A reliable multicam edit starts well before the first camera switch. Get the angles into one properly synced multicam clip, decide which audio has to stay continuous, and only then sit down for the switching pass.
Skip that setup and every later correction turns into a fight: sync that won't hold, duplicate audio, or cuts that swap the microphone along with the picture.
This guide is written for DaVinci Resolve 21. Blackmagic's Edit page overview and the Resolve 21 Reference Manual for 21.1 still document the standard multicam viewer, waveform, timecode, in/out-point and marker sync, plus separate video- and audio-switching controls.
Multicam SmartSwitch requires Studio. The manual treats SmartSwitch as a first pass you finesse afterward, not a substitute for checking speaker choice, rhythm and continuity. It also documents the four audio structures and the full-clip-extents control used below.
Use multicam when the cameras share the same event
Multicam is the right structure when two or more cameras recorded the same interview, performance, ceremony, class or podcast at the same time.
Resolve keeps those sources aligned inside one clip and lets you pick which angle shows at each moment. Later you can trim a switch or replace an angle without sliding the original camera files around by hand.
Don't build a multicam clip just because a project holds footage from several cameras. B-roll shot at another time belongs in normal bins and timeline tracks. A multicam clip is for simultaneous coverage that shares a sync reference.
One camera plus a separate audio recorder isn't a multicam job either. Attaching the recorder's sound to the camera clip is a sync task, and the audio and video sync guide covers it.
| Footage | Best structure | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Two-person interview with three cameras | Multicam clip | Every angle covers the same conversation |
| Concert with shared timecode | Multicam clip | Long continuous angles can stay frame-aligned |
| Talking head plus unrelated B-roll | Main camera on timeline, B-roll above | The B-roll has no continuous sync relationship |
| Several takes of one scripted line | Source tape, take selector, or stacked clips | The takes happened at different times |
Prepare the source clips before synchronization
Make one bin for the shoot and use camera or scene metadata consistently. If a camera stopped and restarted, keep its spanned clips together and look at their timecode before you select everything; the dialog's Detect clips from same camera option can then put those pieces on one angle track. Careless renaming makes angle order harder to read later, so keep the original filename in metadata if you add friendlier display names.
Check three things before Resolve analyzes anything:
- Frame rate: confirm the sources have the frame rate you expect. A genuine off-speed recording shouldn't be forced into sync as if it were normal-speed coverage.
- Audio reference: every camera used for waveform sync needs a recognizable version of the same sound. A scratch mic is enough if it caught the room clearly.
- Timecode: use timecode only when the cameras or recorder were actually synchronized. Clock values that look similar aren't proof of jam sync.
If decoding several angles at once makes the viewer stutter, fix playback before you judge sync. The Proxy Media workflow explains when to reach for proxies, optimized media, timeline proxy resolution or render cache. Multicam is hard enough to review without dropped frames pretending to be bad cuts.
Choose the sync method from the material you recorded
Select the simultaneous source clips in the Media Pool, right-click, and choose Create Multicam Clip Using Selected Clips. The New Multicam Clip Properties dialog that opens is where you choose the synchronization method and angle ordering.
The dialog also wants a name, an angle naming method and a Multicam Audio structure before you click Create. Adens Archive’s May 2026 multicam walkthrough shows those fields being filled in Resolve 21, and its menu labels match the current manual.
| Sync method | Use it when | Verify afterward |
|---|---|---|
| Timecode | All cameras and the audio recorder shared reliable timecode | A slate close and a late-program sync point |
| Sound | Each angle recorded the same usable reference audio | Hard consonants, claps, or visible impacts |
| In points | You manually marked the same event on every source | The exact marked frame and a later point |
| Out points | The shared reference is near the end of the clips | The marked frame and the beginning of usable action |
Timecode is the cleanest choice, but only when the cameras were genuinely jam-synced. Sound is the practical one when every angle recorded the same clear event, and the Channel menu lets you choose which audio channel Resolve uses for the waveform match.
In or Out points work when you've marked one matching frame in every source, while Marker sync uses a matching manual marker on each clip. With Sound or Timecode, Split Multicam at gaps breaks the multicam wherever the audio or timecode has a gap; 21.1 added that option for timecode sync.
If the scratch audio is weak, put the same In, Out or Marker sync point on a visible slate close, a hand clap or a camera flash. And never accept a multicam clip just because Resolve built it without an error.
Already lined the cameras up by hand on a timeline or inside a compound clip? Right-click it in the Media Pool and choose Convert Compound Clips (Timelines) to Multicam Clips. The conversion is one-way, so duplicate the original first and convert the copy.
Create the clip without losing the audio you need
Name the multicam clip after the scene or recording instead of leaving a generic name. Angle Name can use sequential numbering, Angle or Camera metadata, or the clip or file name. Set video angle ordering so Camera A, Camera B, the wide shot and any presentation feed always land in the same place. That matters because viewer tiles and keyboard angle commands get much easier to remember.
