HPX500 to Tascam HD-P2 Timcode Sync Questions

[Kit Hannah]

So I have been doing a bunch of reading and trying to find an answer with no avail.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to purchase the Tascam HD-P2 at the beginning of this next week. I'm trying to figure out how the timecode thing is going to work with our HPX500's. We've never really had to deal with timecode - we usually just synced via the audio, which I really don't want to do anymore.

I guess I have a few questions here:

1. Will the HD-P2 be synced directly from the HPX500 TC out or do I need a clapper?

2. On the HD-P2, will I need to convert a BNC to XLR for the timecode to work? Or can I go directly to the BNC Video Reference in? (Not quite clear on how all of that works)

3. If there are any Vegas / Raylight users lurking: Is timecode going to be a problem when using this method?

4. can the timecode be synced up and then the HD-P2 be disconnected so long as the audio settings are the same? ie. framerate and drop / non drop frames synced?



I think that's it for now. I would appreciate it if someone can tell me how this works.

Thanks
Kit

 

[Oleg 2]

yes , yes .no ,yes
now go and by w, siberg book about tc

 

[Kit Hannah]

Oleg, honestly man, I've been reading some of your posts and have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[Alan H. Chang]

To recap.

1.) Yes

2.) Yes

3.) No

4.) Yes

 

[Allen Green]

Personally the price of the of the Tascam is resonable but I don't like the fact that it doesn't gen timecode and it can't mirror record onto DVD and only 2 channels. If I'm shooting video and can put down great digital audio onto the HPX using 2 ch. I wouldn't use a recorder, but If I need 4 or more then I'm using a my recorder. Check out this
Non-linear Recorder Comparison Chart-
http://www.trewaudio.com/download/non_linear_comp_chart.pdf
Personally I'm a SD 744T guy.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck

 

[Oleg 2]

Oleg, honestly man, I've been reading some of your posts and have no idea what you're talking about.

http://wolfvid.com/datasheets/Sync_Sound_for_Film_and_Video.pdf

 

[Kit Hannah]

Personally the price of the of the Tascam is resonable but I don't like the fact that it doesn't gen timecode and it can't mirror record onto DVD and only 2 channels. If I'm shooting video and can put down great digital audio onto the HPX using 2 ch. I wouldn't use a recorder, but If I need 4 or more then I'm using a my recorder. Check out this
Non-linear Recorder Comparison Chart-
http://www.trewaudio.com/download/non_linear_comp_chart.pdf
Personally I'm a SD 744T guy.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck

And it's 4 times the price....


The Tascam may not be good for recording huge expensive production sound, but I'm sure it will be fine for our stuff. we were debating even getting one because we already have 4 channels of audio on each of our cameras, but We would like something external and this seemd like it would be good. I'm not too picky about the timecode, since we can just jamb it from our HPX500's or a slate. And any time we would make a DVD, we'll just transfer it over and burn it on the PC. Shouldn't be too long of a process.

Thanks
Kit

 

[Kit Hannah]

http://wolfvid.com/datasheets/Sync_Sound_for_Film_and_Video.pdf

Thanks Oleg, I will consider it.

 

[Oleg 2]

dont consider - buy

 

[Steve House]

Thanks Oleg, I will consider it.

Seconding Oleg's recommends, Wolf Seeberg's two books on Sync Sound and 24P Production are excellent references and inexpensive. The writing style isn't very polished, sometimes reading as if William Burroughs ("Naked Lunch") has written a technical manual, but the amount of information collected into one place makes them worth struggling through and well worth the nominal cost. Available from Wolf's web site, Trew Audio, Coffey Sound, etc.

RE Allan's comments on the Tascam - while the SD744 may be overkill for you, you might want to look closer at the SD 702T before finalizing your purchases. While the Tascam is very attractive in its price class, I think the 702T's more advanced abilities and build quality would justify the higher price in your circumstances. Sounds like you've got 30 to 50 kilobucks invested in cameras, what's another kilobuck added to the price of the Tascam to get a more capable audio recorder? Of particular note is that the SD recorders feature timecode generators by Ambient that are capable of acting as the timecode master for the entire shoot - add Lockits for the cameras tuned to the recorder's sync output and you're rocking and rolling. While the Tascam has internal timecode and can read external code sent to it, it doesn't GENERATE code for output and cannot serve as the system clock. You can generate code in camera and jam it to the recorder but with it you can't go the other way around, generating code in the recorder and jamming slates and cameras from it. With the SD recorders, you can.