Wedding video: sync every camera, lav and recorder by sound

Before you edit a wedding, every camera, lav and recorder has to be synced. CamHeard syncs the whole day by sound, in one pass. You get a finished timeline for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro.

In short: give every device its own folder and sync the day at once. Then check only the clips CamHeard marks.

Why wedding footage is harder to sync

The cameras run on their own. One sits on a tripod for the whole ceremony. Another moves and stops between moments. They never start together, and what they share is sound.

Long takes come in pieces. Many cameras split a long recording into several files. A ceremony arrives as a stack of clips.

Sound is recorded in several places. A lavalier on the groom, a Zoom recorder at the DJ booth, a mic in the room. Each has to line up with the cameras and with each other.

The rooms are hard. Echo in the church, wind outside, a loud reception. Every device hears the moment differently.

It runs all day. Getting ready, ceremony, portraits, speeches, first dance. Too many clips to line up one scene at a time.

On the day: what makes the sync easy

Let every camera record some sound, even from its own mic. Nobody will listen to it; it is only there for the sync. A camera with no sound has nothing to sync by.

Keep the main recorder running between moments if you can. One unbroken recording holds the whole day together.

Start the lav before the action and stop it a little after. A few extra seconds at each end can save a whole scene.

With several recorders, let at least one hear the room, not only the feed from the DJ board. Then it shares sound with every camera.

Give every device its own folder. One folder for the wedding, and inside it a folder for each camera and each recorder. Do not mix files from different devices in one folder: with a folder per device, each one is sure to land on its own track. Keep the original file names and dates.

The most expensive mistake at a wedding is “this camera doesn't need sound, it's just the wide shot.” That is the clip you will place by hand.

Syncing the day, step by step

1. Drop the whole day in. Drag the wedding folder onto the CamHeard window, with every camera, lav and recorder inside.

2. Press Sync. The line at the bottom shows what is locked and what is marked review.

3. Export. You get a timeline file for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro.

4. Open it and cut. Each camera sits on its own track, with the recorder and lav sound below.

The sound your devices already recorded is enough. You need no timecode gear and no slate.

How long it takes

One real event day, not a demo: 215 files from 8 cameras and a recorder, 8.9 hours of footage. CamHeard 0.4.35 synced it in about a minute on a MacBook Pro with M3 Max. Your time depends on your computer, your disks and how much you shot.

Clips CamHeard could not confirm are marked review. Nothing is hidden. At a wedding that matters more than speed: you know exactly what to check and what to leave alone.

The couple's footage stays on your computer

Sync and export happen on your machine and need no internet connection. Nothing is uploaded, and no account is needed. Your files are only read, never changed. When the footage is someone's family and private moments, that matters.

CamHeard runs on macOS 15 or later with Apple silicon and on Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.

Frequently asked questions

My cameras are different brands and frame rates. Is that a problem?

No. Mixed cameras and frame rates are normal at a wedding, and they sync the same way.

Will the lav on the groom sync with the cameras and my other recorders?

Yes, as long as they recorded the same moments. That is why it helps when at least one recorder hears the room.

The church has heavy echo. Will the sync cope?

Echo makes it harder, not impossible, as long as the devices heard the same sound. Anything CamHeard cannot confirm is marked review, so you know where to look.

What happens to clips that did not sync?

Usually these are clips with no sound, or clips shot while nothing else was recording. CamHeard puts them at the end of the timeline in shooting order, so no file goes missing. Check them in your editor.

Can I try it on a whole wedding before I pay?

Yes. Every download starts with 14 days of the full app, no card and no account. After that, a subscription is $15 a month or $144 a year. A Pro licence for life is $249 for one machine. Projects up to 20 clips keep working without a licence.