Excellent video - thank you! You really explained the issue well, and ran the test that perfectly answered my questions on the pocket 3. For a relatively low-cost consumer camera - I have to say the OSMO pocket 3 performed really well. I’m happy with +/- 1 frame of drift over a 2-hour period, and it seems that is the case. Thanks for posting this test!
In the Timecode menu, there is a button to set the timecode to the system clock's current time. You will want to do this each time you turn on the camera. The system clock appears to be auto-updated whenever you access the camera via the Mimo app.
Do you know if the Pocket3 actually reads the clock while recording? The action 4 seems to only check the internal clock at the start and end of each clip created. So if you record for an hour straight the file gets chaptered into several clips. You often get a blank frame in the timeline where the camera decided to skip ahead. Possible it was in-between frames on the clock when the next file started.... My old DV camcorder's freerun timecode mode was more consistent back in the day. Just had to get all the cameras together and click the sync button on the remote. Adjust 1-2 frames in post and it was consistent with itself. DJI is all over the place.
I haven't done any really long takes with the P3. But my guess is it is not doing any form of (internal) genlock. It clearly doesn't even have a TCXO, even though the price on those has come down to consumer levels.
Thanks! It did a lot better than I was expecting, but will still require checking clips. That said, in a lot of use cases a frame or two is probably acceptable (e.g., when not filming yourself talking where people will see the lipsync delta), in which case it will absolutely save time in post.
Thanks for taking the time to do the test, your pocket 3 seems more accurate than mine, when i sync using a Saramonic SR-C2001 3.5mm TRS/m to USB-C cable and a deity TC-1, Tentacle sync Track E and my mixpre6 mkii my pocket three accelerates ahead soon after sync, all equipment on latest firmware as of 19th feb, in the uk the c21 deity cable and most deity cables are almost impossible to find, i have been in touch with a uk audio store who mentioned this to the deity rep and I'm told they'll stock some soon, not that a different cable will make any difference to the p3. can dji tighten up the clock cycle with a firmware update or is it down to the dji lame quality control and pot luck ?
@jazzstream I doubt firmware will do it. I believe they do not have a TCXO clock in the P3, and are relying on a regular RTC chip. From observations over multiple cycles, I believe they record the RTC time when the camera goes to sleep and then when it wakes up they read the RTC again and compute the delta to update the timecode value. FWIW, my test was done indoors in a room with relatively consistent temperature (around 78F).
@@cwichura Hi Chris and Matt, Today my Boya BY-K2 3.5mm to usb c cable arrived and i can confirm it syncs perfectly with the P3, one thing i have noticed is after i have synced my Track E to the Deity TC-1 i can then plug the Track E into the P3 and nothing on screen except that when i hit record on the P3 you can see a constant audio signal on the P3 audio level indicator, this i assume can only be the timecode generated by the Track E ? could it be that we can have a constant timecode with no drift, I'll put the recorded track onto prem pro or audition later on when i have time to see if the timcode signal is recorded and also if i can replicate it via the TC-1.
i just put the TC-1 into master/audio out, plugged it into the P3 and the timcode audio pulse shows on screen even when not recording, hit record and playback and it is clear and loud timecode.
One additional comment: I see others have mentioned really severe drift between cameras, specifically the audio. In my experience, the osmo 3 in-camera audio maintains perfect sync with the video (using the on-camera, built-in mics). I believe the problem occurs when using DJI wireless mic 2 setup, based on what I have seen in other forums. My solution for this is to skip the Osmo wireless mics - use the internal mics for scratch audio (for later sync if needed), but record your good audio using other equipment - and sync it in post with time code (or the scratch audio track). I do this anyway even with pro cameras, so I’m not trying to bash the osmo 3 here - I think it is a very capable little camera.
As a sound guy, I usually do external audio as well, which is why I was so curious about the timecode accuracy of the P3. For some quick non-critical stuff, I will sometimes use the Mic 2 wirelessly instead of setting up the Scorpio. But those clips tend to be very short (never more than a minute or two), so I haven't had issues with the audio being off. I'm also usually not filming people speaking in this case, so even if it was a few frames off, most people would never notice.
too much drift in DJI.. i have a 3 camera setup and this dji Drifts way too much every 4-8 minutes i gotta do slip audio several steps to the right... in some cases almost 14 steps.
@@cwichura Can you just leave the timecode box on permanently if the jam and unplug method doesnt work? This should be a 2 minute video not 20!! Converting audio to timecode is very fast and can be done by batch for all clips.
@@deafdave6468 You could do that. But now you have to keep the generator connected to the USB port the entire time. This makes the otherwise very "handy" form factor much more awkward.
Excellent video - thank you!
You really explained the issue well, and ran the test that perfectly answered my questions on the pocket 3. For a relatively low-cost consumer camera - I have to say the OSMO pocket 3 performed really well. I’m happy with +/- 1 frame of drift over a 2-hour period, and it seems that is the case. Thanks for posting this test!
