Sync a field recorder to your cameras

A separate audio recorder gives you the sound you want and a sync job you do not. This page is about that job: what CamHeard does with a recorder shoot, what happens to a multitrack take, and what arrives in your editor.

What CamHeard does with a recorder shoot

CamHeard is a desktop app for macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later on Apple Silicon, and for Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. It takes the cards from a shoot day and syncs every camera clip to the sound from your separate recorder. The result is a timeline you open in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro.

You work with the structure you already keep: one folder per card. Drop the folders in, run the sync once, export. The whole day goes through in one pass, not take by take.

One pass is also why it is quick. On a real shoot day of 215 files the sync took 29 seconds on a MacBook Pro with an M3 Max. Your machine and your disks will give their own number; the point is that it is minutes, not an evening.

Multitrack stays multitrack

A recorder that writes four or eight channels is not squashed into one track. Every channel gets its own track on the timeline and in the export, and the clip says how many there are, for example 4ch or 5ch.

If you prefer each channel as a separate mono track, the Export menu has a Split channels to mono checkbox. It is off on every launch, so nothing changes behind your back.

Lav and boom stay separate

Because channels keep their own tracks, the lav sits on one track and the boom on another, exactly as they were recorded. You start the edit at the mixing stage instead of unpicking a mixdown.

Poly WAV takes and recorders that write a file per channel are both read. There is no device list to choose from and no channel map to fill in.

Camera sound stays with its camera

The sound recorded by the camera stays linked to that camera clip, so the audio and video link holds in your editor. Nothing is replaced and nothing is muted for you. You decide later which sound the edit uses.

Zoom, Sound Devices, Tascam

Zoom H6, H8, F6 and F8, Sound Devices MixPre, Tascam and other field recorders write ordinary audio files, and that is what CamHeard reads: WAV, including poly WAV, plus MP3, M4A, AIFF, FLAC and CAF. Video comes in as MP4, MOV, MXF, BRAW, AVCHD and other camcorder formats.

If a shoot day holds several separate blocks, they are separated into their own sessions rather than stretched into one long line.

Clips it cannot place

A clip that cannot be placed with confidence is parked at the end of the timeline with a mark. Nothing in the body of the timeline pretends to be synced, so you can trust what you see and check the tail in a minute.

There is a switch for the other preference: it stands those clips at approximate places by the logic of the shoot, still marked, which is handy for b-roll and cutaways.

Nothing leaves your computer

CamHeard runs locally and offline. Your footage stays on your disks, there is no upload, and no account is needed to use the app. It does not render, re-encode or move your media: it writes a timeline file and leaves your cards alone.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need timecode on the cameras?

No. When usable timecode is there, CamHeard leans on it and the result is tighter. When it is not, the sound decides.

Will my eight channel take be mixed down to one track?

No. Every channel keeps its own track on the timeline and in the exported file.

Can it sync cameras that only have on-board mic sound?

Yes, that is the usual case. The camera's own sound is enough, and it does not have to be the sound you keep in the edit.

What do I get for my editor?

One file per editor: FCP7 XML for Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, FCPXML for Final Cut Pro.

Why do my recorder tracks all sound like channel one in Resolve or Final Cut Pro?

Those two read a track per channel but point each one at the first channel on import. Select the recorder clips on a track, open Clip Attributes and set Source Channel to 2, 3 and so on. CamHeard reminds you after the export.

Does it change my files?

No. Your media is read, never written to.