The most convenient and safe setup:
One Tentacle per recording device.
Why?
Our Tentacles have built-in batteries that - under normal operating conditions - can last up to 50 hours. Once they are connected properly to the various recording devices they can constantly output the correct timecode information without switching them off in between. That is why we recommend this setup. There is no need to re-sync any device after a change of battery for example.
With one Tentacle per camera or sound recorder you only need to synchronize once a day. When the Tentacles are fully charged, setup and connected correctly to the recording devices you will have the most convenient and reliable timecode synchronicity for up to 24 hours in one go.
Recording devices without a timecode input:
Cameras or audio recorders that can only record audio timecode definitely need a Tentacle constantly connected to feed them with the necessary timecode information.
Recording devices with a dedicated timecode input:
There are other recording devices that have options for inputting timecode. In this case please note that every timecode clock needs to be synchronized when being powered off and on again. And if they are just jam-synced they may drift after a while.
Recording devices with a built-in timecode generator:
There a recording devices, mostly professional audio recorders, that have a dedicated timecode input and a built-in timecode generator very similar to the one in our devices. Those devices can hold the timecode correctly, but some also loose timecode after power off. So you have to re-sync again.
To avoid this and have a convenient workflow with the ability to monitor your Tentacle devices via app, we still recommend using the Tentacle timecode generators as the main timecode source and keep them connected the entire shooting day.