MULTICAM SHOOT - Syncing Methods

Hi all. I certainly am a newbie but I really want to do this right. Finally upgraded from iMovie to FCP

I am shooting some live acoustic music videos whilst recording the audio through Pro Tools in my small studio room. I want to be able to sync the 2 x Canon 700d.

I’d love to have two separate static camera angles and need to be able to control the whole operation without an assistant.

(I’ve had success in the past taking my mastered audio from Pro Tools and matching it by eye/ear in iMovie, so I figure I can do that in FCP).


1. Should I hit record manually on two separate cameras and rely on the camera audio, so FCP can automatically sync the cameras? or

2. Is there a jam-syncing hardware device that I can use to do this? So I can just hit record in FCP or a remote control or something?


How would you guys do it, if budget was not an issue?

Thanks!

Final Cut has very effective multicam sync capabilities. If you have audio on your video clips it can usually be done in seconds automatically. Here's a link to a support doc. support.apple.com/kb/PH12656?locale=en_US

There are also numerous tutorials that a web search will turn up.

Good luck with your project.

Russ

Thanks for taking time to reply Russ. However, I've previously read that article and scoured the web but I'm still no closer to finding answers/opinions on my two questions...

Anyone else with thoughts on this? Thanks

And there is always the very informative user manual.
help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.2/#/ver23c76439

That's really drop-dead easy ...
hit record in ProTools, hit record on both cams, done.

After importing to FCPX, be sure, each camera has its own 'angle' (name it in the Inspector), than select both clips and your audio, New Multicam, boom, done.

And you're not limited by 'single' take:
use your audio recording as a play back, make a few shots from diff. perspectives ...
In Terms of:
MultiCam doesn't mean 'multi cameras needed', just multiple shots.

The Guys from rippletraining offer 4,5 tutorials at YouTube, search for 'Macbreak Studio multicam' ... not the latest advice but still valid .....

BennyLach wrote: ....Should I hit record manually on two separate cameras and rely on the camera audio, so FCP can automatically sync the cameras? or Is there a jam-syncing hardware device that I can use to do this?

FCP X can sync by audio alone and it does a fair job in simple cases such as a few clips from the same scene. For complex cases where the cameras start/stop, giving many clips, I have not had good results and usually use PluralEyes: www.redgiant.com/products/pluraleyes/ I have used PluralEyes to sync over 100 clips in one batch across five cameras. One time our audio recorder was not set for the correct date/time, so I didn't even know what shooting day the audio files were for. PluralEyes synced that perfectly using only audio waveform matching.

Note any audio-only sync method requires halfway decent audio. A severely clipped waveform is hard to sync. Usually a scratch audio track from an on-camera mic is sufficient but if that camera audio gain is mis-adjusted then sync can be difficult.

This can easily happen when you have multiple cameras per operator. E.g, camera audio gain is manual, you do a spoken word sound check, it looks OK, then the music starts, you're busy and don't re-check, and the audio is heavily clipped.

BennyLach wrote: How would you guys do it, if budget was not an issue?...

If budget was not an issue I'd consider wireless SMPTE timecode: www.timecodebuddy.com/

However this raises the issue of whether the camera can support this. I think the 5D Mark III can, lower Canon DSLR cameras cannot. Cameras that can't record SMPTE timecode must use an audio track to record this, then the edit suite must support that. I think FCP X does but I haven't tested it.

There is a lower-priced SMPTE timecode solution called Tentacle. It is not wireless but uses a high-precision hardware clock for each camera. It also includes a sync plugin for FCP X: www.indiegogo.com/projects/tentacle-sync...ync-different#/story

Another product: www.lockitbuddy.com/website/index.html

Due to the cost and complexity of the various hardware timecode solutions, we just use PluralEyes, which works really well -- assuming the audio is not totally garbage.

… If budget was not an issue I'd consider wireless SMPTE timecode: …

yep, if ...
Just to share from the opposite side of the table, when you have no budget at all (like me), I made a MultiCam test without music, and FCPX worked out to synch that.

In my case, 5 cameras (one manned) recorded the wooos&wows of the people aside the soccerfield. In edit, I followed advice, to check the box 'first marker' - all I had to do manually, was listening in 5 track, where the referee blows his whistle.

… and it worked!
(have I mentioned? Cams deliver in 1080/50p, 720/60p, 720/30p - sort of video chop suey ...)

So, best-practice is … best practice, but with s little craftmanship the app alone does wonders.
Instead of SMTP, I'd like to have a drone...... LOL!!! :silly:

.. final advice: DO it. The Ol' Silverbacks give you tons of advice - but you have to do it. Make a test, make a short test, just for the trashbin....it is really that easy. A few hurdles. But easy.

Thank you all so much! I appreciate your time is extremely valuable and this is exactly the info that I needed.

Will give the manual hit record method a try and hopefully audio (camera audio) is does not clip too hard, too often.

If not, the Plural Eyes looks like an amazing solution for this.

Thanks again