The audio choice deserves more attention than most tutorials give it:
- Reference Audio/Angle 1 is handy when one recorder or camera angle should supply the continuous master sound. Resolve picks the first audio-only angle as the reference, or the first angle if there isn't one.
- All Angles, added as a creation option in Resolve 21, carries every audio track from the selected angle sources into the multicam clip. Use it when you genuinely need several isolated microphones, not just because it keeps more data.
- For interviews, a dedicated mix on its own timeline track is often simpler. Lock that audio and switch video only.
Resolve 21 documents four Multicam Audio choices: Source Audio Channels (the default), Reference Audio, Adaptive Tracks and All Angles. The Resolve 21 New Features Guide spells out that All Angles includes every audio track from every angle, so four tracks on angle A and five on angle B give you nine. It also says Use full clip extents keeps the selected sources at their full length.
So a three-camera podcast with two channels per camera can turn into a needlessly crowded structure. Keep every track only when you have a routing and mixing plan for it.
One more checkbox sits in the dialog. Move Source Clips to "Original Clips" Bin moves the camera clips into their own bin once the multicam clip exists, out of the way of the edit. The new clip lands in whichever bin is selected, with a multicam badge in the lower left of its thumbnail. If the program has to start at a set timecode, right-click the multicam clip in the Media Pool and choose Starting Timecode.
Verify sync before you edit the program
Open the multicam clip in its own timeline or drop it into a short test timeline. Find a sharp sound with visible movement: a clap, a hand hitting a table, a slate closing, or a word with a clear mouth shape. Check the first useful minute, then another point near the end.
If the start lines up but the end drifts, look at source frame rate, variable-frame-rate recordings, audio clock differences or a wrong interpretation setting. A single nudge fixes a constant offset; it can't repair drift that keeps growing. Rebuild or correct the source instead of hiding a changing sync error under frequent camera cuts.
When one angle is wrong, right-click the multicam clip in the Media Pool, choose Open in Timeline, and correct that source against the others; the Period and Comma nudge keys are handy here. Don't slip random segments on the finished program timeline unless you want a deliberate local offset.
The open clip is also the place to tidy the angle stack. Right-click a track header and choose Delete Track to drop an angle you'll never cut to, or Move Track Up and Move Track Down to change the angle order. Renaming a track renames that angle in the Multicam Viewer and on the timeline, and disabling a track hides an angle without deleting it. Click your edit timeline's name in the path control at the bottom left of the timeline to go back.
Log the material before the switching pass. Markers you add to a multicam clip in the Media page or the source viewer are shared by all its angles, so one set of markers on questions, songs or speaker changes covers every camera.
Cut camera angles while keeping the sound stable
Put the multicam clip on a timeline and switch the source viewer to Multicam mode so you can see the angle grid, anywhere from 1x1 to 4x4. During playback, click an angle or press its number key to cut and switch in real time; Option-click (Alt-click on Windows) changes the current segment's angle without adding a cut. The beginner editing workflow and keyboard-shortcuts guide cover the viewer and angle commands, and 21.1 lets you assign shortcuts for up to 25 angles.
When the clip holds more angles than the grid shows, page dots appear beside the grid menu. Click a dot, or press Option-Shift-Right Arrow on a Mac for the next page of angles. Command-Shift-Left and Right Arrow step the current segment to the previous or next angle without a new cut. Every cut is a through edit inside one clip, so selecting a cut and pressing Delete removes it.
If you need ordinary blade edits before switching live, use the split-video guide first; that keeps basic timeline work out of this multicam workflow.
For an interview or podcast, switch video only while the clean recorder mix keeps running underneath. Switching video and audio together can be right for a performance where each angle carries a purposeful source, but it's a poor default for speech. A camera cut shouldn't make room tone, microphone character or dialogue level jump.
The Audio/Video buttons at the bottom center of the Multicam Viewer set what a click switches. The same choice sits in Edit > Multicam: on a Mac, Video Only is Option-Shift-], Video and Audio is Option-Shift-[ and Audio Only is Option-Shift-\.
On the first pass, favor content over polish. Follow the speaker, use the wide shot to reset geography or cover overlaps, and hold each shot long enough for the viewer to read an expression. Then replay the sequence and trim switches away from blinks, camera bumps, mid-gesture mismatches and words that need a reaction shot.
Some productions hand over a line cut, the program as it was switched live and recorded during the event. Add that movie as an Offline Reference Movie and compare it against the timeline in the source viewer's Offline Reference Movie mode.
Replace a bad angle without rebuilding the edit
A multicam switch stays editable. Right-click a segment and choose another angle from Switch Multicam Clip Angle to replace the picture while the segment keeps its timing. If the right camera is already selected but the cut lands early or late, trim the edit point instead. That's much safer than flattening the whole sequence to change one choice.
