No Time Code when capturing from Varicam

[Kaspar Kallas]

I think the problem is that BM card cannot read TC from SDI but only from 422 controll!?

-Kaspar

[Sean Meredith]

I was beginning to think that was the case. I wonder if there’s something that
can pull the timecode out of the SDI, and turn it into the 422 signal.

Or maybe I can create Timcode with a generator that outputs to the
Varicam and the Decklink.

[Sean Meredith]

Someone also recommended Miranda’s “Little Red”, but it’s RS-232, not RS-422. I could try to get the RS-232 going on my G5 using my old modem to serial port adapter (is that thing called the Gee THree?).
Anyway, options are running out. May resort to just using a digital slate -whoopee.

[Christopher Deangelus]

I don’t want to be the one to spread rumors, but at NAB I talked to one of the Decklink engineers (very nice, very bright, very cool people) and they said that it’s a matter of flipping a switch in the software to get timecode via the (HD)-SDI, and to look for it in future versions of the driver. It’s a feature I was looking forward to myself.

On that note, does anyone know how to take BNC-based timecode and get it into a RS-422 interface? We have a Sony F900 here (analog deck) and we need to get the timecode from the BNC timecode out into our G5. We have converter boxes to take the HD-Component and convert it to HD-SDI, but we can’t get timecode in there.

We’re hoping for timecode to be recognized in the HD-SDI signal by Blackmagic so we can go with a Miranda box on the back of our camera. That’s why I asked them.

[Sean Meredith]

I heard “rumors” also, that AJA had been trying to pull time code from the SDI and was having difficulty.

[Kevin O’brien]

Hi Sean,
I encountered a similar problem trying to use the downconverted output from my Varicam through an AJA box. The picture and sound came through but no code. The reason appears to be the receiving device needs to look for the RP-188 code contained in the HDSDI signal. It is not the same as VITC or LTC. The AJA passes neither VITC nor LTC. Your Decklink may not be looking in the right place for the code, or it may not really be capable of doing so.
Just got email from Decklink saying it should be possible to capture this way.
I am hoping this can work, as I would like to do occational small edit projects feeding footage directly from camera playback HDSDI to final cut. Don’t want to rent a $600/day deck, and noone in my area (N. Florida) seems to have one anyway.
I have not yet purchased a Decklink card till I find someone who has made this configuration work.
(HDSDI out of Varicam camera -not the deck- into Decklink,with picture, code audio and flags surviving.)
Has anyone actually made this method work with Decklink? Or with AJA Kona 2?
Thanks,
Kevo
D.P. with Varicam in the HD Wilderness