Sync a field recorder to your cameras

The recorder is your best friend

A recorder that runs for a long stretch hears everything the cameras hear. That makes it the perfect anchor: Waveline matches every camera clip against it first, then fills in the rest. It also usually has the steadiest clock.

How to do it

1. Add the recorder folderAdd it alongside your camera folders. It appears with a green recorder badge. If a camera folder was mistaken for a recorder (or the other way round), click the badge to switch it.
2. SyncEach camera clip is matched to the recorder by sound, to a fraction of a frame.
3. Choose your channelsMultichannel recorders (for example a 4-channel Zoom F6) get one labelled track per channel when Split channels to mono is on. Split-file takes like ZOOM0001_Tr1.WAV are grouped as one take.
4. Export with Correct driftFor takes longer than a few minutes, turn on Correct drift.

What is drift, and why it matters

No two clocks run at exactly the same speed. A recorder and a camera might differ by a few parts per million — nothing over a minute, but over an hour-long speech that can add up to a couple of frames or more, and you'll hear an echo near the end. Waveline measures the difference across the whole take. On export it makes a corrected copy of the recorder file that runs at the cameras' speed, saved in a Waveline drift-corrected audio folder. Your original stays untouched.

Tips

• Record at 48 kHz to match video.
• Start the recorder before the cameras and stop it after them.
• If you use a lav on a person, a camera mic nearby still helps to confirm the match.