Manual syncing guestion
 

Hi everyone:

Kind of an embarassing because I'm all thumbs today. Outside of trial an error (with a fine eye and ear) What's the easiest way to sync up an audio clip from one file with another?

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

I would suggest a program called Dual Eyes. You can download a trial version here.

Singular Software - DualEyes

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Actually someone had suggested Plural eyes 3, but what is the difference between Plural eyes with Dual eyes?

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Manual syncing works like eyes - using the waveform. Manual syncing is generally faster and more accurate, but requires experience and shooting long clips.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

IIRC, Plural Eyes can work within Vegas, and Dual Eyes is standalone. Or maybe I have that backwards.

Users I've talked to say that Plural Eyes is the schizz, and won't go back to any other synching method. I think there is a 30-day trial; try it and see if it works for you!

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

when syncing two audio sources, a technique i use is to pan one source all the way right and the other all the way left, then listen with headphones. it's pretty amazing to hear the difference when they come into sync... suddenly there's no "echo" and the sound is in the "center" of your head rather than off to one side.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Dual eyes is the stand alone version of Plural eyes.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Plural Eyes is integrated within Vegas. I haven't manual synced audio in years. Simply drag in all your video in the timeline press Plural Eyes button and walla everything is in sync. Manual sync has to be the most wasteful use of time there is. If you have a stubborn clip that won't sync, you "lock" the one clip and select both clips to be synced & tick "Try really hard" & walla.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Just make sure you sync BEFORE you edit! Plural Eyes won't work the other way. Other than that, its awesome!

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

I still prefer manually syncing. Find a good common element in the clip and use that.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

No offense, but that's madness! ie I was working on a gig recently with 120min of a talking head, that took plural eyes literally a little more than 60 seconds to sync.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

I usually sync by listening to audio. You can also sync via a frame with a flash or something else of that nature. And there's nothing wrong with using Plural Eyes as well but I'd still double-check by listening.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Wow really in this day & age? This is like saying "I still prefer to waste time." You must not be filming many events? PluralEyes is dead on accurate unless you have really bad audio footage, I don't even trust my own manual sync's anymore. During a wedding ceremony for example I can have up to 50 cut-way clips all filmed on DSLR at 10-20 seconds a clip & PluralEyes will find & sync them all perfectly with my other stable angles, the very though of doing that manually will drive me crazy.

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

Nicolas, half the time I use Plural Eyes it does not sync up. When it does it works great. I'm looking forward to the new version working within Vegas. All the best, james

Re: Manual syncing guestion
 

I record band and orchestra concerts and a 2 hr concert is 8-12 pieces of 5-10 minutes each. So i end up syncing 8-12 pieces and each one takes me only 15 seconds or so. Thus, not a huge time waster *for my workflow*.

The saving grace for me is that i let the camera run for 10 minutes at a time, so i only have 12 syncs to do rsther than dozens or hundreds.

To the poster who has lots of short clips... You may want to try leaving your camera recording nonstop then cut/splice what you want to keep. An added benefit is that you may catch things you'd otherwise miss if the camera wasnt running.


Side comment... A rant... The original poster asked for help on manual syncing. Many people replied with their techniques. Others pointed to plural eyes. IMHO, these are both valid and helpful responses. But saying someone is crazy to do it manually or saying it's a waste of time is not appropriate for a forum. First off, it doesnt *help* anyone. Second, We dont know their situation or their entire workflow or other constraints they may have. For example, in my case i do this as a volunteer. So spending $100 on plural eyes isnt going to happen; it's a waste of money *for me* because (a) i'm not making any money and (b) it only takes me a minute or two to sync manually. As i said, we dont know everyone's situation so we should IMHO keep our posts to helpful responses rather than judgemental or attacking ones.