American Cinematographer - December 1980 - 33

ing equipment, eliminating immediate
human access by the film editor.
The

of time code has been

success

mainly with the major European TV sta¬
tions, Societe Frangaise de Production in
France, and West Deutsche Rundfunk in

Germany. A serious shortcoming of the
coded system is its lack of the com¬
municative potential which recent com¬
puter technology has accustomed us to
(see Conversations over).
Now, in 1980, Aaton presents not
only a complete line of Clear Time Re¬
cording equipment, but also a whole
new concept in the industry: Scribe
System. The system incorporates a con¬
siderable amount of new technology. On
this page are described the two basic
levels of Clear Time Recording at work:
for freelance filmmakers, and for post¬

production houses. The third description
is a glance at the future of CTR-a mile¬
stone in filmmaking.
For Freelance Filmmakers & Sound
Recordists

Nagra recorder and Aaton camera shown with the Initializing Master Clock (lower right).
microprocessor driven module is used to initialize film cameras, sound recorders and
video cameras to any conventional time (including actual local time). It also provides the
production number. These data are entered on its mini-calculator type keyboard.
This

Option T2
Aaton's

goal is to provide the film¬

maker with information he

can

under¬

stand without

having to learn a whole
new language, so to speak (ever tried to
decipher binary code bars?). Figures
and words are a logical choice.
Another important consideration is
compatibility with existing equipment, al¬
lowing the filmmaker to keep the cost of
modifying what he already has as low as
possible. Consistent with this philosophy
of minimum expenditure. Aaton has
made a point of developing a range of
Time equipment from low-cost modules
on up. The "bare minimum" of the Aaton
Time equipment consists of the follow¬
ing:
Pilotime

Pilotime is

pilotone compatible

time generator for the Nagra or Stellavox. The installation of this small cir¬
cuit into the sound recorder is

one

of the

first steps leading progressively to the
introduction of the whole Clear Time Re¬

cording system. Each time the sound re¬
corder is turned on, a three second burst
of time information is laid down on the

For

Option T2
LTR

can be built into any
It exposes clear

camera.

Aaton 7
figures

right onto the film edge in the camera.
Option T2 does not imply any
modification to editing equipment, it can
be introduced progressively without up¬
setting the film editors' habits or tra¬

Post-production People

By the time the film gets to the post
production stage, the groundwork has
been laid. Here, the advantages of the
clear time address

are

notable: the clear

numbers

the value of this is patent

exposed on the film edge
every 20 cm are readable by the naked
eye, allowing each trim to be identified at
a glance. The editor's productivity is
seriously improved. Another economy
inherent in Clear Time Recording is the
elimination of rubber numbering. (With
Aaton clear figures on the film edge,

those who

ditions.
With

Option T2, Aaton supplies all the

usual time information down to the

second, plus the production number:

when it comes
cataloging or archiving.

latent

use

Kodachrome, which has

edge numbering, have a wealth

of information otherwise unavailable to

Origin C

them.)

Origin C is an initializing master
clock, less complex (and much less ex¬
pensive) than Origin K time-keeping
master clock. The principal function of
Origin C is to initialize the cameras and
tape recorders on a take; after that, the
Pilotime circuit in the tape recorder can
re-emit its

own

recorders

time address to set other

Why pay three
price to maintain the time in the
master clock, when any tape recorder
once set by Origin C can do the job?
With this basic equipment (audio
Pilotime, film Option T2, and Origin C
cameras.

The 1/4" audio tape that arrives at the
post production establishment goes
through various stages on its way to be¬
coming clear time referenced 16mm tape
for frame to frame

matching with the film.
Recording
system, each of these stages is facili¬
tated, making the time information ac¬
With the Aaton Clear Time

cessible to the

user.

times the

Transcoder
Trans H, the basic transcoder, is a
small unit at

a price affordable to any
facility. The principle it func¬
tions on is elementary: as Trans H reads
the 1/4" tape, it sets its internal timer to

transfer

pilotone track. This 300/600 Hz burst in
no way interferes with either the pilotone
signal or the audio program, the first few

initializer, at a total cost of around 12,000

seconds of which

used in any

recordist have between them the fun¬

the time burst, and afterwards counts

the 1/4" tape remains completely

damental elements of Clear Time Re¬

seconds

compatible with normal use on a
bay, and presents no cross¬
talk with the audio track. (When the
audio track is played back, the trans¬

cording. The cost effectiveness of this
rapidly clear at
the most primary level: with the disap¬
pearance of the slate, rawstock is saved;
stress and fussing about with the
clapstick are eliminated, and cam¬

case;

are never

transfer

coder-Trans H-Trans

M-picks

the

time information

supplied by the burst
and thereafter uses the normal pilotone

signal as a clock frequency, incrementing
the information each second.)

F) the freelance

cameraman

and sound

low initial investment is

eraman

and sound recordist

lost autonomy
each other.

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, DECEMBER, 1980

regain their

and mobility vis-a-vis

the
by incrementing the standard
pilotone signal. The transcoder trans¬
lates these two elements of time informa¬

tion into low

words

frequency SMPTE plus
(hereafter called F & W) every

second, and instructs the transfer bay to
record this F & W

signal right onto the
perforated 16mm tape. In addition to the
ASCII

information

Continued

just described, the

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1239

American Cinematographer - December 1980

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