Help with Sync Stacker

Download

The newest Sync Stacker for Windows and Mac is always on the download page.

Download Sync Stacker ›

Your license key and account

After you buy, the receipt email from Polar, our reseller, has an Access purchase button. It opens your customer portal, already signed in, with your license key and the installers. Later you can open the portal any time: sign in with the email address you used at checkout and Polar emails you a one-time code. The portal also has your invoices and subscription settings.

Open the customer portal ›

Install

You need Adobe Premiere Pro 2021 (version 15.4) or later, on Windows 10 or 11, or on macOS 10.15 or later (Apple silicon or Intel). Get the installer for your computer from the download page or your customer portal.

Windows

1. Run Sync-Stacker-…-Windows-Setup.exe. If Windows says it protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway. You only need to do this once.
2. Accept the license agreement and click Install. It installs for your Windows account; no administrator password is needed.

Mac

1. Double-click Sync-Stacker-…-Mac.pkg. If macOS says it can't verify the package, click Done, open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to the Sync Stacker message.
2. Follow the installer. It asks for your Mac's password.

Then restart Premiere Pro if it was open, choose Window › Extensions › Sync Stacker, and drag the panel's tab to dock it next to your timeline.

Activate your license

1. Copy your license key (it starts with SS-) from the customer portal (see above).
2. In the Sync Stacker panel, paste it into Activate Sync Stacker and click Activate.

Each license works on one computer at a time. To move it, click License at the bottom of the panel, then Deactivate on this computer (or remove the old computer in the customer portal), and activate the key on the new one.

The panel checks the key online about once a day and keeps working offline for 7 days after the last successful check. When a subscription ends, or a computer is removed in the portal, the panel goes back to the activation screen.

On a Mac: Accessibility permission

The first time you synchronize, macOS asks whether Adobe Premiere Pro may control your computer (Accessibility) and use System Events (Automation). Allow both: Sync Stacker uses them only to choose Premiere's Clip › Synchronize command and press OK in its dialog.

If you clicked Don't Allow, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility (the panel's Open Accessibility settings button takes you there), turn on Adobe Premiere Pro, check Automation too, then run the step again.

Your first sync

1. Put the whole shoot in a sequence: cameras, audio recorders, split files, in any order. Open that sequence and click in its timeline.
2. The first time only, press 2 · Select all & Synchronize on its own. In Premiere's Synchronize dialog choose Audio and click OK. Run all reuses the dialog's last settings, so from now on it syncs by audio for you.
3. Press Run all. Sync Stacker puts every clip on its own track, runs Synchronize, closes the gaps and packs the clips onto the fewest tracks. When it's done, only V1 and A1 are targeted, ready to cut.

You can also press the steps one at a time. Each step is one undo: press Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on a Mac.

Tips

• Compact view: the arrows button in the panel's corner shrinks it to a row of icon buttons that fits under your timeline.
• Targeting: the T button turns targeting on or off for every track; Target V1 + A1 only untargets the rest.
• Settings: choose whether Close gaps also removes the empty space before the first clip, and whether Run all ends by targeting V1 and A1.
• The log shows what each step moved. Sequence info counts the clips and tracks in the open sequence.

If something goes wrong

"No active sequence"

Click inside the timeline of the sequence you want to sync, then press the step again.

The Synchronize dialog didn't open

The clips are left selected. Right-click one of them, choose Synchronize, pick Audio and click OK. Then press 3 · Close gaps and 4 · Fewest tracks.

Some clips didn't line up

Synchronize needs the clips to share sound. A camera that was muted or far away may not match; line that clip up by hand, then run steps 3 and 4.

"Could not move" a clip

A transition on that track can keep clips from moving. Remove the transitions, press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z) to undo the step if needed, and run it again.

Empty tracks were left over

Right-click a track header and choose Delete Tracks, then All Empty Tracks.

Uninstall

Click Uninstall plugin… at the bottom of the panel, or on Windows use Settings › Apps › Sync Stacker for Premiere Pro. Restart Premiere Pro afterwards. Your projects aren't touched. If you're moving to a new computer, deactivate your license first.

Manage your subscription

In the customer portal you can cancel, update your card and download invoices. When you cancel, your subscription stays active until the end of the period you've paid for, and you won't be charged again. See the refund policy.

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