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LTC
Im running a multi-cam setup using Canon 70d and Canon 90d, I also have 2 external audio devices. one audio device have a BNC timecode port.
Instead of going straight into Avid I must use a program like Tentacle Sync (which I use for LTC audio sink into the camera’s audio input) the program will embed the time-code into the video files. It basically converts the audio SMTPE code into digital time code. It will also sync both video and audio clips together. Then you can import or sync those clips into MC and make multi-groups or auto-sync those video and audio together…. however, there is an option to sync using Tape / Audio Time Code in Media Composer but its grayed out… I understand that Im not use hardware with MC but why is the Audio Time code option grayed out? Why cant Avid work like Tentacle or Devinci Resolve and even Final Cut Pro and read the LTC directly from the audio track of the video?
is the only way to have MC work with LTC is to use hardware?
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15 Replies
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Hi Christian. It’s been a little while since I’ve done it, but Media Composer does have the ability to read LTC timecode and then use it to sync. With video clips selected that have LTC timecode on one of the audio channels, go to clip and choose ‘Read Audio Timecode’. Then your LTC timecode will be applied as an auxiliary timecode to your clips which can then be used to sync. You may then have to copy the timecode from the audio clips onto their auxiliary timecode metadata column before syncing. You do that by selecting the start timecode row in a bin (which only contains your audio) and duplicating it (ctrl/cmd-d) onto the aux timecode. Now you can put the audio and video in a bin together and use autosync via aux timecode.
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I think I understand… Ill try to do this…
can you break this down in steps for us slow people… or is there an Avid MC tutorial for this? What Im confused is why Avid dont provide direct instructions for doing these things.
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I did a youtube video on this about a month ago.
Do a search for Avid and Tentacle sync workflow in Youtube
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It’s all in the manual. The feature is called “Read Audio Timecode”. It’s very simple. Select one or more clips in a bin, choose Clip->Read Audio Timecode, choose a source track (the audio track that has LTC on it), and a destination column (like AuxTC1). After doing that, use AutoSync to sync up the clips based on AuxTC1.
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SOLVED – @ Andrew, it worked… basically Avid can not sync different time codes like Tentacle Sync and possible other programs. So you must use a common sync method. In the case of Avid there are Auxiliary channels to choose from. MC provides 5 aux channels or tracks. I simply read the LTC from the video audio track, track 1 – (which answers the question that MC does read LTC) Once you see the timecode in the Aux column that you choose. I tested it with both Aux 1 and Aux 2 and I used Aux 1 for the audio. Then you go to the audio tracks that already have timecode embedded or using the start time of the audio and placing that time into the Aux column for each audio clip… the short cut didnt work, so I simply copied and pasted into each column. Once both the video and the audio has a timecode in the auxillary column, in this case Aux 1. Then you can proceed to do a autosync or a multi-clip and sync using Aux 1. This will create a new sequence or sub-clip depending on your options. The synced clips will be displayed on the timeline. If you want to view the actual clips you must select “edit group” and you will then see the sync map of all of your clips in the timeline…
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it worked. thanks…
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That was the point. I know how to use Tentacle sync. This is a question for not using tentacle sync. I own Tentacle Sync products. I already know how to embed the time-code into files, thats an extra step. and it takes time creating the new media especially if they are 4k. I figured there was a way to do it directly into Avid. And It was. and it worked… but that still does not answer the question on why the “Film TC / Sound TC” is grayed out… Ill assume its because im not using hardware. Tentacle will read various timecode sources from files I mentioned this in the original post. but Avid does not do this… so the alternative was to use an Aux Time Code instead.
from my experience…. AVID made EVERY function harder whereas other programs are only one or two steps to do the same function. Andrew helped me resolve this issue…
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Where can I get the complete manual for the latest MC?
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I like to read, my grades reflect this… I get A’s and B’s. but I dont have time reading every document on that page..
which one has “Read Audio Timecode”
and which one has the manual for the latest version of media composer?
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