question about timecode and hard drive recorder

D

dugstar

Member
hi there!

this is something i have somehow completely managed to avoid having to deal with in 4 years of recording location sound.

how is one supposed to use timecode with a hard drive recorder?

is the recorder to be used as the master clock? is the camera? do we jam a couple of times a day and use a digital slate?

am i supposed to use rec run?

surely timecode cannot be written into .WAV files, right?

this is making my brain hurt.

:huh:
 
Timecode works differently on hard drive recorders - basically it puts on a time stamp at the start when you stop recording.

Set the clock, jam sync. and off you go.

The new NAGRA VI (which I have just bought) has about the most accurate clock around.

Oh - and it (like most other pro machines) writes to the Broadcast WAV format.
 
thanks!

it was the time stamp thing i couldnt get my head around.

that nagra is pretty! i used the nagra V a couple of years ago, it was a beautiful thing
 
Also adding to John's comment. Timecode, when used on a file-based recorder writing to hard-drive or CF cards, is good for aligning audio and video to establish initial sync in the editing workstation but it does nothing to maintain sync and prevent it from drifting out over time. Unlike analog tape or DAT recorders, it is not recorded along with the audio and does not control the playback speed or the file length in the editor workstation. External timecode does NOT control the audio sample rate (at least I'm not aware of recorders where it does) and so to prevent drift you must lock the video sync and the audio sample clock together. Professional recorders are usually accurate enough that it isn't an issue with shots up to 10 or 15 minutes in length but if you need continuous takes of more than that, such as live concert footage for example, it can be signifigant. John's Nagra looks highly stable but how about the camera clock? For be sure, you need to pull clock from the recorder to genlock into the camera.
 
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