mikefilosa Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Has anyone had success with getting Time Code out of the Arri Alexa ? I was trying to make this happen for a scripty on a recent shoot, and could not seem to enable it. I was using my standard TC cables, wired for 5p Lemo, that seem to remain good. That wiring scheme has lasted from the Nagra STC to my HHB TC-DATs, to my Deva 5 ... I dug into the Alexa menus as much as I could but could not make this happen. An hour after giving up on this - I get a call from a colleague here in Atlanta trying to do the same thing ! I do not know about the camera software - but they came from Atlanta's top shop, so I have no doubts about them being most-current. Any insights ? MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lightstone, CAS Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Did you go into the time code menu on the Alexa and see if you can set the output? I would think it is similar to the Audio menu, where you would have to set the audio return going to the headphone output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 (edited) " they came from Atlanta's top shop, " what did they tell you? The camera is not our instrument-tool it is the Camera Dept's job to know these things. I would think that especially important if production plans to use the Camera as TC master... OTOH, I guess you agree with me that Sound should be part of the "IA 600" National Guild Edited December 19, 2011 by studiomprd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrecorder Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Just spent two weeks with an Alexa, jamming twice a day from the 5 pin lemo to a 788, standard cable. No problems at all. Curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Just spent two weeks with an Alexa, jamming twice a day from the 5 pin lemo to a 788, standard cable. No problems at all. Curious. That would be success with the TC IN - connection, which worked fine for me with a pair of SBTs, one into each of the two Alexas I was working with. When Audio (me) was wrapped, I was trying to enable script with her ScriptBoy. She wanted to stay near the director / clients, who were looking at a clean monitor frame. As the TC does travel perfectly fine down the SDI line, the default for her was to hang near the DIT who had all kinds of info, scope, and the TC on his monitor. As stated, I searched the menus thoroughly.... As stated, all of my cables are pretty much wired for the standard 5p Lemo wiring that has held up as conventional for many years. Simply couldn't get TC Out to work with a properly wired TC cable and all menu options explored. Cam in 23.98, BTW. Curious if anyone has had occasion to achieve this... as the camera was released with all the audio connections and hardware, but no audio functionality, I am curious if TC out is a verified functioning thing or not.... Next chance I get a chance to, in a camera house, I'll check it out, but it seems there is precious little time on a set to get any deeper into it... MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 " jamming twice a day from the 5 pin lemo to a 788, " that reads (to me! ) as if the out is from the Alexa, so now I'm confused... " in a camera house, I'll check it out, " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrecorder Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Ok, to clarify: Timecode out from Alexa into 788, free run. No problems at all. Check if the Alexa software was up to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Thanks, that's how I read it, too... Happy Holidays... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Ok, to clarify: Timecode out from Alexa into 788, free run. No problems at all. Check if the Alexa software was up to date. I totally misread that, with apologies... basically, because I have never ever considered using a camera to jam my system... Thus it would appear that your cameras are a successful "report" of a TC out.... so I'll be checking with a certain cam house regarding this functionality in the very near future.... But, slightly off-topic,. - is there a reason that you used a camera to jam your recorder rather than vice versa? I would suggest that 90% + of the time, mixers are jamming the camera with either a Lock-it box of sorts or their recorder, at the least. You must have significant trust in the Alexa TC circuitry, and this is good to know. MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Clark Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Mike, not that I would do that either, but I believe the TC on the Alexa is an Ambient TC product. It should be pretty rock solid to jam from if chosen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yes it is Ambient and it will hold timecode for 10+ hours. Zero Drift. Holds timecode for ten minutes without power. This is true. Working on Terra Nova, we jammed the cameras (using an Ambient box) at the start of the day, and at lunch and walked away. No box left on the camera and timecode held perfectly. We did keep an eye on any camera that had been asleep/without a battery for more than 5 mins, as the timecode circuit is only powered by a capacitor, not a backup battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Record run workflow. I never thought of Rec Run - I used to use Deva Autoload all of the time / for five years on a recurring once-a-month (at least) project... Camera was a Varicam... But, of course, Record-Run would not be a camera-to-788 "jam", it would have to be a hardwire or very robust wireless link.... Mike, not that I would do that either, but I believe the TC on the Alexa is an Ambient TC product. It should be pretty rock solid to jam from if chosen. Yes it is Ambient and it will hold timecode for 10+ hours. Zero Drift. Holds timecode for ten minutes without power. Both statements VERY welcome affirmations of what I guess is probably the most stable TC in a camera, ever, to date... finally... So, now I've got some forensics to do on my end with cables, cameras, and software... First question will be to my same-day, same-problem colleague on the source of his camera.. MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrecorder Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 You must have significant trust in the Alexa TC circuitry, and this is good to know. MF Yes, as both the Alexa and the 788 have the equivalent of Ambient lockit boxes inside them, I would have confidence going either way in jamming code. In our case it was deemed that the camera was the master, and I was fine with that. An easy knockout for the Alexa over the Red in this department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Alexa timecode on my current show has been rocksolid I jam in the morning and jam at lunch no issues last two weeks its very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pindrop Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Last time I worked with Alexa (couple of months ago) I (like Mike) could get timecode in to it but could not get timecode out from the 5 pin Lemo using all my several usual timecode 'out' cables (I was attempting to feed a transmitter that usually works with the 5 pin Lemo feed from a 744T, a 788T and a Fusion. I had to give up and did not have time to investigate further. I sent an email to Arri but never got an answer. There's obviously no problem getting timecode in via the 5 pin Lemo but timecode out might for some reason have some variation. Quotes from Alexa manual - 9.11 TC The TC connector is a 5pin LEMO socket. It accepts and distributes LTC (Longitudinal Time Code) signals. It can be used to Jam sync the camera time code to a Clockit, TC Slate or another camera Transmit the camera's time code to a Clockit, TC Slate or another camera Tune the camera crystal oscillator's frequency with an Ambient ACC Clockit Controller It is located on the camera right lower front. Timecode on external recorders To guarantee the same Timecode for images that are parallely record internally and exterally, set the external recorder so that it uses the TC embedded in the HD-SDI stream coming from the camera. Timecode Timecode is also transmitted from the master to the slave via the EXT cable. When a camera has been set to slave, it automatically uses the TC values transmitted via the EXT cable. The TC screen will show "EXT TC from master camera" as TC source, and all options are disabled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Clark Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 First question will be to my same-day, same-problem colleague on the source of his camera.. MF I believe his cables are wired for Input only. Not sure what connection he has (lemo-lemo?), but if it's this, then he just needs to flip the cable and he would've been golden. I can only assume you're talking about JT, since he oddly asked me the same questions here. If it's not, then disregard my assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Babb Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 is there a reason that you used a camera to jam your recorder rather than vice versa? I would suggest that 90% + of the time, mixers are jamming the camera with either a Lock-it box of sorts or their recorder, at the least. This is my normal MO. Using a SD 552 with a SB3, I grab the TC from the camera in the morning and use the SB3 to jam the camera back at lunch. The SB3 becomes the master and lives plugged into the 552 during the day. If the Camera has no TC or no TC out I can manually set the SB3 but I have to plug it into my TC slate to see what the numbers are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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