How to quickly synchronize audio in Adobe Premier
Become a Better Church Communicator with MyCom! Subscribe today!
https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agenci...
Previously on A MyCom Tutorial with Kathryn, we talked about capturing quality audio by recording sound separately from video, with an external recorder and/or microphone. But managing external audio can be tricky. Once you have the two separate files, how do you match up the audio with the video?
Luckily, we live in the future where all it takes is a few clicks in Adobe Premiere Pro to sync audio and video seamlessly. Here’s how.
Think before you sync
Syncing audio and video isn’t difficult, but it can become tedious if you don’t take certain steps when recording. Here are a few things to do during your video shoot to prepare for syncing.
1. Keep your on-camera audio to use as a reference file. You need an audio layer already attached to your video clip for synchronization to work. Typically, this comes from your camera’s built-in mic. So, even when you don’t intend on using the on-camera audio, make sure it’s still being recorded.
2. Create a distinct visual AND audio cue to use as a sync point. This is the reason for the scene slate or “clapper” on a movie set. But you don’t need an official slate to use the “clap” method. Once the video and audio devices are recording, have the subject clap their hands once in front of their face. The abrupt sound will create a spike in both the scratch track and the replacement audio waveforms, which will be your sync point. The visual cue of the hands clapping together serves as a backup sync point in case you don’t have a scratch track to reference.
3. Sync all video and audio clips BEFORE you start editing. Trust. Link up all your replacement audio first, then proceed into your edit with your synchronized clips. It’s also a good idea to label all your clips properly before bringing them into Premiere so that you can easily identify the files that go together.
Method #1: Merge clips
The Merge Clips method is the fastest way to sync your clips. It’s an automated process that occurs in the Project panel, so all it requires from you is some mouse-clicking. What it does is synchronize the replacement audio file to the reference audio; then it merges the replacement audio track with the video track and creates a new file for you.
1. Highlight your video clip and audio clip in the Project panel, right click, and select “Merge Clips.”
2. In the Merge Clips pop-up window, rename the merged file, set the Synchronization Point to “Audio,” and check “Remove Audio from AV Clip.” Click OK.
3. Your merged clip will appear in the project panel, ready for editing.
Method #2: Synchronize
The Synchronize method is another automated process, similar to the merging method, but it doesn’t create a new file for you. Premiere aligns the files and lets you take it from there. This process occurs in the Timeline.
1. Drag your video clip and audio clip into the Timeline. Your replacement audio clip should appear on a separate track from the reference audio (not on the same track).
2. Highlight all the clips in the Timeline, right click, and select “Synchronize.”
3. In the Synchronize Clips pop-up window, set Synchronize Point to “Audio,” and select the track of the reference audio (in the above example, that’s Track 1). Click OK.
4. Listen and verify that the audio is in sync with the video.
5. Unlink the video clip from the reference audio—highlight the AV clip, right click, and select “Unlink.”
6. Then delete the reference audio—select the clip and hit the Backspace/Delete key.
7. Highlight the newly synced video and audio clips, right click, and select “Link.”
Method #3: Manual Synchronization
There will come a time when Premiere’s automated sync features will fail you, for whatever reason, and your only option will be to sync your clips manually. This is the most labor-intensive method, but it’s easier than you think. This is when you’ll rejoice that you remembered to do the “clap” method. This process also occurs in the Timeline.
1. Drag your video clip and audio clip into the Timeline. Your replacement audio clip should appear on a separate track from the reference audio (not on the same track).
2. Scrub through both audio tracks until you find a spot that serves as a good sync point—ideally, a clap or a loud sound that created a visible spike in the audio waveforms.
3. Mark the sync point in each audio clip by selecting the clip and pressing “M” on the keyboard. Repeat on the other clip.
4. Align the clips at the markers. Listen and verify the audio is in sync.
5. Unlink the video clip from the reference audio—highlight the AV clip, right click, and select “Unlink.”
6. Then delete the reference audio—select the clip and hit the Backspace/Delete key.
7. Select the newly synced video and audio clips, right click, and select “Link.”