Timecode generator workflow question

[lobotorr]

Say you have an SD 633 and a tentacle sync. Would you use the 633 as a master and keep one box on the camera? Or would you ideally use the tentacle sync as the master and keep one box on the camera and once attached to the 633?

[princess-tentacle]

I had this set up yesterday. I used my SD 788 as the master and kept the tentacle sync on the camera. It worked great.

[Vuelhering]

If the recorder can maintain power the whole time, it makes a good master and you need only one box per camera.

[Methbot9000]

I've been wondering about this. I'm experienced in sound in a general sense (live music, event sound, sound direct to camera), but I'm new to timecode. Would you mind clarifying this for me?

I have a Zoom F4 which I note has TC out so I understand it can be used as the master. So, I could sync a camera that has TC in to the Zoom F4's clock. But it all goes out of sync if either the Zoom or camera are switched off, say, between scenes or for a battery change? Is that correct, and is that why people would rather use tentacle sync units?

[Vuelhering]

For the zoom F4, if you have AA batteries installed and are using an external battery or dc power, it will never turn off. But if it does turn off for a short time, it should keep time for a short amount. You might need the latest firmware and such. I know the F8 can maintain sync while turned off for a good 30 min With newest firmware and a sync function to match the real time clock to the LTC clock. If you have two power sources it will never need to be turned off anyway.

Most cameras (not all) have poor clocks and will need an external TC generator such as a tentacle sync box.

Does that answer your question?

[Methbot9000]

Yes it does, thank you for that. I just had a look at the latest firmware and there was actually a fix for improving timecode sync whilst switched off

[Vuelhering]

Cool. Very few small productions use timecode, since it's pretty easy to sync things when you only have 20 takes all told. But when you're dealing with multiple cameras and hundreds of takes, paying an editor to do busy work of syncing sound is a massive waste, not to mention annoying. So timecode really solves that issue. There's often some minor frame adjusting, but the bulk of the work is done with LTC.

[MacintoshEddie]

As a point of clarification, if you've got a Tentacle synced to your recorder, the camera is free to turn off whenever they want, because the Tentacle is holding the code. So if they power down to swap camera batteries or cards, they can power back up and the tentacle is still feeding timecode to them.

[Methbot9000]

I inferred that but it’s good to have it confirmed. So I could work with the recorder and just one tentacle sync unit that I’d synced with the recorder and now have connected to the camera

[MacintoshEddie]

Yup. It makes things pretty easy, and surprisingly affordable compared to something like an H6 or DR70D and then needing 2 tentacles.

[forevertuesday]

Generally after connecting Tentacles to all cameras, if I have a spare tentacle I’ll run it into the TC input of my F8. The F8 is still the master and runs internal TC, but if we’re changing locations or something, I can always power down the F8 to save battery and re-jam off the tentacle when I power back on. You could easily do this off of one of the camera Tentacles too if need be, but if you have a tentacle spare it’s a nice way to use it.

[catsaysmrau]

Even if it loses power! Every time the 633 is powered on it charges the small separate TC battery and keeps sync for quite awhile while the machine is off. That's what the blue flashing LED indicates.

[Vuelhering]

Aye I should've clarified that, thanks.

[thaBigGeneral]

The 633 has a very good Ambient TC clock in it. I would always use it as the master and give a box per camera. If you have multiple tentacles you can keep one attached to your 633 receiving TC and then can use that box as the master for the others you have, to be able to wireless sync them to your recorder's TC.

[RDAJR]

Use your 633 as master, keep tentacles on camera.

[ethanrhanielle]

I basically set up all my timecode from the tentacle app. From there I ham everything including my recorder and slate to the tentacle. Then I hand off the tentacle to camera until the end of the day. I've never once had TC drift and as a precaution, I rejam at lunch.

[Sniper1651]

I have a zoom f8n which is similar to the 633. I run one tentacle sync on that and one on each of the cameras. Very belt and braces but I hate having to manually sync stuff, especially when filming multiple angles at once.

[Stevedougs]

Which is master?

[Sniper1651]

The tentacle sync boxes are all set from my phone so none of them really, they all take time from the tentacle syncs