Haha! In previous videos, some people have left comments along the lines of, “Timecode is too expensive, I just clap or use Pluraleyes.” Didn’t want to waste those people’s’ time since they are evidently happy with their workflow. To that I say, “Rad! Keep making cool stuff with the workflow that works for you...”
Great summary Curtis. One benefit of Tentacle Sync Studio is the capability if just converting the audio ltc timecode recorded in the video's audio track to meta data and exporting a new video file with timecode now embedded as meta data. The process is non-destructive when you set the video codec to "pass-thru". With timecode now embedded in the video file as meta data, you can easily sync audio files with timecode and your updated video files from within your NLE and you don't need to worry about the XML file becoming obsolete during editing.
Hey thanks for your video - was very helpful. I am having issues with one of my video clips which has a timecode on it but there is an annoying sound inlace of the audio of the actors - can you help/suggest please. How can I remove this scratchy sound? Thanks
Hi Curtis, happy new years! I don't work as a one-man-band too much these days, but as a sound recordist. And sometimes I end up working on projects with cameras with no dedicated timecode inputs. I'm not the editor on these projects so I question the value sometimes of inputting timecode via the cameras' mic inputs that need to be converted from audio timecode in post to be of use in syncing. Especially when no one knows who or when the material may be edited and whether the editor will be familiar with the tools or process or even the need for converting the audio timecode. I do use a dumb slate as well when appropriate but sometimes - like with a limited-crew doc shoot I just did - there's run and gun situations where it's a struggle to get camera to do any kind of slate. Fortunately most of these cameras have on-board mics for possible syncing by audio waves so that helps. But I'm just wondering if you have any additional strategies for ensuring the ability to sync in these situations?? I just found out about Tentacle's Timebar app, so I guess I could try and get the cameras to film my phone screen with the timecode jammed from my mixer. Any other thoughts? Thanks a bunch and hope you're well!
Hi Dicky - I don't try to impose timecode on crews/directors who don't know how or want to use it. My strategy is clear communication before the production starts - ask them point blank how they are planning to do sync and what I can do to help support that. You can usually gauge pretty quickly whether timecode is going to work for them or not. But my goal is always to walk away with a clear understanding between the director and me as to how sync will be handled. Remember that on the bigger productions, it is the camera department's responsibility to bring a dumb slate. But I always have one on hand because I'm mainly working very small budget productions and the camera guys almost never bring a slate.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, Curtis. This is an interesting take on the situation and a good reminder not to take on stress over things that should, past a reasonable extent at least, be beyond my realm of concern.
Are timecode issues in Resolve still around? I just did a multicam test shoot with some Sync E's (mk 1) and 3 cams. Resolve couldn't sync them properly. Each clip was off by a 2-10 frames. Tried it on both mac and windows without using the tentacle desktop/mac tool. No luck. With so many variables, it's hard to tell what the exact problem is.
The fact that tentacle sync doesn't have a fully fledged version for windows bothers me. All my editor friends ditched Mac long long time ago since you can get a far more capable (and upgrade friendly) windows laptop and we mostly work on the go.
Sounds like there is an open market for a Windows Sync/timeline builder app for Windows. Any developers out there up to the task? I have met the Tentacle Sync founders and Ulrich is a macOS developer so I suspect that’s one of the reasons they don’t have a full fledged app for Windows. I don’t believe he has much experience on the Windows side.
I wonder if the sync issues using Davinci Resolve have been addressed with newer versions? Just installed Davinci Resolve 16.1.2 to give it a try as you recommended in a recent live Q&A session for something to do on a cold winter's day. My problem is that Tentacle Timecode tool for PC will not do the conversion of GH5 footage using 10 bit 4:2:2 codecs. Tentacle blames the problem on ffmpeg having a bug. However LTConvert also uses ffmpeg to do the conversion and it works just fine, it's just I don't want to spend 135 euros at the moment when I have Tentacle licenses from buying two Tentacle Sync E's. Since I am on PC, TTC Tool is my only option from Tentacle and it is less than clear if they will ever produce a version of Tentacle Sync Studio for PC. Tentacle were unfortunately, less than helpful with their recommended solution which was to transcode my 4K footage to DNxHD 185 (1080p) after which it works just fine, but why would I ever want to do that? Recording to the Atomos Ninja inferno using DNxHR HQX works fine with tentacle timecode tool, but my B-cam is recording internal only. I don't want to have separate software tools for converting the two different camera's footage. In the end, I will probably spring the 135 euros for the LTC Convert because it just works great (I installed already but it's only a demo so can only do one file at a time), then I can use my files in Premiere Pro which is my preferred NLE. If I rely on Davinci Resolve, I will have more work to do to get the aligned files back out to use in Premiere Pro. GH5 users beware! (Same issue exists for Sony FS7 users for TTC tool).
