CHRIS ROBERTS: Hi, I'm Chris.
I'm an editor and a Blackmagic certified master trainer.
And today, we're going to look at multicamera
editing in DaVinci Resolve.
So first of all, I need to restore a project archive which
has the project and all of the media associated with it.
So I'm going to right click in an empty area of the project
manager and choose the Restore Project Archive option.
If you now navigate to where you have downloaded
your multicamera.dra file and then choose Open,
the project manager will restore the project
and also link the media in the archive.
Simply double click the project to open it in Resolve.
So we're going to do two multicamera editing exercises.
The first is going to be a simple two camera interview.
The second will be a full-on eight camera music video shoot.
The first thing we need to do, though,
is to synchronize the footage and make a special multicamera
clip.
So here in the timeline, I've actually
got some footage already edited.
And at this point here, I'm actually
going to insert a multicamera interview.
But to begin with, I actually need
to create the multicamera clip.
So first thing I'm going to do is come to the Media Pool
and find the Citizen Chain Interviews bin.
If I select that, I've got two clips here,
both angles of a multicamera interview.
So to begin with, what I'm actually going to do
is just add these two clips to a standard regular timeline.
Select both of the clips in the Media Pool, then
right click any of them and choose Create New Timeline
Using Selected Clips.
I'm just going to rename the timeline.
We'll call this Sasha Sync.
And then I'm going to choose Create.
Now at this point, the shots are sequential in the timeline, one
after the other.
So what I now need to do is put one on top of the other clip,
and then get Resolve to synchronize the two
clips together.
I'm going to select the second clip in this timeline
and move it up to the second video track.
And you see that the audio also moves to the second audio track.
I'm going to select both of those clips in the timeline,
then right click either of them and choose Auto Align Clips.
Now there are two ways that you can auto align
clips in the timeline.
You could either use the timecode
that's matching across the two shots,
or you can use the waveform.
Because I don't have matching timecode on these clips,
I'm actually just going to use the waveform.
So I'm going to choose the option based on waveform.
The two clips actually get synchronized very well.
And you can see just by looking at the waveform displays
how the waveforms are matching up across the two clips.
Now that I've got the clips synchronized in the timeline,
I now need to actually create a multicamera clip
from the timeline.
And you can actually create a multicamera clip
either from a regular timeline or from a compound clip.
So I'm going to locate the timeline in the Media Pool,
right click on it, and then choose the option
Convert Timeline To Multicam Clip.
This closes the timeline down because now it's
no longer a timeline.
It's technically a multicamera clip.
And if I use the media preview here,
you can see that I can actually preview the multicamera clip
directly in the source viewer.
The two clips are actually labeled video one and video two,
because those are the actual names of the tracks
that we actually place those two clips on in the timeline
before we created the multicamera clip.
Now that I've got the clip synchronized.
I'm going to open it in the source viewer
by double clicking it.
And then I just simply mark the range of the clip
that I need, just like any other regular clip.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- And the name Citizen Chain is?
- That is the brainchild of my partner.
He named the shop.
I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I had done several projects on him going through school
and stuff like that, so I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then only after we named the shop,
by certain course of events, we found out
that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
The inspiration for Rosebud as a sled
was a bicycle that the screenwriter had as a child.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So that's actually
marked the story that Sasha has about naming the shop.
Once I've got the clip marked, I'm
just going to simply perform a regular insert edit.
Now that I've got the clip in the timeline,
I need to fine tune the interview.
This is taking out parts of the interview
that I don't really need, and just
tightening the story up just so it flows a little better.
Just so I can streamline the interface
slightly so that it allows me to focus on the interview,
I'm actually just going to hide the media pool.
Then, in the timeline, I'm just going to play the interview.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I had done several projects on him
going through school and stuff like that, so I appreciate--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Well, I don't think
we need to know exactly why he's a big fan of Orson
Welles and the fact that he's done some projects on him
in school.
Just the fact that he's a big fan of Orson Welles, I think,
is more than enough.
So let's take some of this interview out.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: That's the beginning of his next line.
