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Looking for Cheap GoPro Sync solution


yizhye20

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Hello everyone. 


Recently I am doing a passion project about racing cars. GoPros turns out into the most affordable camera we can get. Right now I got around 10 GoPros and looking for a syncing solution for all GoPros.  I saw some Timecode Systems SyncBac online. They seems good but getting ten of them is almost like the cost of my GoPros. Really looking for any solution to feed time codes to the GoPros or even just sync them up.

 

 

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If a TC Slate is impractical, assuming your GoPros are the newer ones without the built-in 3.5mm audio input jack, maybe get one of the USB-C External Audio Adapters they sell, and connect one of the cheaper timecode boxes to it - such as a Tentacle. Then you can briefly plug it in to each GoPro as you put them into record, and capture a few seconds of timecode (LTC) onto the audio track. This of course needs to be done each time you stop and start recording. After the shoot, drop all the files into Tentacle Studio (or most 'pro' NLEs - eg Resolve) and it'll timestamp the files from the audio timecode.

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11 hours ago, Mobilemike said:

Turn them all on point them all at you and clap. They’re probably gonna drift but at least they’ll be in sync at the start. 

I was thinking of getting an output from a Tentacle. And use a Belkin RockStar kinda thing and feed the audio into the GoPro.  Since it is actually a sound signal it might work and I do not have to purchased a lot of Tentacle.

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If you only connect the timecode box for a short moment at the beginning and run long takes anyway, I don't really see the benefit over doing a clap once every hour when you start a new take.

Actually I'd argue a clap is safer, and it doesn't take more then a few minutes to synch up as well.

 

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8 hours ago, chrismedr said:

If you only connect the timecode box for a short moment at the beginning and run long takes anyway, I don't really see the benefit over doing a clap once every hour when you start a new take.

Actually I'd argue a clap is safer, and it doesn't take more then a few minutes to synch up as well.

 

I agree. If the LTC gets mangled somehow by a bad cable or by the camera's audio settings you won't find that out until you are trying to get it to sync up and then you are SOL... Clap will get you there every time. 

 

-Mike

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And or use a free digital slate on your phone. Show it to each camera as you roll them. Dont have to roll all of them at the same time this way. This is Digital Slate.apk i have used in the past on my android phone for my gopros.

Screenshot_2020-06-14-21-28-20.png

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11 hours ago, PMC said:

And or use a free digital slate on your phone. Show it to each camera as you roll them. Dont have to roll all of them at the same time this way. This is Digital Slate.apk i have used in the past on my android phone for my gopros.

Screenshot_2020-06-14-21-28-20.png

 

Having rolled a dozen GoPros on various racing boats for our Docu Series, I like PMCs solution above. Easy and works. We had to keep our GoPros waterproof so we couldn't run anything into them anyway, the ports weren't accessible when waterproof. GoPros, honestly, in professional production are a nightmare, they overheat, fog up, stop recording randomly. They are anything but pro. But at least using a phone TC slate, the editor gets some reference frames for off set in editing. 

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On 6/14/2020 at 12:33 PM, yizhye20 said:

Recently I am doing a passion project about racing cars. GoPros turns out into the most affordable camera we can get. Right now I got around 10 GoPros and looking for a syncing solution for all GoPros.  I saw some Timecode Systems SyncBac online. They seems good but getting ten of them is almost like the cost of my GoPros. Really looking for any solution to feed time codes to the GoPros or even just sync them up.

 

Do you really need TEN(!!) cameras running all at once?? Seems like an awful lot, especially for a low/no budget passion project. 

Which GoPros specifically are you using? As if you're using an older model (such as the GoPro4 Black), then their TCS Ltd SyncBacks are selling dirt cheap for next to nothing, as I reckon they're just trying to clear out old stock:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1246157-REG/timecode_systems_syncbac_pro_timecode_sync.html

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5 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Do you really need TEN(!!) cameras running all at once?? Seems like an awful lot, especially for a low/no budget passion project. 

Which GoPros specifically are you using? As if you're using an older model (such as the GoPro4 Black), then their TCS Ltd SyncBacks are selling dirt cheap for next to nothing, as I reckon they're just trying to clear out old stock:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1246157-REG/timecode_systems_syncbac_pro_timecode_sync.html

Unfortunately all gopro hero 8 and Max, Not 10 at the same time but around 5 to 6 because might have some outside POV 

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Hero8? That's the latest GoPro. Sounds like this project has got some budget behind it after all...
(I was expecting a random hodgepodge mix of whatever they could get their hands on, some GoPro5 or GoPro4, or even perhaps a couple of GoPro3 in the mix)


Perhaps you can propose they buy just 5x TCS SyncBacks, for the core GoPros which are always in play, and the extra occasional additional GoPros just need to go through the hassle of manual syncing up later on. 
 

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55 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Perhaps you can propose they buy just 5x TCS SyncBacks, for the core GoPros which are always in play, and the extra occasional additional GoPros just need to go through the hassle of manual syncing up later on.

 

SyncBacs don't work on Hero 8 (yet) or Max, only 4, 6, and 7.

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