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Scratch File to Black Magic Cinema Camera
I have a job coming up where I will be recording two actors and need to know the best way to feed a scratch file to a Black Magic Cinema Camera.
With the following gear set up would a simple hard wire work?
– two Tram Lavs via two Sennheiser G3 wireless into channel 1 and 2 of Mix Pre D
– lav one panned left, lav two panned right
– Mix Pre D channel 1 and 2 outs to Tascam DR 100 xlr on left and right respectively
Would the following work to get scratch track?
Mix Pre D unbalanced mic out via TA3 on Sound Devices XLR TA3 female to 3.5mm male cable > simply plugged into stereo Radio Shack quality cable > 3.5mm to 1/4 inch TRS to Black Magic Cinema Camera.
I believe the camera has two 1/4 inch TRS L and R inputs, so would I need a 3.5mm stereo to separate 1/4 inch plug mono splitter?
My gut tells me this is a little shaky … thanks in advance for your advise.
Tom Salyer, Miami
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3 Replies
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I think it’s better to send line level to the MBCC. In mic mode if the level exceeds a certain point (set internally by BM) the camera automatically switches over to line input. A mic signal would then be toast. So, it’s best to just go line in. You should be aware that the BMCC currently severely rolls off the low end. It should be fine, however, for your scratch. Finally, Wooden Camera make a BMCC accessory called the A-Box. It has 2 XLR inputs and 2 TRS output cables. It make hooking up professional audio to the BMCC much easier.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz, 16 GB RAM, OS 10.8.4, QT10.1, Kona 3, Dual Cinema 23, ATI Radeon HD 5870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.3, Motion 4.0.3, Comp 3.5.3, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.3)
FCP-X 10.0.9, Motion 5.0.7, Compressor 4.0.7Pro Tools HD 10 w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec DSP Monitors, Prima CDQ120 ISDN
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The A-Box looks like the best solution, thanks. Wooden Camera says the box adapts to 1/4 inch balanced for each of two channels on BMCC. For a quick fix tomorrow, would connecting the Mix Pre D’s Tape Out via 3.5 mm trs cable > 1/4 inch trs adapter > camera work? Would I be feeding scratch into both L and R channels from mixer?
Sound Devices says tape out level is fixed -10 dBu. And I’ll tell the camera op to set to line level mode, I’ll feed tone from the mixer and they’ll set to -20 dBu on BMCC?
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The camera has two TRS in, so your adapters should change the stereo out of the pre to 2 TRS in. I suggest you search the Blackmagic Cinema Camera forum for posts about audio problems with the BMCC. There are recommended levels to send, and input levels to set in the BMCC. If nothing pops up, ask the question over there. I don’t own a BMCC yet in part because I’m worried about its audio capabilities and running double system adds to time in post.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz, 16 GB RAM, OS 10.8.4, QT10.1, Kona 3, Dual Cinema 23, ATI Radeon HD 5870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.3, Motion 4.0.3, Comp 3.5.3, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.3)
FCP-X 10.0.9, Motion 5.0.7, Compressor 4.0.7Pro Tools HD 10 w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec DSP Monitors, Prima CDQ120 ISDN
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