Singular Software’s PluralEyes – Product Review
Posted: February 22, 2011
PluralEyes saves hours in post-production for multi-camera edits, dual-system audio or multi-take workflows such as music videos. It automatically synchronizes all your audio and video clips without the need for timecode, clappers or any special preparation. In this article, producer John DeMaio completes a thorough review of PluralEyes.
I have been using PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro for quite some time now. Since the DSLR revolution, we have all had to face the looming audio issues involved with this new style of production. But how do you successfully manage hundreds of clips that now need the video and audio synced together? You don’t. You let PluralEyes do the heavy lifting for you.
How does it work?
PluralEyes matches the audio waveforms from the video clips with the audio waveforms from the recorded audio and syncs the two. Let’s use the example of shooting with a Canon 7D and a Zoom H4N audio recorder.
In production, you would shoot with the 7D and record reference audio using the camera’s onboard microphone. With the Zoom H4N, you would capture the audio of your subject, either using the onboard mics of the Zoom as a shotgun or by plugging in external microphones – this is MUCH better than the onboard microphone of the Canon 7D. This process is known as second source audio and has been around forever. However, in the past you would have had to use a clapboard (also called a slate) to sync the two on set – then some poor editor would have to manually sync the audio using the visual of the clapboard and the audible “clap” in the audio track.
It’s not a difficult process, it’s just time consuming, but this is where PluralEyes earns its keep.
PluralEyes works like this – you throw your video clips on a timeline along with the corresponding audio files. Launch the PluralEyes application, select the sequence from the drop-down list and click analyze. Now you just sit back and watch the magic happen. Within a few minutes, you have a new timeline that contain the synced material.
Media Composer and PluralEyes
As I have said before, I have been using Pluraleyes for Final Cut Pro for a while now. It has been rock solid for me. In fact, the process that I explained above is exactly how it works on Final Cut. So when I heard that Pluraleyes was available for Media Composer, I was really interested in giving it a shot. Ever since Media Composer 5, I have been devoting a little more time to Avid’s flagship software. After all, I have spent 10 years of my life on the Avid platform – you can’t just give that up, right? Well, one of the biggest issues that I find in going back to Avid is that there are little things (mainly plugins and smart third party applications) that I just can’t give up. Also, Avid has its own way of doing things that might not be as “easy” as how Final Cut Pro does things. Would this effect the way Pluraleyes works with my workflow? I was really curious to find out.
Is it just as easy?
That really was my first question. I realize that the Pluraleyes software would most likely be the same, but the deciding factor here was Avid. Avid hasn’t been known for its simplicity – which is actually part of its charm and stability. Nonetheless, the one thing that I enjoyed about FCP and Pluraleyes was how easy it was. You click a few buttons and voila! All of your problems have vanished. Would Avid be the same?
The answer is . . . yes and no. It was just as easy, but there are two extra steps. Let me explain the process:
1. First you load your video clips and your audio clips on a timeline – just like before.
2. Export the timeline as an AAF file
3. Launch Pluraleyes and load the newly created AAF file
4. Let Pluraleyes work its magic – it will create another AAF file
5. Import the new AAF file into Media Composer and enjoy the benefits of this amazing technology
The process isn’t any more difficult, it’s just a little more involved . . . and it falls in line with what you would expect with Avid. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a little different. In some ways, I actually like working this way. You know me, I like to organize things – now I have a new bin with AAF sequences in my folder structure. I don’t have a problem with it at all.
Putting it to the test
I wanted to start with some DSLR footage and second source audio – since this is my primary use for PluralEyes. Just as stated above, it was pretty simple to run through the process of syncing the footage with the audio:
I created a new project, I imported my files and added everything to a timeline
exported the AAF file
opened the AAF file in PluralEyes, hit sync and waited for it to complete the processing.
In a few seconds I had a new AAF file that I imported back into Media Composer.
That’s really all there was to it – it worked like a charm. You can see in the photo above, the clip is now synced with the corresponding wav file and ready to start editing.
Now I do have a confession to make here. Unlike with Final Cut, in Media Composer, you have to give each element its own track. I didn’t do this and I almost went insane thinking this wasn’t working. Luckily, Singular Software’s website has a really good how-to for each of their products. After I actually ‘read the manual’ so to speak, I was off and running, I mean syncing, in no time. It was awesome. Also, you’ll want to check out the Singular Software website for more advanced options than what I have talked about here. There’s a list of things that PluralEyes for Media Composer can do so be sure to check it out. For our purposes here at Production Apprentice, I know that most of you will be happy to just get your DSLR footage synced up – with PluralEyes, you’ll have no trouble at all!
Final thoughts
Of course, it’s important to learn how to manually sync video and audio clips without the need for software. It is a valuable training exercise, especially when you get some clips back that don’t have audio to match. Sometimes you’ll get video clips with very low audio or a lot of wind noise in the audio. Since PluralEyes “listens” to the audio as a way to sync things together, it can be an issue. This is why it’s very important to make sure that your camera is recording good reference audio. Otherwise, you won’t be able to rely on anything but a few painstaking hours in post, slipping the video back and forth a few frames at a time. If you don’t have good reference audio, you better hope that someone decided to use a clapboard or do the poor man’s clap board – clap their hands together in front of the camera.
However, once you get the mechanics down, feel free to use PluralEyes all day long. I can’t tell you how many times it has saved my life on a project because it allows you to start editing right away – trust me, you don’t want to spend hours syncing things together, you want to start editing and getting creative!
Singular Software now has PluralEyes available for all major NLE platforms – Final Cut Pro, Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas. I can honestly say that I can’t do business without PluralEyes. In this new age of DSLR video and second source audio, there is no way that I can live without it.
Biz Tip Source: Production Apprentice
John DeMaio is a Producer, Director, DP and Editor working out of Orlando, Florida. He has been a production professional since 1996 and has a vast knowledge of all things production and post.