Audio Video Capture

Ryan Stroup asked me for the best way to sync audio and video sources:

I had a question for you about syncing audio and video. I haven’t seen you talk about this yet so I thought it would be a good question to ask. I would like to start using an external mixer for audio rather than the internal mic on my miniDV camera. High end cameras have audio inputs available but that is outside of my budget. My mixer is connected to the computer’s Line-In port on the sound card so I can record audio from the mixer directly to the PC. I’ve decided what I can do is record the audio using Audacity while I’m recording video on the camera. Okay, FINALLY to the question. In your opinion, what is the best way to sync the audio I just recorded in Audacity with the video?

So, I asked Jake about it:

Old school is the way to go - something like a clap board or a hand clap on screen, so that you sync the sound to the recorded movement. From there, leave the camera rolling and there should be no problem getting sync sound in post.

My problem is that once I start clapping, I can’t stop. In fact, I’m clapping right now - which really makes it difficult to finish this sentence.