Glad you found it useful.
Does anyone know how to fucking disable the time code feature so that I can get the normal time and date?
In the Timecode menu, there is a button to set the timecode to the system clock's current time. You will want to do this each time you turn on the camera.
The system clock appears to be auto-updated whenever you access the camera via the Mimo app.
RTFM error! ;-)
Do you know if the Pocket3 actually reads the clock while recording? The action 4 seems to only check the internal clock at the start and end of each clip created. So if you record for an hour straight the file gets chaptered into several clips. You often get a blank frame in the timeline where the camera decided to skip ahead. Possible it was in-between frames on the clock when the next file started.... My old DV camcorder's freerun timecode mode was more consistent back in the day. Just had to get all the cameras together and click the sync button on the remote. Adjust 1-2 frames in post and it was consistent with itself. DJI is all over the place.
I haven't done any really long takes with the P3. But my guess is it is not doing any form of (internal) genlock. It clearly doesn't even have a TCXO, even though the price on those has come down to consumer levels.
Thanks Christopher that nice to know!
Thanks!
It did a lot better than I was expecting, but will still require checking clips. That said, in a lot of use cases a frame or two is probably acceptable (e.g., when not filming yourself talking where people will see the lipsync delta), in which case it will absolutely save time in post.
Thanks for taking the time to do the test, your pocket 3 seems more accurate than mine, when i sync using a Saramonic SR-C2001 3.5mm TRS/m to
USB-C cable and a deity TC-1, Tentacle sync Track E and my mixpre6 mkii my pocket three accelerates ahead soon after sync, all equipment on latest firmware as of 19th feb, in the uk the c21 deity cable and most deity cables are almost impossible to find, i have been in touch with a uk audio store who mentioned this to the deity rep and I'm told they'll stock some soon, not that a different cable will make any difference to the p3.
can dji tighten up the clock cycle with a firmware update or is it down to the dji lame quality control and pot luck ?
@jazzstream I doubt firmware will do it. I believe they do not have a TCXO clock in the P3, and are relying on a regular RTC chip. From observations over multiple cycles, I believe they record the RTC time when the camera goes to sleep and then when it wakes up they read the RTC again and compute the delta to update the timecode value.
FWIW, my test was done indoors in a room with relatively consistent temperature (around 78F).
@@cwichura
Hi Chris and Matt,
Today my Boya BY-K2 3.5mm to usb c cable arrived and i can confirm it syncs perfectly with the P3, one thing i have noticed is after i have synced my Track E to the Deity TC-1 i can then plug the Track E into the P3 and nothing on screen except that when i hit record on the P3 you can see a constant audio signal on the P3 audio level indicator, this i assume can only be the timecode generated by the Track E ? could it be that we can have a constant timecode with no drift, I'll put the recorded track onto prem pro or audition later on when i have time to see if the timcode signal is recorded and also if i can replicate it via the TC-1.
i just put the TC-1 into master/audio out, plugged it into the P3 and the timcode audio pulse shows on screen even when not recording, hit record and playback and it is clear and loud timecode.
One additional comment: I see others have mentioned really severe drift between cameras, specifically the audio. In my experience, the osmo 3 in-camera audio maintains perfect sync with the video (using the on-camera, built-in mics). I believe the problem occurs when using DJI wireless mic 2 setup, based on what I have seen in other forums. My solution for this is to skip the Osmo wireless mics - use the internal mics for scratch audio (for later sync if needed), but record your good audio using other equipment - and sync it in post with time code (or the scratch audio track). I do this anyway even with pro cameras, so I’m not trying to bash the osmo 3 here - I think it is a very capable little camera.
As a sound guy, I usually do external audio as well, which is why I was so curious about the timecode accuracy of the P3.
For some quick non-critical stuff, I will sometimes use the Mic 2 wirelessly instead of setting up the Scorpio. But those clips tend to be very short (never more than a minute or two), so I haven't had issues with the audio being off. I'm also usually not filming people speaking in this case, so even if it was a few frames off, most people would never notice.
too much drift in DJI.. i have a 3 camera setup and this dji Drifts way too much every 4-8 minutes i gotta do slip audio several steps to the right... in some cases almost 14 steps.
I think they just use the RTC chip to maintain their timecode. So there will be more variance, especially at different ambient temperatures.
@@cwichura Can you just leave the timecode box on permanently if the jam and unplug method doesnt work? This should be a 2 minute video not 20!! Converting audio to timecode is very fast and can be done by batch for all clips.
@@deafdave6468 No, the P3 does not support continuous jamming. Hence why testing it's accuracy is important.
@@cwichura Then LTC audio timecode in an audio track would be the way to go, if the editor cant sync up using this method then change editor!
@@deafdave6468 You could do that. But now you have to keep the generator connected to the USB port the entire time. This makes the otherwise very "handy" form factor much more awkward.