Merged clips in Premiere Pro CC an absolute nightmare

Last I heard, Merge Clips is still unadvisable, since it is buggy and doesn't work well with either Markers or Match Frame, two key features for me.  Please advise if this has changed.

There are multiple other ways to sync audio and video, but the best method I have found is to do so thus far is through making Multicamera Sequences, which allows for smooth use of Markers and Match Frame.  Below is how I do that—would love to get feedback on how to improve, and would LOVE it if Adobe could streamline this, or improve Merge Clips.

Here's my workflow:

1. In your Premiere Project Panel, create a bin called SYNC and SORT
2. Using the Media Browser, import all your media that needs to be synced (can include media that doesn’t need to be synced) by dragging in all complete folders.  You should end up with a number of folders with titles such as 20160324_a2_h4n_Planting.
3. Check your audio files to see if any are stereo tracks with empty channels.  If so, select all such files and right-click to Modify>Audio Channels.  Set stereo files with only one channel of audio to be mono.
4. Place all audio and video clips in the top directory of your SYNC folder.
5. Select all clips to sync (now in a single folder), right-click and select Create Multi-Camera Source Sequence. 
   1. Select Sync Point>Audio. 
   2. Select Move source clips to Processed Clips bin (that way we know what has been synced).
   3. Rename your Multicam Sequences by appending them with  _Master.  These will remain unedited, so you can come back to them later.
6. Look at your SYNC and SORT bin. There should be a new Processed Clips bin with all the synced clips—leave that as-is. If there are video and audio clips that did not sync, they will still be in your SYNC and SORT bin, and presumably do not have anything to sync. Review these, and sort them by dragging those you wish into your VIDEO bin. These are ready to edit, since they don’t need be synced.
7. In your SYNC and SORT bin, look over all the newly synced Multicam Sequences, and Right-click each and select Open in Timeline.
8. In each timeline, clean up by:
   1. Move primary camera video (the one rolling the longest) to V1, secondary camera video on V2, etc. This is a bit of work if you have many clips from a single camera, since Premiere places each clip on a new track.
   2. Have external audio on A1. Mute internal camera audio.
   3. Delete all extraneous video and audio tracks
   4. Make sure all audio tracks are correctly configured mono and stereo (no empty tracks, all stereo clips on a single stereo track and not split into two, etc)
   5. Make sure all videos fit the frame size
   6. If you have filmed in SLOG or similar, add any LUTs you wish now
9. Create new standard Sequences with settings matching your video. This will be the synced Editing Sequence that you can mark and edit from (easier to work with than Multicam Sequences).  An easy way to create these is to go into your Processed Clips bin and drag the video clips that correspond to each synced Multicam Sequence to the New Item icon, which will create a Sequence with the correct settings.
10. Copy from Master sequences to editing sequences.
    1. Go back one of your Multicam Sequences, select all the clips you want (you may or may not want the original camera audio) and copy.
    2. Go to your Editing Sequence and place the playhead at the very beginning. Paste your synced clips here.
11. Drag your new editing sequence into your VIDEO bin. These are ready to edit, since they are now synced.
12. Drag your synced Multicam Sequences appended with _Master to your Processed Clips bin, or create a Masters bin for that date.
13. To edit your Editing Sequences, cut up the audio and video as you wish, and copy and paste to the right side of the timeline (or to other sequences) whatever selections you would like to rearrange. However, do not delete any synced clips in your Editing Sequence or move any synced clips horizontally on the timeline. This will keep everything in place in the sequence so that you can add and edit Markers in these sequences and they will continue to correspond to the synced clips.

Kevin-Monahan‌

Match Frame still does not work properly with merged clips.

All I want to do is be able to bring in the audio that matches the timecode of the video clip in my sequence. As you can see in the screen grab below there's an enormous difference in the starting points of the audio vs video clips. I must add I find it strange that the out point of the audio matches the in point of the video, but the length of the audio clip is completely arbitrary.

Where are you at with this Adobe?

-Kyle

I would stay away from merged clips - they aren't ready yet.

They should not even be an option considering the hideous way they work at the moment.

(Adobe seems to have offered them as a kind of practical joke, temptingly luring us with the promise of being able to work efficiently with dual system audio, almost as if we were.... using... a.... professional editing platform.)

I'm a noob with lots of experience on the other platforms, so recently I learned the hard way after assuming it must be my user error. Surely no one would design as system where you can't relink your media to merged clips? Surely no one would make it so merged clips can't be used to export and AAF? Surely (as in your case) no one would make it so that Premiere literally cannot count timecode correctly.....??

Alas, yes.

To try an contribute something useful here for a moment - a workaround - map:

1) Application > Toggle Source Program / Monitor Focus"

and

2) Application > Window > Timelines

to your keyboard, allowing you to do Avid-style editing from sequences you have loaded in the source monitor.

I'm working with PPCC V. 9.0 now and continue having the problem of subclips from merged clips not working.  When i insert them in the timeline, it honors the outpoint but not the in.  

I'm trying to experiment with using Plural Eyes to get my project done but that creates synced senquences... not clips.  No sub clipping there either.  

It seems this problem has been going on for years.  Why can't Adobe fix it?

I am still having the same problem with markers on clips for a documentary I am just starting to work on, and I cant see how I can even continue if I cant use clip markers that keep their comments.  This is a serious serious issue for sorting documentary footage.

MacPro 12-Core

OS 10.9.5

Premiere Pro CC 2014

Used PluralEyes to sync dual-system audio before importing XML to PP

Created Merged Clips from the imported timelines

Add clip marker and add comments in Marker panel

All marker comments and durations disappear once I click on any other clip, or cut that clip into a timeline 

Has merged clips with RED files and XML to Resolve been fixed in the october CC update?

clip marker metadata in Merged Clips still isn't fixed! marker positions remain but the name and comments, etc randomly disappear!

how could this still not be fixed? clips markers even worked fine in FC7!

this is a workflow killer! a basic, fundamental logging tool that doesn't work correctly!

An absolute nightmare. Subclips of merged clips lose their edit points, as you point out. That cost me a day's work after I had broken down a series of interviews into select subclips.

After repeating all that work just using copies of clips with the appropriate in/out points set, the audio tracks have become unplayable. There's clearly a bug in the way that it maps mono channels in merged clips.

Match Frame doesn't work, and I've never been able to get waveform sync to work either.

Merged clips was a nightmare when I switched from FCP7 to CS5.5. I thought it was surprising that it would be so terrible 5 versions in. Two major releases later and it's still not fixed.

Whoah. That sounds like a nightmare. I've just been experimenting with the merge clips features in PPCC and it's nowhere near as useful as Pluraleyes.

But regardless of the merging method — no match frame?!?!

Thanks for this report. I have an upcoming project for which this advice will be useful... actually, I have heard even Adobe folks encourage the use of Plural Eyes for a really complex project.

I would encourage you to file feature requests, as you seem to have some specific ideas about what would help the workflow.

Thanks,

James