I'm going to go to my Blade Edit mode
by pressing B on my keyboard, come down to the timeline,
and click to make an edit point.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I had done several projects on him
going through school and stuff like that, so I appreciate the--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So now I'm finding
the beginning of the next phrase where he says so.
And again, I'll use the blade edit mode
to add the edit point going into selection edit mode
to select that, pressing Shift-Backspace in order
to perform a ripple delete.
If I now use the forward slash key.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles,
so I appreciated the pun.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Now that probably needs a little bit of trimming,
but I'm going to come back to that.
I'm actually just going to get the interview all trimmed
up so that we're focusing just on the main parts of the story.
So I'm going to continue playing the clip,
listening for the next piece of interview that I want to remove.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- So I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Now there's a big ah there,
which is a little bit off putting.
So I can tidy that up by removing that ah.
And in this case, I'm just going to set an endpoint just
before that piece of waveform, jog forward
until after he finishes, and then set an out point.
So using in and the out points here
instead of the blade edit mode just makes things
a little bit tidier and a little bit easier.
I don't need to keep swapping in and out of different timeline
modes.
Shift-Backspace will ripple delete that clip out.
Hit the forward slash key.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- And then only after we named the shop--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: That's working.
One more trim, I think.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- By certain course of events, we
found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Certain course of events.
He doesn't really elaborate on what
those certain course of events were,
so we don't really need to know about it.
So let's take that section out.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- And then only after we named the shop,
we found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So what we now have
is what we often refer to as a radio edit.
We actually have the interview working fairly well.
You may want to go back through the interview
and actually listen to the cuts that you've made,
just to make sure you're happy with them all,
and that the audio flows nicely from one clip to the next.
I'm happy with most of those, apart from this first edit here.
So I'm going to go back to it and use the detail zoom button
to zoom in there.
Let's just preview and listen to that again.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles,
so I appreciated the pun.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So in the incoming shot,
I'm actually catching the end of the previous word.
I'm just going to remove that by going into trim edit mode,
selecting the incoming side of the edit,
and then using the period key just
to trim off one frame off that incoming shot.
Let's listen to it again.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles,
so I appreciated the pun, and--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Now I feel as though I've taken too much
off, so let's just try and nudge that back a couple of frames.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles,
and so I appreciated the pun.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: I might have to lose the so altogether,
to be honest.
But this is all part of editing.
I'm just going to trim it forward just to lose the so.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the play--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: That's fine.
Let's just trim off a couple more frames and have a listen.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- --fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: That's not too bad.
So now I have my radio edit working, it's time
to actually use the different angles that we
have inside this multicam clip.
Let's go back into full extent zoom
so that we can see the multicam clip in its entirety
in the timeline.
At the moment, we're actually starting
on this medium wide shot here.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So at this point, what I want on this clip
is I actually want to move to the second camera angle.
If I right click on that clip, you
can see I have an option to switch the multicam clip angle.
And then I get to choose which of those two angles
to choose from.
Let's just click video two.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- A big fan of Orson Welles, I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then only after we named the shop,
we found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So I have the same problem on this clip
now, so I can do the same again.
Right click, choose switch multicam clip angle
to video two.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- After we named the shop, we found out
that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: And you can see that the interview actually
cuts nicer visually because I'm switching
between the different angles.
I could actually cut to a new angle at any point.
For example, if I move the playhead
to this part of the interview and just play.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Play on the word of Citizen--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: At this point, I want
to go to the wide shot where he says,
Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
So at this point, I can now add an edit point.
Previously we used the blade edit mode for this,
but if I just press Command or Control-B, that will add an edit
and allow me to switch this clip to the first video angle.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: But of course, now I've
got a jump cut to this because it's using the same angle.
So I'm going to select that, right click, switch multicam
angle, video two.
And then, of course, I've got the same problem again
because now I've got a jump cut between the two angles.
So I'm going to right click, switch multicam angle, video
one.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then only after we named the shop,
we found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: You can also treat
all of these multicam clips just like regular clips
in the timeline.
