Syncing audio and video from a single-camera shoot

This article walks you through syncing audio and video files from a single recording session. This is a common workflow; for example, if you are recording with one or more cameras, and are also recording using an external microphone, like a studio mic, handheld recorder, or lav mic. You'll want to sync your audio and video before you start editing and adding b-roll in Descript's main editor.

1. Create a sequence and add your files

Create a sequence and tracks

1. Open or create a project.
2. From the main editor, select Media library > File tab > ... > New Sequence. This will open up the Sequence Editor.
3. Name the sequence.
4. Select + New track to create tracks for each of your files
5. Name each track.

Add your video files to the sequence tracks

1. Find the video file on your device.
2. Drag and drop the file onto your tracks in the Sequence Editor.
3. Do not transcribe these files when prompted. To close the transcription prompt, just click on X.
4. Repeat this for any other video files you need to add and sync up with your corresponding audio file(s).

Add and transcribe your audio file(s)

1. Find your audio file(s) on your device.
2. Drag and drop the file onto its own track in the Sequence Editor.
3. Select transcribe in the bottom right prompt.
4. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 for any other audio files you need to add.

2. Sync and edit the files

Sync up the video and audio files

1. Make sure to have the Select tool active.
2. Drag the track files to align them with the other track content.
3. Playback the sequence to listen and make sure the tracks are in sync.
4. Continue to adjust your tracks as necessary.

Mute your video tracks

1. Select the video track.
2. Enable Mute track  from the sidebar.
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 for any other video tracks you've added to the sequence.

3. Create a composition from your sequence

1. If you are still in the Sequence Editor, click  to return to the main editor.
2. From the  Media library, locate your sequence in the Sequences folder

3. Selectto the right of the sequence's name, and choose New composition from file.

Tips and Best practices

• Clearly name all your files, tracks, and sequences.
• If you exit the Sequence Editor, but then you want to make further adjustments, you can access your sequences from the Media Library. Once you find your sequence, select it and press Edit sequence.
• As you bring files into your sequence, if Descript detects mic bleed (when a microphone picks up another speaker's voice) a prompt will pop up in the bottom right corner to detect and remove double transcriptions. We highly recommend using this feature to avoid issues assigning speaker labels.
• After you've synced your audio and video files, the Sequence Editor is where you can also remove coughs, silent parts, or if you need to remove audio or video from one speaker while another person is speaking. Learn more about arranging and editing multicam footage.