The Roland SI80SP LANC interface.
I followed Hugh Robjohns' series, Practical Audio For Picture, with interest, and am planning to venture into writing music for film and TV. I currently use two Roland VS1680s for audio recording, one of which acts as the master for my MIDI sequencer — C‑Lab's Notator, running on an Atari ST. I have been making enquiries about how to sync Notator to a VCR, and have been advised that I need to buy a video which generates 'LANC timecode', and a device called a Roland SI80. This apparently converts LANC to MIDI Time Code (MTC), which can then clock my Roland and Atari.
I wonder if you could clear up some points about this way of working. Firstly, what is LANC, as I haven't seen it mentioned in Hugh's articles? Secondly, will this suggested setup work in the US, where I am going to be doing some work next year?
Lastly, though this hasn't been explicitly suggested, do you think I need to upgrade my Atari? I sense that the ST/Notator setup is not regarded as the best way to do this kind of thing, and wonder whether I should upgrade to a PC running Cubase or Logic.
However, I love my C‑Lab system, and can't stand having to learn new packages — I remember how long it took me to become proficient with Notator! I also feel that I wouldn't use the audio functions of Cubase or Logic very much, as I have the VS1680s to take care of that side of things. Am I just being misguided?
Stuart de la Mere
Tom Flint & Matt Bell reply: The first and most important thing to mention, which necessitates tackling the last part of your query first, is that although you can certainly use MTC to clock your Roland recorders, it will only work on your Atari if you're running sequencing software that will accept MTC — and sadly, C‑Lab Notator on the Atari never did. Cubase did, but as you yourself point out, it takes a long time to get to grips with a new sequencer, and if you're going to have to learn Cubase on the Atari to make your system work, you might (depending on the budget you have available) decide it's worth upgrading to a PC or Mac and running Cubase there. And if you can afford to do that, you might as well try Logic for PC or Mac, as it is of course the descendent of the Notator package you love so much, and the transisition might be less fraught that way. If you do upgrade from your Atari, you could of course take advantage of some of the working methods that Hugh did mention in his series, such as digitising your video with a video‑capture card and running it in your sequencer as a QuickTime movie.
If we assume that you will be sticking with your Atari and switching to MTC‑capable software, however, then we can confirm that the advice you have been given is basically sound. LANC (Local Application Control) is Sony's sync protocol, used on many of their VCRs and also licensed to Canon. Other VCR manufacturers, such as Panasonic and JVC, use their own different protocols. As far as reliable sync is concerned, it doesn't matter which make of VCR you choose, as long as you can also purchase an interface which will convert the proprietary sync protocol into MTC which your Roland and Atari will understand (provided, once again, that your Atari software reads MTC).
If you do go for a LANC‑equipped VCR, the Roland SI80S Video‑to‑MIDI Sync Interface (£140 including VAT) is a good choice. Roland also make the more expensive SI80SP (£187 including VAT), which is capable of doing the same conversion for Panasonic VCRs. Rosendahl, who are distributed in the UK by HHB (+44 (0)20 8962 5000) also manufacture a range of professional timecode converters for film, video and audio applications, but they're more expensive than the Roland products.
However, the type of sync protocol isn't the only thing you have to think about when buying a video machine for TV and film work; you should also consider which tape formats you may be called upon to work with. Many television and film companies will be prepared to make a copy of their material onto domestic VHS or S‑VHS tape — Ben Bartlett, who scored the music for the prestigious BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs, revealed in his January 2000 SOS interview that he composed all his music to visuals supplied on a humble VHS tape — but you might encounter less forgiving employers who expect you to be able to cope with tapes in any format, from DV‑CAM at the lower end of the professional industry right up to BETA SP at the top end of the scale. It's worth bearing in mind that many audio‑for‑picture professionals are prepared to hire in the appropriate recorder when they have to.
Moving to your next question, you may have to swap VCRs when you move to the States, because the US standard for video (NTSC) runs at 525 picture lines, whereas the UK standard (PAL) uses 625 lines. There are machines that can handle both PAL and NTSC formats, but they are expensive. You also have to remember that UK mains power runs at 240V/50Hz compared to the 120V/60Hz supply in the States, so if you are determined to stick with one machine, it'll need a switchable power transformer or multi‑standard power unit!
Your VCR will also have to be able to operate at any of the different frame rates which you're likely to come across and, once again, these differ here from those in use in the States. The EBU video standard, as used in the UK, runs at 25fps (frames per second). However, frame rates of 30 and 29.97 are used in the US, so any video setup which you also want to use in the US will need to be able to handle all of these, as well as the 24fps rate used for film work.
Finally, there are a couple of points to bear in mind when configuring your equipment to work with your video recorder and sync‑to‑MTC converter, once you have obtained them. Firstly, as a general rule, it's always best to use as your synchronisation master whichever piece of equipment is least reliable when run as a slave. In this case it is almost certainly going to be the video recorder, as budget VCRs often suffer from unpredictable wow and flutter. Secondly, the system is likely to give more reliable sync if you feed the master MTC output, translated from the VCR's sync output, to your VS1680s and Atari in parallel, rather than in series (if you daisy‑chain your VS1680s and Atari, MTC delays or corruption could result). This approach will require the purchase of a MIDI Thru box, but Philip Rees (+44 (0)1608 811215) do a range of compact, sub‑£30 MIDI problem solvers, so the solution is hardly expensive.