Topic: Synch 3 video parts with 1 separate audio track: free software

[juliocruz]

I record concerts with a camera, but you can only record up to 30 minutes continuously. I also have to switch batteries after about 1 hour, so after a concert I normally end up with 3 video parts. I record audio separately, so I have 1 separate audio track. Is there free video editing software with which it is easy to synch the 3 video parts with the 1 separate audio track? I would like to leave the separate audio as it is, so prefer that the screen goes black between the video clips. I read a bout Davinci Resolve, but don't know if this software could synch my 3 video parts with my 1 separate audio track. Hopefully someone can help. Thanks in advance!

[beatkilla]

I don't know about free?

I use Sony Vegas Pro.

I can synch them for you if you'd like just let me know.

[beatkilla]

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/ca/free-trials/video-editor-free-download/


Here is the 30 day free trial versions

[taper420]

The only standalone program I know is Plural Eyes and that's not free.

Problem is, on long clips like this you're gonna run into drift regardless of if you get the start points in sync. The clock of the camera needs to be slave or master to the clock of the audio recorder. Since I doubt your camera has a genlock input, that means the camera has to be master and the audio recorder needs to slave in some way. The simplest modern solution for you (assuming you have a DSLR due to the 30 minute limit) I think would be HDMI into something like the Tascam DR-701D or Sound Devices Mixpre 10 II. LTC, word clock, or spdif are options for sync that probably wouldn't work with your setup (at least without other converters/time sync boxes). Otherwise you're looking at correcting drift every few minutes or having to mess around with a time stretch/compress operation. Which is probably what you're gonna have to do with the clips you're currently trying to work on.

[juliocruz]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Does anybody have experience with Davinci Resolve?

[sabre]

Davinci Resolve can join your multiple videos together and you can also sync an external audio recording to it as well.

Just check YouTube for some tutorials

Join clips
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=davinci+resolve+join+two+clips

Sync separate audio track
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=davinci+resolve+sync+audio+and+video

[guitard]

I record concerts with a camera, but you can only record up to 30 minutes continuously. I also have to switch batteries after about 1 hour, so after a concert I normally end up with 3 video parts. I record audio separately, so I have 1 separate audio track. Is there free video editing software with which it is easy to synch the 3 video parts with the 1 separate audio track? I would like to leave the separate audio as it is, so prefer that the screen goes black between the video clips. I read a bout Davinci Resolve, but don't know if this software could synch my 3 video parts with my 1 separate audio track. Hopefully someone can help. Thanks in advance!

I always manipulate the audio to sync to the video.  For the missing parts between clips -- you can use snippets of video from elsewhere during the show or a series of still shots.  Sometimes I take a clip of one of the musicians doing something like head banging and create a slo-mo version and overlay that over the black screen.  There are a few other 'tricks' you can use to cover up the blank spots.  I like doing that so there is something there for people to watch during those parts.

[voltronic]

Davinci Resolve can join your multiple videos together and you can also sync an external audio recording to it as well.

Just check YouTube for some tutorials

Join clips
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=davinci+resolve+join+two+clips

Sync separate audio track
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=davinci+resolve+sync+audio+and+video

I use Resolve. It is a full-out professional video NLE for free. The Elastic Wave function in the Fairlight Audio module also works quite well if you need to do some time-stretching.

[jerryfreak]

I always manipulate the audio to sync to the video.  For the missing parts between clips -- you can use snippets of video from elsewhere during the show or a series of still shots.  Sometimes I take a clip of one of the musicians doing something like head banging and create a slo-mo version and overlay that over the black screen.  There are a few other 'tricks' you can use to cover up the blank spots.  I like doing that so there is something there for people to watch during those parts.

thats a good tip.

in my experience clock drift isnt that big of a deal when synching video to audio (not nearly as much as combining two audio sources where slight timing differences can result in massive phase shift and echo)

most modern clocks, while unique in their timing, are generally consistent enough that an hour long audio and video clip can be synched at the beginning and end and the audio stretched accordingly (basically a very slight resample), and then matched up

i try to get a very loud transient like a clap at beginning and end to synch with

[guitard]

I always manipulate the audio to sync to the video.  For the missing parts between clips -- you can use snippets of video from elsewhere during the show or a series of still shots.  Sometimes I take a clip of one of the musicians doing something like head banging and create a slo-mo version and overlay that over the black screen.  There are a few other 'tricks' you can use to cover up the blank spots.  I like doing that so there is something there for people to watch during those parts.

thats a good tip.

in my experience clock drift isnt that big of a deal when synching video to audio (not nearly as much as combining two audio sources where slight timing differences can result in massive phase shift and echo)

most modern clocks, while unique in their timing, are generally consistent enough that an hour long audio and video clip can be synched at the beginning and end and the audio stretched accordingly (basically a very slight resample), and then matched up

i try to get a very loud transient like a clap at beginning and end to synch with

In syncing concert videos - the drummer is your friend.  So I love guys like Charlie Watts, who plays a minimalist kit.  Of course, I also love Neil Peart - but not for syncing purposes because it can be hard to see him at times behind the wall of drums.