@@curtisjudd LOL!! I haven't got that far yet... as I said I just installed it.... lol, going to dive into it this afternoon. ( You are too quick with the responses today!) I'll post a reply with my results.
Unfortunately, GH5, All-I 10bit 4:2:2 footage is not playing in DR16.1.2, to be more precise no 10 bit footage (ALL-I or LongGOP) seems to want to play in Davinci resolve. Just an audio waveform is being displayed and not getting any sound....(Could just be my inexperience with Davinci resolve). 8 bit LongGOP recordings from GH5 are playing back in DR just fine and converting the file timecode from audio timecode worked. But that leaves me back at square one again. I can convert 8 bit recordings using TTC tool. I downloaded the free version only. I wonder if GH5 10 bit is only supported in Studio version? I saw some forum posts on the Blackmagic site where others were having exactly that problem. All the users that could get it to run seemed to be running Studio versions. It's not worth it to me to buy a Studio version for $425 when all I want it for is timecode conversion. I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the 135 euros for LTC Convert. It seems like solid software and although the UI on LTC convert looks complicated at first, once you get used to it, it works just fine.
Hi Curtis would have liked you to show how the Tentacle Timecode Tool for windows is used as there is absolutely no video tutorials on the net only found one in Asian language. Maybe you could do something in the near future
Thanks for your quick reply, you would think someone would have done a tutorial on the windows version of the Tentacle Timecode Tool by now somewhere around the world by now, the manufacture would benefit from this, I only purchased these tentacle syncs after watching the tutorials and did not realize the windows software was not the same as the tentacle studio. again thanks you do some amazing work and look forward to all your video's every week.
is there any phone timecode audio generator apps thank you can use on each device just when they get started, or does it need to be plugged in constantly. like the tentacle sync e. can it be used to sync the start of each clip and then remove? thank you and always like your videos
Hi, you need to keep the timecode generators connected to the cameras or audio recorders which do not have in-built timecode generators. That means every camera I have ever encountered. Phones do not have timecode generators built in so you wouldn't want to rely on them for that purpose. However, there are slate apps you can use which don't write timecode but can make the sync process easier.
Like the idea but in my experience using a zoom h5 and canon g30 after 1/2 hr on the atomos recorder the audio on the zoom h5 drifts. So ive used a line in from the zzoom h5 to mic in on canon g30 and used hdmi passthru to atomos recorder. Everything stays in sinc for as long as I want without drift as the canon g30 takes charge of the signal. The canon g30 does output timecode to atomos even though atomos site is wrong for canon g30. Oh well no ones perfect, maybe I should email them on ninja 2 but no one cares as this is discontinued. So if I had to use 2 video cameras audio timecode is a good idea as long as your clips are not to long or drift will be an issue.
Yes, more critical with more than one cameras. Timecode is really just a timestamp at the start of the clip. I also agree that for long-form video - clips longer than about 15 - 20 minutes - it is better to send audio to camera to avoid the drift issues with consumer level cameras and audio recorders.
Does it matter what level the audio input level is at on the camera when having the timecode go into the mic input of the camera? I've heard if it is set too hot that it can bleed into the Right channel to where you hear it recorded onto your scratch track. Is there a way of setting it up before rolling as demonstrated in your video of sending tone to a camera?
Hello Curtis I use a GH5 as main cam with my zoom h2n for ambient audio and I use my iPhone as a B cam that has shotgun mic or I’ll use lavs to the iPhone for directional audio to a source. What apps for iOS do you recommend to record audio and video and easily edit in with the GH5 files on a PC?
I'm trying to get this to work, recording on a Zoom H6, but I Can't: I use 3 deity-TC1 two for the DSLR and one to record Timecode on the Zoom H6 on channel 4. to sync up the Zoom audio I need to replace the metadata timecode from the (useless) zoom recorder with the audio timecode. Tentacle sync kept saying no timecode found. Resolve can't use audio timecode on audio-only files (only the metadata ones). So are there any other options when you have a recorder that doesn't have a timecode input?
Assuming you have confirmed that audio timecode is recorded to the 4th channel on the H6 recording, you may have to tell Tentacle Sync Studio that channel 4 is the timecode channel. Is the H6 producing a single file with all 4 tracks? My recollection was that it records separate tracks for each 2 inputs but it has been a LONG time since I used it.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, yeah, it's there on the fourth channel all right (audible and in a good mid-range level so no clipping). The waw file is a mono Wav bit. Even joining them together in Wave agent to a poly file doesn't help. I've tried setting the TC-1 to both audio out and line. But tentacle sync doesn't recognize neither as audio timecode.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, appreciate the feedback but I've already been there. I have an upcoming project and unfortunately don't have time to muck about it anymore, so I've decided to buy a new recorder (Tascam 701D with timecode support,) hoping this will do the trick. I highly appreciate you taking the time for feedback - and the general information you provide in your videos. Thank you!
