Setting Up and Editing Multicam

This chapter will tell you everything that you need to know about multicam editing in Final Cut Pro.

You will learn about the specifics of editing multicam footage in a Final Cut Pro project, step by step, from importing the footage from your computer and categorizing the clips in your browser to combining the footage into a single timeline clip so that the different camera angles can be edited into a complete multicam project.

You will understand that there are two ways of viewing the multicam in separate timeline windows: the multicam angle timeline and the multicam project.

You will learn that a multicam edit has set procedures to ensure that synchronization is accurate. You will also learn when to make global modifications compared to modifying clips in the multicam project.

Next, you will learn about switching angles as well as adjusting those cuts for both video and audio.

Finally, you will learn how to simulate a multicam shoot...

What is multicam?

A multicam shoot uses multiple cameras to record the same subject or event from different angles and distances with the same audio source. A multicam project has those different camera angles as well as separate audio clips all combined and presented in the timeline as a single clip that can be cut from one camera angle to another on the fly or by selecting individual angles to switch the different cameras. Audio can either be fixed from one source or different sources and can be selected in the same manner as the video.

Final Cut Pro can edit up to 128 camera angles together in one multicam project.

You need to be aware that there are two multicam timeline windows. The multicam angle timeline (Figure 8.1) shows all the tracks of the multicam, video, and separate audio if it’s included. The multicam angle timeline is not magnetic.

On the other hand, the multicam project is more like a normal timeline and is magnetic. It only shows the currently active...

Suggestions for filming to suit multicam editing

If you are filming or can make suggestions to the shooters, the ideas described in this section will make the multicam editing process much easier for you. Multicam synchronization relies mostly on audio for non-feature-film shoots. The previous section on how cameras are synchronized discussed the timecode being used in bigger shoots. When filming with several cameras, some basic ground rules will help Final Cut Pro to be able to sync the different camera footage together. Let’s see what they are.

Audio

The obvious first item to be aware of is that the same audio should be recorded on all cameras in the shoot. If you have a camera that does not record audio, make sure that a clapperboard or the like is visible on all cameras, or at least two where one has audio.

The two-minute rule

Next is to record for at least two minutes before stopping the camera. In events, it is a good rule to turn all main cameras on together...

Settings before multicam editing

Multicam editing is more stressful on the computer’s processor because several streams of video and audio need to be processed at the same time. Unless you have a very high-spec computer, it is best to set the necessary preferences/settings to ensure that optimized media is created for multicam editing.

Importing and categorizing media

Under the Final Cut Pro menu, select Settings, and click the Playback tab. Make sure that Create optimized media for multicam clips is ticked.

To describe the process of importing and categorizing the footage to be used in the multicam, I will use the footage from a wedding that I filmed. I’ll use footage from the ceremony portion of their wedding day.

A note of thanks

Thanks to Elizabeth and Mark for their kind approval to use footage from their stylish wedding video.

A useful method of categorizing wedding footage for easy editing will be discussed in Chapter 9. The workflow shows suggestions...

Actions in the multicam angle timeline

The multicam angle timeline requires several actions to be completed to ensure that all the tracks are in sync with the angle that is showing in the viewer. This is known as the monitoring angle.

Audio synchronization

The most important action is to check that the audio in all angles is in sync. This is critical because audio is the one factor that ties all of these angles together. If they are out of sync here, they will be out of sync when you are cutting, and it is time-consuming to try to match them up once the editing and cutting processes commence.

The process of checking the synchronization of the audio involves nominating a monitoring angle that has clear audio for the full length of the scene. It is ideal to have an external audio recorder that has been active for the whole session as it creates a bed to sync all the other angles. Otherwise, you can select a video angle with clear audio that runs through the whole session. You...

Editing the multicam project

The process of editing multicam is switching between angles that were seen as tracks in the multicam angle timeline view and that are now incorporated in the single-track multicam project view.

Right-click on the Multicam thumbnail with the four white squares in the left corner and select New Project. Give the project a title and select the Video format. The multicam project will open in the timeline. The angles still need to be active in the View menu above the viewer. The layout of the panels to the left of the viewer area will be the same as what you selected in the multicam angle timeline – four, in this case. You can change the layout anytime you wish with the Settings chevron.

The panels look the same as before but there is a subtle difference if you look closely. Above the panels on the left are three icons. The left-hand icon (yellow) represents both video and audio being active. The middle icon (blue) represents video and indicates...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned that multicam editing is the process in Final Cut Pro that edits footage where multiple cameras have recorded the same subject or event from different angles and distances with the same audio source.

You also learned what types of events suit a multicam shoot and how those cameras can be set to film in synchronization. The settings for import and categorization were discussed, both with folders in the computer’s Finder and as keyword collections in Final Cut Pro.

Then, you learned how to create a new multicam clip and understood the difference between the multicam angle timeline and the multicam project. You learned what modifications are best actioned globally in the multicam angle timeline compared to the piecemeal corrections in the multicam project, and that modifications made globally are additive in the multicam project.

Next, you learned about setting up the angles for switching and how the cuts can be modified after switching...