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 SEMSYNC 3.0 - hours of footage, minutes of work
 Automatic sync, directing and editing for DaVinci Resolve
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(Italiano? Leggi LEGGIMI.txt)

WHAT YOU NEED
- Windows 10/11 (Mac build included, still in field testing)
- DaVinci Resolve STUDIO (the paid version: external scripting
  requires it)
- Python 3, free (if missing, INSTALLA.bat tells you where to get it)
- Your SemSync code (we sent it to you by email)


INSTALLATION (once)
0. EXTRACT the ZIP: right click > "Extract All". Do not install
   from inside the zip preview: nothing works from there.
1. Double click INSTALLA.bat (in the extracted folder) and wait
   for it to finish: the window stays open and ends with
   "INSTALLATION COMPLETE".
   ON MAC: double click INSTALLA.command. If macOS blocks it or says
   you "don't have the privileges": open Terminal, type bash followed
   by a space, drag the INSTALLA.command file into the window and
   press Enter. It starts right away and also fixes the permissions.
2. Open Resolve: Preferences > System > General >
   "External scripting using" = Local, then Save.
3. RESTART Resolve (it only reads this option on startup).
4. Open SemSync (Workspace > Scripts > SemSync), go to ACCOUNT
   in the left bar, paste your code and press Activate.

Step 4 is the one that switches the program on: without it,
SemSync opens and everything is visible, but it will not sync
and will not edit.


HOW IT IS LAID OUT (the left bar)

  MULTICAM NIGHT     the whole night: mixer + cameras, automatic
                     sync and editing. Five steps:
     1 THE NIGHT     the folder, the check, the Resolve project
     2 DIRECTING     the style, the cut length cap, zoom, the eye
     3 THE JOB       start it, with the live log
     4 COLOR         exposure and camera matching
     5 DELIVERY      previews, aftermovie, vertical clips for socials

  CLUB CLIPS         loose clips shot during a night, cut on the
                     drop. Four steps:
     1 THE CLIPS     the folder (videos only, photos are skipped)
     2 THE TIMELINE  vertical or horizontal, and the gap between clips
     3 COLOR         your grade copied onto all of them
     4 THE GAP       to change the spacing later, if needed

  ACCOUNT            your code, your plan, and the button to move
                     the license to another computer

  TOOLS              clean audio on an edit you already made

Cards that need the analysis stay off until it exists, and they
tell you why.


THE LICENSE (ACCOUNT)
One license works on ONE COMPUTER AT A TIME. If you switch
machines, or take the laptop on the road:
  1. On the old computer: ACCOUNT > Detach this computer
  2. On the new computer: ACCOUNT > paste the code > Activate
It takes ten seconds and you can do it as often as you like.

Internet is only needed for this: the first activation, and a
check every now and then. THE WORK RUNS ENTIRELY ON YOUR
COMPUTER, your footage is never uploaded anywhere. Between checks
you can work offline, on the road or in the edit suite.

If you lose your code: semsync.app/codice and we will email it
again (invoices and your subscription live there too).


UPDATES (ACCOUNT)
When a new version comes out, the ACCOUNT card tells you by itself.
One button: SemSync downloads the package, checks its signature,
restarts and you are on the new version. Your analyses, your
projects and your license are not touched. If anything goes wrong,
it rolls back to the previous version on its own: you are never
left stranded. No more downloading anything from the site.


HOW TO USE IT: THE MULTICAM NIGHT
1. Prepare the night's folder with these folders inside:
     MIXER      the WAV from the mixer feed (required, it is the reference)
     CAM1..CAM3 the fixed cameras (one folder per camera)
     MOBILE     the roaming operators' clips
     AMBIENTE   the crowd microphone (optional)
2. Open Resolve and open (or create) a project.
3. Menu Workspace > Scripts > SemSync: the panel opens.
4. Browse, pick the night's folder, press Check.
5. Press SYNC THE NIGHT and wait: the log shows you everything.
   Resolve stays usable, the panel wakes up when it is done.
6. In Resolve you will find two timelines:
     SYNC MAP   every source in sync, with colored markers
     ROUGH CUT  the automatic checkerboard edit: the cuts sit on
                the camera tracks, with in and out points inside
                the original footage (stretch the edges any time).

ALREADY ANALYZED AND WANT TO CHANGE SOMETHING? (THE JOB step)
Under the big button there are two that do NOT redo the analysis:
  Redo directing only   change style or cut cap and rebuild the
                        edit in seconds
  Refine the sync       re-measures each camera's clock curve,
                        for the ones that drift over the night


HOW TO USE IT: CLUB CLIPS
When there is no mixer and no full night to edit: just a pile of
clips shot during the night.
1. Pick the folder. SemSync takes ONLY the videos (photos are
   skipped) and listens to every clip to find the drop.
2. From every long take it pulls out SEVERAL clips, one per hit:
   ten seconds before the drop, fifteen after.
3. It builds the timeline in Resolve, vertical (1080x1920) or
   horizontal, with TWENTY SECONDS of space between clips so you
   can stretch them by hand without hitting the next one.
4. If a take has no drop, it is left whole: no random cuts.


