Align audio waveforms in PRE 10

[miwo76]

Hello,

I'm very new to video editing, I'm primarily a stills guy...

Having done some research, I decided that in my foray into video with a little Lumix GF2 that a secondary audio recorder would be a good way to capture better audio than with the built in mic. I have a H1 Zoom Recorder. I learned that by using a "clapper" - ie. clapping my hands in front of of the camera would allow me to have a reference point to sync the recorded audio from the H1 to the audio recorded on the camera.

My question is in PRE10 - what is the easiet way to align the audio waveform of the clap?

My method is basically dragging the video clip to the Timeline, seeing that the camera's audio becomes the Audio 1 track and then dragging the audio recording from the H1 zoom into the Audio 2 track.

Because I start the H1 recorder after I turn on the camera, the waveform of the Audio 2 track starts later then the Audio 1 track. This means I need to trim the beginning of the Audio 2 track to try and sync it to the video.

When I try to trim the Audio 2 track and I cannot get it align with the Audio 1 track waveform when I do the following: I go to the beginning of the Audio 2 track, hover over it and get the red square bracket and drag it to the right to trim the amount. I'm essentially guessing here how much to trim and wondering if there is a more accurate way of trimming the audio so I can match up my reference waveform.

Thanks for any help!

[Steve Grisetti]

Try holding down the Ctrl button as you make any trims. This will turn off rippling and your tracks will stay in place as you edit them.

To align audio and video on a "clap", drag the clips around until they're almost in sync, then zoom in on the timeline using the + key on your keyboard. You'll be able to set the CTI playhead to the exact spot on your video that your clap. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the audio until the spike in the audio waveform that represents the clap is directly aligned with it. (After you've aligned your audio and video, don't hold the Ctrl key down when you edit so that your audio and video stays in sync.)

Before you even attempt this, however, make sure your project is set up correctly! That camera shoots in 1920x1080 AVCHD FSH and 1280x720 HD. If you plan to edit in Premiere Elements, do not record in HD! According to the online specs, this type of video uses an MJPEG codec, which can give Premiere Elements fits!

So only shoot in FSH mode, and make sure your Premiere Elements project is set up for Full AVCHD stereo. If you do this and use only WAVs as your audio files, this process should go pretty smoothly.

[miwo76]

Thanks for the quick reply Steve!

I'll apply those tips later today...

Fortunately I am recording in FSH mode (1920x1080)!

I did have one question from your book - what's the difference between AVCHD Stereo and 5.1 Stereo? My camera only has stereo mics (along with the H1 Zoom) - would it be problematic to import the video file in AVCHD and 5.1? or should I stick with just regular stereo? (Trying to understand what you mean by "full stereo" in your reply)

Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

Pressing Ctrl + K will cut the clip at the CTI location.
If you have a track selected it will only cut the clip on that track but if you do not have a track selected it will cut all tracks at the CTI.

You can also use the Razor to cut rather than "Trimming", much more accurate.

[Steve Grisetti]

Many newer camcorders have the option of recording in 5.1 audio -- which is literally five tracks of audio.

This is to provide source footage for DVD's that include five channels of surround sound audio (left front, right front, left rear, right rear and a sub-woofer for deep bass sound). The alternative is 2-channel stereo. Premiere Elements supports both audio types with AVCHD video.

Whichever you've recorded your video in, it's important that your project settings match it or you can get some goofy behavior on your timeline.