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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Timecode Slate for less

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Matthias_Uhlig

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Hello All,

if you are producing music videos and have a hard time syncing images and sound, take a look at the Iphone/Ipod Timecode Slate app.

A timecode slate is an essential tool for shooting music videos. The song is played back with a visual timecode information so that the image can be synced to sound in postproduction. The Timecode Slate for the Iphone plays back any song from the Music Library with a visual timecode.

You can choose from the following framerates:
24, 25, 29.97, 30, 48, 50, 59.94, 60, 100

Also roll, scene and take numbers, as well as date, director, DOP and notes can be entered directly.


All the best,
Matthias
 
For 4 bucks you cannot go wrong, I guess.

503446.jpg


http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=251088
 
Matthias, ya why no 23.98. Saw a first negative review. Do not understand what he meant by "does not work ....it wont attach an audio file...keyboard covers all the information.. cannot see what you are typing" Lim
 
Actually, I just forgot about 23.98. Not very common in Europe. I will add this in the next update.
True, the keyboards cover the textfields...nobody cared so far but I will try to fix that too... but I have no idea what "it does not attach an audio file" means. Just tap on the screen in the production title area and you get to select an audio file... which can be played back, shuttled, stopped etc. by tapping or swiping on the screen...

All the best,

Matthias
 
Just a reminder that 23.98 is really 23.976. MY pet peeve....

-Frank
 
Matthias, could you do a short video demo of the application so we can see how it works?

Would this work via the headphone out cable as well?

Also, I'm guessing the advantage to this is that the timecode is always that of the song so we can always know what part of the song is playing and can place each shot on the timeline accordingly?

Finally, please look at the other timecode slate apps for a few good ideas, like tap to increment scene/take number etc. And maybe also slightly bigger field text for easier readability. Just suggestions.

Could be extremely useful!!

Thanks for the info.

Paul
 
The timecode readout has to be maximised. I mean 4 numerals across the top, and 4 on the bottom.
Forget all other info on screen.
If it works as promised, add a zero to the asking price.
 
For music playback, pretty cool idea. Problem 1... will the iPhone store wav files at 48KHz or is is sample rate converted to 44.1? For non-playback applications, what exactly does this thing sync to? The main purpose of a digital slate is not to look pretty and run numbers, but the fact that it is jam synched to an audio recorder's master clock or vice versa. Until you can either input or output LTC timecode from an external source, it is lacking in the major feature of a timecode slate. (to be fair, the app does not advertise anything other than utility for playing back songs on the iPhone/iPod)

Also, what is the framerate of an iPhone display? A digital slate will hit every single frame number in its setup frame rate. An iPhone display will simply gloss over actual numbers depending on its refresh capability and as the software processes. I am yet to be convinced that anything could actually be "synched" with this device... if not an audio recorder, at least one could get pretty close doing a multi-cam shoot... but if doing multi-cam, you could either get an exact synch with an appropriate timecode cable and occasional jamsych or get really accurate with an old fashioned clap. The editor would always be guessing with such an iPhone device and therefore defeats the purpose of using a digital slate in the first place. For playback, you would have more accurate results by simply creating a song file that included 15KHz beeps embedded into the song (or other frequency that was not too intrusive during production) every 15 seconds or so so that the waveform spikes are easily visible in editorial and can be simply synched to the master track. To be really useful, it should at least have a method to move the playhead to an exact timecode position and storing / recall of cue points.
 
23.98

23.98

Just a reminder that 23.98 is really 23.976. MY pet peeve....
Click to expand...

True, also no different that any other "non integer" frame rate...there should be no excuse making incorrect equipment.

The math for each frame rate is the same, either 24 x (.999) or 30 x (.999) or 60 x (.999)

What you want to call it is a different issue, 23.98 seems just fine to convey the frame rate choice.
 
Last edited:
Frame Rate

Frame Rate

Its a 0.1% difference, but you are correct to use 999/1000 rather than 1000/1001

My post corrected.
 
Hi All,

thanks for all the input.

First of all, here's a little video tutorial that I shot with my Isight camera real quick, so please don't be so hard on me about the image quality.
http://http://gallery.me.com/matthias.uhlig/100037

The main (and only idea) behind this app was to provide a feature all other TC slate apps I know of lack: the visual timecode reference to an audio playback.
If you need a syncing device for a multicamera shoot or something like that, please refer to all the other fine slating apps.

What this app basically does, is playback a song from your Iphones / Ipods music library, it actually hooks to whatever song you are playing in your Ipod when you start it. The timecode information comes directly from the songfile (e.g. MP3), so it should always be the same. The app just "adds" the frames to the display of the song's elapsed time. When you swipe the screen below the TC-display while playing a song the playback cues forward or reverse, whichever way you swipe. If the playback is stopped and you swipe from right to left, the song is cued to 00:00:00:00. I like the idea of the cue points. I will think about that.

You need the timecode reference to music when shooting music videos. That way you know where (or better when) in the song you are. For example: if you just shoot a someone singing the chorus of the song, and the chorus is at 01:20:00:00, the app displays this information, which helps you to align the video with the sound in postproduction. It may not be 100% in sync, but it is still better than editing a music video "by ear" and eyesight. If you've ever had to do that, you know what I'm talking about.
In the past years, I have experienced so many problems with poorly prepared TC playback tracks and a regular 1500$ TC slate, so that the slate itself was rendered useless.
In this app you do not need to do anything more than to drag the song over to your Ipod.

Since this is basically a music player you can of course hook a boombox to the headphone or line out of the Iphone/Ipod to get more playback volume than from the internal speakers. If you have an Ipod fm transmitter you can pick up the sound with any fm radio and have a radio timecode slate.

I refrained from auto (or tap) incrementing the slate numbers because it might get confusing if you accidentally tap on the screen.

I totally agree with Tom that this app is very limited and in no way is an Ipod with this app a professional device. But if you are on a tight budget you might as well try it, it is still less than the batteries for a Dennecke or Ambient slate.
 
NOT

NOT

Yousuf Abbasi said:
I thought it 24fps slowed 0.1%, so the math is 24 x (100% - 0.1%) = 29.976000

Why is it 1000/1001, and not 999/1000 ?
Click to expand...

The NTSC rate for 24 is not 29.976000, two things are wrong there, first 29 which should be 23, and the decimal part which should not have the three zeros, the right ratio repeats,

24*(1000/1001)=23.976023976

30*(1000/1001)=29.97002997

60*(1000/1001)=59.94005994

If you round off the numbers the frames will be out of sync after a few minutes.

Does the App receive SMPTE LTC time code and display it on the screen (via audio in or microphone)?

Does the App send SMPTE LTC time code that is in sync with the display on the audio out (ear bud socket)?
 
The app does not send nor receives LTC. Neat thought, though....
 
It serves its purpose perfectly!
 
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