With modern recording equipment, I still get a bit of drift.  But we're usually talking a 1/10th of a second for an hour of video.  So it literally takes only a few seconds to fix that.  But you HAVE to fix it, because even though a 1/10th of a second doesn't sound like much -- it's the difference between the drummer holding his drum stick up above his head in the video when it should be hitting the drum - and the stick hitting a drum on time.

[fguidry]

I record concerts with a camera, but you can only record up to 30 minutes continuously. I also have to switch batteries after about 1 hour, so after a concert I normally end up with 3 video parts. I record audio separately, so I have 1 separate audio track. Is there free video editing software with which it is easy to synch the 3 video parts with the 1 separate audio track? I would like to leave the separate audio as it is, so prefer that the screen goes black between the video clips. I read a bout Davinci Resolve, but don't know if this software could synch my 3 video parts with my 1 separate audio track. Hopefully someone can help. Thanks in advance!

Resolve requires some pretty hefty hardware, especially on the GPU side. If you're short of compute power you might try the free Shotcut: https://shotcut.org/

Hitfilm express takes more resources but the version I tried a couple of years ago had audio sync built-in: https://fxhome.com/hitfilm-express

Fran

[juliocruz]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my question! I really appreciate it. Just 1 more question to Sabre, Voltronic and maybe other Resolve users: Is it possible to leave the separate audio track as it is and then synch the 3 video parts to that audio track with the screen going to black between the video parts? Sometimes I have to change the battery during a song and I would rather still hear the audio and have the screen go black than missing part of the song.

[sabre]

Is it possible to leave the separate audio track as it is and then synch the 3 video parts to that audio track with the screen going to black between the video parts? Sometimes I have to change the battery during a song and I would rather still hear the audio and have the screen go black than missing part of the song.

Yes, absolutely. The second audio track can continue to run while there are 'gaps' in the video. All decent video editing apps support this feature. There's nothing you need to do in order for this to occur - the video editor will automatically add a black screen where there is a gap in the videos.

[voltronic]

Is it possible to leave the separate audio track as it is and then synch the 3 video parts to that audio track with the screen going to black between the video parts? Sometimes I have to change the battery during a song and I would rather still hear the audio and have the screen go black than missing part of the song.

Yes, absolutely. The second audio track can continue to run while there are 'gaps' in the video. All decent video editing apps support this feature. There's nothing you need to do in order for this to occur - the video editor will automatically add a black screen where there is a gap in the videos.

The only thing I would add to this is that you might want to do a fade out / in of a second or two on your video clips going in and out of the black screen sections. This will make things much less jarring at those points. If those places where you are changing your camera battery ever happen to be during song or set breaks, that's also an opportunity to add text titles if you want.

[guitard]

Is it possible to leave the separate audio track as it is and then synch the 3 video parts to that audio track with the screen going to black between the video parts? Sometimes I have to change the battery during a song and I would rather still hear the audio and have the screen go black than missing part of the song.

Yes, absolutely. The second audio track can continue to run while there are 'gaps' in the video. All decent video editing apps support this feature. There's nothing you need to do in order for this to occur - the video editor will automatically add a black screen where there is a gap in the videos.

The only thing I would add to this is that you might want to do a fade out / in of a second or two on your video clips going in and out of the black screen sections. This will make things much less jarring at those points. If those places where you are changing your camera battery ever happen to be during song or set breaks, that's also an opportunity to add text titles if you want.

I usually shoot a few minutes of video before/after the show to use as filler during gaps created by things like battery changes, security ducks, etc.  Typically I'll shoot clips of things like the crowd entering/exiting the venue, the merch booth, the mixing board, etc.  If the clip isn't quite long enough to cover the entire gap, I'll stretch it out and make it a slo-mo clip.  You can also do the same thing with still shots, but I prefer the visual aesthetic of video clips.