Blackmagic Forum

Saw the new version of the Camera App supports the Tentacle E-Sync, which is great because we use these everyday. My question is… how does it support the Tentacle? There’s no options I can see. Is this just requiring us to connect the E-Sync via audio just like any camera? (I don’t have that cable to test.)

Turn bluetooth on the phone. Turn tentacle on . Open tentacle sync app to see its recognized. It's automatic the app should recognize the timecode. I used my track E which is now with new firmware a time code generator and when I change the time in the tenatclesync app the Blackmagic app changes too.

Mike Los wrote:Turn bluetooth on the phone. Turn tentacle on . Open tentacle sync app to see its recognized. It's automatic the app should recognize the timecode. I used my track E which is now with new firmware a time code generator and when I change the time in the tenatclesync app the Blackmagic app changes too.

I haven’t updated the firmware of my Tentacles since… well, it’s been a really long time. Thanks!

Ryan Douthit wrote:

Mike Los wrote:Turn bluetooth on the phone. Turn tentacle on . Open tentacle sync app to see its recognized. It's automatic the app should recognize the timecode. I used my track E which is now with new firmware a time code generator and when I change the time in the tenatclesync app the Blackmagic app changes too.

I haven’t updated the firmware of my Tentacles since… well, it’s been a really long time. Thanks!

Im using the Track E. You are using the sync E. Yours Should work without a firmware update.

We use both.

Mike Los wrote:Turn bluetooth on the phone. Turn tentacle on . Open tentacle sync app to see its recognized. It's automatic the app should recognize the timecode...

Everything is synced to my Tentacle. The BMCAMAP sees the Tentacles and lets me set Timecode to one of the Tentacles.

The Tentacle App never sees any devices other than Tentacle Syncs. The BMCAMAP sees the Tentacles and then timecode is driven by the selected Tentacle Sync.

iPhone 14 Pro, BMCAMAP, Tentacle App, and Tentacle Syncs on latest firmware.

Also when the bmc app recognizes the tentaclesync you will see it listed in the blackmagic app timecode display setting.

Correct. Thanks for the post for the activation of this feature.

Poor Apple. Almost ten years on and their app is so limited in scope and controls. I’m not surprised the App Store doesn’t feature the BMCAMAP. It might be featured if BMD charged $29.99 for the app so Apple could gets its $10 commission.

BMCAMAP certainly deserves to be included in Apple’s annual free app awards.

The camera app supports Tentacle Sync devices. Will the devices from Timecode Systems, e.g. Ultrasync Blue, also be supported in the future?

An additional step is to ensure that the "Use Bluetooth" setting in The Blackmagic Camera App is turned on.
This can be found under the Settings >> Accessories menu. My iPhone 15 Pro/Blackmagic Camera App (version 1.2.10003 was not recognizing the Tentacle Syn E or Tentacle Track E devices until I made this change. My app was using the default settings, which had Bluetooth turned off for use with the app.

I've got a 12 fr offset. It's a brand new Tentacle Track E and iPhone 15 pro max.
The track E still needs the firmware update.

Done a bunch of tests, all the Tentacle audio is is off.

Robb Harriss wrote:I've got a 12 fr offset. It's a brand new Tentacle Track E and iPhone 15 pro max.
The track E still needs the firmware update.

Done a bunch of tests, all the Tentacle audio is is off.

What do you attribute that to? Variable frame rate or something else? Or you don't know what's causing the audio to be off?

I have a similar issue, but I think the problem I've identified is that the blackmagic cam app on iphone pro 15 (recording prores HQ in Log) seems to be recording at 23fps, confirmed in both QT and Adobe PP. I've seen mixed info on the internet about BMC app in iphone 15's ability to actually record at a CFR instead of VFR. Has any consensus been found on this? It would make no sense to include built-in tentacly sync time code function if your app was incapable of actually shooting CFR at the assigned frame rate...

Excuse the thread hijack.

Does anyone know how the time code is stored in the Camera App file? Is it encoded as a digital clock, or is it LTC on an audio channel?

UnicornOne wrote:Excuse the thread hijack.

Does anyone know how the time code is stored in the Camera App file? Is it encoded as a digital clock, or is it LTC on an audio channel?

With the Blackmagic Camera app, Tentacle Sync timecode is “regular” timecode, not an LTC audio signal.