Use match frame when you need to find the underlying source. The Resolve 21 feature guide says Match Frame to Source Clip now finds the underlying source for multicam and nested clips automatically. Keep a duplicate timeline before structural changes so you can compare the revised cut with the previous pass.
Switch cameras on the Cut page with the Sync Bin
The Cut page has a second multicam route that skips the Create Multicam Clip dialog. Its Sync Bin gangs every clip in a bin by timecode, so the matching moment from each camera scrubs along with the timeline playhead. It needs two things from the footage: a common timecode and a unique camera name on every clip. Fill in the Camera # field in the Metadata Editor if a camera didn't record one.
I'd pick the Sync Bin for a jam-synced event that has to be cut fast, and the Edit page multicam clip when angle choices will be revisited. A Sync Bin edit places the selected camera's own clip on the timeline. An Edit page switch stays a multicam segment that Switch Multicam Clip Angle and SmartSwitch can still change.
Without shared timecode, click the Sync Clips Window icon above the Cut page Media Pool. Its Sync By buttons align the bin by Timecode, Audio, In Point or Out Point, or you can drag clips by hand and nudge them a frame at a time with Comma and Period. Click Save Sync when they line up. A new multicam clip appears in the Media Pool, and Open Sync Group reopens the window later.
- Place the base clip on Track 1 of the timeline, then click the Sync Bin icon. The Viewer turns into a Multi Viewer of up to nine cameras.
- Scrub the timeline playhead to where the next shot should start. Every camera scrubs with it, and P opens the Multi Viewer full screen in the Cinema Viewer.
- Click a camera, click its number icon in the filmstrip, or press its number key. Resolve sets an In point at the playhead with a five-second default duration; move the Out point to where the shot should end.
- Click Source Overwrite. The clip lands in sync, the playhead jumps to its Out point and the Multi Viewer comes back for the next pick.
In Video Only mode the Sync Bin sources go silent and you hear only the timeline, which keeps a recorder mix on its own track in charge. If a shot slips out of sync later, a warning icon appears in its lower left corner; click the Edit Actions icon and choose Resync Clip.
Without a Speed Editor, Live Overwrite still works with a mouse. Click an angle in the Sync Bin and drag across the image, and that camera paints onto the timeline at the playhead for as long as the drag lasts. Then click the next angle and drag again. The Speed Editor review covers the camera keys that do the same job on the hardware.
Open an ATEM ISO project
An ATEM Mini Pro ISO or ATEM Mini Extreme ISO recording comes in as a whole project: the program clip, every camera's ISO clip and audio, transitions, timecode, camera numbers and the graphics stored in the switcher. Check ISO Record All Inputs in the ATEM software before the show, then choose File > Import Project and pick the .drp file in the ATEM project folder. Resolve rebuilds the live cut as a timeline from the ISOs, ready for the Sync Bin.
The ATEM records each ISO as an H.264 HD stream. With Blackmagic cameras recording their own masters through Record in All Cameras, copy those files into the project's Video ISO Files folder before the import, then choose Timeline > Switch to Camera Originals. I'd make that switch before grading, because the camera masters can be Blackmagic RAW at 4K or UHD, which the ATEM's own ISOs can't match.
Use SmartSwitch as a Studio first pass
SmartSwitch is a Studio feature; the free edition doesn't have it. Blackmagic's official SmartSwitch guide says it analyzes the active speaker, the audio, lip movement in the frame and whether an angle is a wide shot or a close-up.
The result is a starting timeline, not a finished edit. Jason Yadlovski’s Resolve 20 walkthrough shows the full settings panel and a finished first pass in Resolve 20, and the 21.1 manual documents the same workflow, adding a SmartSwitch button at the lower left of the source viewer in Multicam mode. One difference: Resolve 20's guide lists a Quality choice between Faster and Better, while the 21.1 manual's settings list no longer mentions it, so use it only if your build shows it.
- Create and verify the multicam clip.
- Edit that multicam clip into a timeline.
- Right-click the timeline clip and choose Multicam SmartSwitch.
- Set Minimum Edit Duration, Edit Change Delay and wide-angle behavior. Choose Video Only or Video and Audio, and enable Use Audio Only Fast Analysis only when an audio-only decision pass fits the material. If your build shows a Quality control, choose Faster or Better.
