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I have been editing with Casablanca editors for about 11 years now. I now have a renommee that I bought last year. The main part of my bussiness is Stock Car Racing. I have been in the video business since 1983. I do other things as well. I shoot a TV show for distribution in the Phillipines. I am currently editing a couple projects for people who have shot their own footage. I really don't like that much, I shoot for the edit. I just purchased Quad-cam 2 weeks ago. It works really good for my TV show. I shoot with 2 cameras. I really wanted it for the racing videos but I haven't figured out how to do it yet. I shoot with sometimes 4 cameras. 2 of them are for wrecks and all. 2 I switch regularly in my production. The problem is that to make the Quad cam work and be in sync, you have to run the background, main, camera continously. To those of you who know any thing about racing, you have cautions and clean ups might be 10 or 15 minutes at times. Does any one on here use Quad cam? Does any one shoot racing? I have 2 Sony DSR-pd 170's and 2 Panasonic Ag-DVX100b's, as well as several consumer cameras for B-roll. Does anyone use those cameras? I don't know why I am just finding this forum. I talked to a macro rep today and he turned me on to it. I look forward to sharing Idea's with some of you. Thanks Bob...

Welcome to the forum, Bob. I don't share much of what you mention including Quadcam. However, I've shot with 3 cameras and manually got them all in sycn.

Regarding elemininating portions of your footage, I would proceed as you have but when finished (everything is perfect including the inserts & audio) make a scene of the storyboard which will include your inserts. Then split the scene and drop or keep what you want.

Others will eventually chime in. Good luck!

Hey jpaul, I have shot with mulible cameras for years but since going to non linear editing I have had to sync manually and that takes me forever to do and get it synced good. I edited a race a couple of weeks ago and in one race I got off a lap and 1 customer called me on it. He wasn't upset but I don't like to have complaints. With my Renommee I Edit one cut at the time when I get in sync it goes pretty good. I count laps but if My #2 camera stops for any reason I get messed up that way. I didn't have near as much trouble putting them together with my old Alta Pyxis TBC with its switcher. Man them were the days. What kind of events do you shoot? I shoot a rodeo every once in a while. I don't like weddings although I will shoot one ocassionly. I turned one down yesterday. Well partically, I have to edit it, My wifes going to shoot it. That should be a hoot, she's never shot a wedding. I have aa ASA race to shoot. I probably won't make as much money but I like that better. LOL! Thanks for responding. I look forward to becoming well known with you guys and sharing. I belonged to a user group a few years ago, but it kinda gell apart and the dealer I started my Macro Ststem with retired and he kinda ran the group. He was a guru when it came to the cassie. He was able to answer all my questions. Thanks again. Bob...

Hi Bob

Go to this link it in this forum it is a bout manually syncing your cameras- it helped me a lot.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=548&p=3238&hilit=q ... sync#p3238

Hey Jeanton, I'll do that. I can always use all the help I can get. I am 65 and this computer stuff don't come natuarl. He just Graduated from high school a few weeks ago and he took a course in media his last 2 years. What would you do with my situation? I'll have a caution and it may be 1 minute and it may be 20 mins. I can't see how I could tape the whole show cautions and all. It'd take a mountain of tape some nights. Cust service told me the background camera must keep running in order to keep sync. I'm not sorry I bought it because it works great for the TV show I shoot. Its just like switching live. cuts tthe edit time in half. Thanks I'll look at that site. Bob

One way to deal with the caution flag sections with quad cam would be to take the main background camera and split it KEEPING ALL (Use) the parts you want to drop. Then split the additional camera scenes EXACTLY the same using the scene lengths of background video for a template. Now you can delete all the caution flag footage etc. and the footage will all be the same in time for all cameras. Either quadcam edit individual clips or make each camera footage into on long scene and edit as usual using quadcam. For long camera scenes of half an hour or more, I usually split all the scenes into a more manageable lengths anyway even if I'm not deleting anything.

Hi Bob

The use of Quadcam is basically live switching with a lot of benefits. Have you ever tried to fine tune your inserts ( the other camera angles not the background one) by highlighting the insert scene in the storyboard you push on the range button underneath the storyboard. Now you see the insert scene and there are two options (Position and trim) leave the position alone but select trim you will now have the ability to ad 3 sec to the scene either from the beginning or the end. This is what I call the benefits of quadcam you don't have that with live switching you make the switch and that's it. When you were doing live switching the old way didn't you have to sit through the caution flag bit other wise you had to sync all your shots again? If you are filming with other camera operators you have to make rules of when to turn the camera off for instant turn all the camera's off 1 or two minutes after they stopped the race. Syncing them again and again could be more time consuming than letting them run continuously unless you can use the smart sync function success fully as I have done in the past but now I have the pro it doesn't come with that anymore.(this would have been good for you to use)

How to smart sync your cameras? (if you can)
You read your cameras internal clock times as close as you can to your event into your editing machine.
Afterwards when you come back and loaded your footage into your editing machine you go to use Quadcam all your footage will be synchronize to your background shot.
That is simply set the way it works,if it works is the big question offcourse.

Bob, in answer to your question I used to shoot/edit weddings but we've retired from that. Now it's just for fun (no $). Getting the cams in sync manually didn't seem to be a problem except the time my wife's cam did not record audio at the ceremony. Had to use a close up of lips!

Hey Jeanton, When I used a switcher I synced after each caution. But thats easier when you can shuttle each vtr to where you need it. Another thing I used a lot then was the PA system. I had the Pa in each camera and and it was simple to get the audio on top of each other and it was a done deal till the next caution. I have thought about making caution to caution a different scene, but some times they go a lap and another caution, a lap and a caution. In that case it would be just as easy to switch manually. The Quadcam works great on my TV shows. I have cam1, background on a wide shot and cam2 on a close shot or if I have 2 people on the set I set up cam1 to a 2 shot and I use cam 2 for a close 1 shot alternating. The edit then is just a matter of going thru both tapes and switching where I feel its prudent. I have the host clap her hands when shes ready and give me 3 seconds. I then trim each to the same spot in the clap and I am synced. At least thats how I,ve done it in the 2 pieces I have edited with it and it seemed to work well. The only pain is that I have to insert Graphics in when she mentions scriptures. What I did was make the whole production 1 scene, trim the clap off the front and spilit the new scene at the spots where I need the graphics. Then I put my open and close and add transitions where they need to be and I am done. I have the open and close already done. we use the same one on each show. I have 8 1/2 hour shows on tape and I mailed one today. Maybe when you guys teach me something I can get faster and make some money. LOL! I'd do this even if I didn't make any money. I luv it... Bob...

Your answer may be on page 13 of the Quadcam manual in the section that reads,
"5.2 QuadCam with SmartSync DV".