Marc Wielage
Well-known member
Well, you can do it by listening. This is a big reason why having matching time code on the sound files and camera files is so necessary: that way, the syncing process is basically automatic. In the rare event timecode fails, you could fall back on the timecode slate and assume those numbers are accurate and the clap is accurate.
I have done "eyeball sync" on some pretty huge movies over the years, and you can actually get very fast at it if you know what you're doing and develop a muscle memory for the keyboard commands and hand/eye coordination. I can't do it nearly as fast as a really experienced assistant editors -- those people can fly through 100 takes in an hour or two, and I'd be lucky to do one every minute or two. But with perseverance, it can be done.
It also helps to have very accurate sound logs. There are several companies in LA that routinely create "sound sync logs" where an operator goes through, listens to the start of every track, and writes down the exact frame of the slate clap. There's automatic software that will do this now, but it can also be done by hand fairly quickly. Once you know those numbers, it's not that hard to jog up to the sticks, wait until they're closed, then drop the sound clap in at that frame.