I found in Resolve you can add the audio only clip - with TC audio on one track - to the timeline then place a generator video-only clip on top, render out, then add that rendered clip to the media pool and update TC from audio, load the updated clip into the timeline, unsync audio from video parts and delete the generator video clip, then drag in your camera clips and sync using TC. Pretty kludgy so it was probably more of an academic experiment but it worked for my short Zoom H5 audio clip. I'd buy the Tentacle Sync Studio software if I have to do it in real life.
no matter what i try wich codec i render too i can not get resolve to read proper timecode :( does the LTC need to be on the left audio channel in resolve?
My experience has been that Resolve has trouble reading LTC written to an audio track in many cases. While it isn't cheap, the Tentacle Sync Studio app from Tentacle Sync works in every case I've tried it so far.
Hi Curtis. I've found DaVinci resolve needs the audio timecode to start immediately at the beginning of the audio track for it to work. Some cameras leave a bit of silence or fade in when you start recording so it doesn't find any data. I presume this is one of the reasons why the other products you mention have the ability to scan for audio timecode in the middle of the clip instead.
Hi JUZZLE, thanks! Strangely, over the course of three days, I tried syncing like this with these exact same clips. It worked on days 1 and 3 but couldn’t get it to work on day 2, even on multiple attempts. Really strange. I’ll try another camera as well to see if maybe the Nikon delays the audio just enough to make the sync results spotty. Thanks again!
I set my mixpre 3 II as the master sync clock and slaved a tentacle sync unit to the mixpre. When I imported the video and audio into the tentacle studio software for Windows and it could not read the time code in the audio file written by the Mixpre 3. I used Windows agent software and it could read the timecode in the audio file. I did lots of testing and I think that the tentacle studio software can only read Timecode if it is recorded as an audio track in a video file. Very dissapointing since I think you would need one for the camera and one for Mixpre 3. I thought because the Mixpre 3 has its own Timecode generator I would not need two tentacles but I can't get it to work with just one.
Hi James, The MixPre II clips do NOT need to be processed in the Tentacle Windows app. They already have timecode written in their metadata. Only the camera clips assuming that your camera has a mic input and you're sending the tentacle signal into that. I hope that makes sense?
@@curtisjudd yes it does. I finally understand that there is meta data time code and audio time code that can be sent to an audio track. It then gets converted in resolve 16 and synched.
Hi. Ive been watching a number of your older videos today reviewing the Tascam audio recorders - they have been very helpful. I like the Tascam DR-701D and think i will go for that. However you mentioned its ability to timecode audio and sync through hdmi. I am completely lost with all this and trying to play catchup to understand this way of working - looks like a better way to sync audio. I use Vegas Pro 16 and have always manually synced my audio. I use a Canon 5D iii. Can you suggest any video you've done which explains timecode to beginners especially using it with the Tascam DR701D? Thanks.
Hi Devonbiker. After my review from 2015, there have been several new recorders introduced which I think are probably a better way to spend one's money in 2020. The Zoom F4, for example, is nearly the same price, but a better recorder in terms of preamp and total audio quality, better build quality, and easier to use. The Tascam's Timecode implementation is rather poor looking back at it from the perspective of 2020. It does NOT have a proper timecode generator in it so you're really just jamming the real-time clock which drifts rather quickly. Also the HDMI timecode and record triggering was rather unreliable in my tests. Honestly, I think you'd end up manually syncing audio with the Tascam as well. In theory, HDMI timecode should work such that the camera records the current timecode when the recording starts and also embeds that timecode start time in the HDMI feed to the Tascam. The Tascam receives that timecode value and embeds it in the audio clip at the start. Then your video editing app (NLE) should be able to simply sync based on the timecode metadata value from the video and audio clips. That's the theory. In practice, the timecode signals only initiated recording on the Tascam about 50% of the time (with my GH4 camera at the time). Sorry for the confusion and I hope this helps!
@@curtisjudd WOW that was a very quick reply. Thanks for taking the time so fast. Today I've just bought the Rode Wireless Go for my Rode Lav Mic to record into my iphone and then manually sync the audio in post. I thought an audio recorder would be a nice bit of equipment to use, however here in the UK the Zoom F4 is not on ebay or Amazon and the cheapest I could find is another £140 dearer than the Tascam 701D from Amazon. I got into the Tascam when I saw the DR60D ii which is only £137 here at the moment. I only record Lav mic and video for our church going online since the virus breakout.