If I go into trim edit mode by pressing T, hold down the Option
or Alt key to select the linked video of the first clip,
I can now trim this in order to create a slight split edit,
so that I'm creating a J cut so that the audio comes in slightly
earlier than the video.
And again, I can do a similar thing at the end here
in order to create a split edit on the last clip.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then only after we named the shop,
we found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Now I've got the multicam clip working quite well
in the edit.
The last thing I need to do is to flatten it.
What this will do is it will actually
give me back the original source clips that
were used to create the multicam clip in the first place.
To flatten the multicam clip, just
simply select all of the multicam
clips within your timeline, right click,
and choose flatten multicam clip.
What this does is it actually removes the multicam clips
from your timeline and actually leaves in place
the original source clips.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- I was a big fan of Orson Welles.
I appreciated the pun and the play
on the word of Citizen Kane, Citizen Chain.
And then only after we named the shop,
we found out that Rosebud was really a bicycle.
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: And that's an example
about how we can edit a simple two camera interview.
However, not all multicamera edits
are quite that straightforward.
Sometimes you're actually dealing
with many, many different camera angles.
So let's look at another example about how
we can cut a music video.
Let's begin by reopening the media pool
and selecting the Miserable Girl bin.
In this bin, we've actually got eight different video
clips of a band performing on a stage.
We've also got an audio file, which is the actual song
that they were performing to.
We're going to let Resolve synchronize these clips
and create the multicamera clip, but just before we do,
it's worth pointing something out.
You'll notice that all of these clips
have a name, JBR_01, JBR_02, JBR_03, and so on and so forth.
If I select JBR_01 and then access
the File tab in the inspector, you'll
see that this clip actually has some metadata specifying
that this was camera one.
However, if I select JBR_02 and have a look in the file
inspector, you'll notice that this has actually
been given camera number eight, JBR_03 is camera number two,
and so on and so forth.
So just because the cameras are named in a specific way in terms
of the file or the clip within the project
doesn't necessarily mean I can't apply additional metadata
information to each of those clips.
This helps me specify the different camera numbers.
I'm going to close the inspector,
and this time I'm actually going to right click on the Miserable
Girl bin and choose the option Create New Multicam Clip using
selected bin.
In this case, it just means that I
can select the bin rather than having
to select all of the clips.
However, if there are some clips in this bin,
you can just select them independently and actually
choose to create the multicam clip from the selected clips.
When I choose this option, Resolve
asks me to create the multicamera clip and what
settings it should use.
So here I'm actually going to change
the name of this multicam clip.
We'll call it Miserable Girl Sync.
I often use sync at the end of multicam clips,
and it just helps to differentiate them
in the list view in the media pool
as to whether something is a timeline or a multicamera clip.
We leave the frame rate as it is because that's
the same frame rate of the clips that I'm using.
But we're going to change the angle sync.
You'll notice that we can use in points, out points, timecode,
sound, or markers.
Well, we didn't add any in, out points, markers
to any of these clips, so we can't use any of those in order
to be able to create an accurate sync.
Also, these clips don't have time code.
Not all cameras will record accurate time code
that can be synced with other cameras.
So in this case, sound is actually the most reliable way
that we've got of synchronizing these clips together.
So let's choose sound from the angle sync option.
From the angle name, though, we're
actually going to change from sequential to metadata camera.
This means we're actually using that camera metadata that I've
pointed out in order to be able to choose
the order of the cameras, and also
very importantly, the name as those cameras
appear in the multicam clip viewer.
We can actually leave all of the other options
alone, just for the moment.
However, it is worth pointing out
that there is this option to move source
clips to an original clips bin.
Sometimes you don't want the source clips
to be moved to another bin, so it's always worth
just thinking about whether you need that option on or off.
Let's click Create.
And after a brief analysis, Resolve will actually
create me a new multicam clip.
And also in the media pool here, you
can see that we've also now got a new original clips bin.
Double click the multicam clip to open it
into the source viewer.
And now we can do a quick sanity check
to see if all of these angles are in sync.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Well, it's not very good audio
because I'm actually listening to on-camera audio
from camera angle one.
However, just by looking at the pictures,
I can see that all of the performances
do seem to be in sync.
