Today I’m talking about Tentacle Sync. What is it? Well, it’s a little box that allows you to generate time code to synchronize one or more cameras with one or more audio sources. How does it work? This little box can be installed on each of the cameras to make sure that I have the same clock in my recorder when I do the sound recording on the film sets. But the question that comes up all the time is how do I synchronize all my files when I’m editing? Today I’m going to show you how to do this in several editing programs. But first, feel free to follow us on social media for more tips on sound production and post production.
There are two ways to use the tentacle sync. The first way is for those who have a timecode input directly into their camera. This is the easiest way because the timecode is automatically added to the video metadata when you record. The second way is for those who do not have a timecode input, it’s possible to use the audio generated by the tentacle sync. The next step is to convert your audio timecode into metadata and add it to your videos to be able to synchronize all your files.
Davinci Resolve:
- For Davinci, the first step is to create a new project. Then import the different audio and video files. In our example, only one lavalier microphone and one camera were used, but the principle remains the same no matter how many cameras or audio sources you used during your shoot.
- To do this, we move all the necessary clips into our Media Bay at the bottom of the window. You’ll notice that unlike the audio files from our recorder, the video file has no timecode. To fix this, select the video and right-click on it, then select the “Update Timecode from Audio Track” option. You will notice that the video now has a timecode embedded and matching the audio files.
- Select all the audio and video files, then right-click and select “Create New Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips”. You can rename the Multicam Clip as you wish, let’s just call it Test Multicam. Make sure the Angle Sync parameter is set to Timecode and that the frame rate matches your timeline and video.
- Once you’ve created your Multicam Clip, right click and select “Open in Timeline”.
- Et voilà! As you can see, all the files are aligned according to the timecode.
Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro:
For Premiere and Final Cut, in order to synchronize audio and video with a camera that does not have built-in timecode, refer to the previous segment on Davinci. If your camera has built-in timecode, you can skip the next step. Once synchronized, you’ll need to export the project in XML format to import it into Premiere or Final Cut.
- In order to export your Davinci project in an XML format, select your Multicam clip, right click with your mouse and choose “Create Timeline with selected clips”.
- Then select the new Timeline and display it. Once this is done, choose “File” then “Export…”. Create your XML file, and make sure to choose .xml as the extension.
Now, here is how to sync in Premiere when you have Timecode embedded in your video:
Premiere:
- Create a new project and import your media into the Media Browser;
- Select the set of files you want to sync, then in the menu bar, click on “Clip”, then “Merge Clip…”;
- Once the pop-up window appears, make sure you check the “Timecode” option as well as “Use Timecode From Clip”. You can check the “Remove Audio from AV Clip” option if you want to remove the audio track that has the timecode embedded. This avoids hearing the timecode when you play the clips in your timeline;
Final Cut Pro
- Create a new project and import your media in the “Media Browser”.;
- Select the set of files you want to synchronize, then right click on the mouse and select the “Synchronize Clips” option;
- Once the pop-up window appears, make sure to select timecode as the synchronization option and check off the option “Use Audio for Sync”. You can also Disable Audio components on AV Clip if you want to remove the audio track with the built-in timecode. This avoids hearing the timecode when you play the clips in your timeline;
- Finally, double-click on the new item created in your “Media Browser”, it will allow you to open your synchronized files in your “Timeline”.
Bonus : Tentacle Sync Studio:
There’s another, even easier way to sync all the audio and video media from a shoot, and that’s with the Tentacle Sync Studio application for Mac. Unfortunately, there is no PC version of this application. It’s free for those who own a Tentacle sync, otherwise you can purchase a license to use it.
- To synchronize your media, just drag and drop all the files into the section intended for this purpose.
- Once in the application, you will have to ensure that all the files have the green dot, which confirms that the synchronization can be done without problems. In case of a red dot, you should check the timecode information and make sure that your files have a timecode.
- Once confirmed, you just have to click on the “Sync Map” button and voilà! The magic happens and all your media are now synchronized on the timeline of the application. You can browse and check if everything is to your liking.
- Then, move your cursor here and export it all to XML. This way you will be able to work in any editing software with the audio synchronized to the video.