Video/Audio Synch and PluralEyes

Syncing audio and video shot on 5d and Zoom using FCP and Pluraleyes from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

While the world of the DSLR may be changing the video side of the game, what is going on with the audio side? Even more importantly, how do we get the two to play nicely together?

While DSLRs are an incredible step forward in video quality for many budget filmmakers, shooting with a still-camera does have its drawbacks.  The most noticeable one is the lack of proper audio control going into the camera.  Currently, not a single DSLR has XLR inputs or phantom power, very few have manual control over audio gain, and to my knowledge, no camera has the ability to monitor audio levels while shooting.  As in many transitional technologies, we take two steps forward and one step back, and this step back has forced low-budget DSLR filmmakers to record audio separately- just like the big boys do.

While the act of recording audio has not been a huge problem because of inexpensive high-quality audio boxes and creative mounting rigs, we still need to worry about synching the video and audio together.  This is a process in post-production that can be frustrating and time-consuming as you try to perfectly line up the video (of someone talking, for example) to the audio (what that person is actually saying).  This is why most people use the famous clapper-board, or slate. They match the audio spikes with the visual cue of the board closing.

No longer. Enter PluralEyes from Singular Software.  Using pure digital magic, they have created a software plugin for FCP and Vegas that syncs separate video and audio tracks- all without time codes or other references!  I have no idea how they did this, but it is pretty fantastic and solves this problem simply and beautifully.  You can purchase the software here, and find out more information in Philip Bloom’s nice little video (featured above).