Blackmagic Forum

Hi,

I am trying to figure out what kind of timecode support (if any) would be present in the ATEM Television Studio HD (the newer one, rack version, NOT the PRO)

This is what I found out so far, please correct me where I am wrong:

1.) The ATEM TV HD does NOT generate any timecode starting with power-up (the 1M/E 4K does, the 2M/E, 4M/E apparently too)
2.) The ATEM TV HD can NOT receive LTC on the XLR inputs.
3.) If timecode is embedded in the SDI source signals, it's ignored/omitted and NO timecode is present on the program SDI output.

Question:
Is there any way to make the ATEM TV HD receive timecode and have it embedded on the AUX or PROGRAM outputs?

Thanks for any input,
Cheers,
Daniel

To address your question- I am not aware of any way to do what you described, send a timecode source to the switcher and have that timecode be embedded in the output.

Timecode is most typically created at the time of recording, by the device doing the actual recording of the signal. If you are using an external timecode generator, or other timecode source, that would usually be connected fed to the recorder, not through the switcher.

Hello Daniel. The Television Studio ATEMs do not generate internal time code as you have found. If recording on the Hyperdeck Studio Pro, you can feed external time code to it. Otherwise, you could use a Teranex Mini Audio to SDI and embed time code in the ATEM Program output for distribution.

Regards, Gary

Thanks, Gary, for the clarification.

Would the same be true for the "ATEM Production Studio 4K 1M/E or 2M/E"?

The scenario is a live multi-camera setup of several remote controlled cameras where program from the ATEM and the separate camera feeds would have to be recorded on a variety of recorders (mostly Hyperdeck Studio 12G's). I would like all feeds to have the same timecode to be able to sync them later for post editing. Ideally without needing one Teranex Mini for each recorder - which would mean to get at least 3 or 4 of those.
So, the idea was to get a timecode into the ATEM and to use the AUX outputs to distribute to all recorders.
Would that work with a 1M/E (3 AUX outputs) or 2M/E (6 AUX outputs)?
I would not mind this to be the generated timecode from the ATEM (even though an externally created Time-of-Day timecode would be preferable to the starting-at-power-up timecode of the ATEMs).

Thanks, Daniel

Hello Daniel. The ATEM Production Studio 4K and 1ME 4K both generate internal time code on startup. This is embedded in the Program and Auxiliary SDI outputs. They both do not have a method to preset the time. The 2ME and 4ME 4K ATEMs do have external timecode input and output which may be used to jam to your external generator. This time code as well will be embedded in the Program and Auxiliary SDI outputs. As stated earlier, the Television Studio models do not have time code built in, so an external embedded such as the Teranex Mini Audio to SDI could be used.

Regards, Gary

Good Morning Gary,
I realize this is an old post, but I am having an issue related to this topic. I have recently acquired a new Television Studio HD. In my rack is the switcher, Teranex HD-SDI - HDMI converter, Web Presenter HD, HyperDeck Studio Mini, and UltraStudio HD Mini. During my show last week I noticed timecode running on the SDI-HDMI converter monitor and when I looked at the Capture tab in the ATEM software the same timecode was running. I am not sure what is generating the timecode and/or how to stop it.

Hello poucedeleon. You bring up an interesting point. Keep in mind, old threads contain old information. Since way back when, newer firmware updates provided internal timecode generation on all current ATEMs. This timecode would run at startup or reset at standard change. So the Television Studio HD does have internal timecode. To be perfectly honest about this, you will find many posts indicating that firmware version 7.5.2 is the last recommended version for the TVS HD because versions after this do not provide for retaining media or saving settings after a power cycle. So If you want timecode and do not need the power saving capability, then the latest firmware the TVS will take is best. If saving media and settings is more important, than I still recommend 7.5.2 which will have embedded timecode.

Regards, Gary