So the next thing I need is I need a new timeline.
Let's select the Timelines bin, and from the File menu,
choose New Timeline.
I'm going to rename this timeline Miserable Girl Edit.
And then leave all of the other options
the same, because the defaults will work for this.
And choose Create.
Now I can edit the multicam clip into this empty timeline,
just like any other regular clip.
So I'm going to find the start of the performance.
And set an endpoint.
Using audio scrubbing is very useful
to be able to find the beginning of that multicamera clip.
However, I can always trim it in the timeline anyway,
so I'm not too worried about finding the exact point.
I'm just going to make an overwrite edit for this clip,
just as you would normally do for any clip.
And now I'm just going to hide the media pool again,
just to give me plenty of room in the interface
to actually concentrate on this clip
and move the playhead back to the beginning.
So the first thing I want to do is actually
to choose the starting angle and also the audio angle
that I actually want to work with.
And we can do that the same way that we actually
chose the different video angles in the interview
exercise previously.
In the timeline, I'm just going to right click the picture
and choose Switch Multicam Clip Angle,
and then I can choose whichever angle that I want.
I'm going to choose camera four here,
because I know that camera four is actually the drummer,
and it's actually a good angle from which to start.
Also, I'm going to right click the audio clip
and choose Switch Multicamera Angle to camera music.
The audio file also actually had some camera information in it,
so that it's actually put this in the correct place
and actually labeled it correctly
so that I'm not guessing as to which angle is the actual music
angle.
Looking at the waveform, I can also
see it's a little hot on the audio,
so I'm actually just going to bring that down a little bit,
just so that I don't deafen myself when I play this back.
Once I've got the two starting angles set for both sound
and picture in the timeline, I'm almost
ready to do my multicamera edit.
However, one other thing that I want to do
is I now want to bring the source viewer into play
so that I can easily switch between the different camera
angles.
All I need to do is come to this menu
option in the bottom left hand corner of the source viewer
and change the menu from source to multicam.
Down at the bottom of the multicam viewer,
you can see that there are three options.
This will indicate whether I'm cutting sound and picture, just
sound, or just picture.
In this case, I just want to choose picture.
So now I've chosen what side of the multicam
I actually want to cut.
In this case, just picture.
I'm all ready to just hit Play and then to click on the angles
as I want them.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
["MISERABLE GIRL" PLAYING]
(SINGING) You won't be happy till I put you in your place
You can't smile with that frown on your face
But you look so fine
I need to get you in line
You say you want love
But I think that you're confused
All you really need is my neglecting, my abuse
But you look so fine
I need to make you mine
You're just another pretty girl with something
to prove and nothing to lose
Yes, you're beautiful
But you're not happy until you're miserable.
You say sweet things, but I'm not gullible
You're crying, you're crying
You take up all my time
All of your fits are just to show you want to try
But you look so fine
Girl, you're so divine
Controlling, controlling
Which one do you want?
I can do both, but it's never enough
I'm lonely each day, but you're stuck in your ways
It's too late
You're just another pretty girl with something
to prove and nothing to lose
Yes, you're beautiful
But you're not happy until you're miserable
You say sweet things, but I'm not gullible
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So there we have it.
I've gone from the beginning of the music video
to the end, just simply clicking on the different angles
that I want as I want them.
Now, at this point, you might think, well, the job is done.
However, as I was going through that
and cutting between the different angles,
there were a few cuts that I wasn't quite happy with.
So this is another important part of multicamera editing.
Whilst you could possibly go through that music video
and cut it in real time and be happy with the results
when you've finished, simply think of this as a rough cut.
This isn't live television, after all.
It means that we can always go back
and we can always make changes.
Now, this means that whoever's watching this at the end
doesn't necessarily need to see the creative decisions
that you've actually gone through to achieve the end
result. Let's go back through this multicam clip
and let's see if there's any changes that we can make.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
["MISERABLE GIRL" PLAYING]
(SINGING) You won't be happy till I put you in your place
You can't smile with that frown on your face
But you look--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Well, at that point there
on that outgoing shot, we lost the focus slightly
before we cut to the next shot.
