Mix two video tracks with iMovie on OS X

Question

I have two video tracks and one audio track of a bass player testing his instrument.

I've been able to put in sync the main video track with audio and now I'd like to add the second video track just in some phases.

I'll try to explain better: the main video track is from a static cam that has the better stability and colour quality. the secondary video track was shoot from my hands and it's more cinetic.

How can I mix the 1st video track with the 2nd without losing the audio sync easily?

Answer 1

This type of alignment/syncing is why the clapboard was invented! Without one, you'll have to be a little more meticulous when you manually align the clips.

This post on the Apple Support forums suggests a few helpful features to use:

• The basic feature you want to use is Cutaways.
• Audio waveforms can be used for visual alignment.
• Playing audio from both tracks simultaneously lets you hear when the tracks are in sync.
• Changing the time scale and showing the frame count allows you to make fine-scale adjustments to the clip positions. You can use the arrow keys to nudge the clips.

Read the aforementioned post for some more tips.

Answer 2

If you would consider using Final Cut Pro, there is a third-party plug-in for it that aids in automatically syncing audio and video and multiple cameras. It's called PluralEyes, from Singular Software.