Troubleshooting
A clip didn't sync
- Nothing else was recording: if no other camera or recorder was rolling at the same time, there's nothing to match. Turn on Place unmatched clips by recording time to place it by its camera's clock.
- Very short or nearly silent clips don't have enough sound to match.
- Two lav mics on different people often share little sound. A camera rolling at the same time links them.
A clip is marked drifting
Its device's clock runs at a slightly different speed, so it slips out of sync over a long take. It's synced at the middle so the error is smallest overall. Your editor can speed-correct it, or you can cut the take into shorter pieces.
Clips placed by recording time are a little out
Camera clocks only record to the second, so these are close but not exact. They're shown in purple for that reason. Nudge them by eye.
Media offline after importing
The timeline points at your files where they were when you synced. If you moved or renamed them, or the drive has a different name, relink in your editor or sync again from the new location.
The Sync button is greyed out
Clam Sync reads each clip's sound before it can sync. The bar at the bottom shows how many clips are ready; Sync turns on when they all are. A big shoot on a slow or network drive takes longer to read the first time. Later syncs of the same footage are much quicker, because the sound is kept in a cache.
"Couldn't read this file"
The file may be damaged, or it was still copying when you added it. Check it plays in another app, wait for any copy to finish, then add it again. The clip is listed as skipped and left off the timeline, so the rest of the shoot still syncs.
Export says the timeline is over the free limit
The free version exports up to 20 clips on 2 tracks. Your sync is all there to check; to export it, buy Solo or a Project Pass and paste the key into the same window. The export then carries on. See pricing.
A licence key won't activate
Copy the whole key from your receipt email, with no spaces at either end. If it says the key is already active on two computers, open Clam Sync on one of them and choose Help → Licence → Deactivate on This Computer. Lost access to that computer? Email support@clamsync.com with your order number and we'll free it up.
Windows says "Windows protected your PC"
Windows shows this for apps it hasn't seen many times before. Click More info, then Run anyway. You only need to do it once.
Still stuck?
Choose Help → Save Diagnostic Report… and send it to support@clamsync.com.