Timecode Systems Collaborates With VideoToolShed to Complete its DSLR Workflow

 In Company news, PRESS RELEASES
How do you sync your DSLR?

Wireless multicamera sync experts, Timecode Systems, and software developer, VideoToolShed, have joined forces to give production teams using DSLRs an easy and efficient way to combine footage shot on these cameras with separately recorded sound and video to create a professional workflow. This combined solution delivers significant time and cost-savings throughout the production and edit process.

In recent years, DSLR cameras have taken the world of digital video production by storm, with cameras such as the Panasonic LUMIX GH5, Canon EOS 5D and Sony Alpha 7S now routinely used to shoot alongside broadcast cameras and professional sound.

“Shooting with DSLRs has many benefits, but they also add challenges to professional multicamera video production,” said Paul Scurrell, CEO of Timecode Systems Limited. “For example, the audio capabilities of DSLR cameras are notoriously basic meaning capturing sound in camera is not an option. Using an external sound recorder such as a Sound Devices 664 or Zoom F8 solves the problem, but automatically adds an unavoidable step in the edit process: syncing the audio with the video.”

Using a slate or clapperboard offers a solution, but it leaves editors faced with the tedious task of syncing audio and video manually. Ensuring all video and sound sources, are running timecode saves significant amounts of time and hassle in postproduction. Timecode Systems’ UltraSync ONE provides a robust synchronisation solution for cameras without a timecode input, such as DSLRs.

“When we launched UltraSync ONE we knew it was the perfect timecode generator for the DSLR video market – it’s super small, lightweight and low-cost,” Scurrell added. “Attaching it to the camera’s 3.5mm jack port enables timecode to be recorded to the audio track of the camera – known as AUX timecode – enabling the DSLR to be easily synchronised with other sound and video sources over long range RF.”

With timecode now embedded in the audio file of the camera, the final challenge is converting the timecode into a usable form for use in edit packages. This is where VideoToolShed comes in with a great software solution – LTC Convert. This customised application works across Mac and PC and provides postproduction teams with a simple way to decode timecode recorded on the audio track of cameras into an edit-friendly format. This enables DSLR footage to be used in exactly the same way, and with the same efficiency, as footage from more traditional professional film and broadcast cameras.

“If you’re shooting multicamera you want to be able to sync all sources fast; UltraSync ONE provides a simple way to lock the cameras together using timecode, but the final piece in the jigsaw was making this timecode easy to use in the edit suite,” said Bouke Váhl, founder of VideoToolShed. “I created LTC Convert to read timecode off a camera’s audio track, translating AUX timecode into usable timecode for easy and efficient use in any post-production software.”

The collaboration between the two companies creates a multicamera DSLR workflow that works just as effortlessly for editors as the professionals shooting the footage. LTC Convert is now available to buy alongside the UltraSync ONE on Timecode Systems’ online store as well as directly from VideoToolShed.

Timecode Systems’ UltraSync ONE bundles provide a cost-effective way to get your DSLRs in sync. Available to buy in a twin and triple pack, both bundles offer a great saving compared to purchasing the units individually.

Twin pack: $495 | £375 | €425

Triple pack: $695 | £505 | €625

Don’t forget to include the TCB-52 UltraSync ONE to 3.5mm mini-jack for DSLR cable to complete the workflow.

Recommended Posts
0