So what I would want to do here is actually
to probably roll the edit back a little bit
in order to cover that slight slip of the focus.
So let's go into detail zoom view
in order to be able to see that edit quite clearly.
I'm now going to click and hold on the edit
and move it backwards and forwards in order
to be able to roll the edit into a new position
to cover that slight slip of the focus.
I don't need to be in trim edit mode
in order to make a change like this to a multicam clip.
And actually, for most multicam edits,
you probably want to stay away from trim edit mode.
You certainly don't want to ripple or slip the clips,
because that will actually break the sync.
So I think I'm happy with the new position for that edit.
I'm going to hit the forward slash key to preview it.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
(SINGING) You can't smile with that frown on your face,
but you look so--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Now that works, and I'm
happy that I've just covered up that slight slip of the focus.
However, this wide shot of the singer
actually now stays on for a little bit too long,
so what I might want to do is actually
cut to a different angle.
I'm just going to play through the clip
until I find the point where I want to cut.
Well, it would probably be useful to actually cut
to the drummer at this point here because there's
a cymbal smash.
So with the playhead actually parked
on the frame where I want to make the cut,
I'm now going to come up to the multicam source viewer.
And you'll notice when I bring my mouse
over the clip in the source viewer
for the appropriate angle, it actually gives me
a little razor blade icon to indicate that I'm going to cut.
If I now click on that clip, you'll
now notice that I've now got a new cut within that existing
multicam clip.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
(SINGING) With that frown on your face, but you look so fine
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So you can see just
how easy it is now to actually go through and actually add
additional edit points.
However, looking at the timeline now,
I've noticed that the following clip is actually
the same drummer shot.
Thankfully, because this is a through edit,
as indicated by the dotted lines, all I need to do
is select it and then hit the Delete or Backspace key
in order to be able to remove that through edit.
That actually has now joined that clip together.
Let's go through and choose a new angle.
I think it'd be useful to see the guitarist at this point.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
(SINGING) But you look so fine
I need to get you--
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: And I think we should go back to the singer
as well.
For that second line Let's choose camera angle two.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
(SINGING) I need to get you in line
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: Well, you'll notice on that camera angle
that I've just chose, it's quite nice.
However, you'll notice that the framing has now
gone a little bit wrong.
So the talent is moving in front of the camera,
and of course, the cameraman is finding it difficult to keep up.
Of course, I could actually cover that with another shot.
But the other thing that you can do with multicamera clips
is you can actually switch between the different angles,
and that's just as easy to do as making a cut.
I'm just going to park the playhead over the multicam angle
that I actually want to switch.
I'm going to go with a wide shot of the whole band here,
so camera angle number eight.
Now if I just simply click on this angle,
it will actually add an edit point.
However, if I hold down the Option or the Alt key when
I actually look at the mouse, you'll
now see it's actually switched into what appears
to be a replace edit symbol.
And what this will do is it will just simply switch
the entire angle, very similar to what we did on the interview
in the first exercise.
So just simply now holding down the Option or Alt key
and clicking on the angle will switch the entire angle
on the timeline.
let's go back to the drummer for that little ripple.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
["MISERABLE GIRL" PLAYING]
(SINGING) You say you want love, but I think that you're confused
All you really need is my neglecting, my abuse
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: So now you can see.
All that we need to do is just work back through the multicam
edit, add in edit points, and actually roll in edit points,
switching angles, and carrying on cutting.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
(SINGING) But you look so fine
I need to make--
I need to make you mine
I need to make you--
I need to make you mine
You're just another pretty girl with something to prove and--
You're just another pretty girl with something
to prove and nothing to lose
Yes, you're beautiful
[END PLAYBACK]
CHRIS ROBERTS: I hope you found this video
to be useful in helping you edit your multicamera
footage in DaVinci Resolve.
Don't forget, if you've got any further questions,
you can always join us on our forum pages
where questions are answered on a daily basis.
And don't forget, if you look at the DaVinci Resolve product
pages, there's a whole section on training where there
are freely available training videos
and training books for you to use.
Thank you very much.