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.

Video: MOV, MP4, M4V, MXF, MTS, M2TS, AVI, MKV, MPG, 3GP and INSV. Audio: WAV and broadcast WAV, AIFF, MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC and CAF. Multi-channel recorder files keep all their channels on the timeline.

Yes. 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60 fps can share a timeline. The timeline takes the format of the camera that recorded the most, and the others are placed to the nearest frame.

No. Any sound that two devices both heard is enough: speech, music, room noise. About eight seconds of shared sound is plenty. A clap at the start does no harm.

No. Clam Sync reads your files on your own computer and never uploads them, their sound or their names. See the privacy policy for the little the app does send (licence checks and the update check).

Only to activate a licence key, and for a quick check now and then. Syncing and exporting work offline, so it's fine on set or in an edit suite with no internet.

A Mac with macOS 12.3 or later (Apple silicon or Intel), or a 64-bit PC with Windows 10 or 11 (the Windows version is newer and marked experimental while it gets more testing). Your footage can be on any drive the computer can read, including network drives.

Everything except a big export: add a shoot of any size, sync it and check every clip. Exports are limited to 20 clips on 2 tracks. There's no time limit and no watermark.

Solo ($149) is a licence you keep, with a year of updates. A Project Pass ($29) unlocks everything for 90 days, for a single job, and doesn't renew. If you upgrade to Solo during the pass or within 14 days after, the $29 comes off. See pricing.

No. Solo is a one-time payment. After a year you can pay $49 for another year of updates if you want them; if you don't, everything you have keeps working.

Yes. A licence works on two computers, Mac or Windows in any mix. Moving to a new computer? Deactivate the old one from Help → Licence, then activate the new one.

Solo can be refunded within 7 days of buying. Try the free version on your own footage first. See the refund policy.

Yes: 50% off Solo for students and teachers, and 15% off 3 or more licences. Get in touch for a code.