Tascam HD-P2 Timecode question

B

belker

Member
I recorded some dialogue on the HD-P2 which was jam- synced to timecode with a Aaton Option C timecode generater.

The files were conformed with the HD-P2 software on location and handed off to the director.

When the director drops these in different audio software programs the tmecode is not being recognized. He feels that the timecode is not there.

He has tried dropping the files in Nuendo, Vegas and Audition.

I know that the timecode is on the compact flash card in the HD-P2.

Is there anyone with experience recording timecode with the HD-P2 who might understand what is going on here?

Thanks
Belker
 
Does the HD-P2 put a time code stamp on the audio files? I read my manual and I can't see that it does.

I recorded a test sound with my HD-P2 and tried to spot it in Pro Tools with a timestamp with no luck. I looked for the file's timestamp and couldn't find it.

I don't have a time code generator so I couldn't sync my recorder to one, but I used the internal source. (Maybe I'll have to take it to work and play with it there....)

I hope I didn't make a mistake in my test, but I'm thinking the HD-P2 doesn't write timestamps. Am I wrong? Can anyone correct me?
 
belker said:
I recorded some dialogue on the HD-P2 which was jam- synced to timecode with a Aaton Option C timecode generater.

The files were conformed with the HD-P2 software on location and handed off to the director.

When the director drops these in different audio software programs the tmecode is not being recognized. He feels that the timecode is not there.

He has tried dropping the files in Nuendo, Vegas and Audition.

I know that the timecode is on the compact flash card in the HD-P2.

Is there anyone with experience recording timecode with the HD-P2 who might understand what is going on here?

Thanks
Belker
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "the files were conformed with the HD-P2 software on location .."? What did you actually do when you "conformed" them?

Are you sure you had the Tascam set to Infinite freewheel so that once jammed, the timecode clock kept running when the Aaton TC source was disconnected? Didn't power down the recorder or otherwise do one of the recorder operations that stop the clock? (see manual).

BWF files do not contain linear timecode on a timecode track the way a DAT or analog tape might. Timecode appears as a timestamp in the file header that records the timecode clock reading at the moment the first audio sample is written. When you play back the file in the recorder, running timecode is regenerated by adding the sample count to the starting timecode timestamp. Software that handles BWF files such as Nuendo, etc. do so by positioning the first audio sample so its timestamp aligns with the matching point on the NLE's timeline when you add the clip to the porject tracks.

Download a copy of Courtney Goodin's "BWF Widget" software. It will let you look at the information in the file header and see if you either didn't record the timecode properly to begin with or somehow discarded it during the "conforming" or is still there and your director is not using the NLE properly.
 
Steve House said:
What do you mean by "the files were conformed with the HD-P2 software on location .."? What did you actually do when you "conformed" them?

Are you sure you had the Tascam set to Infinite freewheel so that once jammed, the timecode clock kept running when the Aaton TC source was disconnected? Didn't power down the recorder or otherwise do one of the recorder operations that stop the clock? (see manual).

BWF files do not contain linear timecode on a timecode track the way a DAT or analog tape might. Timecode appears as a timestamp in the file header that records the timecode clock reading at the moment the first audio sample is written. When you play back the file in the recorder, running timecode is regenerated by adding the sample count to the starting timecode timestamp. Software that handles BWF files such as Nuendo, etc. do so by positioning the first audio sample so its timestamp aligns with the matching point on the NLE's timeline when you add the clip to the porject tracks.

Download a copy of Courtney Goodin's "BWF Widget" software. It will let you look at the information in the file header and see if you either didn't record the timecode properly to begin with or somehow discarded it during the "conforming" or is still there and your director is not using the NLE properly.
Click to expand...


The timecode was set to freewheel and rejammed after shutting down for any reason.

I divided the shoot into separate projects for morning and afternoon shooting so I have eight projects for four days of shooting.

By conforming the file I mean that I used the software provided by Tascam to load the files onto the computer.

Last night I did not use the Tascam software and instead just copied the files directly to the computer. Now I have one file for each take rather than one file for the entire project. So for one afternoon shoot I have now 47 separate files.

I loaded these in BWF Widget and it shows the timecode corectly for each file although BWF Widget reports that the files are WAV not BWF.

I then imported these files into Vegas as BWF (EDIT Vegas states that the files have a different time stamp. Vegas recognizes them as BWF) and the files are displayed with proper timecode on the timeline. However I have 47 tracks--one for each file.

Is this how the process should work?

Thanks
Belker
 
Last edited:
Is this how the process should work?
Click to expand...
It's the workflow that I've implemented on my productions and I have no issues to date!

At the end of the day I just connect both my MAC and my Tascam, drag all the files to my previous made "Sound Files" Bin on FCP and TC is all there!

When I finish editing on the image, I just send the sound files to Soundtrack, do my audio cleaning, levels and mixing with the correct TC showing up on Soundtrack.

Never used the Tascam software. In fact, I've never opened the software CD case!

Having a file per take means that you can even match much more easily the sound file to the correct image file if your script girl toke the right notations
 
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