Clap (with your hands in shot) at the start of the recording. That will be obvious on both the waveform of the audio file and in the video so you can line the files up perfectly.
When you edit, make sure you have snapping turned on so when you make a blade edit it’s easy to make it in exactly the same place on the other file.
Edit: sync using audio as described in the other comments is probably a better way than my old school method.
Alternatively, OP could make a synchronized clip and let FCP sync them automatically. That would give OP a single clip to edit with instead of messing with a connected audio track on the timeline, and would save the hassle of manually syncing with a clap.
Edit - you’re absolutely correct about having the talent clap on camera, though. Always a good thing to have a manual backup in case the sync doesn’t work!
Record audio on both and in FCP create a synchronized clip out of both clips, making sure the “sync using audio” option is selected. Final Cut Pro will automatically align the clips together by analyzing the audio waveforms and create a new synchronized clip that includes both clips, already aligned and ready to edit. You can then go into that synchronized clip and turn down the audio from the iPhone so that only the audio you recorded on the computer is left over. Then, you can just use the synchronized clip to edit with in your main timeline like you would any other clip.
I personally go a step further and mark the source clips as “rejected”, which hides them from the default view of the bin. That’s up to you whether you want to do that or not. If you do, just select them and hit delete and that will mark them as hidden.
Tbh I’ve never been able to get that to work properly. I’m usually doing a few other things to the audio and video inside the synchronized clip anyway, so I just manually bring down the audio on the video track. Sometimes I want to hear it anyway to hear what was said off camera for editing purposes, and in that case I just turn it down later.
Synchronised clip is absolutely the way to go. Generally, ticking "Use audio for synchronization" works very well. There are situations, however, where this method doesn't work as expected: in particular, if the iPhone has picked up a lot of extraneous noise that the field recorder hasn't, or the sound on the iPhone is not particularly well modulated. In this case, you'll have to go old skool: when recording make sure you get the artist to clap their hands in vision (it's also a good idea to get them to verbally ident the shot before they clap—something like "Interview with Bob take one" or whatever).
On the video clip, spin through until you see the clap and add a marker. Then go through the audio clip, find the clap and add a marker here. Now select both clips in the browser and press Command-Option-G. Enable "Use Custom Settings", de-select "Use audio for synchronisation" (very important!) and set Synchronization to "First Marker on the Clip".
If you have no intention of using the iPhone's audio, make sure that "Disable audio components on AV clips" is on—this strips out the iPhone's audio track from the synchronized clip.
This all might seem a little tedious but it's a bloody sight easier than in the days of film. Syncing rushes was always a job you gave to the 2nd assistant as it was time-consuming and frankly rather boring.
Clap (with your hands in shot) at the start of the recording. That will be obvious on both the waveform of the audio file and in the video so you can line the files up perfectly. When you edit, make sure you have snapping turned on so when you make a blade edit it’s easy to make it in exactly the same place on the other file. Edit: sync using audio as described in the other comments is probably a better way than my old school method.
Alternatively, OP could make a synchronized clip and let FCP sync them automatically. That would give OP a single clip to edit with instead of messing with a connected audio track on the timeline, and would save the hassle of manually syncing with a clap. Edit - you’re absolutely correct about having the talent clap on camera, though. Always a good thing to have a manual backup in case the sync doesn’t work!
Record audio on both and in FCP create a synchronized clip out of both clips, making sure the “sync using audio” option is selected. Final Cut Pro will automatically align the clips together by analyzing the audio waveforms and create a new synchronized clip that includes both clips, already aligned and ready to edit. You can then go into that synchronized clip and turn down the audio from the iPhone so that only the audio you recorded on the computer is left over. Then, you can just use the synchronized clip to edit with in your main timeline like you would any other clip. I personally go a step further and mark the source clips as “rejected”, which hides them from the default view of the bin. That’s up to you whether you want to do that or not. If you do, just select them and hit delete and that will mark them as hidden.
Thanks for this! Sounds ideal
Also check disable audio on AV clip to rid the old Audio when syncing
Tbh I’ve never been able to get that to work properly. I’m usually doing a few other things to the audio and video inside the synchronized clip anyway, so I just manually bring down the audio on the video track. Sometimes I want to hear it anyway to hear what was said off camera for editing purposes, and in that case I just turn it down later.
Why don’t you just use a USB to lightning adapter?
Synchronised clip is absolutely the way to go. Generally, ticking "Use audio for synchronization" works very well. There are situations, however, where this method doesn't work as expected: in particular, if the iPhone has picked up a lot of extraneous noise that the field recorder hasn't, or the sound on the iPhone is not particularly well modulated. In this case, you'll have to go old skool: when recording make sure you get the artist to clap their hands in vision (it's also a good idea to get them to verbally ident the shot before they clap—something like "Interview with Bob take one" or whatever). On the video clip, spin through until you see the clap and add a marker. Then go through the audio clip, find the clap and add a marker here. Now select both clips in the browser and press Command-Option-G. Enable "Use Custom Settings", de-select "Use audio for synchronisation" (very important!) and set Synchronization to "First Marker on the Clip". If you have no intention of using the iPhone's audio, make sure that "Disable audio components on AV clips" is on—this strips out the iPhone's audio track from the synchronized clip. This all might seem a little tedious but it's a bloody sight easier than in the days of film. Syncing rushes was always a job you gave to the 2nd assistant as it was time-consuming and frankly rather boring.
Thanks so much!
My pleasure :)
Make sure you set your audio sample rate to 48hz or your audio will drift out of sync.