Curtis Judd Thank you again. I’m seriously considering the Zoom F8n now, and budgeting for it. I like the wide dynamic range and being able to recover blown audio.
@@devonbiker You are welcome. Note that the Zoom F6 has the wide-dynamic-range 32-bit float recording capability, but the Zoom F8n does NOT. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Best wishes!
Hey Curtis, I have a Resolve/Timecode question for you! I have a bunch of footage that has mismatch timecode between the audio clips and the video clips (somehow I wasn't paying close enough attention to the numbers running on my MixPre 3ii/Ultrasync One/camera that day). What we are doing is rolling audio for hours with no breaks, and shooting video throughout. I aligned the first video clip to the audio in the timeline manually, wrote down the Start/End TC numbers from the audio, then went in to the clip attributes of the video file and changed the TC numbers of that video clip correspondingly. What I am trying to figure out now is how to/if there is a tool (in Resolve or elsewhere), to change the TC numbers of the rest of the clips in this sequence automatically and proportionally to my manual change of the TC in the first clip? Thanks so much for any help you can give us! Really appreciate it. -Alec
@@curtisjudd Interesting. It's funny how I always seem to get myself into such peculiar predicaments in filmmaking, haha. I suppose I could always write some code in Excel to generate new TC values automatically and the plug those in to the clips manually. Probably would still beat the crapshoot of manually moving clips over 4 hours of audio. Thanks so much for getting back! Hope you're doing well!
magic lantern raw LTC raw readout is not accurate.does resolve read only specific codecs.if so is there a list of codecs/file types it reads acurate from dslr cameras?thx
There must be a list somewhere on their site on supported codecs. But what I have noticed is that some cameras don't include audio until you're a few frames into the recording and Resolve doesn't seem to read the timecode in those cases. This phenomenon is more common in mirrorless/hybrid/DSLR cameras.
dont have trouble to test out supported codecs(if it plays on timeline it works). i shot magic lantern raw video with TIMECODE.resolve wouldnot read the correct TIMCODE.so i transcoded to proxies and used a third party software....and it work flawlessly. so i could roundtrip..... also some containers/codecs produced very unpredictable TIMECODE. but i wanted resolve to read correct timecodes from the raw cinema dng footage without roundtripping..if that makes sence?thx
robin reso totally makes sense. I suspect the issue is that Resolve does not look beyond the first frame for audio timecode so it just gives up. A bug report to Blackmagic Design would hopefully help.
It seems to work just fine in Resolve. But now the problem is, for some reason the timecode is not unique? It doesn't mess with the editing (cause I sync every day separately), but the sound editor gets screwed as Day 1 10:00:00 is considered the same as Day 7 10:00:00 in Protools...
I see. Definitely a problem when working a show where the same scene spans more than a day. From a workflow perspective I have typically advised editorial to first organize clips and sync based on day and then organize clips based on scene from there.
Pluraleyes is ok so long as every camera has a mic that can hear whats going on and that is not always possible. I would rather mount a Tentacle on every camera than a mic and know I can rapidly get sync. Of course i suppose the built in camera mic works well if each camera is close to the dialog.
If you use a camera that doesn't allow jam sync (c200) should you use internal timecode as well as audio timecode(tentacle sync e). And if you use both when using the conversion software (time sync studio) does it overwrite camera's internal timecode? Thanks!
Bro I just want this damn sound away from my audio so I can work. Is that really going to cost me over $100 to edit this one batch of footage? I didn't even expect to be editing Timecode or Red footage.. this has all become way too complex
"For those of you not interested in time code, you're dismissed." LOL! Love it - using it. :)
Haha! In previous videos, some people have left comments along the lines of, “Timecode is too expensive, I just clap or use Pluraleyes.” Didn’t want to waste those people’s’ time since they are evidently happy with their workflow. To that I say, “Rad! Keep making cool stuff with the workflow that works for you...”
@@LearnLightAndSoundSessions 👍
Great summary Curtis. One benefit of Tentacle Sync Studio is the capability if just converting the audio ltc timecode recorded in the video's audio track to meta data and exporting a new video file with timecode now embedded as meta data. The process is non-destructive when you set the video codec to "pass-thru". With timecode now embedded in the video file as meta data, you can easily sync audio files with timecode and your updated video files from within your NLE and you don't need to worry about the XML file becoming obsolete during editing.
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Great topic for a video that nobody else will ever do, so thanks.
