How to Sync Multicam by Audio in DaVinci Resolve

In Summary In DaVinci Resolve, select every camera clip of the take in the Media Pool, right-click and choose Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips. In the dialog, set Angle Sync to Sound and click Create. Resolve lines the angles up by the shape of their audio waveforms. It only works if every camera recorded the same sound at the same time. On the Cut page, the Sync Clips window does the same job with its Audio button.

The short answer

Sync by audio lives in the New Multicam Clip Properties dialog on the Edit page. Select the clips, right-click, choose Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips, pick Sound under Angle Sync, and click Create. Depending on the sync method, a waveform analysis may show a progress bar. The new multicam clip lands in whichever bin is selected in the Media Pool.

The one condition is in the manual's own wording. The DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (chapter 49, Multicam Editing, p. 1062) says: "If each camera had a microphone with which to simultaneously record the location audio, you can choose Sound to use the shape of each audio waveform to align all of the angles." No scratch audio on a camera means nothing for Resolve to compare.

If you cut in Premiere Pro instead, see how to sync audio and video in Premiere Pro.

Step by step on the Edit page (Resolve 21)

These steps follow the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026), chapter 49, pp. 1061–1063.

1. Import the ISOs. Bring every isolated camera clip of the performance or interview into the Media Pool. If you have a separate recorder file and want it as the audio for all angles, import it too (see step 5).
2. Select and create. Select all the clips you need to sync, right-click the selection and choose Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips.
3. Set Angle Sync to Sound. The other choices are Timecode (for jam-synced cameras), In or Out points you set by hand, and Marker.
4. Pick the Channel. "If Sound is selected as your Angle Sync type, you can choose the audio channel from the clip to use as a sync source."
5. Choose Multicam Audio. The four options are Source Audio Channels (the default), Reference Audio, Adaptive Tracks and All Angles. To use a sound recordist's file as the audio for every angle, add that file to the multicam clip and choose Reference Audio/Angle 1. The manual says this "automatically identifies the first audio-only angle and sets it as the reference audio for all the other angles" (p. 1063).
6. Decide on Split Multicam at gaps. Only available with Sound: "you can choose to split the Multicam files anywhere there is a gap in the audio."
7. Turn on Detect clips from same camera if one camera has several clips. This puts several clips "identified as being from the same camera" on the same angle track. The Detect Using menu picks the metadata: Camera #, Angle, Reel Number, Reel Name or Roll/Card #. Fill in Camera # in the Metadata Editor if the camera did not.
8. Name the angles and click Create. Angle Name can be sequential numbers, Angle or Camera metadata, or the clip or file name. Multicam clips show a multicam badge on their thumbnail.

One detail worth knowing: the multicam clip's Start Timecode. With waveform sync, Resolve uses "the sync point timecode value of the clip with the earliest timecode" (p. 1061). With timecode sync, it uses the timecode of the sync point. You can change it later: right-click the clip and choose Starting Timecode (p. 1063).

The Cut page way: Sync Clips window

The Cut page has its own tool for bins of footage without common timecode (chapter 35, Fast Editing in the Cut Page, pp. 727–728).

1. Put the clips in one bin and click the Sync Clips Window icon at the top of the Media Pool.
2. Click the Audio button among the Sync By tools, then click Sync.
3. Check the result in the multi-camera Viewer, then click Save Sync at the lower right.

The manual's condition for this button: "each clip must have at least a portion of the same audio track recorded clearly enough to analyze. An error message will notify you of which tracks could not be synced by this method." After you save, "a new Multicam clip will appear in the Media Pool". To change the sync later, right-click a thumbnail and choose Open Sync Group.

When an angle is out of sync or will not sync

Resolve's manual gives these fixes. Use the one that matches where you are.

• The Cut page told you a track could not be synced. That error names the tracks. Drag each one into place on the Sync Clips window timeline, or select it and press Comma or Period to nudge it one frame. Shift-Comma and Shift-Period nudge by 5 frames by default. Then click Save Sync (p. 728).
• A multicam angle is a few frames off on the Edit page. Right-click the multicam clip in the Media Pool and choose Open in Timeline. The angles appear as a stack, one per track. Slide the late or early angle, or select it and use the Period and Comma nudge keys. Close it with the path control at the bottom left of the Timeline (chapter 49, pp. 1065–1066).
• A clip slipped while you were cutting on the Cut page. A warning icon appears at the lower left of the clip. Click the Edit Actions icon and choose Resync Clip (chapter 35, p. 732).
• Sound will not work for this take. Mark the same moment, a clap or a flash, in every clip and set Angle Sync to In, Out or Marker instead (p. 1062). On the Cut page, use the In Point or Out Point button.

