Sync 3/4", DA88 & PT together

[babyseal]

Hello everybody!

What would I need to gang 3/4" deck, DA88 and PT locked all at the same time? I know I can just mult the TC from 3/4" and slave both DA88 & PT, but would they still be resolving to house sync?

Would Micro Lynx do the job? If so how expensive are they??

Thanks!

[mfife]

Easiest and cheapest is to do it the way you are doing it, except that multing the Time Code might degrade it, use a DA.

The 3/4" probably has a sync input , and by feeding that from the same black generator that is feeding your DA-88 and your ProTools sample rate clock, your system should lock together fine.

The big drawback is that the 3/4" is always going to be the master.

If your 3/4" machine has 9-pin, consider buying the MachineControl plug-in. Then ProTools will drive the 3/4" around as you work as if ProTools was the master.

Not free, but probably cheaper than MicroLynx, etc.

[doug sjostrom]

MicroLynx can do this, so can a USD. You would have find a microlynx used. Time Line does not make them anymore. A MOTU dig timepiece might work too. (I have never used one). All would get house black burst for sync source.
DS

[Rob Macomber]

My suggestion....buy a USD. Reference the USD, DA-88(w/ SY-88 ), and the 3/4 to a blackburst generator(house sync) Feed LTC and VITC to the USD. Feed LTC to the SY-88 on the DA-88. In Pro Tools, Choose Video Ref. for speed Reference and LTC/VITC for positional Reference in the session setup window (after seting up the USD in the Peripherals dialog box). Make sure you setup the USD on your Digiserial port. This setup is gauranteed to work! PT will stay in Sync. If you are doing ADR...this setup is a must.

[mfife]

The USD will handle both Time Code input and sample clock generation, but if you have a MIDI time code interface already, you can do without. The USD's main benefits are that its settings always come from the ProTools session, and it uses the digiserial port.

You can probably get away with no external clock generator as well, if you are strapped for cash. You might find drift on long things, but probably not. You also won't be able to operate at the professional 'pull-down' sample rates required for most film post. I guess it's also possible for the DA-88 to be the master clock ref.

Having a USD doesn't give you 9-pin control, you still need the special software, which I think is a rip.

[DMR]

babyseal,

The USD lists for about $2K; I think the Machine Control sotware costs about $500. Assuming you have neither of these (and don't want to shell out the $$$ for them), but that you do have some sort of LTC->MTC interface, here's the "Pro" way to go:

As mfife said, feed house sync to your 3/4" deck, DA-88, and ProTools clock unit. If you don't already have a house sync source, small black-burst generators with 3 or 4 outputs are fairly cheap ($200-$300). For stability and just for the pure "Cover-Your-Butt" factor, a good central sync source is a must!

Your 3/4" deck will be the master, so feed its LTC output into a time code DA (again, mfife is right- passively splitting LTC to multiple machines is a "Bad Thing"; signal degradation can occur, especially with devices which only have unbalanced LTC inputs, such as the DA-88).

With this configuration, all devices will be resolved to house sync, and your slave devices (DA-88 and PT) will be receiving good, solid code from the 3/4" master machine. Life will be good, and you and your client will be happy

[This message has been edited by DMR (edited February 21, 2001).]

[Peter Steinbach]

I use a MTP AV ($500) as my sync device. I feed video sync from a Horita box..the inexpensive one described above...that feeds video sync to my 3/4",DA88,Emu 6400, and MTP AV (and to my 888/24 via digi clock). LTC is fed to the MTP AV from the 3/4". I experience no drift whatsoever on shows that are typically 40 min. I found this to be the cheapest setup that works reliably. The only disadvatage I see is that you have to install the G port, but thats really no big deal. If you dont need all the bells and whistles of the USD, you can save about $1500 by getting the MTP AV.
good luck, -p

[This message has been edited by Peter Steinbach (edited February 22, 2001).]

[babyseal]

Thanks everybody!

Okay, i probably should've included my setup... I use USD and Machine Control. What I wanted to do is to sync 3/4" deck TO PT/DA88 while I'm laying off my mixes in sync. So I suppose MicroLynx could chase 3/4" deck to lock with PT/DA88? Essencially I need 3/4" deck to be the slave...

Thanks

[spigots]

Baby Seal,

That's what Digi's Machine Control is for. Follow all of the excellent advice above, then control your 3/4" via 9 pin (using your machine control option). This will allow you to "drive" and insert audio accuratly on the 3/4. Then let the Da-88 Chase LTC. You will have to manually punch (or program an insert on the DA-88). As long as everything is resolving to the same BB, you should be good to go. I often print a 2 channel mix to CDR, DAT, Dig beta and PCM-800 simultaniously, using basically the same set-up (only addition is a Sample-rate-converter to bump down to 44.1 for the CDR).

Frank

[mfife]

NOW you tell us.
If you have USD and MachineControl you are set.
Technically, MachineControl does not Slave the 3/4" to the ProTools, or anything else. It just gives the 9-pin transport commands to the 3/4" that make it follow whatever it is you are doing in ProTools.
To SLAVE the 3/4" would require something that could make the 3/4" chase, slew it into sync, etc. A Lynx could do this, but it's a pain, doesn't improve performance, and frankly, you don't need it.
In our studio, when we do what you are trying to do, we do it like this:
1. Black Generator feeds DA-WaityWait, USD, and 3/4" (BVU9600).
2. 9-pin connection from Printer port on Mac (can't use digiserial). Use digi's cable, or make one. This is how ProTools gets Time Code.
3. 3/4" time code (we use address track) to Brainstorm Distripalyzer, then distributed to DA-88.

The magic of sync is acheived because everything is locked to the Black Generator. The 3/4" needs to be able to GenLock; most do. Technically the 3/4" is Master, but since you're running it from ProTools with MachineControl, you won't know the difference.
If you are going Digital from the ProTools to the DA-88, you have an extra sync issue to deal with, format and set all the sample rate stuff correctly and sync the DA-88 to digital inputs.

Many other configurations are possible, but that's how we like to do it.