How to Organize a Project
PluralEyes 3.5 can synchronize audio/video footage for a wide variety of productions. This page discusses project examples that can be applied to many situations including corporate events, narrative films, live theater, concerts and commercials.
Simple film with one camera and one audio recorder
Let's say you have filmed interviews and other footage for a documentary film, using a single camera and a separate audio recorder.
Put files from the camera and the audio recorder in separate folders. If your film involves a small number of clips, like fewer than 100, it is reasonable to put all clips in one PluralEyes project.
In the project, use one camera bin and one audio bin. This corresponds to your shoot with one camera and one audio recorder.
Complex film with one camera and one audio recorder
Let's say you have filmed interviews and other footage for a documentary film, using a single camera and a separate audio recorder. You are using footage from multiple shoots, and you were turning the camera and/or audio recorder on and off frequently.
Synchronization will be faster and easier to manage if you create separate projects for parts of the production that were shot at different times. As a very general guideline, if there are a lot of clips, the sync will be faster and easier if you separate those parts so that each project has fewer than 100 clips.
For example, if you shot multiple interviews, you could set up a separate project in PluralEyes for each interview. Put files from the camera and the audio recorder in separate folders. It will probably be most convenient if you also put files from different interviews in separate folders.
In each separate PluralEyes project, remember to use one camera bin and one audio bin. This corresponds to your shoot with one camera and one audio recorder. After you export a synced timeline from PluralEyes for each project, you can combine the synced footage from different projects in your NLE.
Event with three cameras and one audio recorder
Let's say you filmed an entire wedding day with one stationary camera and two handheld cameras. You used a separate audio recorder that was sometimes hooked up to the soundboard, and sometimes hooked up to a wireless microphone.
To keep your media files organized, it is helpful to organize them into folders by device and by what part of the day the footage was from. For example, you could use the following folder hierarchy:
Alternatively, this folder hierarchy would also work:
You could put the entire day’s media files into one PluralEyes project. However, synchronization will be faster and easier to manage if you create a separate project for each of the four parts of the day: one project for Bridal Prep, one project for Groom Prep, one for the Ceremony, and one for the Reception.
Within each project, you can use up to three camera bins and one audio bin. For example, the “Reception” project should have the following bins:
PluralEyes will synchronize the wedding reception footage from all three cameras and from the soundboard together. After you export a synchronized timeline from PluralEyes for each of the four projects for the wedding, you can combine the synchronized footage from different projects in your NLE.
Dance Recital with Two Cameras, Soundboard, and Shotgun Mic
Let's say you have recorded an evening dance recital, with one stationary camera covering the entire stage and one handheld camera closer to the stage. You have an audio file from the soundboard feed, and another audio file from a shotgun microphone mounted near the stage.
Your bins should look like this:
