Multicam editing: how to cut between camera angles

What is multicam editing?

Multicam editing is cutting between two or more cameras that recorded the same event at the same time, with all of them locked together so the picture can change angle while the words carry on unbroken. Interviews, video podcasts, panels, concerts and weddings are all shot this way, because one camera cannot hold a wide and two close-ups at once.

Each editor has its own container for it. Final Cut Pro calls it a multicam clip, built from angles synced by a common sync point, a frame you can recognise by sight or sound in every angle. Sharpy's multicam clip works the same way: it carries every angle, with picture angles and sound angles kept apart, and you or the agent switch angles after the cut.

The order matters. Cut what is said first, then decide what is seen. If you switch angles before the conversation is tight, every later trim breaks your switches.

How do you sync camera angles?

By sound, by timecode, or by both:

Method	When to use it	What Sharpy does
Sound	Every camera recorded a scratch track	Lines the angles up by what both microphones heard, and measures and removes the drift between their clocks
Timecode	Cameras and recorder were jammed to one clock	Reads each file's start timecode and places the clip there, then refines it by sound to the sample if it lands within a frame
A clap	A backup for either	Gives every camera one sharp sound to agree on

Drift is the reason to care. No two cameras keep exactly the same time: an hour at 100 parts per million drifts 0.36 seconds, eleven frames, enough to put lips visibly out of step by the end of an episode. Sharpy handles drift of up to 500 parts per million, and on the base Mac mini M4 two 21-minute recordings sync in 7.5 seconds. If two files do not share enough sound to be sure they are the same moment, it refuses them as "not one sound" rather than guessing. Phone recordings carry no timecode, and Sharpy says so; sync those by sound. How to sync audio and video covers the craft in full.

How do you cut between camera angles in Sharpy?

Bring every angle in. Drop the files in the window. The timeline gives each source file its own colour, so camera A, camera B and the recorder are told apart at a glance.
Sync them. Choose Synchronize by Sound, or Clip ▸ Synchronize by Timecode. The agent does the same with edit_clip and its sync action, and sharpy align camA.mov camB.mov reports how far apart two cameras were started.
Tell it how many people speak. Sharpy asks. Given the number, its count is exact; it finds who speaks when, and the free cut points between turns.
Cut the conversation. Edit the words first: fillers, false starts, long pauses, tangents. The sound stays on one continuous track.
Switch angles. Sharpy turns each speaker's turns into angle cuts, or into crops around each speaker from a wide shot, and adds a lower third at each speaker's first turn. Change any switch afterwards, by hand or by asking the agent.
Match the cameras. Two camera models rarely agree on colour. Ask Sharpy to match one angle to another and it reports how much of each gap closed.

From a script, a second angle is one line: declare [source b = camB.mov | angle] at the top and add | from b to any line that should come from it. The angle is aligned by what both microphones heard and locked to the instant the line is at, so the mouth keeps moving with the words.

When should you switch angles?

Switch when the viewer would turn their head. Good multicam editing feels like attention, not like a switcher being exercised:

Cut to the speaker just after they start. A cut on the first syllable feels anticipated; a beat later feels like the viewer turning to look.
Use reactions on purpose. A laugh, a nod or a raised eyebrow earns a cut. Sharpy times a reaction shot to the moment of impact and holds it just long enough to register.
Go wide when people talk over each other, so viewers see everyone at once.
Let the sound lead. Hear the next speaker a moment before you see them, a J cut, and the switch feels natural. J cut and L cut explains both.
Switch less than you think. Constant changes tire the eye over an hour.

A woman in her sixties is interviewed in a carpentry workshop, framed by two cameras on tripods, one wide at the side and one close in front. — A wide angle and a close angle of the same moment: the close carries the words, the wide carries the room and the reactions.

Keep the geometry straight too. With a second angle, Sharpy keeps the 180-degree line, eyeline matches and screen direction right, so two people facing each other still face each other after the cut.

How do you edit a multicam podcast?

The same way, at a larger scale. Sync every camera and microphone, cut the whole conversation on the sound, then lay angles over it speaker by speaker. Sharpy finds who is speaking: measured on VoxConverse, a public set of 216 recordings with 1 to 20 speakers, its split by speaker is wrong 3.67% of the time, and its weak point is counting brief speakers, which is why it asks for the number.

Split-screen podcasts work differently. In a stacked or side-by-side format, each panel freezes on the frame it was last seen at, holds while another person talks, and comes back on its next turn. How to edit a podcast video covers levels, chapters and clips.

Can you do multicam editing with one camera?

You can fake a second angle with punch-ins. With one camera in one position, every join is a jump cut, because the 30-degree rule cannot be met. The standard remedy is a 15 to 25% size change across the cut, which reads as another camera, and 4K footage delivered at 1080 by 1920 affords it for nothing. Sharpy gives every single-camera join a size change, and from a reference it reads how many framings the reference uses and in what order, then cuts your footage between the same framings, never by upscaling. What is a jump cut goes further.

What should you check before you export?

Lip sync at the end. Play the last minute of every angle; drift shows there first.
The sound under every switch. It should not change when the picture does.
Colour across angles. Skin should not change between cameras.
Every switch has a reason. If you cannot say why the angle changed, put it back.

The previous lesson covers making a tutorial video, and the next, what ADR is, covers replacing a line of dialogue.

Frequently asked questions

How many cameras do you need for a podcast?

Two is the usual start, one per person. A third camera on a wide gives you somewhere to go when people talk over each other or react.

Do multicam angles need timecode?

No. Syncing by sound works whenever every camera recorded a scratch track. Timecode helps on long shoots, and Sharpy uses sound to refine it to the sample.

Can you change camera angles after the cut?

Yes. A multicam clip keeps every angle, so you or the agent switch any stretch to another angle without re-cutting the words.

What sound should a multicam edit use?

One continuous track from the best microphones, not the camera you are cutting to. Picture angles and sound angles are kept apart for exactly this reason.

Is my footage uploaded to sync or switch angles?

No. Syncing, finding speakers, switching and rendering all happen on your Mac.

Sources

Checked on 18 October 2026.