Appendix 1

Initial Audio Workfl ow, Importing Production Audio, and Syncing
is to say setting one to match the other. Now, any and all video cameras, recorders, and slates will
show the same time code. When the sticks on the slate are closed, the time code changes to a reference
stamp, which is often the date. This makes it easy to fi nd the frame where the sticks close and
you can have a record of the time and date the shot was made.
Because every device is soft locked to its own reference clock, micro clock errors will cause the
devices to drift apart over time. All devices should be rejammed several times through the day to
ensure they are all in sync with each other.
Syncing is now much faster as the time code on the audio recorder can be matched to the number
photographed onto the fi lm from the slate. Syncing can now be done in telecine as the fi lm is transferred.
The audio time code is simply read from the slate and entered on a keypad in the telecine
room. Some recorders do not record time code and can only be sunc to the clapper sticks after the
telecine or transferred to time code DAT before telecine.
In spite of having this photographic reference fi lmed or videotaped, many people still prefer to sync
to the sticks close. Even though it is possible to only fi lm the time code on the slate, the sticks are
still snapped shut. This serves several purposes even if you are planning to sync to the time code
from the slate rather than the sticks. First, it’s a great backup. If something goes wrong and the time
codes don’t match, or the slate is out of focus, then you can still sync to the sticks closing as long
as it can be seen in the shot. Second, it confi rms that this is a sync shot and was not shot MOS
(without sound). When shooting MOS, it is best practice to keep the sticks open with a hand through
the opening blocking the sticks from closing to announce visually, this shot has no sound. Third,
verbally calling the slate and snapping the sticks closed helps announce to everyone on set that the
camera is running and sound is being recorded.
The time code slate works well in a number of circumstances, especially when shooting live events
with multicameras. Consider a fi ve-fi lm and one video camera shoot of a concert. One or even two
time code DAT or other type of time code digital audio recorders can be fed from the stage audio
mixer. One of the audio recorders can be jammed to the other and the video camera and fi ve slates
can also be jammed to the same time code as the audio recorders. All audio, video, and slates will
now show the exact same time code. The video shots can now be pulled into sync with the DAT
audio with a simple “merge clip to time code” command in Final Cut Pro. (More on this later in this
chapter.) As the time code of the video, audio, and slates are all the same format, probably 29.97 DF
or NDF, the slate numbers will advance in sync with the video.
The problem is not as straightforward with fi lm to be edited on digital video. In this case, the camera
is rolling at 24 FPS, but the transferred video will be 29.97 and may be reversed to 23.98. Choosing
the time code for the audio and the slate therefore becomes a problem. Often, the audio time code
will be 30 DF or NDF, when this audio is pulled down the rate will be 29.97 DF or NDF. The video
time code used in telecine will probably be 29.97 NDF, so this sounds like a good match. But because
the camera is running at 24 FPS, the numbers on the slate will be advancing faster than the fi lm, and
this will cause photographed numbers to be skipped and/or overprinted. Running the audio time code
at 24 FPS is not much better; the 29.97 video will have repeated numbers and any reversed 23.98
digital video may be overprinted.
In Figure 3.3, the slate from Lost Hope and More, several problems can be seen. First, the slate time
code numbers are overprinted. The frame number was 11 and advanced to 12 with the fi lm shutter
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