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Hey thanks for your video - was very helpful. I am having issues with one of my video clips which has a timecode on it but there is an annoying sound inlace of the audio of the actors - can you help/suggest please. How can I remove this scratchy sound? Thanks
Hi Curtis, happy new years! I don't work as a one-man-band too much these days, but as a sound recordist. And sometimes I end up working on projects with cameras with no dedicated timecode inputs. I'm not the editor on these projects so I question the value sometimes of inputting timecode via the cameras' mic inputs that need to be converted from audio timecode in post to be of use in syncing. Especially when no one knows who or when the material may be edited and whether the editor will be familiar with the tools or process or even the need for converting the audio timecode. I do use a dumb slate as well when appropriate but sometimes - like with a limited-crew doc shoot I just did - there's run and gun situations where it's a struggle to get camera to do any kind of slate. Fortunately most of these cameras have on-board mics for possible syncing by audio waves so that helps. But I'm just wondering if you have any additional strategies for ensuring the ability to sync in these situations?? I just found out about Tentacle's Timebar app, so I guess I could try and get the cameras to film my phone screen with the timecode jammed from my mixer. Any other thoughts? Thanks a bunch and hope you're well!
Hi Dicky - I don't try to impose timecode on crews/directors who don't know how or want to use it. My strategy is clear communication before the production starts - ask them point blank how they are planning to do sync and what I can do to help support that. You can usually gauge pretty quickly whether timecode is going to work for them or not. But my goal is always to walk away with a clear understanding between the director and me as to how sync will be handled. Remember that on the bigger productions, it is the camera department's responsibility to bring a dumb slate. But I always have one on hand because I'm mainly working very small budget productions and the camera guys almost never bring a slate.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, Curtis. This is an interesting take on the situation and a good reminder not to take on stress over things that should, past a reasonable extent at least, be beyond my realm of concern.
Are timecode issues in Resolve still around? I just did a multicam test shoot with some Sync E's (mk 1) and 3 cams. Resolve couldn't sync them properly. Each clip was off by a 2-10 frames. Tried it on both mac and windows without using the tentacle desktop/mac tool. No luck. With so many variables, it's hard to tell what the exact problem is.
How does this work on Premiere? This is great by the way. I just do editing on the Adobe system.
Unfortunately, Premiere does not convert audio timecode to metadata timecode. You'd need to use an app like Tentacle Sync Studio.
The fact that tentacle sync doesn't have a fully fledged version for windows bothers me. All my editor friends ditched Mac long long time ago since you can get a far more capable (and upgrade friendly) windows laptop and we mostly work on the go.
Sounds like there is an open market for a Windows Sync/timeline builder app for Windows. Any developers out there up to the task?
I have met the Tentacle Sync founders and Ulrich is a macOS developer so I suspect that’s one of the reasons they don’t have a full fledged app for Windows. I don’t believe he has much experience on the Windows side.
@@LearnLightAndSoundSessions Since there is more pc than mac, I just fail to understand the reasoning of not serving that massive market.
I wonder if the sync issues using Davinci Resolve have been addressed with newer versions? Just installed Davinci Resolve 16.1.2 to give it a try as you recommended in a recent live Q&A session for something to do on a cold winter's day. My problem is that Tentacle Timecode tool for PC will not do the conversion of GH5 footage using 10 bit 4:2:2 codecs. Tentacle blames the problem on ffmpeg having a bug. However LTConvert also uses ffmpeg to do the conversion and it works just fine, it's just I don't want to spend 135 euros at the moment when I have Tentacle licenses from buying two Tentacle Sync E's. Since I am on PC, TTC Tool is my only option from Tentacle and it is less than clear if they will ever produce a version of Tentacle Sync Studio for PC. Tentacle were unfortunately, less than helpful with their recommended solution which was to transcode my 4K footage to DNxHD 185 (1080p) after which it works just fine, but why would I ever want to do that? Recording to the Atomos Ninja inferno using DNxHR HQX works fine with tentacle timecode tool, but my B-cam is recording internal only. I don't want to have separate software tools for converting the two different camera's footage. In the end, I will probably spring the 135 euros for the LTC Convert because it just works great (I installed already but it's only a demo so can only do one file at a time), then I can use my files in Premiere Pro which is my preferred NLE. If I rely on Davinci Resolve, I will have more work to do to get the aligned files back out to use in Premiere Pro. GH5 users beware! (Same issue exists for Sony FS7 users for TTC tool).
Thanks for the details Trevor. What did you find with Resolve?
@@curtisjudd LOL!! I haven't got that far yet... as I said I just installed it.... lol, going to dive into it this afternoon. ( You are too quick with the responses today!) I'll post a reply with my results.
