Multicam possible for footage from 2 separate shows?

[Newbie613]

Hi All!

I would be so grateful for any assistance with this!

I have 6 cameras worth of footage from 2 different performances of the same show (4 cameras of one, 2 of the other), and I need to edit them together. I made a multicam for the 4 cameras and another multicam for the 2 cameras - but it would be so helpful to be able to see all 6 cameras at once. It's going to be very laborious to edit the 2 multicams together... 

Is there a way to do a multicam for footage from two different shows, they obviously don't have the same timecodes or audio? I've been searching all over online and I can't find any mention of it... All multicam tutorials seem to assume that I'm using several cameras of the same event.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks so much in advance!

[John V Knowles - WM · Accepted solution]

Here's what I would do in your case:

1. Sync the 4 cameras from performance 1 in a new multicam clip.
2. Open the multicam clip as a sequence.
3. Add the two cameras from performance 2 on tracks 5 and 6. Try to find an initial sync point with the audio from performance 1 to align them.
4. Watch it back and see where the audio drifts or changes between shows; make cut points in cameras 5-6 and re-align as necessary.

Step 4 will obviously be the most tedious part, but when it's done you'll have a 6-camera multicam clip to work with and there will just be black on the other two cameras where you had to move them around for sync.

[Newbie613]

Thank you so much for your reply!! I really appreciate it!

I tried your suggestion and I got it to work - I had 6 cameras simultaneously in toggle view! - but I noticed that it made the playback stutter really badly, like everything was playing too fast - maybe it was too much for Premiere to handle? (I have a brand-new Dell Inspiron.) So I took it out.

It was actually overwhelming to watch because of the different audio and the timing being off... the pacing is rarely aligned exactly between the performances. I have to make cut points as you suggested and try to put in only a section at a time, maybe?

Is there a way to put the multicam file (of 2 cameras) into that sequence? Or do they have to be separate files, like the other 4?

In general, the playback tends to be too fast for several seconds until it calms down and plays normally (gets annoying as I always have to go back and start play way back before a cut to see if it's smooth.) Is there anything I can do to prevent this? Is it because I have big files?

Thank you so much again!!

[John V Knowles - WM · Accepted solution]

I wouldn't nest one multicam inside another, that's asking for trouble.

In your case I would either chop up the 2nd performance cuts as I suggested so that they're in sync with performance 1 -- OR: make a separate multicam for the 2nd performance and just cherry pick parts of it to include in your main edit. If they really are different then trying to edit them together may lead to madness!

As far as slowing down, multicam does make your computer work harder because it's tracking all camera streams at the same time. You also didnt't mention what kind of footage you're working with -- compressed codecs like H.264 are actually HARDER to cut with, so if you happen to have MP4s you're working with then that could be the issue. You can lower the playback resolution in the monitor or else make proxies.

[Newbie613]

Thank you so much!

Your second suggestion seems to work - I've been "cherry-picking" pieces of the 2nd performance and putting them in the sequence with the multicam of the 1st performance. (Sometimes 1 and sometimes both cameras - but not the multicam file.) That seems to work, more or less, and I can then see 5 cameras at once when the playhead is on the added camera - 4 in toggle view and the biggest view is of the added camera. The performances are very different in many places, so I can only do a piece at a time.

I got the stuttering down somewhat by cutting most of the multicam file off, leaving it only in a master sequence that I'm not touching - but working on about 15 minutes of camera at a time. Then it still runs too fast but usually only for a couple of seconds, before normalizing.

Yes, I am using H.264 codecs, I guess that's why it was so hard on the computer.

Thank you SO much again for your help!!

[John V Knowles - WM]

You're welcome. Happy cutting!