Do not mix this up with Auto Sync Audio

Auto Sync Audio (chapter 20, Syncing Audio and Video, pp. 453–455) is a different tool. It is for dual-system recording: it syncs the production audio files from a separate recorder to the video clips. It does not create a multicam clip. You reach it by right-clicking the bin and choosing Auto Sync Audio, then choosing Waveform in the Synchronize Using selector.

Read its Retain embedded audio setting carefully. The manual (p. 455) says it "adds new channels in addition to the audio channels that were previously in the media file. The newly waveform-synced channels are added to an additional track, so when edited into the Timeline, a clip that's synced this way appears with one video clip and two audio clips that occupy two different audio tracks, so you can edit the camera original audio independently from the synced audio." The step for choosing Waveform describes the plain behaviour: it "replaces each video clip's previous audio channels with the newly synced .wav files."

If Auto Sync Audio reports clips it could not sync, the manual's tip is: "it may be possible to use waveform syncing more successfully on just the selected pair of audio and video items that belong together" (p. 455).

Where Eddie fits

Eddie can do the camera sync for you. It creates a multicam group from cameras of the same take, with a reference camera and measured sync offsets. Adding a camera later is one step: Eddie measures its offset against the group's reference automatically, and by default it syncs by matching what the cameras hear. For a whole project, Eddie finds every ungrouped camera angle and syncs them in one pass. It analyses first and returns a proposed grouping; a second step applies that proposal. It uses credits when a proposal is delivered.

With Resolve, Eddie reads clips, multicams and timelines, builds a rough cut, and sends the timeline back for colour and finishing with the media relinked. See the DaVinci Resolve workflow and Eddie's multicam feature. For cutting the synced angles, see how to cut a multicam interview automatically.

Resolve's Multicam SmartSwitch is listed in the manual as Studio Version Only (chapter 49, p. 1070): see Multicam SmartSwitch in Resolve 21.

What it will not do

• It will not sync cameras that heard nothing. Sound sync needs each camera to have recorded the location audio at the same time.
• It will not turn a multicam clip back into a timeline. Converting a compound clip or timeline to a multicam clip is "a one-way process" (p. 1064). Duplicate it first.
• Auto Sync Audio will not build a multicam clip. It syncs recorder audio to video clips. The multicam clip is made with Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips or the Sync Clips window.

FAQ

Where is sync by audio for multicam in DaVinci Resolve?

In the New Multicam Clip Properties dialog. Select the clips, right-click, choose Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips, and set Angle Sync to Sound. On the Cut page, use the Audio button in the Sync Clips window.

Does sound sync need timecode?

No. Sound uses the shape of each audio waveform. It does need every camera to have recorded the same sound at the same time.

How do I use the sound recordist's file as the audio for every angle?

Add the audio file to the multicam clip and choose Reference Audio/Angle 1 under Multicam Audio. Resolve picks the first audio-only angle as the reference for all the others.

How do I fix one angle that is a few frames off?

Right-click the multicam clip in the Media Pool, choose Open in Timeline, and slide that angle or nudge it with the Period and Comma keys.

What does Retain embedded audio do in Auto Sync Audio?

It keeps the camera's own audio channels and adds the synced recorder audio on an additional track. In the timeline the clip has one video clip and two audio clips, so you can edit each independently.

Can Eddie sync the cameras for me?

Yes. Eddie syncs cameras of the same take into a multicam group by matching what the cameras hear, and it can find and sync every ungrouped angle in a project in one pass.

Sources

• Blackmagic Design, DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual (July 2026): chapter 49 Multicam Editing, pp. 1061–1066, 1070; chapter 35 Fast Editing in the Cut Page, pp. 726–728, 732; chapter 20 Syncing Audio and Video, pp. 453–455. Checked 2026-11-06.
• Blackmagic Design, DaVinci Resolve – Edit: Multicam Editing, which lists syncing "via audio waveform, timecode or in/out points". Checked 2026-11-06.