Add “Place Clips by Source Timecode”: automatically place selected clips into a normal sequence at their Media Start timecode, preserving gaps. This would quickly sync jam-synced cameras/audio without requiring a Multicam Source Sequence.

Question

Feature Request: Automatically Place Clips in a Timeline Based on Source Timecode / Media StartI would love to see a feature in Premiere Pro that allows editors to select multiple clips from a camera and automatically place them into a sequence according to each clip’s source timecode (Media Start).For example, if several camera clips were recorded throughout the day with continuous time-of-day timecode, Premiere could place each clip at its corresponding timecode position on the timeline, preserving the gaps between recordings. You could then do the same thing with Camera B, Camera C, etc., placing each camera on its own video track.This would make manually syncing multicamera shoots significantly faster.In my experience working in professional post-production over 4 years now, the companies I've worked with NEVER use Premiere's multicamera source sequence as the primary editing workflow. We generally want the cameras and production audio laid out and synced in a normal sequence where everything is immediately visible and accessible.Premiere's current multicamera/source-sequence workflow can become especially cumbersome when dealing with three or more cameras and numerous production audio tracks. Syncing inside a multicamera source sequence can also feel unnecessarily convoluted when the source media already contains matching timecode.A simple command such as:"Place Clips by Source Timecode"could take selected clips and position them in the active sequence based on their Media Start values.This would allow an editor to very quickly build something like:V1 — Camera AV2 — Camera BV3 — Camera CV4 - Camera DA1–A8 — Production AudioEverything would immediately line up based on timecode, after which the editor could manually adjust or sync anything that needs additional attention.For productions where cameras and audio are already jam-synced, this could turn what is currently a tedious setup process into a nearly instantaneous one. It would also give editors the flexibility to work directly in a normal sequence rather than requiring a multicamera source sequence workflow.

bobeladjo · Answer

+1 on this. Building a flat, synced sequence with V1–V4 cameras and A1–A8 production audio is how most post teams I know actually work, and the multicam source sequence often gets in the way more than it helps.

Until Adobe adds something like "Place Clips by Source Timecode," here's a workaround that gets you close natively:

Select all clips from all cameras and audio, then right-click > Create Multi-Camera Source Sequence and choose Synchronize Point: Timecode, with camera names or clip names as the track-assignment source.
Right-click the new multicam sequence > Open in Timeline. Inside, every camera and audio source is already laid out on its own track at its timecode position, gaps preserved.
Select everything in there, copy, and paste into a normal sequence. You end up with a regular, flat timeline and no multicam wrapper.

It's a few extra clicks, but it uses the timecode you already have and leaves you with exactly the layout you described.

When timecode isn't jam-synced, drifts, or is missing on some sources (which happens more often than anyone wants), that approach falls apart. For those cases, there's a tool called KlikSync that does this outside Premiere. You lay each camera and audio source on its own track, export an XML, and it reads the recording-time metadata plus the audio of every clip. It then gives you back a normal sequence with everything synced in place and the real gaps between recordings preserved, with no multicam sequence involved. It works for Premiere and Resolve.

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