Multicams | Part 1 — You’re not editing right…

Yes, you read that right. You’re doing it wrong.

Unless you’re using multicams. Then you’re doing it right.

For those that don’t know me, I am in the video production industry and is my primary source of income. Video editing is where I started my career, and while I don’t do nearly as much video editing now (I leave a lot of that to my wonderful fiancé, Amber), I have worked on hundreds if not thousands of edits and have learned a lot about what’s efficient and what works and doesn’t work in an edit.
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Now, my primary video editor of choice is Final Cut Pro X. While you can do the techniques I’m about to show you in other video editing software, the process comes nowhere near as fast and smooth as in Final Cut.

​What is a Multicam?

Let’s start with basics:

A multicam is a term used when taking a collection of multiple camera and audio sources of an event and syncing and linking them together into a single file to easily switch between those angles.
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The line above pretty much sums it up, but basically it really makes things easier and much faster to edit.

​What’s the advantage to using a Multicam?

I actually never get asked this question. But you need to use multicams in your edits, and here’s why:

1. No more searching for other angles
If you find yourself constantly searching for a scene from another angle, this completely eliminates that. A multicam allows you to view every possible angle and audio source at any one point.

2. It keeps everything organized
They keep everything organized and synced up, so you can spend more time making your edit better rather than wasting your time making your edit work.

3. Spend more time thinking creatively
A multicam gives you a bird’s eye view of your scene, allowing you to view it from the eyes of multiple viewers (angles) or ears (also angles). This helps you pick the best shot for the scene, rather than making guests on what might work and doesn’t work.

4. It simplifies things
​Multicams will turn 6 or 7 clips into one clip. This simplifies things, and makes it easier to understand and view your project as a whole, which in turn saves your sanity.

​What are some example shoots where a Multicam is useful?

Special events like: Weddings, church services, sports games, film sets, teaching/tutoring, corporate videos, and really anything that has more than one camera capturing an event. A film set with multiple camera angles and audio angles. Some sets can have dozens of audio sources with equal amounts of camera angles. Basically, if you have 2 cameras, you should use a multicam.

So this gives you a brief overview of multicams. This is barely scratching the surface of what multicams are capable of, but the end result of using multicam is you will have a better looking video done faster.
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If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!
Till next time.