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Syncing "video" with audio (not audio with video)

The Musicians Workshop

The Musicians Workshop

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 12, 2017
8
0
Ontario California
New here
I've been using imovie for years and thought I had it down
I shoot video with 4 cameras thru a 4ch videonics MX-1 switcher. I record the audio with a 24 track recorder. I have always used the guide audio track (on a DVD) from the already mixed 4 cameras. Then I will mix and master the 24 tracks of audio down to 2 audio tracks. Then in imovie, I would align the mastered audio with the guide audio tracks from the DVD.

My new problem
is that I have the 24 audio tracks already mixed and mastered, but I need to insert 2 different video clips (Picture in a picture along with the main video) in sync with mastered audio) The 3 different video clips all have the same audio guide track. It's kind of backwards of how I usually work. I hope I was clear. Al together, I will have the main video along with 2 other videos of the musicians playing the same song in sync
 
TheTruth101 said:
Well... start editing.
Click to expand...

With imovie, that's easier said than done. Let me put this another way. I have 3 independent source videos all with the same audio guide track. What I need to do is have all three videos showing and playing in sync. I can do it with split screen or picture in a picture, but that's only 2 video sources, I need 3, all in sync with each other on one screen. This is a one time thing and doesn't warrant purchasing expen$ive software for one time use
 
Final Cut Pro X has a 30 day fully functional free trial. Is that long enough for your "one time use"? ;) https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/trial/

And you might be able to double that, because rumors claim that a new version of FCPX is coming soon. When Apple releases new versions, you can download a new free trial for another 30 days even if the trial of the old version has expired.
 
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WOW! Thank you so much. I do have an imovie aftermarket plugin by Gee Three called "multi camera" and multi track, but I can't find a way to sync the audio guide tracks together. I need to be able to "hear" all the clips at one time to sync them up
 
The Musicians Workshop said:
WOW! Thank you so much. I do have an imovie aftermarket plugin by Gee Three called "multi camera" and multi track, but I can't find a way to sync the audio guide tracks together. I need to be able to "hear" all the clips at one time to sync them up
Click to expand...

Yeah, take @Boyd01 's advice and download the free trial of FCP X ... it does a sweet job of this in about 10 seconds or less.

Moreover, spend the money of FCP X ... you will not regret the purchase if you do any amount of serious video editing. It is an absolutely awesome piece of software.
 
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Not sure if it's still offered or not and whether you would be able to qualify but Apple was offering all of their pro apps in a bundle for students at $200, a savings of about $300 or so I believe.

The bundle included FCPX, Motion, Compressor, Logic X and one other app for live audio (name escapes me); given the fact you are working with video from a concert of some sort the audio processing apps may be of interest and if not it is still a $100 discount on FCPX.

The education discounts are generally pretty easy to qualify for: students , teachers, parents of students, etc.

In Canada when buying online you simply indicate which institution the student attends.

Cheers
 
If you are doing 4 camera video shoots and recording 24 channel audio.... maybe it's time for a computer update? Just a thought. :)

But you could run the legacy version of FCP on 10.6.8, if you can find a copy somewhere.
 
I use a dedicated 24 track hard disc recorder for audio. Much of my software is from vendors who are out of business and shooting video is not my main work. Legacy? I'll have to look for that. Thanks for the tip.
 
I still run Final Cut Pro 6 under MacOSX 10.8.5 on my Mini which can dual boot into it or Sierra. It also runs on my old 2008 MacBook Pro under 10.5.9. Final Cut Pro 7 was the final "legacy" version, but there were very few improvements over FCP 6 and the upgrade was expensive so I never bothered. I beleive you need Rosetta to install these from scratch (installer is not a Universal app but the program itself is). Can't remember - is that supported under 10.6? I know it was gone by 10.7.

But really, Final Cut Pro X is much nicer and has a lot of advantages, especially on newer hardware. I still have a PowerBook G4 and a Power Macintosh G4. They were great in their day (and very expensive) but I can't imagine going back to them now. ;)
 
The effect I am trying to achieve is like a "Brady Bunch" effect. I have 4 videos all with the same audio guide track for me to use for aligning. This is just a pet project with musician friends of mine from around the country.
 
What format are the videos? If they are not too large and too long, you could post them somewhere and i could do the sync for you.
 
WOW! That's "very" kind of you. This is really a pet project. The main subject is Rock & Roll hall of fame member Paul Cotton (the band Poco) whom I went to HS with and played bass with in the 60's. I haven't seen him in ages. He posted a song on Facebook, and I downloaded it, contacted our old bandmates from all over the country, and thought how cool it would be if we all could play together after more than 50 years. I have the drums already shot in .dv, I still have to do my video (MP4) (tomorrow) I wanted to have Paul's video to be center of attention, my video, and the drummers video somewhere in the picture. The guitar player in Chicago would only be a .JPG. (He is video challenged) Kind of like a collage of 4. The "unedited" video of the main subject (Paul Cotton) is here so you can get an idea of this project. Once I get the 4 visual in sync with the mutual guide/scratch audio, I will fine tune, sweeten, mix, master, and align the final audio with the original guide tracks.
 
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Well I got FCP 7 (Final Cut Studio Academic) but am having installation problems. I insert the first install DVD with no problems. Then it asks to insert the next disc (can't remember which it was now), but after that installs, it once again asks me to insert the install disc again. I checked my specs and I have plenty of room. I'm running OS 10.6.8 which should work. Anyone have some thoughts?
 
Do you have Rosetta installed on your Mac? Evidently is was not part of the default 10.6 installation but it can be added: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(software)

I don't know if that is the problem, but Rosetta is required to install FCP 6. Aside from that, there were other hacks for installation problems that involved extracting the components from the install disks and manually installing them. Some Google searches may be able to find those.
 
The Musicians Workshop said:
Well I got FCP 7 (Final Cut Studio Academic) but am having installation problems. I insert the first install DVD with no problems. Then it asks to insert the next disc (can't remember which it was now), but after that installs, it once again asks me to insert the install disc again. I checked my specs and I have plenty of room. I'm running OS 10.6.8 which should work. Anyone have some thoughts?
Click to expand...

Its been a long time but I vaguely recall that what you descibe sounds normal? It will install some more stuff from the install disk and then ask for the others if you checked the other install options (Motion, Compressor, DVD Studio, Content, etc). It takes a looooonnnngggg time to install FCP7 from disks.
 
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