Syncing DP to Analog multitrack

kid · Post by **kid** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:53 am

I am trying to sync and slave Dp to my Otari MX5050 8track. I have a Micro Express and have striped a track with TC. I've taken the TC out of the Otari and put it into tthe Micro Express TC In port. I have enabled DP to Slave to External sync hit the play button(it flashes) when I role tape DP does not lock up. I'm so confused as to what the proper settings to do this are. I think I can do it with my given hardware. Does it have something to do with Clockworks?

kid · Post by **kid** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:48 am

I've discoverd that in Clockworks if I set clockmode to LTC or LTCquicklock I can receive TC off the tape but DP still does not respond. I have also set DP clock mode to SMPTE with no luck. What am I doinf wrong?

azusa749a · Post by **azusa749a** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:48 pm

Have you set up the sync preference ?

kid · Post by **kid** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 5:13 am

Yes! I set receive sync to as follows.
sync port to any ( i\I also tried setting it to micro express)
Type to (MTC,DTL, or DTle)
30fps (same as source on analog tape)
24 clocks per quarter note.

I guess I am really confused about the settings in Clockworks regarding routing, and the different sync modes. If I understand it correctly the Micro Express sends out LTC TC when striping whicj I recorded on to a track of the analog tape. When I route the recorded LTC TC back into the Micro Express it converts it into MTC which DP can lock to.

kid · Post by **kid** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 4:53 pm

Any help here? I seriously need to figure this out. It seems so simple I'm sure I'm missing something obvious. Hasn't anyone done this?

markwayne · Post by **markwayne** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 5:52 pm

I've not done this in a while but I used to do it on a daily basis with a Studio3 and a serial MTP and non-digital Performer and Studio Vision Pro.

Okay, let's start with the obvious: you are using the same frame rate that you striped to the tape? You are seeing adequate level on the TC track on your deck? You can read the time code in DP and you have set your SMTPE start time accordingly? Your connections are with known good cables? You are not filtering time code at the interface with clockworks? Have you checked your sync prefs in DP? I know that Cubase and Logic default to weird SMTPE start times. I'm not sure about DP but it should show if you switch the transport to show SMPTE.

jrdmcdnld · Post by **jrdmcdnld** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:21 pm

kid wrote:Yes! I set receive sync to as follows.
sync port to any ( i\I also tried setting it to micro express)
Type to (MTC,DTL, or DTle)
30fps (same as source on analog tape)
24 clocks per quarter note.

I guess I am really confused about the settings in Clockworks regarding routing, and the different sync modes. If I understand it correctly the Micro Express sends out LTC TC when striping whicj I recorded on to a track of the analog tape. When I route the recorded LTC TC back into the Micro Express it converts it into MTC which DP can lock to.

If you are slaving DP to MTC, I wouldn't set your clock to SMPTE. Just for sh*ts, have you tried setting the sync type to "sample accurate"?

I just finished a project where I synced DP to a DVD which had LTC on the audio track. I used an 828mkII's smpte input. Clock set to SMPTE and sync set to sample accurate. It worked flawlessly.

azusa749a · Post by **azusa749a** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:21 pm

When I used to this long time ago, I don't remember of using Clockwork.
Just stripped the tape and played.

The only thing I can think of is check your cable and look at the tape deck's meter for that channel.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:50 pm

Make sure your Chunk start time is set to the beginning of your timecode.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:47 am

Try the Clockwork defaults, and use Splinter's advice of setting your start time. I rarely had to customize the timecode settings in Clockworks.

Shooshie

kid · Post by **kid** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:25 am

Thanks guys I will try all of this out. I did not set the start time at all in DP so perhaps that's it. Does it just have to be in the ball park? I know the LTC on tape starts at around 00:06:20:-- and in DP my TC window is around the same.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:31 am

kid wrote:Thanks guys I will try all of this out. I did not set the start time at all in DP so perhaps that's it. Does it just have to be in the ball park? I know the LTC on tape starts at around 00:06:20:-- and in DP my TC window is around the same.

Not to be too simplistic, but did you hit the space bar or click the play button in DP? Haven't used SMPTE in years, but my Atari system would require I hit play before it would actually start. Once code hit the start point, playback would then start.

kid · Post by **kid** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:20 am

I did hit play but perhaps if my sart time was 00:00:00:00 and the TC off the tape was 00:06:20:-- it would not lock. I'm going to try it out. Thanks for your help.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:39 am

kid wrote:I did hit play but perhaps if my sart time was 00:00:00:00 and the TC off the tape was 00:06:20:-- it would not lock. I'm going to try it out. Thanks for your help.

If you sequence wasn't as long as where your TC located to, you might not get a response. Do you see the counter in DP moving at all?

kid · Post by **kid** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:15 am

Well for the life of me I can't get it to work. I'm very frustrated. I can't belive it an be this complicated for me. I'm going to try and call Motu after the holiday. I have asession Thursday and Friday that needs to be able to do this. I'm so confused.