How to Sync Audio and Video in Premiere? - Renee Robyn (2024)

How to Sync Audio and Video in Premiere? The “secret sauce” that makes for a great final video project is great sound. You want to make sure that the audience doesn’t miss a word when filming a corporate interview or a feature film. To achieve great sound, you should ideally have access to high-end microphones and recording devices capable of capturing crisp, clean dialogue.

Then you enter the editing room and are encountered with different video and audio files that must be perfectly synced, or your dramatic dialogue scene will look like a foreign language dub.

Fortunately, if you’re using Adobe Premiere Pro, there are several simple ways to seamlessly sync your audio and video media files, allowing you to spend less time reading lips and more time editing your finished product.

How to Sync Audio and Video in Premiere?

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Adobe has carefully listened to video editors’ concerns about the time-consuming process of sound syncing and has “baked in” some extremely time-saving tools into the newest version of Premiere Pro.

Examine these three methods for syncing audio and video in Premiere Pro:

Method #1: Using the Merge Clips feature, sync audio and video.

One of the easiest and fastest methods to sync video with on-camera audio to an off-camera audio track is to use the Merge Clips feature. This is a great technique to use if you recorded the project on a DSLR with an internal microphone and want to substitute the camera audio with the high-quality boom microphone you used at the same time.

Step 1: In the project folder, select both tracks, right-click, and choose “Merge Clips.”

Step 2: Select “Audio” as the synchronization point and check the “Remove Audio from AV Clip” box.

This method uses your on-camera audio as the “reference” audio, aligns your external audio source with the internal audio source, and then eliminates the on-camera audio, providing you with your existing video clip synced to your higher-quality audio clip.

Step 3: Insert your merged clip into the sequence.

You now have a synced audio track paired with your video track that you can edit as a regular clip.

Method #2: Use the “Synchronize” feature to sync audio and video.

This is another automated process that works in the same way as the merge clips feature, but it does not generate a new merged file. Instead, it employs artificial intelligence to sync a different audio file with an AV file on your timeline without combining the two files.

Step 1: Stack the audio and video files on top of each other on the timeline.

Step 2: Select the tracks you want to sync, right-click, and then choose “Synchronize.”

Step 3: Choose “Audio” as your synchronization point and which track to sync with.

You should select the audio track that matches up to your in-camera audio as your track channel; this will be your “reference” audio.

Step 4: Click “OK,” and your tracks are now synced!

You can now “link” your synced recordings together to prevent them from falling out of sync. This step is strongly advised to avoid unexpected audio slips.

Method #3: Using manual synchronization, sync your audio and video.

Even though automated technology is fantastic, it occasionally falls short. Premiere may be unable to find a proper reference point in your reference audio, or you may not have any referenced audio to sync with. In this case, you may need to individually sync your audio and video tracks.

Here’s how to manually sync audio and video with a reference track:

Step 1: Add audio and video tracks to your timeline.

Step 2: Zoom in and locate a good, concise reference point in both audios.

Step 3: Make a mark on each clip where you see the same wavelength.

You can do this by selecting the clip and pressing “M” on your keyboard.

Step 4: Line up the clips with the markers.

Step 5: Join the clips together and remove the reference track (if needed)

Whatever your scenario, Adobe Premiere Pro makes audio and video syncing fairly simple and straightforward.

Here’s how to manually sync audio and video without a reference track:

This process is far more difficult than syncing with a reference track, and it works best if your shot is properly “slated.”

To begin, find the slate on your video record. Mark the frame when the clapper stick touches the top of the slate board. Then, zoom in on your audio clip and take a glance at a large sound spike at the start of the audio track. Listen to it and make sure it’s the “clap” the slate makes as the clapper stick falls. Match the tallest peak of the clap sound in the waveform with the video marker you made previously, then watch the clips together with the sound on.

If you marked both of these correctly, your video and audio should be in sync. They may be slightly out of sync; if so, move the audio forwards or backward in small steps until everything is in sync, then link the videos.

Troubleshooting Audio Synchronization Issues

The method for synchronizing clips is simple and quick, but it is prone to errors and unexpected results. Let’s take a look at some of the best troubleshooting tips for syncing audio in Premiere Pro.

• There is more than one clip per track.

There could be a couple of reasons why the Synchronize option is greyed out when you try to combine your audio and video. The most likely scenario is that you have multiple audio clips on a single track.

When Premiere syncs the audio, it will align the clips with the video. Premiere will not be able to sync if there is more than one audio clip on a timeline, including where you have created cuts in your audio. To resolve the issue, simply separate the audio clips so that each has its own track.

• The target track is incorrect.

The target tracks are another factor for a greyed-out synchronize option. These highlight buttons can be used to select which track to paste copied assets to, to match frames, and to sync audio.

Premiere will not sync the audio if no track is highlighted or if there are no assets in the highlighted track. As the target track, you can select any of the layers containing audio or video, and Premiere will use that layer as the foundation for the synchronization.

• Questionable Audio

If you tried to sync your audio, but it didn’t work as expected, it could be because Premiere Pro is having trouble reading your audio. Don’t worry; this is a frequent occurrence when the camera is a long distance away from your subject, or there is a lot of background noise on your camera audio.

• Audio Lag

When you play a clip, you may experience audio lag. There could be an issue when people speak, or the clip could start over. Go to the properties of your video, and you’ll see the variable frame rate spotted here. That is why your Premiere Pro is lagging. You can resolve this issue by downloading the Handbrake program. Open this program and drag the video with audio lag into it; this program will help you fix it. You can see the difference after arranging the video in Premiere Pro.

If you’re having this problem, try cleaning up the onboard audio and syncing again. Experiment with the EQ, Clarity, and Enhance Speech options in the Essential Sound panel.

Top Audio Synchronization Tips

Even though Premiere Pro Audio Synchronization function is simple and quick, there are several other things you can do to improve your workflow.

Mark Your Clips

One of the most common problems with audio syncing is selecting the incorrect clip, which is usually the result of an unorganized project. It is always worthwhile to spend some time managing your project before beginning your edit. Change the name of the audio and video clips to match one another if necessary, so you can easily find them in the Timeline.

Sync as You Go

It can be difficult to resist the temptation to jump right into editing and sync the audio afterward, but it is always a great method to synchronize the resources you need as you go. By linking the video to the new audio, you’ll be able to move everything around your Timeline just like you would with regular video clips.

Synchronization should be shortened.

If you have a project that requires a lot of audio synchronization, this method will still take some time. Because there isn’t a predefined hotkey for the sync function, the simplest thing to do is create one.

Select Keyboard shortcuts from the Premiere menu; search for Synchronization and add your preferred hotkey.

Adobe Premiere Pro makes it simple to sync audio and video. Whatever method you use, Adobe Premiere Pro provides you with all of the tools you need to ensure that your video and audio match up so nicely. Its automated features save a lot of time, and even if you can’t use them, using the useful tools at hand can make syncing up audio tracks as easy as possible.

Best of luck, and happy syncing!

FAQs on How to Sync Audio and Video in Premiere

Originally posted on March 14, 2023 @ 6:08 pm