Timecode and a cable

[Bryce W.]

Red sells a timecode cable with 2 lemo ends. I've been talking with people that say one should get a denecke or lockit box to jam sync between a 744 and Red camera. Why can't one just use a single timecode cable and have audio sync'd in this way?

[Ron Goodman]

Check out the Sync Bobs at the "store" at www.spacecam.com this is the ultra reliable connection and has saved literally a million production dollars

[nigelsmith]

Red sells a timecode cable with 2 lemo ends. I've been talking with people that say one should get a denecke or lockit box to jam sync between a 744 and Red camera. Why can't one just use a single timecode cable and have audio sync'd in this way?

I second that question!
why can't we just set either camera, or 744T to master and jam sync the other?
And which one is more reliable as master?
Thanks for any advice or info.

[Marc Wielage]

Why can't one just use a single timecode cable and have audio sync'd in this way?

You mean from the audio recorder to the camera, or vice versa? It would technically work, but do you really want an audio recorder lashed to the camera? No matter how long the cable is, it'll be a pain (and those Lemo connectors are not heap). It's a lot easier to put a very small box like the Denecke SB-T on a bracket and attach it on the camera, or lash it to the tripod. The advantage of the external timecode boxes is that they're rock-solid, the batteries last for days, and this way, there's no time code glitches during power cycles or crashes. And that goes for practically all timecode-capable cameras (with few exceptions).

[Bryce W.]

If you attact a denecke to the camera, how will a recorder pick up the timecode? Can this be done wirelessly through the denecke or lockit?

[David Adamic]

If you attact a denecke to the camera, how will a recorder pick up the timecode? Can this be done wirelessly through the denecke or lockit?

Sound is generally the initial timecode source. Your recorder will jam timecode to the slate and to the denecke lockit box. Lockit box will keep camera jammed. It's useful to have the camera free of tethered cables.

Most timecode cables I've seen are rather short. If at the end of this thread you still want a wire going from sound to camera I suggest a lemo to bnc on the recorder side then a bnc to lemo on the camera side. That way you can just run the majority of the connection with a bnc cable.

On a typical shooting day I'd re-jam the lockit box after lunch. If we go more than 6 hour before lunch I'll re-jam at 6 hours.

[Stuart English]

I second that question!
why can't we just set either camera, or 744T to master and jam sync the other?
And which one is more reliable as master?
Thanks for any advice or info.

You certainly can do that. But if you don't want any wires between the audio recorder and camera, putting a Denecke or Ambient on the camera and the audio recorder allows you to do that and still maintain timecode sync between the two recorders.

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

The RED timecode cable (with 2 lemos) is for the RED One

I have used this cable a lot with just a single sound device recorder... JAM sync once with the cable on camera boot up / battery change and you're good to go (unplug the cable from the camera, the jam sync icon stays on camera and never had an issue with the sync)

having a locket,aaton or other boxes is more convenient (can stay on camera for greater TC accuracy after long time, no need to call the sound guy every time you shut down or change batteries)

For the Epic you need the RED sync cable to 3 BNCs (or a small box like the sync bobs to avoid plugging/unplugging this tiny cable on the camera) and a 5pin lemo to BNC on the sound device and it should work the same...

I just wish the RED One would be able to keep the TC jam (not the gen lock) running for a few hours even when not powered up... is such a feature planned/possible on EPIC ?

[Alan Skinner]

If I can jump in here and ask a question;

In planning for using SD 702T with EPIC (once I get it) I might want to use the Ambient Clockit box (the ACL 204 looks very interesting) and if I do that, does anyone know if I will be able to sync to MovieSlate iPad app? Has anyone done this?

Please keep in mind that I am new to audio recording for imagery. (I have some background with recording studio for music)

Thanks for any input anyone might have on this question.

[kevin holmgren]

Ever figure out how to get MovieSlate to play nicely with Red?