CompuServe Thread

The SMPTE lock I'm using is a dedicated system called SMPL lock. It's a modified VIC 20 with a seperate lock mount box. The way it works is simple, you record time code on an audio track or adress track of a VCR and also on a multi-track tape recorder. In operation, the two TC tracks are fed into the SMPL system, it compares them and adjusts the speed of the ATR to match that of the VTR. The accuracy of this system is claimed to be an 80th of a frame, though I've seen systems that claim 100th of a frame-no big deal really, since you can't really tell something is getting out of sync untill 1 or sometimes 2 frames out. SMPL has two modes-chase and lock. The only difference is the way they cue the ATR. In the chase mode you cue using the VTR, push the cue button and it FF or rewinds the ATR to a cue point, in lock mode, SMPL panel controls operate the VTR then automaticly cues the ATR. The SMPL lock box has a MIDI out, it converts the TC to MIDI. It also supports the MIDI song pointer, so you can tell the sequencer, via MIDI, to start anywhere in the film or video you working on anywhere you want. It's a good system, but costs more than a 1 meg 500 with color monitor. On the other hand, it's a fraction of what other systems cost.