How to get timecode to DSMC2 Io Expander

[AndreasOberg]

Hiya,
We have the IO expander and thought we would get BOTH timecode and Genlock to the camera.

We thought we would get the new Lockit ACN-CL "2019" link which seems great, very small, only 80g, but still lots of features. We currently use Tentacle synch, but they do not provide genlock so I guess there is a risk for drifting.

I see they have 2 cables. One that both connects to the CTRL and the SYNCH. After reading a bit I think the reason it connects to both inputs is because it is sending additional metadata over the CTRL port, this is not something we would need.
https://ambient.de/en/product/acn-tc-rcp/

This one only connects to the SYNCH and it seems it would both do genlock and timecode. This is what the description says "For RED cameras or Expanders with 4-pin SYNC port, supplies timecode and genlock with a single connection"
https://ambient.de/en/product/tc-sync-red/

Here is another cable that uses the CTRL connection. link. I think that is the right one, sadly using Ctrl cable.

Ideally I would REALLY like to not have to connect anything to our CTRL port because we use RT Motion to start/stop the camera removetly which I really like so if the later cable works with only SYNCH that would be awesome.

Any thoughts?
Andreas

 

[AndreasOberg]

I found this tutorial. They seem to use the synch cable, but in the example they use an Epic, so not sure it has any difference.

https://ambient.de/en/tutorial/how-to-sync-red-cameras-tutorial/

Andreas

 

[David Peterson]

We thought we would get the new Lockit ACN-CL "2019" link which seems great, very small, only 80g, but still lots of features. We currently use Tentacle synch, but they do not provide genlock so I guess there is a risk for drifting.

How long are your takes?

Genlock is handy for: 360VR/3D, live switching, very long takes, etc

Otherwise your Tentacles are just fantastic! I love my Tentacle Sync E

But if you need more features then get the Ultrasync ONEs, which are my other system.

 

[Michael Lindsay]

You are correct you don’t need to use the ctrl port...

We have both the slighter older ambient boxes and the tentacles... I am not a fan of the Tenatcles unelss the cam is on a gimbal but they have been great at innovating and without them we probably wouldnt have the new ambient small boxes. I belive the ambient network and boxes are the gold standard BUT I don’t think you need to use genlock (as David said for the reasons he stated) and can stick with your tenatcles (unless you are going to use the ambient network). Your theory is perhaps correct BUT as someone who has done a lot of s3d I never genlock unless I have to! More odd glitches happen when cameras are genlocked...

 

[andrewhake]

Tentacle's should work great unless you really really need genlock.

And I would definitely go for UltraSync One's over Ambient any day.

https://www.timecodesystems.com/products-home/ultrasync-one-2/

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

It will be intresting to see how Atomos acguiring of Timecode systems will turn out.
https://www.timecodesystems.com/atomos-acquires-timecode-systems/


But the Tentacle Sync Track E is interesting too with synchronization over Bluetooth and 32 bit floating point technology.
It records audio on SD cards and can be either synced with another Track E (or Sync E) device, or it can function as a standalone recorder.
Will be interesting to se reviews on it.

 

[Phil Holland]

I like a few of these mini TC gizmos. After a hell of a lot of testing I ended up going with the UltraSync One units. Have 3X of them and they have been pretty damn solid. Smart move on Atomos' side of things to snag them IMO. My normal sound guy is a big Tentacle Sync fan, but he also does a bunch of random camera and DSLR/Mirrorless shoots too.