- Run Analyze, then duplicate or version the resulting timeline before manual review.
| Control | What it changes | Practical starting judgment |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Edit Duration | Prevents another switch before the duration expires | Raise it when the result feels nervous or overcut |
| Edit Change Delay | Offsets the cut after speech begins | Use a small delay when immediate switches feel mechanical |
| Wide Angle Frequency | Controls how often the wide shot returns | Use the wide as punctuation, not a timer |
| Video Only | Keeps timeline audio from changing with every camera cut | Preferred for a continuous interview mix |
| Quality: Faster or Better | Trades analysis speed for accuracy; listed in the Resolve 20 guide but not in the 21.1 manual's settings list | Use it only if your build shows it, and test a short representative section first |
| Use Audio Only Fast Analysis | Uses audio without video analysis and runs faster | Use only when lip movement and shot type are not needed for the decision |
Review SmartSwitch in three passes
First, check speaker accuracy. SmartSwitch can misread an off-camera voice, overlapping speech, laughter, a silent reaction or an angle without useful audio. Replace the wrong speaker shots before you worry about rhythm.
Second, check pacing. An automatic cut can be logically correct and still feel impatient. Stretch the reactions, remove repetitive ping-pong switching, and let the wide shot establish the space. A podcast edit needs editorial listening on top of active-speaker detection.
Third, check continuity and technical quality. Watch for blinks, focus hunting, camera bumps, exposure shifts, or an angle that was never meant to be used during a reset. SmartSwitch analyzes the choices it has; it doesn't know what the director intended.
Blackmagic notes that SmartSwitch analysis can take quite some time, depending on program length and the number of camera angles. On a long event, I'd test a representative excerpt on a duplicate timeline first. That shows whether speaker choices, wide-shot frequency and edit duration suit the material before you analyze the whole program.
Finish color, audio, and export without breaking the structure
You don't need to flatten right away. Keep the multicam structure while angle changes are still likely. The manual notes that each angle inside a multicam clip has its own grade, so grading timeline segments edits whichever angle each one shows. Grade timeline segments when a shot needs local work; to correct every angle consistently, open the multicam clip in a timeline and work on the stack. When you do flatten, Resolve offers Copying Multicam Grades or Retaining Grades from Angles. Duplicate the timeline first, because flattening removes the multicam relationship from those timeline segments.
Move dialogue cleanup and mix decisions into a deliberate audio pass. The Fairlight task map routes noise, EQ, compression, routing and loudness work without cramming all of it into the multicam stage. Once the sequence is approved, choose the delivery target through the export settings hub and watch the rendered file outside Resolve.
Fix the failures that waste the most time
The angles are offset by a constant amount
Open the multicam clip, line up a strong visual and audio event, and move the wrong source by the fixed offset. Check another point later. If the offset stays constant, the correction holds.
The angles drift farther apart
Check frame-rate interpretation, variable-frame-rate media and recorder clock behavior. Troublesome phone or screen recordings may need re-encoding to a stable edit codec. A fixed nudge can't solve drift that keeps growing.
Every camera cut changes the sound
Switch video only and keep the chosen recorder mix on a continuous track. If you need isolated microphones, use Resolve 21's All Angles audio option on purpose and route the channels in Fairlight, rather than letting camera choices run the mix.
The multicam viewer stutters
Cut the decoding and processing load before you judge the edit. Show fewer angles in the multicam grid, use the proxy decision workflow, lower timeline proxy resolution, or cache effects that stay expensive after decoding. Don't mistake dropped playback frames for sync drift.
SmartSwitch ignores or overuses the wide shot
Choose the wide angle manually in the SmartSwitch setup, set Wide Angle Frequency to Low, Medium or High, and decide whether it should cover silence or the intro and outro. Then review every occurrence. Automatic detection saves time, but it doesn't oblige you to accept every wide-shot choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is multicam editing available in DaVinci Resolve Free?
Yes. The free edition lets you create multicam clips, synchronize angles, use the multicam viewer and switch angles. Multicam SmartSwitch is different: Blackmagic lists it as a Studio-only feature.
Should I synchronize multicam clips by sound or timecode?
Use timecode when the cameras and recorder were genuinely synchronized during production. Use sound when every angle captured a clean version of the same event. Whichever method you choose, verify sync near the beginning and near the end of the usable recording.
How do I keep one microphone while switching cameras?
Put the clean recorder or reference mix on a continuous timeline track and switch video only. Resolve 20 added the Reference Audio/Angle 1 choice, and Resolve 21 added All Angles for when a more complex mix genuinely needs every source track.
Does SmartSwitch finish a multicam edit automatically?
No. It builds a first-pass cut from speaker and shot analysis. You still have to correct speaker choices, improve rhythm, protect reaction shots, remove unusable camera moments, mix the audio, grade the program and review the export.
Should I flatten the multicam clip before color grading?
Not automatically. Keep the multicam structure while angle changes are still likely. Correct underlying angles inside the multicam clip, or grade timeline segments where needed. Duplicate the timeline before flattening so the editable multicam version stays available.
This workflow is one part of the DaVinci Resolve tutorial map. Head back there when multicam is only one stage in a bigger path through editing, color, audio and delivery.
