How to add multi-cam to a single video recording
What is multi-cam?
If you've watched professional video podcasts, you've probably noticed that they often switch "camera angles" to show different speakers at different times, as in the example below
This "Camera angle switching" is called multi-cam, and professional video podcasts do this to keep the viewer's attention and keep them engaged.
Most tools don't support multi-cam easily
There's actually two scenarios here - In person recordings and Remote recordings, but in both cases, multi-cam normally requires a specialized setup or a lot of video editing effort.Remote recordings
Zoom
If you use Zoom, you can either record using the "Gallery View" or the "Speaker View".
You can choose which to show in the recording using the recording settings. Google Meet will only let you record the "Speaker View"[1]. In either case, you don't get to switch between multi-speaker and active speaker views during the recording.
.Remote recording tools
If you use a remote recording tool like Streamyard or Riverside, you can change the layout during the recording, but you have switch views each time manually as you are recording, it won't happen automatically.
What you can do is to record local recordings, and then get multiple video files, one for each speaker. You'll then have to download the videos from the recording tool, and then edit them in a tool like Descript which has a feature to add multi-cam, but it'll only work with local recordings (one video file for each speaker). Doing this also removes the original branding and layout you had in the recording tool, so you'll need to re-upload your brand assets and define/create custom layouts in Descript.
For this to work, you'll need the paid version of the remote recording tool, and also to sign up for, install and pay for the editor tool like Descript.
In person recordings
Obviously if you record with a video camera, you only get one file per camera. To get a multi-camera setup, you'll need one video camera per speaker. You'll also need to make sure that you have seperate audio files, one for each speaker - and so can't just use the video camera audio, you'll need seperate mics for each speaker, and make sure they don't overlap.
If you do do this, then you'll also then need to sync the audio and video for each speaker, which can be done in Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. You can then use a tool like Autopod to add multi-cam effect, and you'll need to pay for both the editor software and the Autopod subscription.
How to add multi-cam with Katana
You can add multi-cam to your entire podcast episode in a minute or less with Katana, a free AI tool. All you need is a single video file(e.g. a single video camera recording of you and your guest, or the cloud recording from Zoom, Streamyard, Riverside etc...)
It's free, and you don't even need to sign up for anything. Just go to https://katana.video and upload your recording
It'll take less than a minute to process, and when it's ready, you can see the result with the multi-cam effect applied. It will switch between the active speaker and showing multiple speakers based on the flow of the conversation.
You can adjust how frequently the camera switches between speakers in the multi-cam settings panel on the left.
You can also change the speaker layouts, for both the active speaker and the multi-speaker view.
It will extract the faces from the video, so if you're using a branded layout in a remote recording tool like Streamyard or Riverside, it'll extract the faces and ignore the background. You can add the branded layout back with one click using the background tab.
When you're done, just click export, and it will export the video with the multi-cam effect applied. It will export at whatever the original resolution of your video was.
🎉 And that's it! You've added multi-cam to your podcast episode in a minute or less. 🎉
It works with any single video recording
The example I showed was from a Zoom recording, but it will work on any single video recording, including:
- • Zoom Recordings (make sure you're recording in the Gallery View)
- • Remote recordings from tools like Streamyard, Riverside, Zencaster etc...
- • Regular video recordings from any camera
If the video is from a remote recording, it will extract the faces and ignore the background if there is any
If you have a regular video camera recording, it will zoom in on each speaker's face like the following example
Suggestions and feedback
I hope Katana is helpful! I was previously the head of AI at Streamyard, and have been editing video podcasts for myself, friends and clients on Upwork. I built this tool because of how annoying it was to add multi-cam and create good-looking podcast videos with existing editing tools.
Otherwise, if you have any thoughts or feedback, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or Twitter or sam@katana.video