Topic: Audio/Video Sync Problems!

[sylvo007]

Hi!

I am a taper and I record both Audio and Video sometimes.

But I have a problem: It's very complicated to sync sound to picture. It is for example several seconds from the end of the film if it is exactly right in the beginning...

It takes MANY HOURS to sync a whole concert!

What can I do?

I have a Sony handycam dcr-sr 35

and a Sony ecm-719 mic

and a Iriver E100 and i record with high quality option!

PLEAS help me! I don't know what to do

By the way if you are interrested in what I have recorded so far; read my list:

DVD's

Judas Priest - Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden 2009-03-01 (1 DVD)                               
Iron Maiden - Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  2008-07-26  (All songs from Rime of the ancient mariner to the end)     NOT FOR TRADE YET
ZZ Top - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-04 (1 DVD)
Twisted Sister - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-04 (2 DVD)
Electric Boys - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-06 (1 DVD)
Heaven & Hell  - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-06 (2 DVD)
Saxon - Sävsjöfestivalen 2009-07-31 (1 DVD)
Bullet - Sävsjöfestivalen 2009-07-31 (1 DVD)
 
CD's

ZZ Top - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-04 (2 CD)   
Twisted Sister - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-04 (2 CD) 
Foreigner - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-05 (2 CD) 
Motörhead - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-05 (2 CD)
In Flames - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-05 (2 CD) 
Tim "Ripper" Owens - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-05 (1 CD)   (The first  2 minutes and the last song is missing)
Electric Boys - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-06 (2 CD)   
Europe - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-05 (2 CD)
Heaven & Hell  - Sweden Rock Festival 2009-06-06
Saxon - Sävsjöfestivalen 2009-07-31 (1 CD)
Bullet - Sävsjöfestivalen 2009-07-31 (1 CD)

My email is: sylvo007recordings@gmail.com

Thank You!

/sylvo007

[Jerry Gash]

Yeah thats a problem and I know exactly what you are talking about.  The problem is that your camera and your audio rig are recording at different speeds.  You will need to adjust the stretch or shrink the video to make it work, it's a total bitch to get perfect.  I decided to make life easier just to buy a Zoom H4n which records audio at the same rate as my cam.

Good luck.

[stantheman1976]

What software do you have? 

[sylvo007]

I use Windows Movie Maker when I sync.

[willndmb]

Yeah thats a problem and I know exactly what you are talking about.  The problem is that your camera and your audio rig are recording at different speeds.  You will need to adjust the stretch or shrink the video to make it work, it's a total bitch to get perfect.  I decided to make life easier just to buy a Zoom H4n which records audio at the same rate as my cam.

Good luck.

how did you know the zoom recorded at the same rate?
i know people who have had the same recorder and they didn't record at the exact same rate
for me i got lucky and my fr2le records at the same rate as my camera - but i also just started testing running the line out of the recorder into the mic in on the camera
i did it once and it came out pretty good the loud crowd cheers kinda brickwalled a little so next time i will just turn down the output some

for the OP - do you record on 48 or 44.1?
44.1 will drift more then 48 i have found

[stevetoney]

If you're taking many hours to synch audio and video, then I think the most likely problem is that you're limited by the software you're using.

Many people use Vegas and that's really the only software that I can talk about because that's the only one that I'm familiar with, but I think alot of the other higher end video processing software products are similarly capable.

Look through the archives of this same forum...the question of methods that people use to synch audio to video has been asked many many times.  However, the method I've used alot is explained below...

I use Vegas.  I simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Slide the new audio along the timeline so that the first reference points line up with each other.  Zoom WAAAAY in to make sure they're precisely aligned.  Now zoom back out and go to the last reference point...stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio...once you get the stretch/shrink point close again zoom WAAAAY in to make sure you get it exact.  Now delete the audio that originally was captured with the video from the timeline, leaving only the master audio and video.  Render the master audio together with the video.  It's as simple as that.

The exception is where there might be a drop out on the video that doesn't exist on the master audio.  In that case, you'll have to find the drop out (again by comparing the two audio streams) and deleting the drop out from the new audio so that it's in the same location and of the same duration on the new audio as on the video.

[printguy]

If you're taking many hours to synch audio and video, then I think the most likely problem is that you're limited by the software you're using.

Many people use Vegas and that's really the only software that I can talk about because that's the only one that I'm familiar with, but I think alot of the other higher end video processing software products are similarly capable.

Look through the archives of this same forum...the question of methods that people use to synch audio to video has been asked many many times.

Most people use Vegas.  They simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio.  It's as simple as that.

The exception is where there might be a drop out on the video that doesn't exist on the new audio.  In that case, you'll have to find the drop out (again by comparing the two) and deleting the drop out from the new audio so that it's in the same location and of the same duration on the new audio as on the video.

QFT. I use Final Cut and it's quite easy once you get the hang of it.

[flipzoso]

If you're taking many hours to synch audio and video, then I think the most likely problem is that you're limited by the software you're using.

Many people use Vegas and that's really the only software that I can talk about because that's the only one that I'm familiar with, but I think alot of the other higher end video processing software products are similarly capable.

Look through the archives of this same forum...the question of methods that people use to synch audio to video has been asked many many times.  However, the method I've used alot is explained below...

