What do I need to edit a multicam video podcast?
You need the camera files and a clean sound recording of each voice, with enough storage to hold every angle. Above all you need an editor with a proper multicam mode that lets you switch angles while the conversation plays. A transcript of the episode is not essential, but it makes finding moments and pulling clips much quicker. The editor matters most, because a long episode cut angle by angle on an ordinary timeline takes hours longer.
A video podcast is usually two to four people talking for an hour or more, filmed from several angles. The editing is not complicated, but there is a lot of it. The right setup decides whether an episode takes an afternoon or a weekend.
What to have before you start
- Every camera’s files, kept together. Name a folder for each episode and copy each card into its own subfolder. When something goes wrong later, you will want to know which camera a clip came from.
- The best sound you recorded. Camera microphones are a backup. If you used a separate recorder or an interface, drop its files in as well, with the track for each microphone clearly named.
- A clear start on every recording. A clap on camera at the top of the session is an old habit that still helps. It gives you a point you can check by eye and ear on every angle.
- Storage for all of it. Several cameras rolling for an hour adds up quickly. Plan for the originals plus a second copy on a different drive.
What the editor needs to do
- Proper multicam. You want to see every angle at once and cut between them as the conversation plays, then change any cut afterwards without rebuilding it.
- Cameras that stop and start. Many cameras split long recordings into several files or stop when they overheat. The editor should cope with that without making you rebuild the angle by hand.
- Sound as an angle. Your separate sound recording should sit alongside the cameras, not as an afterthought.
- Named microphone tracks. With four people on four mics, knowing which track is which saves real confusion in the mix.
- Transcripts. Reading the conversation lets you find the strong moments for clips and trailers in minutes.
How B/side handles it
B/side has a multicam mode built for this. You cut live from a grid of every angle by click or number key, and you can switch angles afterwards. Cameras that stop and start become one angle, and a sound recorder can be an angle of its own.
Each channel of a multitrack sound file shows the name the sound mixer gave it, on the right track, so the host’s mic is labelled as the host’s mic, on Creator and up. Any clip can be transcribed when you need it, with the voices told apart. Selecting words marks that phrase in the Source monitor.
It runs as an app on your Mac or PC, and in Chrome. Drop the cards into the app and the clips are ready to cut with picture and sound, with nothing to upload first. When a co-host or an editor needs the footage on another machine, the free desktop helper gets it to them.
When something else is better
If your podcast is a single fixed camera, you do not need a multicam editor at all. Almost any editor will cut one angle and a sound file comfortably. And if you only ever publish audio, a dedicated audio editor is the more natural fit.
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