Unfortunately, GH5, All-I 10bit 4:2:2 footage is not playing in DR16.1.2, to be more precise no 10 bit footage (ALL-I or LongGOP) seems to want to play in Davinci resolve. Just an audio waveform is being displayed and not getting any sound....(Could just be my inexperience with Davinci resolve). 8 bit LongGOP recordings from GH5 are playing back in DR just fine and converting the file timecode from audio timecode worked. But that leaves me back at square one again. I can convert 8 bit recordings using TTC tool. I downloaded the free version only. I wonder if GH5 10 bit is only supported in Studio version? I saw some forum posts on the Blackmagic site where others were having exactly that problem. All the users that could get it to run seemed to be running Studio versions. It's not worth it to me to buy a Studio version for $425 when all I want it for is timecode conversion. I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the 135 euros for LTC Convert. It seems like solid software and although the UI on LTC convert looks complicated at first, once you get used to it, it works just fine.
Hello!
Is it possible, after syncing LTC Audio in Resolve, going back to Premiere Pro with all the media sync with the help of a XML?
Thank you!
In theory, yes, though I've never tried that workflow so I don't know the specifics.
Hi Curtis would have liked you to show how the Tentacle Timecode Tool for windows is used as there is absolutely no video tutorials on the net only found one in Asian language. Maybe you could do something in the near future
First I'll need to get a windows computer. :-/
Thanks for your quick reply, you would think someone would have done a tutorial on the windows version of the Tentacle Timecode Tool by now somewhere around the world by now, the manufacture would benefit from this, I only purchased these tentacle syncs after watching the tutorials and did not realize the windows software was not the same as the tentacle studio. again thanks you do some amazing work and look forward to all your video's every week.
is there any phone timecode audio generator apps thank you can use on each device just when they get started, or does it need to be plugged in constantly. like the tentacle sync e. can it be used to sync the start of each clip and then remove? thank you and always like your videos
Hi, you need to keep the timecode generators connected to the cameras or audio recorders which do not have in-built timecode generators. That means every camera I have ever encountered. Phones do not have timecode generators built in so you wouldn't want to rely on them for that purpose. However, there are slate apps you can use which don't write timecode but can make the sync process easier.
Is there a way to sync the timecode between Blackmagic Pocket 6K and Sony Alpha with App? Thanks
If timecode is written to both of them from external timecode generators, yes.
Like the idea but in my experience using a zoom h5 and canon g30 after 1/2 hr on the atomos recorder the audio on the zoom h5 drifts. So ive used a line in from the zzoom h5 to mic in on canon g30 and used hdmi passthru to atomos recorder. Everything stays in sinc for as long as I want without drift as the canon g30 takes charge of the signal. The canon g30 does output timecode to atomos even though atomos site is wrong for canon g30. Oh well no ones perfect, maybe I should email them on ninja 2 but no one cares as this is discontinued. So if I had to use 2 video cameras audio timecode is a good idea as long as your clips are not to long or drift will be an issue.
Yes, more critical with more than one cameras. Timecode is really just a timestamp at the start of the clip. I also agree that for long-form video - clips longer than about 15 - 20 minutes - it is better to send audio to camera to avoid the drift issues with consumer level cameras and audio recorders.
Does it matter what level the audio input level is at on the camera when having the timecode go into the mic input of the camera? I've heard if it is set too hot that it can bleed into the Right channel to where you hear it recorded onto your scratch track. Is there a way of setting it up before rolling as demonstrated in your video of sending tone to a camera?
Thank you very much for explaining!
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Hello Curtis I use a GH5 as main cam with my zoom h2n for ambient audio and I use my iPhone as a B cam that has shotgun mic or I’ll use lavs to the iPhone for directional audio to a source.
What apps for iOS do you recommend to record audio and video and easily edit in with the GH5 files on a PC?
Filmic Pro is pretty good.
I'm trying to get this to work, recording on a Zoom H6, but I Can't: I use 3 deity-TC1 two for the DSLR and one to record Timecode on the Zoom H6 on channel 4. to sync up the Zoom audio I need to replace the metadata timecode from the (useless) zoom recorder with the audio timecode. Tentacle sync kept saying no timecode found. Resolve can't use audio timecode on audio-only files (only the metadata ones). So are there any other options when you have a recorder that doesn't have a timecode input?
Assuming you have confirmed that audio timecode is recorded to the 4th channel on the H6 recording, you may have to tell Tentacle Sync Studio that channel 4 is the timecode channel. Is the H6 producing a single file with all 4 tracks? My recollection was that it records separate tracks for each 2 inputs but it has been a LONG time since I used it.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, yeah, it's there on the fourth channel all right (audible and in a good mid-range level so no clipping). The waw file is a mono Wav bit. Even joining them together in Wave agent to a poly file doesn't help. I've tried setting the TC-1 to both audio out and line. But tentacle sync doesn't recognize neither as audio timecode.
