This was true – but at the cost of hours of mucking around that we would have avoided if we had a good slate for every take.
I figured that software, either Adobe Premiere Pro (where we planned to edit) or Red Giant’s Plural Eyes, or maybe even iMovie Pro X (also known as Final Cut Pro X), would handily sync up the various clips and files. So when we were ready to role, and the updated version of Movie*Slate wasn’t clapping at first, we steamrolled on ahead. Fewer mics, but also lighting the performers in a challenging space. With this shoot, we were using a similar setup. Media Slate really is the premier slating app… It is supposed to work, but I couldn’t make it… Once I gave up and embedded the audio in the multitrack AAF file, it went smoothly. What hung me up at first was trying to go from Pro Tools to Media Composer using AAF files (the OMF successor) that just pointed at the actual audio files on disc. But editing on Avid, then exporting the audio to ProTools, then finally finishing with the mix from ProTools is a pretty standard workflow. It is a pretty recent development that you can even run Pro Tools and Media Composer on the same computer. The biggest hassle with that production was moving audio from Avid Pro Tools into Avid Media Composer! Yes, I know, same company… The history is pretty divergent, Avid having swallowed ProTools’ creator, DigiDesign, some years ago. There were issues, there are always issues… But we were careful to slate every single take, so it moved pretty smoothly.
My last big project was a school musical: three shows, three cameras per show, plus 14 channels of audio direct to disk with ProTools. Editing, and the entire post process, will be so much smoother if you do.
We recently did a small multicam shoot for some circus artist friends, and were reminded not to cut corners in prep… Specifically, don’t rely on software to sync your clips for you! It is worth taking the time to carefully and correctly slate every take. I'm still pursuing first hand confirmation of this.Multicam editing at Casual Dog Productions, LLC I have been getting feedback from multiple sources that a "smart" slate will always have a timecode offset. We've shot some more test footage, and I just need to sit down and relink it to see where it's at now.
I mention that last part, because of time code discrepancy offsets that I've encountered in testing this workflow idea (mentioned in another post). While I wouldn't trust it completely (you'll still want to verify that the visual clap and the audio pop are in sync), it will be close enough for the director/editor to at least start with. This means you can sync at any point before the actual clap using that visual output and the audio's timestamp. With the slate chasing time code, you'll have a visual representation of time code in the picture until the slate is clapped. What a smart slate will buy you when using the 5D is some faster relinking of media in post. The 744T is a better investment, a dumb slate will do you fine on shorter project, and a smart slate will make your life simpler on larger ones (kind of like the one you're about to start on). What type of project are you using this for? If it's something in long format, or you're using a lab to do your prints, I'd go with TC.
If it's a short film or commercial you're working on, I'd go with a manual sync. If you decide to go that route, I can most definitely walk you through it with more detail. You just need a cable that goes from the 744T (lemo connector) to the slate (generally a 1/4" TS connector), plug them in together, turn the slate to Read, then tell the 744T to send a Jam signal (in the TC portion of the menu, about half way to 3/4 through the menu screen). If you want to go the TC route, it's very easy to sync a 744T to a Smart Slate (or a dumb slate). There's also a plugin that will do this for you called Pluraleyes. You can visually sync to transients very easily. IMHO, if you're doing a simpler shoot, it's much easier to enable onboard audio in the 5D as a reference track, record your production audio with whatever your recorder is (I would recommend a 744T over a Zoom any day), then sync the 744T audio to the 5D scratch audio in post. This will only benefit you if you are going to use the TC imprinted in the audio files to do the sync. Well, first of all, the audio on the 744T will be FAR superior to what you get on the H4n, plus you get all the meta data that you can't get on any Zoom pieces.Īs far as TC goes, my answer really depends on your post production workflow.