Using PluralEyes with Final Cut Pro

 NOTE: For using PluralEyes with Final Cut Pro X, please go to this page.

Getting Started

Video tutorial

Start using PluralEyes right away.

Sync Options

Going beyond the basics to handle those extra-tricky sync situations.

Solving Problems

Troubleshooting tips and how to get support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to common questions.

Getting Started

• Automatically synchronize a sequence
• Create a single output sequence
• Replace audio
• Prevent clips from moving
• (Advanced) Create a multiclip from a sequence

Automatically synchronize a sequence

You use PluralEyes to automatically synchronize clips in a sequence. Here's how:

1. Create a sequence and add the clips to it. They can be positioned anywhere in the sequence, as long as all the clips from each recording device (camera, audio recorder) go on their own track.
2. Start PluralEyes. PluralEyes is a standalone application which is located in the Applications folder.
3. In the PluralEyes dialog, choose the project and sequence from the drop-down lists and press the Sync button.

PluralEyes synchronizes the clips and creates a new sequence called sequence_name ### (synced) and opens it in the timeline. If possible, it also creates a multiclip and puts it in the Browser. If the clips fall into distinct nonoverlapping groups then several multiclips and sequences are created.

Any clips that PluralEyes could not sync are placed into a sequence called sequence_name 000 unsynced. If this happens, and you expected the clips to sync, this would be a good time to explore the sync options. If you want a single output sequence, see the next section.

Create a single output sequence video tutorial

By default, PluralEyes creates a separate output sequence for each group of clips that sync among themselves but not between groups. If instead you want to have all clips placed into a single sequence on output, click the Change button and choose the Single output sequence option.

Each group of synced clips will have a marker in the timeline showing where it starts. If there are unsynced clips they will have a marker with the name pluraleyes unsynced.

Tip If the clips being synced are in order, choose the sync option Chronological order to keep the clips and synced groups in order in the output.

Replace audio

This option is typically used when you have a single video track and a single audio track. For example, the video comes from a DSLR camera using the built-in mic and the audio comes from an external audio recorder with higher-quality sound. The goal is to use the external audio instead of the camera audio. It is convenient to have the audio replaced in the clips in the synced timeline, so that no further effort is required to keep them in sync during the editing process.

The Replace audio option does that for you. When chosen, an additional output sequence is created where the audio in each video clip is replaced by the audio from the synced audio track. Note that the clips are changed in this sequence only. The original media files and the other sequences are not modified in any way.

Prevent clips from moving

By default, PluralEyes will move the clips in the output sequence(s) so that the earliest clip starts at time zero. But sometimes you want one of the clips to stay in place and have the others move relative to that one. If you lock the track that contains that clip, PluralEyes will not move it. Since you can only lock tracks and not individual clips in Final Cut Pro, you may want to move the clip to its own track and then lock that track.

Note that if the locked clip is near the beginning of the timeline it is possible that the sync will cause other clips to try to go before the beginning of the start of the sequence. In that case, they are either truncated or moved to another track entirely.

(Advanced) Create a multiclip from a sequence

PluralEyes will create a multiclip when you automatically synchronize a sequence. But there may be times when you want to manually synchronize one or more clips in a sequence and make a multiclip:

• You automatically synchronized your clips but one of them failed.
• You have good visual sync points and want to use them.
• The audio and video within a clip is out of sync and you want to fix that.

Manual synchronization can be used from scratch or to tweak a sequence that was synchronized by PluralEyes.

1. Name the sequence pluraleyes, if it isn't already. If there is already a sequence of that name, rename it first.
2. Start PluralEyes.
3. In the PluralEyes dialog, press the Multiclip button.

PluralEyes uses the start times of the clips in the pluraleyes sequence to create a multiclip called pluraleyes (from sequence).

Tip It can be very handy to set a marker on each clip at a convenient sync point (e.g., a light flash or distinctive visual motion). In the timeline, with snap turned on, align the clips on their markers. Then convert the sequence to a multiclip.

PluralEyes, DualEyes and Singular Software Presto are trademarks or registered trademarks of Singular Software Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the United States and other countries.