Sync Audio Without a Slate!

Are you using a DSLR and an external audio recorder, such as the Zoom H41 recorder? Well, chances are you've probably had times where you forgot to slate a shot. This post will teach you how to rescue shots that were not synced with a slate.

For beginning filmmakers, slating a shot is when someone puts a clapper in front of the camera and claps it to make a sound that will help editors sync the externally recorded sound to the video later. See this article for more information.

Well, here's an easy trick I use to sync the audio of the my external sound recorder to my camera video in post-production.

Sync Using the "Sssss" or "Es" sounds
Actually, you can use a lot of harsh consonant sounds, but "Sssss" and "Es" sounds work well because they are very unique and typically are very harsh sounding, if you are listening to them, compared to many other consonants (letters that aren't vowels) sounds.

Wait for the speaker to say one of these harsh sounds, and advance frame by frame until you find the tip top beginning of these sounds on both the in-camera audio and the external sound recorder audio. Create in and out points in your editing software, and when you've placed these clips in a timeline, then align the in points of them to each other. Of course, you could also use markers, and align the markers instead. Then, you can change the clips' editing to be how you want, now that you have the audio and the video in sync.


Careful, Though...
This is a useful rescue method, but it should not be an excuse to be lazy. Keep using the slate. You don't even need an expensive clapper. Just clap in front of the camera with your hands and look for the moment your hands meet to sync the clap sound in the audio. This is probably the most precise way of syncing sound.

Try this way out. You might be surprised to find that often times that modern DSLR cameras, the sound is off by one frame. Mine was. Enjoy!


Photo by Matt Batchelor on Flickr.com

Why I Switched to Adobe

From Final Cut Pro 5 to Final Cut 7, I was a loyal Final Cut Studio user. It was an incredible, comprehensive program that allowed me to be very creative and productive. I'm not the only video production professional who based an entire business workflow off of this program; several companies have invested thousands or hundreds of thousands in Apple's Final Cut software. But now many businesses, like mine, are jumping ship from what we used to call home because of dramatic, unfavorable changes that Apple has made.

Many of my coworkers now use Adobe Creative Suite 5, including Premiere and After Effects for all their video needs. Of course, this is a very recent change. I was scared to switch, but I knew that Final Cut's future was very uncertain for video production professionals like me. I needed something that I knew was in the market for professionals, something that was adapting to the needs of professionals.

Final Cut is not adapting to the needs of professionals; instead, it is attempting to create its own standard for others without their input. I believe the biggest problem with Apple right now is that it is both not listening and not communicating to professionals. Final Cut X was so secret to its customers that you could literally find more top secret information from within the US government online than information about Final Cut X for quite some time. This prevented Apple from receiving constructive criticism early in the game to avoid the catastrophe they are now facing. For a good laugh and a realization of the negative reception of Final Cut X, go to the Apple App Store and look at the reviews—it's actually pretty sad.

Even without involving users in the "improvement" process, Apple completely went against common sense in literally making the new Final Cut a sure downgrade. How? They stripped out vital parts of Final Cut Studio, including the dedicated Color app. Leaving out Color alone is enough for me to completely doubt the sanity of Apple. Apple acquired the company that originally made the software behind color 5 years ago. The software was originally sold for $25,000 (see article here)!!! What was Apple thinking when it decided to throw away this asset that cost them so much?!

This isn't the first time Apple has made such a strange move. They also acquired a program called Shake, which for a time they sold for $5,000 and up. Now, for some reason, they abandoned it. It's like buying a new car and letting it collect dust in a dark garage. It appears Apple likes to turn valuable assets into liabilities. Perhaps the consumer marketplace for iPads and iPhones is blinding Apple to the people who depend on Apple for their professional applications.

While I'm not running away from Apple completely, they sure scared me away from Final Cut X. I'm not "upgrading" to that! Adobe feels more like home than the new Final Cut does. Apple continues to scare me with its direction towards arbitrary simplicity in its software, including OS X Lion. The new and "improved" Mac operating system now will not support many older applications that the previous version would, all because Apple didn't feel like including a previous feature. Most professionals that I know and I feel perplexed by Apple's recent moves if not betrayed. The status quo is changing. It's time for people who have been loyal to Apple's Final Cut Studio to move on, because there is no such thing as Final Cut Studio anymore. If Adobe isn't your style—for me it's fine—then consider Avid Media Composer or Sony Vegas. Either way, it's time for a change and to show Apple that we we will not compromise on what we want and need in our software.

2D and 3D Visual Effects

I like to use both 2D and 3D visual effects in commercial and educational videography to demonstrate the principles or concepts that are trying to be conveyed. The screenshot on the left is some work I'm doing on an educational piece for a religion class offered by BYU Independent Study. This is the rendered version of an animated 3D model of the city of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate. The professor was explaining how Babylon is a symbol for worldliness in opposition to God. I chose to animate this in 3D because it allowed me to show the scale and complexity of the city of Babylon, which helped convey the professor's teaching.


Working in 3D is challenging at first. Modeling and keyframing are probably the most difficult things for a beginner. On the right is a project file created in Blender, a powerful, open source 3D animation program. The great thing about 3D is it affords so many more possibilities to your project.

Green Screen for Less "Green"

Working with green screens or blue screens is pretty fun and enables you to do just about anything for video. As you can see from the setup pictured on the left, it's not a cake walk to do a good job at it, but with experience it gets easier. The real key to getting a good key for video work is spending a lot of time with the lighting. Although professional lights make it much easier, there are ways for people with a tighter budget to make the most of green screening.

