How to Automatically Edit Multicam Podcasts in Premiere Pro

Editing a multicam podcast in Premiere Pro can be pretty time-consuming, especially when you're working with multiple camera angles and a long recording.

Say you've just finished recording a two-hour podcast with three cameras. One for the host, one for the guest, and a wide shot of both.

Now you need to go through the entire recording, switching between cameras depending on who's speaking.

Premiere Pro has some great built-in multicam editing tools that make this easier, but you're still responsible for deciding when to switch between angles.

Fortunately, there are ways to speed up the process. Below are three of them, from fully manual to fully automatic. The first two still leave every camera decision to you. The third makes those decisions for you, so if you edit podcasts regularly, skip straight to Method 3.

Method 1: Manually Edit Your Camera Angles

Best for: short clips with only a handful of camera switches.

The most straightforward way to edit a multicam podcast is to stack your camera angles on separate video tracks and manually cut between them.

Here's the general process:

1. Import your footage from each camera into Premiere Pro.
2. Synchronize your clips using their audio waveforms or matching timecode.
3. Stack your camera angles on separate video tracks so they're aligned.
4. Make cuts wherever you want to change camera angles.
5. Adjust which camera is visible in each section to create your final edit.

This approach gives you complete control over every camera switch.

For example, you might cut to the guest when they start answering a question, switch to the host for a reaction, and occasionally use the wide shot to break things up.

The problem is that manually cutting between camera angles can take a long time, especially when you're editing podcasts that run for an hour or more.

And if you're producing multiple podcast episodes every week, that time adds up pretty quickly.

Luckily, Premiere Pro has a much better way to handle multicam editing.

Method 2: Use Premiere Pro's Built-In Multicam Editing

Best for: the occasional interview or short conversation.

Premiere Pro includes a dedicated multicamera editing workflow that makes switching between different camera angles significantly easier.

Instead of manually cutting and adjusting stacked video tracks, you can synchronize your footage into a multicamera sequence and switch between angles while the video plays.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Select your camera clips in the Project panel.
2. Go to Clip > Create Multi-Camera Source Sequence.
3. Choose a synchronization method, such as Audio or Timecode, and create the multicamera source sequence.
4. Right-click your new multicamera source sequence and select New Sequence From Clip.
5. In the Program Monitor, open the Button Editor using the + icon and add the Toggle Multi-Camera View button.
6. Enable Multi-Camera View to see all your available camera angles.

Now you're ready to start editing.

Play your sequence and press 1, 2, 3, or the corresponding number for whichever camera you want to display.

Premiere Pro will record those camera switches as cuts in your timeline.

For example, if you're editing a podcast with three camera angles, you could use:

• 1: Host camera
• 2: Guest camera
• 3: Wide shot

You can switch between them in real time while watching the conversation.

And if you make a mistake or want to change an angle later, you can always go back and adjust the edits.

This is a huge improvement over manually cutting between video tracks, especially if you're working with multiple cameras.

However, there's still one major limitation.

You're the one deciding when to switch cameras.

For a two-hour podcast, that means sitting through the entire recording and making those decisions yourself, even if most of the cuts are simply switching to whoever is speaking.

But what if Premiere could handle those initial camera switches for you?

Method 3: Automatically Edit Multicam Podcasts With Cockpit

Best for: anyone editing podcasts, interviews, or other multicamera conversations regularly.

If you're regularly editing multicam conversations, automating the camera cuts saves more time than anything else in this guide.

Cockpit is a Premiere Pro plugin that includes a tool called Auto Podcut, designed to help automate multicam podcast editing.

Instead of manually switching between the host, guest, and other camera angles throughout the entire recording, Auto Podcut creates an initial edit based on who's speaking.

Here's how it works:

1. Line up your footage. Put each camera on its own video track and each person's microphone on its own audio track, synchronized with each other.
2. Open Auto Podcut and add your people. Open Cockpit and launch Auto Podcut. For each speaker, enter their name, pick their microphone track, and pick their camera. Then add your wide shot, which Auto Podcut uses for crosstalk and silence.
3. Analyze the recording. Choose whether to cut the full sequence or just between your In and Out points, then click Analyze. Your timeline isn't touched until you apply the edit.
4. Choose a cut style. Set the pace (Calm, Paced, Energetic, or Rapid), which controls how long each shot lasts. Choose whether to cut to a listener's reaction now and then, and what happens to the parts of each camera that aren't used: Disable switches them off, Remove deletes them.
5. Apply the cuts and review. Auto Podcut makes the camera switches on your timeline. Review the result and adjust anything you want.

For example, on the 54-minute, three-camera episode above, the Paced style planned about 450 camera switches, averaging just over seven seconds per shot.

Rather than manually making every camera switch, you can spend more of your time refining the edit.

No automatic edit is perfect, and you'll still want to make a few creative calls of your own: holding on someone's reaction rather than the person speaking, or staying on the wide shot when several people are talking.

But with the repetitive camera switching handled for you, those creative calls are all that's left, which makes the first pass dramatically faster.

And because you're still working in Premiere Pro, you can continue editing the results however you want. If you change your mind entirely, undo rebuilds your original clips.

Auto Podcut is also just one of several editing tools included with Cockpit. You can use Cockpit to search and apply effects, transitions, presets, Premiere Pro commands, and more without constantly navigating between panels.

Tips for Getting Better Automatic Multicam Edits

Whether you're using Premiere Pro's built-in multicam tools or an automatic editing plugin, there are a few things worth keeping in mind.

1. Record Separate Audio Tracks When Possible

If you're recording a podcast with multiple speakers, having a separate microphone track for each person can make it easier to identify who's talking.

This is particularly useful for audio-based automatic editing workflows.

It also gives you more control over audio levels, background noise, and interruptions when you're cleaning up the recording.

2. Make Sure Your Cameras Are Synchronized

Before you start cutting between camera angles, make sure all your footage is properly synchronized.

Even a small difference between your audio and video can become noticeable when you're switching between close-up shots.

Premiere Pro can synchronize multicamera footage using audio or timecode, depending on how your recording was captured.

3. Don't Cut Every Time Someone Speaks

One of the most common mistakes in multicam podcast editing is switching cameras too frequently.

If the host says a couple of words while the guest is explaining something, you probably don't need to immediately cut to the host and then back again.

Sometimes it's better to stay on a shot a little longer, particularly when someone is telling a story or making an important point.

This is worth watching for when reviewing automatically generated camera cuts.

4. Use Reaction Shots and Wide Angles

Just because someone is speaking doesn't always mean they should be on screen.

Sometimes the more interesting shot is the person listening, reacting, laughing, or thinking about what's being said.

Wide shots are also useful for showing the interaction between speakers and breaking up repetitive camera switches.

Automatic editing tools can help with the initial cuts, but these decisions are still worth making yourself.

What's the Fastest Way to Edit Multicam Podcasts in Premiere Pro?

For most podcast editors, it's Method 3. Here's how the three compare:

If you're editing an occasional interview or short conversation, Premiere Pro's built-in multicam editing is a solid option. Switching cameras with keyboard shortcuts while the recording plays is much faster than cutting stacked video tracks by hand.

But if you're regularly editing hour-long podcasts, Auto Podcut is the clear winner. It's the only method that makes the camera switches for you, so instead of spending hours on basic cuts every episode, you start from a finished first pass and focus on the parts that actually need your attention.

Try Cockpit free for 14 days and see how much time you can save editing your next podcast.