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recently, a new software utüity called PluralEyes has popped up for users of Apple's Final Cut Pro and Sony Vegas Pro. PluralEyes, from Singular Software (http://singularsoftware.com), is designed to synchronize multiple camera tracks and audio sources on your timeline in preparation for a multicam edit. I'm reviewing PluralEyes 1.1.3 as it's used in Sony Vegas Pro (32-bit or 64-bit).
Synchronizing multiple camera tracks and audio sources continues to be a popular task with the proliferation of video DSLR devices, since most users are creating multiple files, recording audio off-camera, and syncing everything up in post. Syncing is one of those tasks that haven't disappeared over time; in fact, I think more and more people have to do this now with these new cameras. PluralEyes can be a useful tool for expediting this process.
INSTALLATION AND BASIC USAGE
In Vegas Pro 8 or 9, PluralEyes installs as an extension. The installation is standard fare; accept the license agreement, and it copies files to your hard drive.
The basic usage of PluralEyes is very simple:
* Drag your video and audio tracks to the timeline.
* Select the tracks you want to sync (Ctrl-? for All).
* Choose the PluralEyes extension by clicking Tools > Extensions > PluralEyes (you can also add PluralEyes to the toolbar for easy access).
Choosing the PluralEyes extension brings up a very simple dialog box with three choices: Sync, Cancel, and Change.
Click the Sync button, and the sync process begins. Not knowing how PluralEyes worked, and as someone accustomed to other Vegas scripts and extensions, on my first PluralEyes project, I assumed the process would take just a second or two. On the contrary, the first step took 7 minutes. This project had three camera tracks cut in two places and two additional sources of uninterrupted audio, and it was about an hour in length.
It's important to understand how PluralEyes operates: It creates an audio WAV file as a reference for each track that you ask it to sync (even if your original track is a WAV file). So...