I use Vegas.  I simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Slide the new audio along the timeline so that the first reference points line up with each other.  Zoom WAAAAY in to make sure they're precisely aligned.  Now zoom back out and go to the last reference point...stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio...once you get the stretch/shrink point close again zoom WAAAAY in to make sure you get it exact.  Now delete the audio that originally was captured with the video from the timeline, leaving only the master audio and video.  Render the master audio together with the video.  It's as simple as that.

The exception is where there might be a drop out on the video that doesn't exist on the master audio.  In that case, you'll have to find the drop out (again by comparing the two audio streams) and deleting the drop out from the new audio so that it's in the same location and of the same duration on the new audio as on the video.

Does anyone know how to do this method in Adobe Premiere [Pro 2, or whatever version]??

[willndmb]

If you're taking many hours to synch audio and video, then I think the most likely problem is that you're limited by the software you're using.

Many people use Vegas and that's really the only software that I can talk about because that's the only one that I'm familiar with, but I think alot of the other higher end video processing software products are similarly capable.

Look through the archives of this same forum...the question of methods that people use to synch audio to video has been asked many many times.

Most people use Vegas.  They simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio.  It's as simple as that.

The exception is where there might be a drop out on the video that doesn't exist on the new audio.  In that case, you'll have to find the drop out (again by comparing the two) and deleting the drop out from the new audio so that it's in the same location and of the same duration on the new audio as on the video.

QFT. I use Final Cut and it's quite easy once you get the hang of it.

can you explain more about it
when i tried that method i always got audio that was "slow motion" or "chipmunk" (depending on the movement)

[printguy]

If you're taking many hours to synch audio and video, then I think the most likely problem is that you're limited by the software you're using.

Many people use Vegas and that's really the only software that I can talk about because that's the only one that I'm familiar with, but I think alot of the other higher end video processing software products are similarly capable.

Look through the archives of this same forum...the question of methods that people use to synch audio to video has been asked many many times.

Most people use Vegas.  They simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio.  It's as simple as that.

The exception is where there might be a drop out on the video that doesn't exist on the new audio.  In that case, you'll have to find the drop out (again by comparing the two) and deleting the drop out from the new audio so that it's in the same location and of the same duration on the new audio as on the video.

QFT. I use Final Cut and it's quite easy once you get the hang of it.

can you explain more about it
when i tried that method i always got audio that was "slow motion" or "chipmunk" (depending on the movement)

Slow motion or chipmunk sounding results doesn't make any sense. If you have one source that runs 90:00 and the other is 90:05 the adjustment in speed is pretty minimal. You need to mark the two files in sync at the start and then pick a distinct point at the end of the file where you can place a marker. Once you've done that you simply adjust the speed of the one that is out of sync to match the other one.

[guitard]

You will need to adjust the stretch or shrink the video to make it work

I never mess with the video's speed.  In my opinion, it's much easier to make the audio match the video.

If you have one source that runs 90:00 and the other is 90:05 the adjustment in speed is pretty minimal. You need to mark the two files in sync at the start and then pick a distinct point at the end of the file where you can place a marker. Once you've done that you simply adjust the speed of the one that is out of sync to match the other one.

Keep in mind also - any anomaly in either the video or audio (usually a dropout) can cause a split second glitch - and they almost always occur somewhere in the middle of the video.  Your method will usually work.  But if for some reason part of the video is still out of synch - even after you've got the beginning and ending of the video synched - you need to start hunting and pecking for that glitch.

[printguy]

You will need to adjust the stretch or shrink the video to make it work

I never mess with the video's speed.  In my opinion, it's much easier to make the audio match the video.

If you have one source that runs 90:00 and the other is 90:05 the adjustment in speed is pretty minimal. You need to mark the two files in sync at the start and then pick a distinct point at the end of the file where you can place a marker. Once you've done that you simply adjust the speed of the one that is out of sync to match the other one.

Keep in mind also - any anomaly in either the video or audio (usually a dropout) can cause a split second glitch - and they almost always occur somewhere in the middle of the video.  Your method will usually work.  But if for some reason part of the video is still out of synch - even after you've got the beginning and ending of the video synched - you need to start hunting and pecking for that glitch.

Both good points. Adjusting the audio is also much less processor intensive than adjusting the video.

[nomotrouble]

"I use Vegas.  I simply choose two reference points (usually a drum beat), one at the beginning and one at the end, and then lay the new audio alongside the original audio.  Don't change the original audio at all.  Slide the new audio along the timeline so that the first reference points line up with each other.  Zoom WAAAAY in to make sure they're precisely aligned.  Now zoom back out and go to the last reference point...stretch or shrink the new audio to match the original audio...once you get the stretch/shrink point close again zoom WAAAAY in to make sure you get it exact.  Now delete the audio that originally was captured with the video from the timeline, leaving only the master audio and video.  Render the master audio together with the video.  It's as simple as that."

I use final cut also, this is exactly how i do it. I record on an iriver h120, and in a one hour recording i am always shrinking the audio about 8 frames. Very consistent when using the same camcorder, a sony hdr hc9. Experience makes it much faster, what slows you down are the anomolies you occasionally find, many times they are errors in uploading though. I takes me between 1/2 hour and 3 hrs to sync 1 1/2 hrs of video.