Updates from November, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Tyler Cartner 6:35 pm on November 8, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: 744T, 7D, audio, , Canon 7D, , FCP AuxTC Reader, horita, lockit, Pro-Sound, Sound Devices, , time code, Videotoolshed   

    Time Code & The 5D MKII 


    In this blog post you’ll learn how to use time code with the 5D or 7D using a Lockit box, FCP AuxTC Reader software and a custom made cable by Pro-Sound of New York City. This will save you precious time on set, as well as allow you to quickly and efficiently sync your footage. But first, any questions?

    Why not record audio straight into the 5D?
    The 5D has a 1/8″ stereo, consumer, mic level input–not ideal for a professional shoot. A consumer, mic-level cable is unshielded and therefore more susceptible to RF noise and it cannot lock into place like an XLR. Also, internally, the 5D has a mediocre analog to digital chip. If you listen to audio recorded straight to the 5D you will hear hiss added to your lovely source audio and find that voices sound a bit thin. I strongly recommend you use a separate recorder when shooting video with this camera.

    Alright, but why not just use a slate?
    The slate is a tried and true method of marrying sync sound and film. However, the slate requires an editor to manually, visually, sync each video clip with its corresponding audio clip. If you’ve done it, you know it’s pretty straight forward, but also time consuming, especially if there are multiple cameras? (More …)

     

    • John Schroter 2:25 pm on January 18, 2012 Permalink

      thanks for this excellent post. We just successfully completed a batch of 60 clips using this method. Perfect. I am interested in how to import using the Canon FCP plugin for transcoding. It would help our field media managers if this part of the workflow could remain unchanged. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

    • Mark 8:57 am on January 28, 2012 Permalink

      Hi Tyler, cool video and blog. Just wondering what your on location workflow is? Does the 744T need the Horita timecode synced to it and then the Horita unit plugged into the camera? Do you really need the slate or is that just for backup? Can you run the whole system in “free run” mode so you can stop and start throughout a day? And if so for how long? Thanks, Mark

    • Tyler Cartner 7:34 pm on January 28, 2012 Permalink

      Hi Mark,
      Thanks for the accolades. When I use this method, the DP typically hands me a hard drive with a copy of the .mov files and I then work my magic using FCP AuxTC. You must have a recorder with time code to act as the master clock. Yes, you must sync the Horita directly to the recorder (744T or other) before connecting to the camera. You caught me! You don’t need a slate at all. I just used it because that’s how I typically work in the field and it looks pretty cool. Yes, the timecode in the demo was set to free run. You could shoot all day with this method, starting and stopping at will. With the Horita lockit boxes I would re-jam them to the recorder at least once an hour because they can drift a frame in an hour. I hope this answers all of your questions.

    • Zach 8:44 pm on February 1, 2012 Permalink

      Im confused when you get to the cabling part. I have the Horita PTG and a Canon 7D. I need a cable that will go from the RCA to my canon’s mini mic jack.

      I’m trying to get the exact setup you have here in your video, but frowned when I read you had Pro Sound make a custom cable :(

      Any tips?

    • JP Everaerts 8:49 am on February 2, 2012 Permalink

      Hi Tyler,
      you answer the question everybody was asking thx . But If I use a 744t i can just send the TC from the recorder to the 5D/7D via a cable or via the ambient TC-TRX (money-money) and don’t need another tc generator (no jam sync anymore) ? am I wrong ? Thx
      JP

    • Tyler Cartner 9:34 am on February 2, 2012 Permalink

      Yes, you can connect any timecode recorder directly to your 5D/7D as long as you pad down the signal from line to mic level. Correct, you would not need to jam sync if connecting directly to the camera.

    • Tyler Cartner 9:49 am on February 2, 2012 Permalink

      Yes, tips-a-plenty. You need to pad down the signal coming out of your timecode source from line to mic level. You can use an XLR barrel type pad like the PSC ALMP http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/275822-REG/PSC_FPSC0010D_ALMP_Line_to_Mic.html, but you’ll need to adapt on either end to mate with your devices. In the beginning I used one of these massive XLR barrel adapters and it worked fine, it’s just clunky. On the camera end of the barrel I adapted from XLR to RCA female. Then you can connect to the camera using a pretty standard cable, 1/8″ male stereo to two male RCA. On the timecode end you’ll need to adapt from BNC to XLR, this is most easily accomplished by adapting to RCA, then to XLR. It will look like quite the monster when you’re done. This is why I highly recommend you hit up Pro-Sound to make you a cable; you’ll spend just as much on the barrel pad and all the adapters. Good luck.

    • Alex Ricciardi 3:25 pm on February 7, 2012 Permalink

      I have not used this, but I also came across a product online that’s designed to take the signal from a timecode source down to mic level:

      http://www.lockitbuddy.com/website/index.html

    • Tyler Cartner 10:54 am on February 10, 2012 Permalink

      Thanks Alex. I just want our readers to know that the Lockit Buddy goes for $158 plus shipping from the UK. If you order a cable from Pro-Sound in NY it would probably cost less than $80 and you could customize it to have whatever connectors you want. Plus, the Lockit Buddy is a clunky box, while a cable only solution is much more elegant.

