Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/94072
review WooWaveSync Pro I By FRED RUCKEL CreativeDirector Rucksack www.rucksackny.com NewYork Automating post syncing from DSLRs. n late September we had a project for a large cosmetics company, via Marina Maher Communications, that required us to have a two-camera DSLR shoot with a separate audio recorder. In terms of talent, we had six people to cover in a loose camera point-of- view situation — the goal was to teach peo- ple about using a new type of nail polish. This was a full nine-hour shoot day, which meant there was a lot of footage to deal with. As many of you know, the downside to a DSLR shoot is sync. These cameras, in our case a Canon 7D, do not record timecode or have a clock to sync with, outside of the real- time clock. In many cases the result is a solid day of syncing clips with our audio files. Another issue we had to contend with was that we needed to turn around five rough- cuts in four days for review, and then revise and make final masters by the following week. Needless to say, time wasn't on our side and there wasn't the type of budget that allowed us to have an army of people working on it. Having to sync up all this material for a multicam shoot can be a real nightmare. And we didn't have the luxury of an entire day to do so. Then into our lives came the WooWave Sync Pro. WHAT IT DOES WooWave Sync Pro is a new product that helps to automate the daunting task of post syncing material. There are a few other prod- simply enter in the resolution and frame rate that you will be working in. You can choose Slow, Default or Fast for the syncing process. As one would expect, this is all about how much time you would like to wait for the accuracy of it. In our case we went with the Default settings since we just wanted to plow through it all and get editing right away. The software worked so fast I had thought it didn't do anything, but it had done the job... and fast. In under one minute it was able to sync up the entire nine-hour shoot. Within a few minutes we are doing multicam edits with sync audio. It was such a huge time saver, it lit- erally saved us a day with an editor manually syncing up files. Being under such an extreme time crunch, this software was incredibly handy. As with any new software that just comes to market, there are some bugs and caveats. While it was able to sync up all our material very fast, it wasn't 100 percent accurate. We found that it had an offset of three frames in many instances. It only took a couple of min- utes to slip the tracks into perfect sync, allow- ing us to start editing. When the software creates the XML file, it puts it in the application package contents. For me, this isn't the best solution. Most people do not know how to get into the package con- tents folder since it is hidden from direct view. As such, it requires a deeper knowledge of how package contents work, which typically an editor never has to deal with unless they are VITAL STATS PRODUCT: WooWave Sync Pro WEBSITE: www.woowave.com PRICE: Regular price, $99; Students, $49; Crossgrade from Plural Eyes 2, $29 until end of 2012 (proof of license) - simple-to-use interface - huge time saver - great price point [Response from WooWave: "As many have had problems with codecs, the app generated list files that were problematic. The vertical limit of tracks is now unlimited. We've included an extra threshold button, which is useful for clients willing to sacrifice precision and get sync. The app puts all the results in a folder called Synced, which is on the user's desktop, making it much easier to find." WooWave emphasizes they are constantly fixing bugs, thanks to "all-important" user feedback.] FINAL THOUGHTS In summary, this software does what it is supposed to do. It is a big time and money saver. While there is other software on the market meant for the same function, I found this one to be easy to use right after install, and with a very small learning curve. The developer is constantly trying to improve his product and welcomes feedback from users to create a better final product. WooWave Sync Pro comes in at a very good price point and is well worth the cost. Give it a try and simplify your day a bit. You will be glad you did. Note: The app's creator Igor Javcevski (iovchevski@gmail.com) is eager for input, and reports that anyone testing uct options for doing this, however WooWave Sync Pro is a very inexpensive program — I purchased it for $49 during their half-price promotion. The software itself is extremely easy to use. There are just two menus, select files and options. In the options menu, you 48 Post•November2012 their own IT person. It would be best if the software allowed the user to pick where the XML file that is created is saved. Each time you run the software it overwrites that file, which to me can become a problem down the road if you didn't move the XML file elsewhere. www.postmagazine.com their product against competing sync products and posting their results online, regardless of findings, get a license. A link to source files or proxies is needed (http://woowave.com/woowave-chal- lenge). There are still a limited number of licenses available.