On most shoots, I rely on Pluraleyes to sync my audio automagically, precluding the need to slate anything. This works great when you can record a reference audio track. But ever since I began shooting with Magic Lantern raw, I’ve come face-to-face with the need to slate every single dialog take, because Magic Lantern raw has no reference track. So getting a perfect visual reference is key to avoiding nightmares in post.

Enter Movie Slate. The $49 iPad app is a great alternative to carrying around old fashioned sticks. You can enter all kinds of metadata and have it automatically increment with every take. But one thing I’ve had a hell of a time with is getting an accurate sync point.

So I did some testing today to figure out what’s going on. Here’s what I discovered: there is a 5-frame delay between when the sticks come together on the iPad and the slate begins to turn red, until the audible beep is emitted.

So that’s my tip for you today: just look for the first red frame, and nudge the audio clip spike 5 frames to the right. Link the audio and video clips, and you’re done.