@@thomasholmphoto Maybe try putting timecode on first channel? Total guess. I don't know why it isn't working.
@@curtisjudd Thanks, appreciate the feedback but I've already been there. I have an upcoming project and unfortunately don't have time to muck about it anymore, so I've decided to buy a new recorder (Tascam 701D with timecode support,) hoping this will do the trick. I highly appreciate you taking the time for feedback - and the general information you provide in your videos. Thank you!
I found in Resolve you can add the audio only clip - with TC audio on one track - to the timeline then place a generator video-only clip on top, render out, then add that rendered clip to the media pool and update TC from audio, load the updated clip into the timeline, unsync audio from video parts and delete the generator video clip, then drag in your camera clips and sync using TC. Pretty kludgy so it was probably more of an academic experiment but it worked for my short Zoom H5 audio clip. I'd buy the Tentacle Sync Studio software if I have to do it in real life.
no matter what i try wich codec i render too i can not get resolve to read proper timecode :(
does the LTC need to be on the left audio channel in resolve?
My experience has been that Resolve has trouble reading LTC written to an audio track in many cases. While it isn't cheap, the Tentacle Sync Studio app from Tentacle Sync works in every case I've tried it so far.
@@curtisjudd thx for the info👍🏻 happy to hear it was not my user error
Hi Curtis. I've found DaVinci resolve needs the audio timecode to start immediately at the beginning of the audio track for it to work. Some cameras leave a bit of silence or fade in when you start recording so it doesn't find any data. I presume this is one of the reasons why the other products you mention have the ability to scan for audio timecode in the middle of the clip instead.
Hi JUZZLE, thanks! Strangely, over the course of three days, I tried syncing like this with these exact same clips. It worked on days 1 and 3 but couldn’t get it to work on day 2, even on multiple attempts. Really strange. I’ll try another camera as well to see if maybe the Nikon delays the audio just enough to make the sync results spotty. Thanks again!
I set my mixpre 3 II as the master sync clock and slaved a tentacle sync unit to the mixpre. When I imported the video and audio into the tentacle studio software for Windows and it could not read the time code in the audio file written by the Mixpre 3. I used Windows agent software and it could read the timecode in the audio file.
I did lots of testing and I think that the tentacle studio software can only read Timecode if it is recorded as an audio track in a video file. Very dissapointing since I think you would need one for the camera and one for Mixpre 3. I thought because the Mixpre 3 has its own Timecode generator I would not need two tentacles but I can't get it to work with just one.
Hi James, The MixPre II clips do NOT need to be processed in the Tentacle Windows app. They already have timecode written in their metadata. Only the camera clips assuming that your camera has a mic input and you're sending the tentacle signal into that. I hope that makes sense?
@@curtisjudd yes it does. I finally understand that there is meta data time code and audio time code that can be sent to an audio track. It then gets converted in resolve 16 and synched.
Hi. Ive been watching a number of your older videos today reviewing the Tascam audio recorders - they have been very helpful. I like the Tascam DR-701D and think i will go for that. However you mentioned its ability to timecode audio and sync through hdmi. I am completely lost with all this and trying to play catchup to understand this way of working - looks like a better way to sync audio. I use Vegas Pro 16 and have always manually synced my audio. I use a Canon 5D iii. Can you suggest any video you've done which explains timecode to beginners especially using it with the Tascam DR701D? Thanks.
Hi Devonbiker. After my review from 2015, there have been several new recorders introduced which I think are probably a better way to spend one's money in 2020. The Zoom F4, for example, is nearly the same price, but a better recorder in terms of preamp and total audio quality, better build quality, and easier to use. The Tascam's Timecode implementation is rather poor looking back at it from the perspective of 2020. It does NOT have a proper timecode generator in it so you're really just jamming the real-time clock which drifts rather quickly. Also the HDMI timecode and record triggering was rather unreliable in my tests. Honestly, I think you'd end up manually syncing audio with the Tascam as well. In theory, HDMI timecode should work such that the camera records the current timecode when the recording starts and also embeds that timecode start time in the HDMI feed to the Tascam. The Tascam receives that timecode value and embeds it in the audio clip at the start. Then your video editing app (NLE) should be able to simply sync based on the timecode metadata value from the video and audio clips. That's the theory. In practice, the timecode signals only initiated recording on the Tascam about 50% of the time (with my GH4 camera at the time). Sorry for the confusion and I hope this helps!
