I'm looking for a reasonably priced program that I can use to sync video and audio files that all have the exact same zero point. I thought vMix was it, but I'm not so sure now. Is there any way to have all your file begin running simultaneously (including the audio master), then cut from one to the other? Starting them at almost the same time won't do since I am editing music videos which must be perfectly synced with a master audio.
I have explored the program all day and not found a way to pull this off.

I have already edited all my files (four video files and one master audio file) of a classical music recital in Sony Vegas Pro 12 and rendered them to all have the exact same zero start point. Unfortunately, Vegas 12 only lets you edit multiple camera clips using a single preview screen and a very cumbersome array of timelines stacked one on top of the other - lots of clipping, splitting, moving, and superimposing, etc...I'd much rather do a real time mix, which vMix comes oh so close to letting me do. with the "quick start" button I can very nearly start two video files at the same time, but "very nearly" doesn't cut it for a music video which needs to be perfectly synced with audio and each and every video clip. What I want is akin to doing a live mix with four camera inputs, but instead of using cameras, I'm substituting prerecorded video files. So again, is there a way to get vMix to start all my imported files to start running at the same time and then switch from one video clip to another with the underlying audio running all along also?

If it does I'm ready to purchase the primo version, if it doesn't, it's of no use to me.

+1 for me.

to repair or mix multi cam recordings as if you would be life, you'd need to be able to start all recordings synchronized. it should be simple to add an option to start selected clips simultaniously.

this would further enhance the value of vmix as an off-line mixer as an alternative to fcpx or similar.

so: yeah good suggestion.

stefan

I do a whole lot of multi-camera editing using Sony Vegas pro 12 all you need is to drop you sync clips on the timeline on top of each other and enable multi-camera edit and sony vegas will combine all the clips and make them one on just a single timeline.

If you are having issue with the audio sync, i will suggest you go buy plural eye... for sony vegas and if you are using Premiere Pro or FCP do same by looking for Plural Eye for them.

Remember, vMix is not and editing software, its a "Video Switcher".

All the best.

First of all, I screwed up. I'm always confusing Sony's Creative software's names. I have Sony Sound Forge Pro 11, and Sony Vegas Movie Studio 12. Vegas Studio of course does not have multi-camera function, but indeed with a huge amount of patience I can construct a multi camera mix from splitting off clips from multiple timelines and placing them in an empty video channel all in a row - tedious to say the least. Using a screwdriver when you need a hammer is always frustrating.

Cyberlink power director 12 has a pretty intuitive multi camera mix function (with a pretty darn good automated synchronizer), as far as I can tell you can only do direct cuts, no fades or transitions between excerpted clips. That's one of the vmix features I really like about vMix. Also, Once you've made you clip segment selections, you can't alter their length after the fact like you can with Vegas Pro.

I've been told by friends the Adobe Premiere can be devilishly difficult to master so I've gone ahead and ordered Sony Vegas Pro 12. Since I'm already very familiar with it's younger brother Vegas Studio, I'm hoping the learning curve won't be too difficult.

I appreciate all the comments suggestions. I tried to follow Ice Stream's suggestion but could not really figure it out. Perhaps if you have the time you could write me a more detailed instruction. I really don't understand how to use the overlay function at all.


Thanks so much to all of you for heading me in the right direction.

@ Shureman
I fully understand, most of us "creative" types are visual learners, so following descriptive instructions for an unfamiliar procedure can appear overly complicated. I tried to keep my instructions simple but obviously made some assumptions about your comfort level with vMix's feature set and UI navigation. And if that's not complicated enough already, upon further reflection, I've thought of another way you could start all your videos simultaneously using shortcut keys. So basically, to answer your original question, Yes, vMix can do that! But it would not be the preferred method. In fact my experience has been the reverse where a multicam shoot is actually switched live and then "fixed" in post with slave recordings made from each camera.
If you are really intent on using vMix for this, I would be happy to provide more step by step instructions, but as SKYGIF implies, if you screw up a "live mix" with vMix, you have no recourse other than starting over from the beginning...
Keep us all posted as to how you make out.

Ice

I use Edius, and its great for multicam edits....works like a dream...was using Edius for many years for multicam edits......You can switch just like a live video switcher, even use the keypad to do your cuts and it has a multiview so you can see all your clips as they play...very simple and easy to work with.....

Yes, but it is better to put all clips on the HD for faster reading....I do not use files from cards, I always copy them to my HD and then edit from there......

Bardos59 wrote "Yes, but it is better to put all clips on the HD for faster reading...."

SKYGIF wrote "Yes you could but it's like going back to dial up internet...slow and choppy. And that's with the Really fast 1100x 160 MB/s cards that cost $500-$1000 a piece"

Thanks for that, but I don't need faster than real time reading. All I want is to edit from 6 AVCHD files at 24 mbps from 6 card readers attached to separate USB2 or USB3 sockets.
USB2 is capable of 480 mbps and USB3 5000 mbps, so where's the hold-up, bottleneck or whatever?