Having trouble synchronizing audio.

[evangod127]

Hello, I have used premiere for many years. One issue I face is synchronizing audio. Mainly when I want to keep the main clip stationary and add smaller clips like b-roll. No matter what I do, it seems to always want to adjust to the smaller clip. Lets say I add a master clip, or audio track for like a music video. I want to be able to just synchronize in smaller b-roll footage to line up to the main clip, yet everytime I hit synchronize it wants to move my main clip around. This obviously throws everything off. No matter what I select (track channel 1 or 2 or mix down), it always moves the clip I dont want. Is there a way to keep the master clip from moving. I will attach pictures for reference. 

[Richard M Knight]

This used to be true with previous versions of Premiere butI can't remember which way round it is. The earlier clip is always moved later, or the other way round.

[evangod127]

I always use the current version of premiere, but I have noticed this issue over the past year or so. I feel like I used to be able to get it to work in the past with some tinkering. Now, no matter what I do, it moves my master clip. Its very frustrating when I am trying to add in multiple b-roll clips. I guess I will have to sync them up manually. I just wish there was a way to lock the master clips in place. When I hit the lock symbol, it wont allow me to synchonize. I also can't seem to find anything about this on youtube or google. Am I really the only person who experiences this issue?

[Michael Grenadier]

first, I think your terminology is wrong (not a big deal, but it helps if we're all using the words the same way)

Sounds like you're editing multiple angles rather than adding b-roll which wouldn't have the same soundtrack.  You should be able the synchronize everything before you start editing.  If you've already started editing, It should be simple enough to synchronize everything and then just reference the timecode on the master clip to the other angle on your synchronized sequence...  Of course, I may not understand your issues (wouldn't be the first time).  If you find the synchronization options in premiere insufficient, you might check out Red Giant's Pluraleyes

https://www.redgiant.com/products/pluraleyes/

You can basically just drop all your sources into it and it will usually line everything up and output an xml sequence you can import into premiere.  I find sometimes premiere is better for the job and sometimes pluraleyes.  

[evangod127]

Thank you for the response. Yes, multiple angles would be the better term to use. I see what you are saying, so I should just synchronize ahead of time rather than trying to synchronize later. Sometimes its hard to decide if I will want to use a clip or not until I am in the middle of editing. I guess this just requires better planning. I had this problem when I shot a music video recently. I had tons of angles of the front man, singing the same lines, and tried to sync the clips to the actual song as I was going, it just seems like alot to have so much on the time line. I would rather just take snippets as I go, and throw it on the time line and be able to sync it to the songs main audio track. But again, it kept moving the song around, rather than the video clips. Throwing everything off. I guess I will look into Pluraleyes.

[Michael Grenadier]

was he lip synching to playback?  then you might be able to synch it up automatically, if not, it ain't gonna work and you'll manually need to match it up as best as is possible.   I'd just drop these shots on a higher video track at the approximate synch point (for example a particular word in the lyrics) and then just adjust it by sliding it a few frames forward and back.  You can also do some pretty amazing stuff making multiple takes of the piece work using a more advanced technique.  I directed and edited this a number of years ago in fcp7

https://vimeo.com/45157225

We shot multiple takes of the performance in the afternoon with all sorts of angles and then shot the performance before an audience that evening with 2 cameras.  I was able to do a near-perfect job of faking the synch by keyframing the speed of the video clips to match the evening performance.  didn't get paid enough (but what else is new?).

[evangod127]

Yes, I did have him lip synching to the original track. I actual had a bunch of takes of him singing the song, showing multiple personalities, (screen shot from video) But still I kept having the issue with synching. I have yet to finish the video... haha but I guess I will give it another shot. Again I will just have to stick to manual synching. For the video I am currently having issues with, it shouldnt be so complicated. I filmed a professor giving a lecture. He had a mic on and gave a powerpoint lecture. It is for students who are now learning remotely. The idea was to add shots of the professsor through out the powerpoint lecture to mimic what they would see if they were in class. I have clips of his introduction and a few other important points of the lecture, and I just wanted to easily sync them up to the main lecture audio. For some reason, it wants to move the main track around. 

Awesome video by the way! You did a great job, syncing everything. I like the shot down the neck of the bass.