Introduction
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't every videographer have in his or her arsenal of video editing tools those things that are "nice to have" and those things that are "must have's". For anyone who currently uses multiple cameras, or plans to in the future, we believe we have found a product that falls into the category of "must have's".
United Media's Multicam is a software product that allows video editors to easily preview, sync, scrub, cut and edit between multiple camera sources, as if simulating a live camera switch.
Anyone who has tried to synchronize multi-camera shoots within Premiere knows how frustrating and time consuming this can be. With Mulitcam, you can effortlessly synchronize up to 4 independent camera sources and quickly edit between them without losing their reference points. After completing a Multicam edit you can easily export your project directly back to the Adobe Premiere timeline.
In this review, we take a close look at Multicam and point out some of the exciting features of this "must have" product. It should be noted that this product runs on Matrox and Pinnacle platforms and for this product review we used a Matrox RT2500 capture card.
Installation
As described in the documentation, Mulitcam runs on a PC under Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 98 and Windows 2000. We found no problems, however, running Multicam under Windows XP. Multicam does require Adobe Premiere 6.0.
You should also be aware that a special "Dongle/Security Key" is provided and must be attached to the PC's parallel port in order to properly run the Multicam software. In addition, the documentation states that it is necessary to have audio and video on the same drive. This can be set up easily enough within Premiere.
Software installation is straight forward and trouble free. Inserting the Multicam software CD-ROM into a CD-ROM drive will automatically initialize the Welcome Dialog and after a few mouse clicks the program installation will complete and you'll be ready to get started.
User Interface
The Multicam User Interface is clean and easy to understand. It is comprised of two windows: Display and Timeline.
With the Display window, you have the option of displaying each video track individually. As the timeline is scrubbed, the Display window updates each respective video track at full 30 fps. Nice!
The Timeline window represents the main work area. This is where all the fun stuff ("work") takes place. Depending on the version of Multicam being used, the timeline will display either 4 video and 2 "stereo pair" audio tracks (Multicam 4) or 2 video and 1 "stereo pair" audio tracks (Multicam 2).
The audio tracks can display wave forms which are handy when doing your initial synchronization. These can also be easily muted by clicking the arrow to the right of the desired audio track.
There is a full compliment of motion controls including Play/Stop, Fast Forward, Reverse, Pause, Frame Forward, Frame Reverse and Loop. It is also possible to jog the timeline needle forward and backward a single frame at a time.
I was particularly appreciative of the Undo and Redo keys. As I tend to change my mind often when deciding on the "perfect" cut, it was nice having the ability to backup from my previous decisions.
Preparation
The process of synchronizing clips couldn't be easier. However, while this process is straightforward and clean, some care should be taken when shooting your original footage. Here are just a few thoughts to consider:
• You should stripe (or "black") all tapes that will be used in the shoot. This reduces the likelihood of loosing information while capturing and simplifies the synchronization process.
• Once shooting begins, you should allow your cameras to continue shooting for the entire duration of the piece.
• In most cases you will be recording audio for every camera source. It is, therefore, a good idea to decide on one camera that will serve as the device recording the "master" audio track. You can, then, discard the others audio tracks prior to moving clips into Multicam.
Setting up Clips in Premiere
The items listed below briefly outline the necessary steps within Premiere to prepare footage for synchronizing with Multicam:
• Launch Adobe Premiere, selecting the appropriate Project Preset.
• Be sure to select A/B Editing (A/B Roll Edit Mode).
• Capture the footage from each camera source into Adobe Premiere.
Note: Audio must be saved in the same drive a video.
• Drag the clips from the Project window to the Premiere timeline.
Note: Clips may be overlapped on the timeline.
Note: Clips should only reside on tracks Video 1A and Video 1B.
Note: Video 2 and Video 3 must be used for the Multicam 4 version.
• Do not sync clips at this time. All 'syncing' is done within Multicam.
• Save your project and exit Premiere.
Synchronizing Clips within Multicam
The items listed below briefly outline the steps necessary within Multicam to synchronize footage:
• Launch the Multicam application.
• Load the Premiere project.
• Highlight each clip, in turn.
• Step through each clip to find the visual or audio cue.
Note: You can view each clip through the Multicam View Window.
• Press the letter "D" to place a "sync marker" for that clip.
• Once all clips have been marked, use the Tools>Sync by Clip Marks command to automatically sync each clip.
Multicam will now automatically sync all audio and video tracks. What could be easier!!!
Editing Multiple Camera Shoots
Now that all clips have been synchronized, you can step through your timeline and select which clips will be included in your final scene -- this is referred to as Multi-camera cutting. Stepping through your timeline can be done frame-by-frame or by playing the timeline through.
Multi-camera cutting is achieved by striking the number keys 1, 2, 3, or 4 on your keyboard while the needle plays through the timeline. The clip that is active (referred to as the "Hot Clip") will turn red on the timeline. The Hot Clip is the one that will be used, all others are automatically removed from the timeline.
To make a cut to another scene simply strike, again, the 1, 2, 3 or 4 key. With each strike of the keyboard a different track is selected and highlighted red.
Of course, you can repeat this process as necessary until you have selected the desired clips for your video. Remember, during the process of stepping through the timeline all audio and video clips are maintaining perfect synchronization.
Wrapping Things Up
A very nice feature of Multicam is its Overlap tool. Once you have completed your edited sequence you can select the desired amount of frame overlap between the edited clips. This makes for fast and efficient adding of transitions and effects from within Premiere.
There is also a Main Viewer option (that I really like) that allows you to view your completed work prior to moving it back to Premiere. This viewer shows how the finished piece appears with all cuts applied. In this way, any last minute "change of heart" can be incorporated prior to leaving Multicam.
Once you're satisfied with your multi-camera editing sequence you simply issue the File>Save to Premiere Project command, exit Multicam and return to Premiere. When you return to Premiere, you can finish your work by adding the necessary effects, titles or other clips sequences.
In summary, for those of you who work with multiple cameras, Multicam by United Media is a highly recommended tool. It is easy to use, reasonably priced and dramatically reduces the time necessary to edit multiple camera sequences.
Multicam -- a "must have" for multi-camera video editors. |
