Frequently asked questions

No. Drop your footage folders straight into Clam Sync. If you already have a rough timeline, you can drop in an XML from Premiere Pro or Resolve instead, and its tracks will be used as the sources.

One folder per camera or recorder (for example A cam, B cam, Zoom, Lav) inside a shoot folder. Each folder becomes a track. Loose clips, single card folders and day folders work too. See Getting started.

Never. Your media is only read. Clam Sync keeps a small cache of low-resolution audio so a second sync is quick, and writes the timelines wherever you choose.

Premiere Pro (XML), DaVinci Resolve (FCPXML), Final Cut Pro (FCPXML, optionally with a multicam clip) and Avid Media Composer (AAF). See Importing into your editor.

Yes. Camera audio stays linked to its video, and each recorder gets its own track.

Audio matches are measured to well under a millisecond. On the timeline, cameras sit on whole frames, and recorder audio is placed to the sample in Premiere Pro, Resolve and Final Cut Pro (Avid works in whole frames). The sync report lists the exact offsets.

It goes at the end of the timeline after a clear gap, on its own track, coloured or marked so you can find it. If its camera's clock can be trusted, it can be placed by its recording time instead (shown in purple, to check by eye).

Yes, when it agrees with the audio. Jam-synced cameras and recorders are checked against the sound, then used for clips the audio can't place, such as a camera with no microphone. See Timecode.

Long takes are measured at both ends. A clip that drifts more than half a frame is synced at the middle and flagged as drifting. Clam Sync doesn't stretch audio.

Variable frame rate clips are snapped to the nearest standard rate and flagged so you can check them. If phone clips give you trouble, tell us.