    • Stephen 1:48 pm on February 15, 2012 Permalink

      Thanks for a clear explanation of an admirable solution. In my case, I have a 5D Mk II and a Zoom H4n. Would it be possible to split the output of a PTG such as the (Horita or Ambient), feeding one output to the camera, as you have shown, and the other to one of the H4n’s audio tracks? This would give you two files with embedded audio TC, which, I believe, Avid is able to synchronise. I’m not sure about such an idea, as I’m a beginner. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

    • Diego Martinez 6:10 pm on February 15, 2012 Permalink

      Thanks Tyler, good post, fresh data, clear words.
      My contribution: apparently 5D (and 60D and 7D) firmware can be updated to a new version that allows line level input, so no pad or special cable would be needed. Heard of that? Know the firmware version?
      By the way I heard AGC (automatic gain correction) could now also be disabled manually in the menu with the new OS.
      And if you have a SMPTE TC equipped recorder you can always use it as TC master and send the TC signal to the 5D wirelessly using a cheap radio mic kit or even a wireless comm system.
      I guess that only a small chunk of well recorded SMPTE TC per clip will suffice for the FCP AuxTC reader to synchronize the entire file, it should need just a glimpse to the clock.
      So radio drops should not be an issue in this case.

    • Tyler Cartner 2:21 pm on February 26, 2012 Permalink

      I haven’t heard of that, but I’m skeptical. Please do post a follow up if you find out anything tangible on this subject. I find it unlikely that a software pad could be implemented to drop input signal level from line to mic from an engineering stand point.

    • Tyler Cartner 2:23 pm on February 26, 2012 Permalink

      Sure, the output of any time code device is hot! You could split it with room to spare. However, I’m not sure what the workflow would be in Avid. If you find out, report back!

    • Peter-John 5:44 pm on April 12, 2012 Permalink

      Tyler, this is very cool and if I can get this to work for me will save me hours of stress. You mentioned that you ordered a custom cable from Pro-sound. Who did you talk to about that there? I would love to get one of those.

    • Tyler Cartner 10:26 pm on April 12, 2012 Permalink

      Hi Peter, or is it John? Anyway, you can talk to anyone there. They sell a little box by Lockit Buddy, which Alex brings up below. The Lockit Buddy does the same thing my cable does. I prefer the cable. You can talk to anyone at Pro-Sound and they’ll be able to help you out. Good luck.

  • David Cavallo 2:51 pm on October 26, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , ,   

    Endless Picnic’s next 5D Seminar: Saturday, November 12th 

    Endless Picnic’s 5D Seminar from Endless Picnic on Vimeo.

    What’s it all about?

    It’s a comprehensive half day seminar–we like to call it a master class, really–on shooting HD video with the Canon 5DMKII. It’s geared towards intermediate and advanced shooters, as well as producers and directors, who want to learn how to get the most out of the camera in a professional production and post-production environment, and avoid common mistakes and pitfalls.

    When and where is it?

    Saturday, November 12th, from 1PM-6PM, at Endless Picnic’s great new space in midtown Manhattan. There will be a one hour break for lunch.

    How much does it cost?

    The price is $250. Participants will also receive a lifetime 15% discount on rentals and post production services at Endless Picnic.

    Who is conducting the seminar? (More …)

     

    • David Cavallo 11:22 pm on November 23, 2011 Permalink

      We’ll be holding our next seminar some time in early 2012. Check back on the blog soon!

  • Tyler Cartner 4:16 pm on August 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    5D audio FCP sync issue 

    Hello world!

    Since the introduction of the 5D, both the low budget production and post production worlds are rapidly adjusting to it. One of these adjustments is sync audio. Recently we encountered an issue when importing non-timecode 48/16 wave audio files into FCP; the audio drifted over time. Since the footage was shot on the 5D in 24P, we could drop it into a 23.976 NDF sequence in FCP–nice. But the audio wasn’t so happy coming in. Why can’t we simply bring in the audio and have it be the correct length for our footage?

    The answer has to do with audio wave file metadata and how FCP deals with non-timecode audio, which is devoid of frame rate information. After much trial and error, we landed on a simple solution; alter the frame rate metadata in your sound files to include frame rate. “How the hell do I do that?” you say? It’s easier than you might think. (More …)

     

    • Adam 1:38 pm on March 16, 2011 Permalink

      This post saved me so many hours. Thank you so much!

  • David Cavallo 8:59 pm on August 18, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Cases, , Pelican   

    Day 1… 

    Aufgang Dulceria vid

    A frame grab from Aufgang's Dulceria video

    So the endlesspicnic blog is finally up…along with everything else!

    We’re thrilled to have our full website and Manhattan office in order, our handpicked Canon 5D MKII package ready to roll (out the door, that is, in its custom designed cases* that our chief tech took three weeks to design) the color correction/edit suite calibrated, the water cooler bubbling quietly every so often…

    And even in our infancy, our gear–and feisty in-house crew–has already been a part of a few neat projects: a promo piece for a certain eminently respected indie-film network, as well as a music video for the beloved underground French techno band Aufgang inspired by the legendary cult film “Over the Edge.” (That’s what we mean when we say “field-tested”!)

    So…what does all this mean to you? (More …)

     

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