[MacDV] Re: Editing w/Voice Over

[sb]

A Voice Over means the audio narration was recorded separately from  
the video. If that's the case, you shouldn't have any problem syncing  
up video with audio.

If however, you mean that you are using SOT (Sound on Tape) like an  
interview, where the speakers lips have to move in sync with the  
picture, it's a little more difficult.

There are at least 3 ways to get around iMovie's inability to add  
transitions without losing sync.

1. Use Final Cut Express (or FC Studio, or Premiere, etc) They behave  
the way a professional video editing application should, and it's  
very easy.

2. Don't use the Dissolve transition. Instead, use Overlay. It looks  
almost the same.

3. Edit the video first. It's very difficult to make changes once you  
have extracted the audio.
Extract the audio, and then move the extracted audio onto alternate  
tracks. The first clip's audio is on audio track 1, the 2nd clip  
audio is on audio track 2, the 3rd clip audio is on audio track 1.
Add the cross dissolve transition between clip 1 and clip 2. Move the  
audio of clip 2 to the beginning of the transition. You now have clip  
1, a transition, clip 2 and the audio stays in sync.
When you apply the transition between clip 2 and clip 3, you don't  
have to move the audio, since there is room there.
Keep up the alternating audio track, so that iMovie doesn't  
automatically apply an audio transition between adjoining clips on  
the same track.

  If your video is shot properly, i.e. the camera person has always  
included several seconds of pre-roll and post roll for every shot,  
the process is much easier.

A trick to get around this, when nothing else will work, is to take a  
freeze frame of the first frame, make it 01:00 long (enough for the  
typical 1 second dissolve) and put that at the beginning. Do the same  
for the end frame of each clip. Next, you have to put an empty title  
on the clip, with the exact number of frames to include the extra 1  
second of FF. Do this for all the clips. (for the clips with the FF  
at the beginning, you put the empty title on the FF)
Then, you put your dissolves between clips. You will still see 1  
frame of freeze frame on each clip (iMovie won't let you do it  
exactly) but, sometimes ugly is better than not at all.

  hth,

  regards.

  sb


On May 14, 2007, at 6:48 AM, KS wrote:

> It's been a while since I've been asked to edit a training piece on  
> iMovie with voice over.  I seem to remember that if you want  
> transitions like dissolves, etc.  there's some "trick" to editing  
> so the video and V.O. don't get out of synch.  I believe it has to  
> do with adding frames to compensate for the amount of scene you  
> lose when applying a transition.
>
> The last time I tried editing with V.O. I had the video and audio  
> synched perfectly – then when I applied dissolves and fades  
> throughout the 10 minute piece – the whole movie was out of  
> synch.   After many attempts to fix the synch, I gave up and took  
> them all out.  The result was a "cuts only" movie.
>
> Is there a simply way to compensate for this synch problem when you  
> want dissolves and other transitions throughout the movie and still  
> have everything in synch?
>
> Someone told me, "just add a couple of frames on the back and front  
> of each scene."  But, that doesn't give me a step-by-step process  
> to follow.  I would really appreciate a more detailed "how to" on  
> this, please.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Karl_______________________________________________