Sliding audio to fix sync. problems

[Michael Dunn]

I am editing using Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum Edition.

One of my sources for material is archived shoots, where the material has been copied from the camera to a DVD.

When I bring these scenes into the computer for editing I am losing lip sync. It is probably in the 6 to 10 frame region.

So, my question is.....

Can you unlock the picture and audio tracks so that I can slide the picture and audio back into sync? If so, how do you do it in Sony Movie Studio?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Mike Kujbida]

I don't know about Movie Studio but here's 2 ways of doing it in Vegas.
#1 is to click "Ignore Event Grouping" (usually a toolbar icon). SLide as desired and then enable this feature afterwards.
#2 is to click the audio portion of the event and ungroup it by clicking "U". Slide as desired and then regroup by clicking the video event, shift-clicking the audio event and clicking "G".
In Vegas, you can also disable "Quantize to Frames" which allows you to slide the audio in finer than single frame increments.
HTH.

BTW, you do realize that, by copying from DVD instead of the original camera tapes, you're losing picture quality. Depending on the original DVD's encoding settings, the quality hit could be substantial.

[Edward Troxel]

Select the audio and press "U" to ungroup it from the video. Then you can move it wherever you want.

Alternately, you can turn on 'Ignore Event Grouping' - it's a button on the toolbar. Just be sure to turn it back off when done.

[Michael Dunn]

Thanks for the help.

I will try these shortly.

I shoot for clients and archive the shoots to DVD in case Fed Ex looses the box etc. This particular client has agreed to let me market some of the old work elsewere (thorugh a Rep firm in Europe) and I am editing it for that purpose.

I copy from the camera to a stand alone Sony DVD burner. It creats VOB files which I rename to AVI after I load them into the computer. Eventually I will find a better way to archive but for now this is what I have available to me.

On current work I am going straight from the camera to the computer and storing them in the hard drive(s). Then I work on them almost immediately.

Is there a good book or learning program for Sony Vegas Movie Studio? The manual sucks.

I worked for35 years as a producer and director. I go back far enough to have edited on upright Moviola's in 16mm & 35mm. In video I directed editing on hundreds of projects from TV Spots to 1/2 hour documentaries. However, I never was the person operating the edit system and or the computer that was doing the editing. I was just calling the shots.

I know what I want (I can edit anything in my mind) and what can be done, but the learning curve is steep at the beginning. I am now good on the basics of computer editing and it is the advance things I need to learn.

[Edward Troxel]

VOB files are MPEG2. You should rename them to .MPG instead of .AVI. However, you're better off going straight from the camera to Vegas without the intermediate DVD process.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Michael Dunn

...I worked for35 years as a producer and director. I go back far enough to have edited on upright Moviola's in 16mm & 35mm. In video I directed editing on hundreds of projects from TV Spots to 1/2 hour documentaries. However, I never was the person operating the edit system and or the computer that was doing the editing. I was just calling the shots.

I know what I want (I can edit anything in my mind) and what can be done, but the learning curve is steep at the beginning. I am now good on the basics of computer editing and it is the advance things I need to learn.

Congrats on making the move. It's a different world now that seasoned pros such as yourself can afford to own a complete production and post system... using great technology with fewer moving parts than we grew up with.

And yes, you're on the right track with hard drive archive of your current projects. It's the only choice, IMHO. I highly recommend spinning up all your hard drives every 6 mos. or so. Otherwise, they can lose their bearing lubrication after a couple years.

Originally Posted by Michael Dunn

Is there a good book or learning program for Sony Vegas Movie Studio? The manual sucks.

Do check out the resources at vasst.com. In addition to lots of educational materials, I think they might have a VMS book. Also, see the link to jetdv.com that's in the sig line of Edward's posts. His newsletters are a great intro.

Most materials (and this forum) focus on the full version of Vegas. You might consider upgrading in the future, there's lots of free training - if for no other reason. See this page for the differences: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/...457&PageID=110, however, as you know, workflow is king when you're working for money on a deadline, and the full version has some important workflow enhancements (kb shortcuts, cursor snapping, media management, project nesting, 3rd party scripts!) in addition to basics like unlimited tracks. It's pretty easy to need more than 4 audio tracks, multicam, etc.

[Mike Kujbida]

Originally Posted by Michael Dunn

Is there a good book or learning program for Sony Vegas Movie Studio? The manual sucks.

Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Training DVD: The Basics and Beyond is only $49 and gets good reviews.
They're a sponsor here too so, as a DV Info member, you should get some kind of discount.