HPX370 External TC Issue In 23.98 at DVinfo.net

Dave Coulter · September 4th, 2014, 10:20 AM

Hi everyone - I can't seem to get my HPX370 to continuously jam sync to 23.98 time code cleanly. There's no problem in 30p, but in 24p whenever it sees 23.98 code, the viewfinder image jumps all around, and even though it does jam, the code seems to consistently be three frames off. When you record, the jumping stops until you stop again, then the jumping continues. This happens in both 720 and 1080. I've tried sending code from two different lockit boxes, Ambient and Denecke, so I know the code it's getting is clean and correct.

The manual says to make sure the camera is set to NDF, which it is. I've power cycled the camera and sync sources. Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas? Thanks.

Daniel Epstein · September 5th, 2014, 07:29 AM

Hey Dave,
I would check with Panasonic. They seem to execute TC at 23.98 differently on different cameras. Is the 3 frame offset something you are seeing in post or in the field? Some cameras don't display the code they are actually recording. Also is the Lock it box sending out sync at 23.98 while the camera may only accept sync 29.97 correctly. When it is recording it is probably not accepting the sync but when it is stopped it is trying. Could be something like that.

Dave Coulter · September 5th, 2014, 12:27 PM

Holy Cow, Daniel - you're right. The 370 manual says you can jam to 23.98, but when I gave it 29.97NDF code into a 24p setup, it accepted it just fine and cross-jammed to 23.98 on the fly. No monitor jumping.

The 3-frame offset is in post.

When it cross-jams to 29.97 source code, the offset on my first test went down to one frame. This is jamming camera and slate from a lockit running 29.97 and shooting the slate which also cross-jammed back to 23.98. When I did another test of jamming the camera to 23.98 code I got a 2-frame offset. I'm feeling like I'm going to not rely on internal timecode with this camera on double system shoots, and just rely on the slate. Not really a big deal, but a little bit of a bummer.

I'm curious if anyone else has been able to use jammed code reliably on this camera in 24p. Thanks!

Daniel Epstein · September 5th, 2014, 05:03 PM

Sometimes simpler is better. Send sound to the camera and use a slate. Like the old days. Good luck

September 4th, 2014, 10:20 AM	#1
Dave Coulter New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 15	HPX370 External TC Issue In 23.98 Hi everyone - I can't seem to get my HPX370 to continuously jam sync to 23.98 time code cleanly. There's no problem in 30p, but in 24p whenever it sees 23.98 code, the viewfinder image jumps all around, and even though it does jam, the code seems to consistently be three frames off. When you record, the jumping stops until you stop again, then the jumping continues. This happens in both 720 and 1080. I've tried sending code from two different lockit boxes, Ambient and Denecke, so I know the code it's getting is clean and correct. The manual says to make sure the camera is set to NDF, which it is. I've power cycled the camera and sync sources. Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas? Thanks. Last edited by Dave Coulter; September 4th, 2014 at 04:44 PM.

September 5th, 2014, 07:29 AM	#2
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Re: HPX370 External TC Issue In 23.98 Hey Dave, I would check with Panasonic. They seem to execute TC at 23.98 differently on different cameras. Is the 3 frame offset something you are seeing in post or in the field? Some cameras don't display the code they are actually recording. Also is the Lock it box sending out sync at 23.98 while the camera may only accept sync 29.97 correctly. When it is recording it is probably not accepting the sync but when it is stopped it is trying. Could be something like that.

September 5th, 2014, 12:27 PM	#3
Dave Coulter New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 15	Re: HPX370 External TC Issue In 23.98 Holy Cow, Daniel - you're right. The 370 manual says you can jam to 23.98, but when I gave it 29.97NDF code into a 24p setup, it accepted it just fine and cross-jammed to 23.98 on the fly. No monitor jumping. The 3-frame offset is in post. When it cross-jams to 29.97 source code, the offset on my first test went down to one frame. This is jamming camera and slate from a lockit running 29.97 and shooting the slate which also cross-jammed back to 23.98. When I did another test of jamming the camera to 23.98 code I got a 2-frame offset. I'm feeling like I'm going to not rely on internal timecode with this camera on double system shoots, and just rely on the slate. Not really a big deal, but a little bit of a bummer. I'm curious if anyone else has been able to use jammed code reliably on this camera in 24p. Thanks!

September 5th, 2014, 05:03 PM	#4
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Re: HPX370 External TC Issue In 23.98 Sometimes simpler is better. Send sound to the camera and use a slate. Like the old days. Good luck