Monitor-recorder maker Atomos has acquired Timecode Systems, whose RF wireless timecode and synchronization systems are widely used in multicamera production in place of Genlock connections.
Atomos said it will incorporate Timecode’s technology into its own products and will release a free SDK for use by third parties, including camera and audio vendors. The company said its goal is to make multicamera shoots with either pro or prosumer cameras easier to manage by wirelessly synchronizing multiple sources of audio and video.
Atomos is targeting the system to everyone from broadcasters and Hollywood production companies to houses of worship, corporate videographers and YouTubers.
“To truly shoot collaboratively, everything needs to work in perfect, frame-accurate sync – there has to be this robust wireless connection,” argued Atomos CEO Jeromy Young in a prepared statement. “The Timecode Systems RF protocol is this bullet-proof link. With the Timecode Systems standard, we now have the glue to create a truly connected multicamera solution.”
The Ninja V AtomX Sync module is the first Atomos product to include Timecode Systems powered features.
Timecode Systems
Timecode Systems said the AtomX Sync hardware module announced at IBC last year, which is designed to synchronize multiple Ninja V devices at ranges up to 300m, and the Neon series of Atomos monitors detailed this spring will be the first Atomos products to incorporate its technology. (No word, however, on when those already late items are scheduled to ship.) And Timecode said via press release that it expects its wireless sync technology to be included “across the next generations of the entire Atomos product range.”
Founded in 2012, Timecode Systems won an innovation award from the International Association for Broadcast & Media Technology Suppliers (IABM) before it shipped its first product. Among its creations are a Wi-Fi enabled digital slate, a timecode sync system for GoPro cameras, and a timecode protocol that uses Bluetooth.
Atomos: www.atomos.com
