Ambient ACL 203 with Red

[King Cheung]

Sorry, BRIAN, haha.

 

[Marc Wielage]

If you DON'T have a large timecode LED display like a Smart Slate you can TEST your camera sync with the ACL 203 and a lens pointed at your recorder to get a visual of the timecode image on your footage. That way you can see what your TC is doing ON YOUR FOOTAGE.

That's essentially how I check my timecode generators (all Denecke). I jam my slate to my Deva (or SD 744), then verify the numbers are correct. Ten minutes later, I use my cellphone camera to shoot both displays next to each other, then check the pic to make sure the displays have not drifted.

Next, I jam my SB-T timecode generator to the Deva (or SD 744), and then use that to jam to the slate. Same thing. All three will stay locked without any drift for at least 8 hours (longer in most cases), but I make a point to rejam every six hours, just to be sure.

I prefer the Denecke gear to Ambient simply because the controls make more sense to me, plus they have better factory support in California. I might feel differently in Europe, but the Denecke guys are top-notch.

 

[Brian Ferguson]

That's essentially how I check my timecode generators (all Denecke). I jam my slate to my Deva (or SD 744), then verify the numbers are correct. Ten minutes later, I use my cellphone camera to shoot both displays next to each other, then check the pic to make sure the displays have not drifted.
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When you say both displays do you mean a camera and recorder?
I prefer looking at the wave TC and the R3D or the QuickTime files and play them back in Final Cut so I know the editor is going to have a good match.

Deneke is the pioneer TC company. I think Coherent made the first TC devices but Deneke really made it a production item. Mike Deneke did several sound gigs for me, he was a really great guy. I am glad the company continues what he started.