@@curtisjudd WOW that was a very quick reply. Thanks for taking the time so fast. Today I've just bought the Rode Wireless Go for my Rode Lav Mic to record into my iphone and then manually sync the audio in post. I thought an audio recorder would be a nice bit of equipment to use, however here in the UK the Zoom F4 is not on ebay or Amazon and the cheapest I could find is another £140 dearer than the Tascam 701D from Amazon. I got into the Tascam when I saw the DR60D ii which is only £137 here at the moment. I only record Lav mic and video for our church going online since the virus breakout.
@@devonbiker Makes sense. The 701D can be a fine recorder, I just wouldn't buy it specifically for the timecode or HDMI features.
Curtis Judd Thank you again. I’m seriously considering the Zoom F8n now, and budgeting for it. I like the wide dynamic range and being able to recover blown audio.
@@devonbiker You are welcome. Note that the Zoom F6 has the wide-dynamic-range 32-bit float recording capability, but the Zoom F8n does NOT. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Best wishes!
Hey Curtis, I have a Resolve/Timecode question for you! I have a bunch of footage that has mismatch timecode between the audio clips and the video clips (somehow I wasn't paying close enough attention to the numbers running on my MixPre 3ii/Ultrasync One/camera that day). What we are doing is rolling audio for hours with no breaks, and shooting video throughout. I aligned the first video clip to the audio in the timeline manually, wrote down the Start/End TC numbers from the audio, then went in to the clip attributes of the video file and changed the TC numbers of that video clip correspondingly. What I am trying to figure out now is how to/if there is a tool (in Resolve or elsewhere), to change the TC numbers of the rest of the clips in this sequence automatically and proportionally to my manual change of the TC in the first clip? Thanks so much for any help you can give us! Really appreciate it. -Alec
Hi Alec, oh, I have to say I am not aware of a tool to batch update the timecode stamps on video clips, unfortunately.
@@curtisjudd Interesting. It's funny how I always seem to get myself into such peculiar predicaments in filmmaking, haha. I suppose I could always write some code in Excel to generate new TC values automatically and the plug those in to the clips manually. Probably would still beat the crapshoot of manually moving clips over 4 hours of audio. Thanks so much for getting back! Hope you're doing well!
@@AlecEagon Hahaha! We all work ourselves into corners. In this case, I just happen to back myself into a different set of corners. 🙃
magic lantern raw LTC raw readout is not accurate.does resolve read only specific codecs.if so is there a list of codecs/file types it reads acurate
from dslr cameras?thx
There must be a list somewhere on their site on supported codecs. But what I have noticed is that some cameras don't include audio until you're a few frames into the recording and Resolve doesn't seem to read the timecode in those cases. This phenomenon is more common in mirrorless/hybrid/DSLR cameras.
dont have trouble to test out supported codecs(if it plays on timeline it works).
i shot magic lantern raw video with TIMECODE.resolve wouldnot read the correct TIMCODE.so i transcoded to proxies and used a third party software....and it work flawlessly.
so i could roundtrip.....
also some containers/codecs produced very unpredictable TIMECODE.
but i wanted resolve to read correct timecodes from the raw cinema dng footage without roundtripping..if that makes sence?thx
robin reso totally makes sense. I suspect the issue is that Resolve does not look beyond the first frame for audio timecode so it just gives up. A bug report to Blackmagic Design would hopefully help.
It seems to work just fine in Resolve. But now the problem is, for some reason the timecode is not unique? It doesn't mess with the editing (cause I sync every day separately), but the sound editor gets screwed as Day 1 10:00:00 is considered the same as Day 7 10:00:00 in Protools...
I see. Definitely a problem when working a show where the same scene spans more than a day. From a workflow perspective I have typically advised editorial to first organize clips and sync based on day and then organize clips based on scene from there.
I must say I’ve worked with time code for 40+ years and never heard that LTC meant linear, it was always Longitudinal.
It appears that linear and longitudinal are used interchangeably: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_timecode
Pluraleyes is ok so long as every camera has a mic that can hear whats going on and that is not always possible. I would rather mount a Tentacle on every camera than a mic and know I can rapidly get sync. Of course i suppose the built in camera mic works well if each camera is close to the dialog.
I agree. Seems a little riskier than a timecode workflow.
@Ryan Chai Good point, thanks Ryan.
missed you!
Missed you, too!
Nice & Thanks Sir :)
If you use a camera that doesn't allow jam sync (c200) should you use internal timecode as well as audio timecode(tentacle sync e). And if you use both when using the conversion software (time sync studio) does it overwrite camera's internal timecode? Thanks!
No need to use the internal timecode as it will be overwritten in post when you use one of these apps.
@@LearnLightAndSoundSessions Thanks. That's what I needed to know.
Bro I just want this damn sound away from my audio so I can work. Is that really going to cost me over $100 to edit this one batch of footage? I didn't even expect to be editing Timecode or Red footage.. this has all become way too complex