[MacDV] Re: Suggestions for sound capture at wedding

[Colin McDonald]

on 11/4/03 14:40, Mark O'Brien at rmobrien at mac.com wrote:

> 
> My problem with trying to edit two video streams in iMovie is to keep
> the sound in synch. Last year I video-taped my son's band at an event.
> I put one camcorder on a tripod and left it running. I used another for
> closeups and different angles. Using the tripod camcorder for
> continuous sound, I found it excruciatingly difficult to insert cutaway
> shots from the other camcorder in synch with the music.

I've done quite a lot of this using 2/3 cameras, with the tripod camera
capturing the sound just like you mentioned, and the others taking a
reference sound track.

In theory it shouldn't be that difficult to sync to the music - at PAL frame
rates and a tempo of 120 beats per minute, a crotchet (quarter note) takes
almost exactly 12 frames and pro rata for eighth and sixteenth notes (6 and
3 frames).  An experienced musician can accurately hit the spacebar to stop
the playhead on any given sixteenth note but it's easier either on or just
before main beats in my experience.

Of course, all this does assume an instant response from the software.
There may well still be big problems doing it this way in iMovie 3.

I find speech is more difficult to sync because of its unpredictability.

Colin McDonald