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Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:19 pm
by Michael Willis
I'm thinking of making a music video, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to sync up the recording of the video and the audio. I want to record the audio one track at a time into Ardour, while at the same time recording a video of the musician performing. Then I want to use video editing software to put all of the videos together, switching around between different clips.

I want to find some way to uses the JACK transport to start recording video with my web cam. That way I can have Ardour start recording at the same time and I won't have nearly as much trouble syncing up the audio and video tracks. However, I'm having a hard time finding any video recording software that will both use the JACK transport to start recording and support my web cam.

Has anybody else done anything like this before?

Re: Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:34 pm
by tavasti
Michael Willis wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:19 pm I want to find some way to uses the JACK transport to start recording video with my web cam. That way I can have Ardour start recording at the same time and I won't have nearly as much trouble syncing up the audio and video tracks. However, I'm having a hard time finding any video recording software that will both use the JACK transport to start recording and support my web cam.
I haven't met video recording software that had jack transport support.

I have used two methods to sync audio and video:
1) traditional clapperboard-type action. With normal mic, slam hands so that is it easy to see when slam happens. With guitar, strum strings with large movement
2) also record audio to video. Actual audio will be in ardour, but in video editor audio track waveform will be visible for syncing.

Re: Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:52 pm
by Fmajor7add9
what @tavasti said

http://www.gphoto.org/doc/remote may be handy if you've got a compatible camera with decent video quality

there may be other options for controlling camera capture when cabled to the computer but if you aren't live streaming anyway it isn't really necessary, just record to SD card or tape

check sample rate on both camera and mic to avoid resampling one of them in post, 48k on both is most convenient for exporting video formats

and for music videos always remember to add some slo-mo drone footage in a slight drizzle of rain

Re: Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:59 pm
by Michael Willis
Thanks, @tavasti, that will probably work for me.

Shotcut is able to record from a webcam and has some jack transport integration, but I didn't succeed in getting them to work together, and shotcut kept crashing, which was really frustrating.

Additionally, the act of capturing video seemed to put a lot of load on the CPU, which made the fan spin up more than I would like while recording audio. I might try using a different device to capture the video, like my raspberry pi.

Re: Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:34 am
by tavasti
Fmajor7add9 wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:52 pm and for music videos always remember to add some slo-mo drone footage in a slight drizzle of rain
Water proof drones are rare and expensive :-)

Re: Sync recording audio and video

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 9:11 pm
by Dominique

Clap is a cheap method that always works fine, even with the hands. Otherwise, if you can afford it, master clock in all the hardware equipments.