PREVIEWS: LET THE CLIENT CHOOSE (DELIVERY)
Most clients do not need the three hour multicam: they need the
good parts. SemSync does the whole loop.
1. Pick the length (usually 1 minute), how much before the drop
   to start, the camera and the quality, then press CREATE THE
   PREVIEWS. SemSync exports ONE PIECE PER TRACK, single cut,
   with the clean mixer audio and the name written on the video.
   If you do not care about one, click its card: it turns gray
   and is not exported.
2. Send the client the previews folder. It also contains
   PROVINI.html: the client opens it with a double click, watches
   the pieces, ticks the ones they want and copies the list. No
   software to install.
3. When they send the chosen files back, put them in a folder and
   press RECOGNIZE AND BRING INTO RESOLVE. SemSync recognizes
   them by name, by code or (if renamed) by audio fingerprint,
   and builds for you:
     SELEZIONE            the long cameras in a row, and above
                          them the chosen clips at the exact
                          frame, colored pink
     ROUGH CUT SELEZIONE  the automatic edit ONLY inside those
                          windows, ready to deliver
   So you edit fifteen minutes instead of three hours.


AUTOMATIC AFTERMOVIE (DELIVERY)
The venue wants the highlights edit the next day. Pick the length
(usually a minute and a half) and how long each moment should
last, then press CREATE THE AFTERMOVIE. SemSync takes the biggest
hits, the crowd roars and the sharpest energy changes, picks them
SPREAD from start to end of the night (not all from the same half
hour), and edits them to the beat with alternating cameras.
"Show the moments" lists them first, without building anything.


VERTICAL FOR SOCIALS (DELIVERY)
MP4 files ready to upload, in 9:16, 4:5 and 1:1, without going
through Resolve: the vertical aftermovie and the short clips of
the big moments. The crop is not a blind center cut: SemSync
looks at where the people are in the frame and chooses once per
segment, then the crop stays put (a crop that chases people is
visible).


THE EYE: SEMSYNC LOOKS INSIDE THE FOOTAGE (DIRECTING)
Cutting to the music is not enough if at that moment the camera
was shaky, dark or pointed at a wall. With WATCH THE FOOTAGE
SemSync opens the takes and writes itself a diary: for every
camera what it frames, how close it is, whether it is locked off
or handheld, and which parts are unusable.
Then, if you leave "Let the eye choose too" ticked, the edit uses
it: where the music has a strong reason (drop, build-up, crowd,
change) the cut stays where it is, and the eye only steps in if
the image is ruined; where there is no reason, it picks the
camera that is worth most at that moment.


EXPOSURE AND COLOR (COLOR)
MEASURE THE EXPOSURE looks at the whole night and tells you three
things: whether you CLIPPED anything (and whether the sensor
truly saturated, which is the only thing that never comes back),
where you went too DARK, and how far apart the cameras are from
each other. If you shoot log, pick your grade's LUT from the
dropdown (every LUT installed in Resolve is there) and the
measurement reflects how it will actually look.
MATCH THE CAMERAS writes the correction in Resolve on the open
timeline, on its own node: the grade you made is not touched. By
default it is CAUTIOUS: it applies the strongest correction that
does NOT crush the blacks or clip the highlights, and tells you
how far it actually went.


CLEAN AUDIO ON YOUR OWN EDIT (TOOLS)
You already edited the clips yourself (maybe 40 pieces of 30
seconds, already graded and arranged) and the client wants the
mixer audio instead of the camera audio? Nothing to redo.
1. In Resolve open YOUR project and the timeline to fix.
2. In TOOLS: pick the mixer WAV, press "Read the timeline" (it
   tells you how many clips it finds and from which files).
3. Press PUT THE MIXER AUDIO UNDERNEATH. SemSync locks each
   source file to the mixer once, then works out for every clip
   which point of the night it comes from and lays the right
   piece of mixer under it, frame accurate, on a new track called
   "MIXER PULITO".
By default it works on a COPY of your timeline (the original is
not touched) and mutes the camera audio tracks: one click in
Resolve turns them back on.


GOOD TO KNOW
- Top right there is the TRAFFIC LIGHT: green = Resolve responds,
  red = click it and read the hint.
- At the bottom of the left bar your ACCOUNT status is always
  shown: if it is red, the program will not work.
- Pick a DIRECTING STYLE (Club night, Festival, Frantic, Music
  video, Podcast): it sets everything, including the maximum cut
  length.
- With "Export the edit" you choose preset, format, codec,
  resolution and folder; "Dry run" checks without rendering.
- You can OPEN OR CREATE a Resolve project from SemSync, without
  touching Resolve.
- The program also speaks ITALIAN: the IT/EN button top right.
- Shortcuts: Ctrl+Enter starts, Alt+1..5 switches step, Esc closes.


IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
- "Resolve not reachable": check installation steps 2 and 3, and
  that Resolve is open on a project.
- "This license is active on another computer": go to that
  computer, ACCOUNT > Detach this computer, then activate here.
- "SemSync has not heard the server for too long": get online
  once and press Check now in the ACCOUNT card.
- During the analysis you can stop the engine with the Stop
  button: everything computed so far stays saved. Resolve stays
  free meanwhile.
- After restarting Resolve, reopen the SemSync window too.
- Still stuck? In ACCOUNT there is "Send the log to support".
  One button, and we receive the work log (text only, never your
  videos): we reply by email already knowing what happened.

For anything at all: inside the app (ACCOUNT > Send the log to
support) or semsync.app/contatta

by Morelz
