To edit multicam in Final Cut Pro, first build and check a multicam clip, then cut its angles in a project timeline. Decide which audio should stay continuous before switching pictures.
Build a multicam clip from the right sources
Keep the original media and work in a saved library. Name cameras and the main audio so you can identify them later. A matching clock setting is useful metadata; it does not prove that two devices recorded the same timecode or stayed in sync.
- Select the source clips in the browser. Choose File → New → Multicam Clip, name the clip and choose its event.
- Choose synchronization settings that match the recording. Enable Use audio for synchronization when the angles contain usable shared sound. Apple warns that some recordings are unsuitable and analysis can take time.
- If using custom settings, distinguish angle assembly from synchronization. Camera names can group clips into angles; the sync setting determines how those angles line up.
- Open the result in the angle editor and check a visible event against its sound. Check another point later in the recording before cutting a long sequence.
Apple documents these choices in Create multicam clips. Use the instructions for your installed version rather than guessing from a different editor's menus.
Use the angle viewer for cuts, the angle editor for sync
Add the multicam clip to a project timeline. Open the angle viewer with View → Show in Viewer → Angles. During playback, clicking an angle cuts and switches to it. Option-click switches the active angle without adding that cut. Number keys map to angles in the current bank, so check the mapping first.
Select video-only switching if the main audio should continue across picture changes. Switching both audio and video can change the sound each time you pick another camera. The angle editor is where you adjust the source angles; it is not the place to perform the project's live cut-and-switch pass. See Apple's cut and switch guide.
A picture cut should not create an audio cut
Illustrative two-camera interview
Sources: camera A is the wide shot; camera B is the close-up; a recorder holds the main voice track.
Edit: change the picture from A to B at a sentence boundary while keeping the recorder audio selected.
Listen: if the room tone or voice level jumps at that picture cut, inspect the active audio angle and switching mode before adding an audio effect.
Authored teaching example. No camera files were processed or native Final Cut session tested for this guide.
| What you notice | What to inspect |
|---|---|
| A fixed lip-sync offset | Compare an event and its sound in the angle editor, then recheck later. |
| Sync changes over time | Check source timing at several points. One offset does not explain drift. |
| The voice changes on a cut | Check the audio angle and video-only switching mode. |
| A sync fix changes other edits | The parent multicam clip can affect its project instances. |
Before changing the parent clip's sync, consider duplicating it in the browser. Apple's angle editor guide explains that parent changes propagate to instances and that its monitoring angle is separate from the project's active angle.
Review the sequence and the finished file
- Watch important cuts at normal speed for framing, continuity and lip sync.
- Listen across picture changes with the same audio path you chose deliberately.
- Check the beginning, middle and end after a sync adjustment.
- Play the actual delivered file, including its first and last spoken lines. Use the upload-review checklist.
For the equivalent workflow in Adobe, use the Premiere Pro multicam guide. For a separate spoken rough cut, the Gling handoff guide explains what to check before moving between editors. Removing pauses is not proof that camera synchronization has been repaired.
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