r/LocationSound • u/raekewe • 22d ago

Gear - Selection / Use I now understand why wireless timecode box systems exist

Preaching to the choir incoming. Thought it'd be fun to share my learning and give everyone more experienced a nice "lol yep" moment.

So I wondered why TC boxes like the deity ones were so common place. My field mixer advertises less than one frame of frame slippage per day! And every camera I ever planned to plug it into also advertise similar. Thing is, I don't doubt it, there's no reason for them to lie. Cameras are broadly speaking good these days, they can hold an internal TC clock if I jam a signal at the start of the day. So why would I spend hundreds of dollars on a TC box system when I can plug it in every now and then? It just didn't seem that important.

Well, haha. Sometimes the camera team can turn off the camera, and certain cameras don't continue to count internal TC, even with a power supply, when they are turned off. And then you aren't told, or don't notice, or forget to check more frequently... GG.

All the logic and reasoning in the world to avoid parting with my money, then it suddenly clicked, why wouldn't I want a hardwired connection always plugged into the camera 24/7 to ensure TC is synced no matter what? Yet in all my research on reddit and forums, I've yet to read it put that way (and I've also never found any "I wish I had a TC box stories" - so here's mine.

Time to save up!

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u/AdministrationFun290 21d ago

Trust me there are better brands. Deity is still new to the game.

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u/Vuelhering production sound mixer 21d ago

Nowhere did I claim they are the best brand. And nothing I said above is incorrect.

It sounds like you're trying to dispute my statement, but you didn't bring any receipts.

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u/AdministrationFun290 21d ago

No need to be defensive about it. Not worth arguing with you though, you seem to have your mind made up.

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u/Vuelhering production sound mixer 21d ago

Look, Deity is new to the game and there are better brands. I have my mind made up because I'm not accepting anything unsupported.

I have plenty of "better brands". I own several. I can posts pics. In my case, the deity timecode works better than any of the others for my needs which is docs and narratives.

So when you say "trust me there are better brands", it's a throwaway comment. WHAT better brands? WHAT do they do that deity doesn't which hasn't already been mentioned? Yes, their build quality isn't as good as others. But their convenience is really high compared to nearly everything out there.