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve House
(Post 709826)
...Dropping a BWF file into the project so its timestamp aligns to the project timeline is a no brainer, but then you still have the problem of locating the precise frame in the video that matches an event in the audio and slipping it back and forth until they align. The distinctive audio shape of a 'clap' is easy to spot as you scan along the waveform but if you're going to have to look for it anyway, what's the point of the timecode?
|
Now this is the real question - how well does the workflow work? Once you're aligned within a half-second or so, you play the reference camera audio track against the audio you're looking to sync, and slide the audio left and right to eliminate echo.
As it turns out, the human ear is quite discriminating about echo. I suppose it's because small timing differences have everything to do with how we perceive directionality of sound. Some NLEs let you slip the audio track by less than a frame, which also helps. Very helpful if you can slip while previewing.
If you do have a clap in the track, or other visually distinctive waveform, of course that helps as well; zoom in and line it up.
The point of time-of-day code in this exercise is that it quickly gets you close enough to use visual and echo methods. I've done it without code (4 cameras with very rough code and a 24-track recording with no code), it's a little more finicky but also quite possible for long takes.
|