Buying an actual chroma key green screen can be expensive, but making one can be pocket change comparatively. Go to your local hardware store or paint shop and ask them to mix you a color of paint that is as close as possible to what chroma key green looks like. At my other job at BYU, we have about three different green screens—and all of them are different colors! In my opinion, it's not vital you get a true "chroma key" color green, unless you like spending quadruple on your paint.

When you get your paint, paint some drywall that has no texture or make a backdrop that can be painted this color. Your primary focus should be a texture-free surface that can be lit evenly. Don't use hard corners or seams. Notice in the green screen I helped setup in the picture here that it has a smooth bend instead of a corner as it reaches the ground to be walked on. This is because we wanted it lit fairly evenly throughout the entire part. Corners and seems create uneven lighting that is harder to key on the computer.

Remember, a better key is worth the time spent on set, because it will save you hours in post-production. If you ever want advice on building your own green screen set, please feel free to contact me. I would love to help.

A Grievance of Media Consumers

I recently read from a communications textbook how the music industry is a case study for other industries on how not to behave towards their consumers. I can think of few things that have upset digital media consumers more than DRM (Digital Rights Management).

I've always had an unfavorable view towards technology that tries to limit control over media we buy. I believe that excessive restrictions and laws only hurt the good people; bad people will always find a way to be bad.

What can digital media artists like me learn from the music industry's mistakes?

First, a general principle: it's possible to stand on the freedom of consumers for a time in favor of one's own interests, but it will always backfire and prove to damage one's own interests more than granting freedom to consumers.

Second, we can see that laws are made for a "moral and religious people," as John Adams most eloquently put it. As I stated earlier, bad people will always find a way to be bad. The more laws we pass and measures we take to stop bad people only hurt the good guys in the long run while leaving the bad guys only momentarily hindered, if affected at all.

Consider the various ways there are to download music, movies, books illegally. DRM that protects movies, music, books and other media is easy to bypass (and it is fundamentally always possible to bypass by nature*). DRM only makes it so people who legitamitely use their media and follow the rules are limited in the end. Bad people will always find a way to be bad.

Third, laws that the government has passed contradict each other, making it necessary to reevaluate legislation and find out what are laws really mean. If you don't believe me, read the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Then read about legislation governing reverse engineering and interoperability. Also, read about recent legislation that favors consumers and is backlashing on the interests of media creators.

The point is, simply as John Adams put it: laws are for a "moral and religious people." Why? Because most people with morals and religion believe that there is a greater interest than their own interests, and they are willing to respect the rights of others and live in harmony for the sake of their beliefs in something greater than themselves.

No amount of DRM will stop piracy. The tighter media producers squish the spring of consumer tolerance, the harder the backlash will be. I'm not saying that media producers should look the other way when people sell illegal copies of their media or legitimately damage revenue through unauthorized sharing or distribution; however, they should not restrict the rights of good people.

*DRM is a technology that encrypts digital data, but for humans to understand this data, it must always be converted to analog at some point. Thus, there is always at least one loophole for people to intercept and decrypt the data. See the Wikipedia article on the Analog Hole, here.

Technicolor's Gift to DSLR Filmmakers

Technicolor released a neat color preset that can be loaded into Canon EOS DSLRs which allow more flexibility in preserving details in shadows. For filmmakers like me, it means I can film weddings or events with even greater quality of color.

This color upgrade is available for free on Technicolor's website. Visit www.Technicolor.com and look for CineStyle for Canon EOS DSLRs.

I hope to implement this soon and test it out. I get excited whenever I hear about improving production through DSLRs. I use DSLRs to film weddings and films because of the incredible quality that they offer and in such an economical package. They outperform more expensive and bulkier cameras I've used before in many ways.

If you're a DSLR videographer, like many others that are using them now, check out this new color profile from Technicolor.

iTunes Gift Cards Giveaway

How would you like to win a $10 gift card for iTunes? Gashler Films is giving away* four of these lovely things by random drawing of all the people who like our official Facebook page for wedding vieos. The winner will be notified after April 9, when the contest ends.

Tell your friends! Here's the event page to invite people via Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=199876896700155

While you're at our Facebook page, check out some of our sample wedding videos and see a beautiful summer wedding video sample. We're getting warmed up for the summer wedding season, so spread the word to anyone you know who needs a videographer to check out our page.


*(See official rules and details at http://www.gashlerfilms.com/wedding-videos/wedding-news/contest.)

The Value of Video and Sound

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more is video worth at 24 pictures a second? I've long chosen film as my primary medium as an artist because it communicates so much that still photos cannot, including motion, changes in lighting and color and of course audio. It's easy to stare at a video for two hours, but unless you're a real art buff, you might have difficulty staring at a photo for two hours. But there is more value to video than just the moving pictures.

It's been said before that sound is half of a video, and I agree. Much of the immediately noticeable difference between professional video and amateur video is the quality of the sound. The reason why is that although high-quality cameras have become considerably more affordable for consumers (such as with the DSLR revolution in video—Google DSLR video if you're not familiar with it) professional sound equipment has not become commonplace among the consumer world. Why? That's a good question.

Sound requires experience and coordination no matter what type of equipment one uses. Sound traditionally requires one to have at least another person on crew to operate the recording and monitoring of a boom-microphone. In other words, it requires planning, coordination and a great deal of effort and skill to be done well. Although video is becoming more affordable and easier to be done, sound is not and probably will not any time soon.

Professionals focus on both the sound and the picture of the video, and one of the most apparent things that you may notice between a professional and an amateur is the quality of the sound; so, look (and listen) and notice the difference next time you compare an average YouTube video with a professional production posted on the same place.

Learn more about the videos that we make at Gashler Films on our Utah video production website.

Photo by flickr user Tanki
http://flickr.com/photos/michaelrhys/40428909/
Under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Generic License