Capturing Synchronized Audio Independently from Video
If you are editing material acquired via dual system recording, meaning that video and
audio are recorded simultaneously to different devices, you need to capture your audio
and video separately and then synchronize them together in Final Cut Pro. After
capturing, you can combine the corresponding video and audio clips into a merged
clip. Merged clips work in the same way as other clips in Final Cut Pro, but they refer to
separate video and audio media files (whereas most other clips, such as clips captured
from DV tape, refer only to a single media file that contains both video and audio). For
more information about merged clips, see Volume II, Chapter 3, “Merging Clips From
Dual System Video and Audio.”
When capturing audio from an audio-only player such as a DAT player, it is important to
precisely synchronize the sample clock of the digital audio player with the clock of your
audio interface.
Using a common timing signal for both your audio device and capture interface is
especially important when you capture long segments of audio. If your audio deck is
not set up in this way, the sync between the audio and video of merged clips you
create can drift over time.
USB-to-serial
adapter
Computer
PCI card
Reference video
Breakout box
Audio
USB
Serial
Reference video
Device controllable
DAT deck
Blackburst
generator
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Part IV
Logging, Capturing, and Importing
To capture and edit digital audio properly, make sure your footage and equipment
meets the following requirements:
 Matching timecode on videotapes and audio tapes: During production, recording the
same timecode signal for both video and audio makes it easy to synchronize video
and audio clips in post-production. If timecode doesn’t match, you can manually
synchronize your video and audio clips in the Timeline and then create merged clips.
 Remote device control: Your audio tape player needs to support device control so
that Final Cut Pro can capture audio precisely and recapture consistently.
 A video sync generator (blackburst generator): Provides a common timing signal for
both the audio tape player and the audio interface you are using to capture.
 External sync input on devices and interfaces: Ideally, your video and audio devices
and your audio interface should accept an external sync signal so that all frame rates
and audio sample rates are timed together exactly.
For more information about connecting a blackburst generator to your video and audio
equipment, see “
Synchronizing Equipment with a Blackburst Generator
” on page 200.
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