timecode slate

[Andrew Banks]

I've shot a lot of video and some film, but I don't get the timecode slate. (See http://www.equipmentemporium.com/)

 

Where is its timecode coming from? How does it help in editing? Do you plug the slate into the audio recorder, and sychronize with some kind of time code from that, before bringing it in front of the camera?

Edited July 30, 2005 by Andrew Banks

[David Mullen ASC]

The TC slate displays the time code that is being recorded on the audio. This speeds up syncing the film to the sound later (usually by the dailies colorist), since instead of matching the picture of the sticks at the moment they are clapped to the sound of the clap on the audio, they just have to match one set of numbers on the TC slate as captured on film to the same point on the audio. However, it's a good idea to still clap the slate because sometimes a shot may need to be synced up the old-fashioned way.

[Adam Frisch FSF]

With burn-in timecode available in most modern cameras, a slateless production is fully doable. Most prefer a combination of both as a backup, though.

[Logan Schneider]

does anyone know a lab that can read Arricode? It seems that no one can do it anymore. Fotokem said that they have a machine gathering dust, but they would only bring it out for a feature or other large production. It seemed like a good idea, though I do understand that Aatoncode is much more durable.

 

Logan Schneider

DP