Multicam: sync cameras across imports

Cameras that arrive in the same import are usually grouped and synced automatically — Eddie spots footage covering the same moment, picks a reference angle, and aligns every camera to one shared clock. But shoots are messy: auto-detection can miss a pairing, a camera card turns up after you've already imported, or a second operator sends their files a day late.

You never have to rebuild the project. Tell Eddie which files are the same take, and it groups and syncs them — whether they were all in the original import or added later.

Adding a late camera? Import it first

If the extra angle isn't in the project yet, open the project and choose Add media, exactly as in Add media to an existing project. Let the new clips finish processing — they appear in the media list alongside the originals, but they're not yet part of any multicam group (Eddie won't guess which take a late clip belongs to).

Case 1 — Add a camera to a group that already exists

If the original import already produced a synced multicam group, name the new clip and the take it belongs with:

"I just added camC.mp4 — it's another camera angle of the same take as camA and camB. Sync it into that multicam group."

Eddie measures the alignment itself, re-syncing the new angle against the group in the background — usually about a minute or two — and messages you in the project chat when it's done. Repeat per clip if several late cameras belong to the same take.

Case 2 — No group exists: create one from scratch

If auto-detection didn't group your cameras at import (the clips show no multicam group), ask Eddie to build the group:

"camA, camB and camC are all cameras of the same interview — camA covers the whole take. Create a multicam group from them and sync them up."

Eddie lines the cameras up from their transcripts and content (matching the same words across files), sets each camera's start offset against the reference, and creates the group. If a camera has no transcript to match on, Eddie will ask you for the offset — any shared moment works ("the clap is at 12.4s on camA and 9.5s on camB"), and you can correct an offset afterwards the same way.

What to expect

• The cameras become switchable angles of one group: "cut to camC for the reactions" works immediately, and multicam grouping carries into exports.
• Alignment is against the group's reference angle — each camera knows where it starts on the shared clock, so switching never drifts.
• Existing edits are untouched. Angles are only added; nothing about your current cuts changes.

Honest limits

• Measured sync needs usable audio. When Eddie measures alignment itself (Case 1, or transcript matching in Case 2), it aligns cameras by what they recorded — audio, speech and timecode. A clip with no usable audio can't be measured yet — syncing by matching video frames isn't available today — but you can always give the offset explicitly (Case 2).
• If a clip doesn't match the take — different location, different day — Eddie leaves it as a normal standalone source and tells you why, rather than forcing a bad sync.
• You name the take. Eddie deliberately never guesses which cameras belong together — say which files go with which.

Related: Multicam: syncing and switching angles, Add media to an existing project.