timecode woes

AJA Video Systems

timecode woes

Posted by John Davidson on July 21, 2009 at 2:05 am

Hey guys,

I preface this by saying I’m almost positive that I have a wrong setting or something, but I can’t find it.

Quick rundown,
Kona 3, fully updated system/fcp/GEN 10/kona drivers,etc. For some reason, I can’t seem to get timecode from my system to the HDW-D1800 deck. I’ve tried every variation of settings I can find (including reading the manual), but no matter what, black encoding directly from FCP results in the wrong timecode being laid back. I put in 00:58:00:02, and it starts out TC at 00:59:50:00 (which is the first frame of my sequence) Is it possible that my Kona isn’t sending TC correctly? The reason I ask is, in the timecode menu the manual says TCG SRC should be set on SDI IN, but there is no option on the deck for that. I’m stuck with either VID IN, INT and EXT LTC, none of which generate the correct timecode. I assume VID IN is correct, but we all know where assumptions get you….

My workaround is blacking tapes via the deck manually, and then the system insert edits to tape flawlessly. I prefer to use FCP to black a minute or two, and then assemble edit in the rest. It’s a time saver. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
jd

John Davidson replied 16 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Jeremy Garchow
July 21, 2009 at 2:49 pm

I haven’t done that with that particular deck, but other decks I leave the tc to INT. When black and code starts, the deck grabs tc from the RS422. You can’t send HD SDI TC form FCP very well if that’s what you’re trying to do, especially if you’re changing frame rates (such as adding pulldown).

Jeremy
John Davidson
July 21, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Ahhhh, that’s probably where I was getting screwed up. Internal just seemed backwards to logic and the deck manual. This stupid Sony manual reads like “The Handbook for the Recently Deceased”. Soon as I get a chance I’ll post my results.

Thanks!
j
Jeremy Garchow
July 21, 2009 at 7:52 pm

[John Davidson] “”The Handbook for the Recently Deceased””

You mean like stereo instructions? 😀 Where’s Juno when you need her?
Doug Beal
July 22, 2009 at 12:11 am

We use that deck. typically set the deck to preset, enter the start TC desired.
dead patch the deck ie if it’s on a patch bay stick a patch cable to the input but don’t patch the other end. if it’s cabled directly undo the input ( and put getting a patch bay on your to do list)
make sure you are at the head of the tape and at the correct frame rate blah blah. engage record.
stop when you’ve past the point you want to go in at.
set the TCG to internal regen, do your patches and assemble your piece.
the Kona isn’t going to send code to the deck, it’s communicating via 422 commands but TC is being generated by the deck itself. Dead patching the deck will result in black being recorded, same is true for dbeta

Doug Beal
Editor / Engineer
Rock Creative Images
Nashville TN
John Davidson
July 22, 2009 at 12:22 am

lol, exactly! Never trust the living!

Jeremy, you were right – just tested it. So that I know what to do next time (and anybody else with this deck who might want to know), these are my settings:

TCG SRC
Internal

TCG MODE
Preset

TCG RUN
Rec

TCR
AUTO

CONFI
Enable

PB/EE
EE

Thanks for the help, guys!
j

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