Best way to get Timecode in to Protools?

[JCBigler]

What's the best way to get Timecode in to Protools? Do you have to have a Sync HD? Is it possible to use a Tentacle Sync E unit to record time code into Protools?

[falcowe]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

What's the best way to get Timecode in to Protools? Do you have to have a Sync HD? Is it possible to use a Tentacle Sync E unit to record time code into Protools?

Not sure what you mean "get Timecode in Protools..." what are you trying to use Timecode for? ProTools plays-back in Timecode during it's normal operation. So there is no need to "add" timecode to ProTools. You can record a Tentacle Sync into ProTools via audio but it would likely be far more efficient to just find some TC audio that has already been recorded by someone else. Otherwise you are going to spend a lot of time recording audio LTC. And it likely won't be in perfect sync with your PT rig since you would need a SyncHD to jam to a Tentacle. And if you have a SyncHD then it is far simpler to just record that LTC source (like you mentioned).

[LDS]

To sync camera footage and pro tools audio for editing? A tentacle sync will get you most of the way there, but I haven't figured out a way to embed TC in audio metadata in the same way a sound devices recorder will do it. I would set the main camera, perhaps the wide, to 24 hour free run. Then jam the tentacle sync to it. Using the tentacle I would then jam all of the other cameras to the same timecode. Finally attaching the tentacle to an audio input in Pro tools and recording LTC as audio.

It has some downsides. Some cameras will lose TC when powered down (batteries changes, etc), and you will also need to run the LTC audio channel through the Tentacle application to embed the timecode into metadata. That converted LTC channel would then need to be the reference used by the editor to align all of the other audio tracks. If the job is something like a theatre performance with only a take or two in total, I usually don't bother with timecode at all. Syncing two takes shouldn't take an editor very long.

Another option is Boom Recorder, a standalone multichannel recording application that will take an audio-based LTC input and embed that timecode within each audio file. It has a 30 day full-feature trial. If you are running DVS for the gig, it might make a pretty easy, timecode jammed backup from your main rig.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by LDS

To sync camera footage and pro tools audio for editing?

Yeah, this is exactly what I want it for.

Have a job coming up at the end of April where we will be doing a audio video recording for an opera. I'll be recording multi track audio and then will mix and master it for radio broadcast and then they will use the audio as the master audio for a video recording. It's not a full length opera, it's a selection of arias and songs in operatic style. With piano and 3 singers, maybe a string quartet or something.

I want to make sure that my finished audio will present the best and not have any frame rate drift.

I have an old MOTU Digital Timepiece that I can use to lock the audio and video systems to SMPTE or wordclock.

I'm not sure yet what the video recording system will entail. Hopefully I'll know that after my meeting next week. Probably at least two cameras.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

Yeah, this is exactly what I want it for.

Have a job coming up at the end of April where we will be doing a audio video recording for an opera. I'll be recording multi track audio and then will mix and master it for radio broadcast and then they will use the audio as the master audio for a video recording. It's not a full length opera, it's a selection of arias and songs in operatic style. With piano and 3 singers, maybe a string quartet or something.

I want to make sure that my finished audio will present the best and not have any frame rate drift.

I have an old MOTU Digital Timepiece that I can use to lock the audio and video systems to SMPTE or wordclock.

I'm not sure yet what the video recording system will entail. Hopefully I'll know that after my meeting next week. Probably at least two cameras.

I've done dozens and dozens of gigs with no form of synchronisation in place, and have never had a problem with audio not lining up with video. Setting the frame and sample rates to match before recording is definitely ideal.

With that said, a tentacle sync won't really do what you are chasing. LTC is nothing more than a positional reference that gets embedded per frame. Feeding it into Pro Tools on an audio channel won't really do anything in terms of lining up systems to prevent drift. A Sync HD and a tri-level sync generator is probably closer to doing it the right way.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by LDS

I've done dozens and dozens of gigs with no form of synchronisation in place, and have never had a problem with audio not lining up with video. Setting the frame and sample rates to match before recording is definitely ideal.

I've feed audio to video recorders hundreds of times myself. But my concern is that I'll be editing the audio in post rather than sending a live stereo mix to the live video recording. I just want to make sure that my final mix will sync with the edited video after the fact.

A Sync HD and a tri-level sync generator is probably closer to doing it the right way.

Is this not something that my MOTU unit will not do?

[seanmccoy]

Originally Posted by LDS

I've done dozens and dozens of gigs with no form of synchronisation in place, and have never had a problem with audio not lining up with video.

Same here. Lots of projects with free-wheeled audio and video being passed back and forth, both short and long form, and haven't had a drift issue in at least the last 10 years. In 'the old days' it was problematic, but clock technology seems to have vastly improved.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

I've feed audio to video recorders hundreds of times myself. But my concern is that I'll be editing the audio in post rather than sending a live stereo mix to the live video recording. I just want to make sure that my final mix will sync with the edited video after the fact.

The latter is what I am referring to. Properly syncing systems certainly won't hurt, but I have never bothered with it in the past and everything has been fine. Even with a locked system, there are plenty of other curveballs that can alter sync. Editors delivering compressed cuts rather than DNxHD or ProRes versions can throw some spanners.

Is this not something that my MOTU unit will not do?

I'm not sure, but my hunch is that it pre-dates HD video, so can't do it. Blackmagic and AJA both make a pretty cost effective sync generator that is tri-level capable. Even then, you need cameras, switchers, etc that can lock to a reference input.

Tri-level genlock synchronises the frame rates in each camera, and can be used as the main clocking reference in Pro Tools with a Sync HD. Timecode is adds a positional reference to each freewheeling frame. It makes aligning video and audio to a single point in time on the timeline quick and easy, but it doesn't align audio and video over the duration of the recording.