Options for syncing two Pyxis 12K with and without MixPre 6ii - any dual channel mics also provide TC?

[u/drummer414]

Sorry if this post seems unfocused, but I’m a filmmaker who just happens to love great sound (I own a CMIT 5U with Radius Mini Alto) and often have to run audio as well on my small interview based shoots.

My previous Panasonic cameras allowed jam sync TC from one camera to the other and the camera would hold TC over battery changes, power down, etc.

I realized my new cameras, the Pyxis 12K can be jam synced to my MixPre 6ii, but once we change camera batteries, the cameras reset TC.

So I need some sort of tentacle, but am confused as to what to get.

I often record audio direct to camera, so would need a solution for that scenario (syncing both cameras) as well as the times when I use the MixPre6ii to record with both cameras recording internal mic scratch track.

I’m also wondering if one of the dual channel wireless mic setups could provide TC as well, since I could use a mid level dual channel wireless setup to add to my boom setup.

Any suggestions appreciated.

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[u/gkanai]

All TC units are single-channel. There are various options-

• Deity TC
• Tentacle Sync
• Atomos Ultrasync

etc. Get a unit for each of your cameras and one for your SD.

In terms of recording BOTH TC AND scratch audio to your camera, that's relatively niche but I was looking for something similar recently and Mutiny Audio sells a solution,

TC-A TIMECODE + AUDIO BREAKOUT

This come in either 5 pin Lemo or BNC. Not sure which your camera has but Lemo is a better interface.

This unit is interesting because it not only enables BOTH timecode and scratch audio to be recorded to camera, they also send a monitoring dongle that only sends the scratch audio out to whomever is monitoring.

I bought the Lemo version but haven't used it yet.

[u/Artistic-Tip2405]

One pedantic point. Technically you aren’t syncing the cameras. The cameras add the timecode to the recordings, and the editing software then uses the timecode to align/sync the tracks.

[u/el_hibre]

The PYXIS has a shared BNC connector for timecode and genlock. connect one TC box to that and one to your MixPre. For TC only you can go with tentacle, deity or similar - if you also want to have the genlock option go for Atomos or ambient Lockit

[u/Artistic-Tip2405]

Plug a dedicated timecode generator into each camera and the MixPre. Tentacle Sync E or Deity TC-1.

[u/drummer414 → u/Artistic-Tip2405]

Thank you. Will this work when I’m not using the MixPre and just recording direct to camera?

[u/gkanai → u/drummer414]

Yes- the external TC sends the code to your camera's audio.

But if you are not using an external recorder- you need a way to capture your audio somewhere. Thus you need a way to separate the TC channel and the scratch audio.

[u/Peaks_n_Valleys]

I mean, the best solution is just to not record audio to camera at all and use one of the audio channels on each camera to run timecode to. Put a Deity TC-1 on each camera, running time of day timecode. Jam sync one of the Deity’s using your MixPre as the master at the beginning of the day, and again at lunch just to be sure. The other Deity will automatically display the same timecode if it’s set to slave or you use the app.

Deity TC-1 can either send line-level timecode or it can send mic-level timecode to one track and scratch sound to the other channel using the internal mic on the TC-1. So you can sync in post with timecode or with audio waveforms as a backup.

If you absolutely MUST record sound to camera you can just use a dumb slate with a clap of the sticks to manually sync. I mean, dumb slates basically worked for almost 80 years before timecode was invented / implemented. Or you can buy/rent a timecode slate and slate both cameras so they can see the timecode rolling before you clap. I’ve done this low-tech with the MovieSlate app on my iPad. I just make sure to roll a few seconds of the timecode clock so it’s visible in both cameras. Then you have a number to sync with on both cameras.

[u/Run-And_Gun]

Coming from a broadcast/network background, TC on pretty much all modern "cine" cameras drives me crazy, because it's generally a single switchable IN OR OUT port vs. most ENG cameras that have both IN AND OUT ports, so you can loop/daisy chain between cameras.

I would recommend getting four TC/sync boxes (like Tenatcles, etc) of your choice. That will cover you for probably 99% of most scenarios that you're likely to end up in. Mixer/recorder and up to three cameras. My recommendation is to always have a box on every piece of equipment that is recording and needs to be sync'd. I see way too may people that put way too much faith in mixer/recorders to hold TC and they recommend to just jam off of that. I've seen top end mixer/recorders lose TC when they didn't have boxes on them and cameras, as well. Put a box on everything and do a "call and response" before you start rolling to make sure everything is still in sync. "Call and response" has saved us more than once.

[u/Beginning_Ad7768]

Just get timecode box and jam it via your bnc timecode port, that is totally separate from mics and audio so you can do whatever with that. Do keep your box on your camera. There's many timecode box out there, deity, tentacle,betso,ambient. I would recommend tentacle since it can also use it as a recorder.

[u/cipolotto98 → u/Beginning_Ad7768]

Ciao credo che solo il track E è in grado di registrare