Synched Up and Grown Up: Red Giant’s PluralEyes 3 Evolves Into A Robust Editorial Tool

CreativePlanet Network by Oliver Peters

The concept of synchronizing clips by sound seems so obvious in retrospect, but when Bruce Sharpe showed his first version of PluralEyes at a small NAB booth, it struck many as nothing short of magic. The first version was designed to sync multiple consumer and prosumer video cameras by aligning their soundtracks in the absence of recorded timecode.

With the unanticipated popularity of HDSLR cameras, like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II in late 2009, PluralEyes gained a big boost. It became the easiest way to sync 5D clips with double-system audio recorded using low-cost devices, such as the Zoom H4n handheld digital audio recorder. PluralEyes expanded from a plug-in for Final Cut Pro to add the standalone DualEyes, used to sync double-system sound projects. In a very short time period, PluralEyes went from an unknown to a brand name synonymous with a product or process, much like Coke or Kleenex.

Now that Sharpe’s Singular Software products are part of the Red Giant Software family, PluralEyes is available as the new and improved standalone PluralEyes 3 (currently in version 3.1). It encompasses all of the features of both the original PluralEyes and of DualEyes. This means that PluralEyes 3 supports two basic processes: a) synchronizing camera files with external audio and b) synchronizing multiple cameras to each other or to a common soundtrack. These synchronizing processes are accomplished by comparing the audio tracks against each other—without the use of timecode, clapsticks or other common reference points.

PluralEyes 3 analyzes and matches audio waveform shapes to accomplish this goal, so without belaboring the obvious, all camera files have to include an audio track recorded in the same general environment. Since PluralEyes uses very good audio analysis tools and audio normalization to aid the process, the camera audio does not have to be pristine. The most common scenario is a high-quality audio recording as a separate digital audio file and camera audio that was recorded solely with the onboard mic. Naturally the cleaner the onboard recording, the more likely the synchronization will be successful. read more...

Check out these items featured in this post and available now at Videoguys.com.
	Red Giant Plural Eyes 3 (formerly by Singular) $179.00			Red Giant Plural Eyes 3 Upgrade (formerly by Singular) $79.00			ZOOM H4n Four-Channel Handy Recorder $229.95