B/sideStart for free

How do you edit a multicam podcast?

Group every camera and the separate sound recording into one multicam clip. Then play the conversation and switch to whoever is talking as you go. Once the first pass is done, go back to tighten pauses and fix any angle you would like to change. Finish with a sound pass on each microphone, then pull short clips from the strongest moments.

Editing a multicam podcast is mostly a matter of order. Do the steps in sequence and an hour-long episode becomes a steady few hours of work. Skip around and you end up fixing the same section three times.

Step by step

  1. Organise the footage. Copy each card into its own folder named after the camera. Keep the sound recorder’s files beside them. Check that every camera recorded the whole session.
  2. Build the multicam clip. Group the cameras and the sound into one multicam clip in your editor. Play a few moments from the start and the end to check every angle matches the sound. A clap at the top makes this easy to confirm by eye.
  3. Choose your sound. Use the dedicated microphones, not the camera audio. Set rough levels on each voice now so the conversation is comfortable to listen to while you cut.
  4. Do a live first pass. Play the episode and switch angles as people speak. Do not stop to perfect anything. Wide shots work well for laughter and crosstalk, and close-ups for a single person making a point.
  5. Refine the cut. Go back through and change any angle that landed late. Then take out long pauses and false starts. Drop any section you agreed to cut.
  6. Mix. Balance the voices and add gentle fades at the edits. Then add the intro and outro music. Listen once on headphones and once on ordinary speakers.
  7. Add titles. Lower thirds for guests, plus any cards for chapters or sponsors.
  8. Pull clips. With the full episode done, find the strongest moments for short clips. A transcript makes this far quicker, because you can read the conversation instead of watching it again.

Tips that save time every week

  • Keep camera names consistent from episode to episode, so the same person is always on the same number.
  • Do the first pass in real time. It feels slow, but it is quicker than cutting a long conversation frame by frame.
  • Save track presets for your voice settings so each new episode starts from a good mix.

How B/side handles it

In B/side you cut live from a grid of every angle by click or number key, then switch any angle afterwards. Cameras that stop and start become one angle, and the sound recorder can be an angle too. Each microphone’s track carries the name the sound mixer gave it, so you are never guessing which voice is on which track.

The mixer has a fader and live meters on every track, with clip gain on every clip and fades or crossfades at the edits. Track presets keep your voice settings from one episode to the next. Any clip can be transcribed when you need it, with the voices told apart, and selecting words marks that phrase in the Source monitor, ready to cut into a short.

When something else is better

If you only have one camera, skip the multicam step entirely and cut on an ordinary timeline. If the show is audio only, an audio editor will be the more natural tool for the job.

Last reviewed

In the product

Related questions