1. Why Your Work Matters For Netflix Dailies
Netflix Dailies relies heavily on what the camera team does on set:
- Timecode to sync sound and picture
- Visible slates and claps to refine sound sync and catch drift
- Consistent slate info (Scene, Slate, Take) aligned with Sound and Script
- Embedded lens data to carry per‑frame metadata downstream
There is no traditional lab operator manually reviewing and fixing every clip overnight. The system makes its decisions based on what you and your team record.
The good news: when your TC and slates are solid, the system delivers very reliable, fully synced dailies without extra work.
2. Timecode & Sync
You play a big role, alongside the Sound Mixer and DIT, in keeping cameras jam‑synced to the audio timecode. When timecode is solid, the automation can do its best work and dailies arrive in editorial already in great shape.
What this looks like on set:
- All cameras and the audio recorder share a common timecode source
- You re‑jam:
- After any power cycle
- After extended breaks
- After cameras flip from shooting offspeed back to real time
- Whenever there’s any sign TC might have drifted
When that discipline is in place, Netflix Dailies can:
- Quickly find the right audio for each shot
- Use the slate clap to fine‑tune sync and catch small drift
- Deliver high‑confidence, ready‑to‑cut dailies
If timecode does drift significantly, the system has to work harder:
- It may struggle to match picture and sound automatically
- Some shots may need more manual review
- Slate claps alone may not be enough to fully correct big TC errors
In short: strong, consistent timecode from camera and sound is the foundation of reliable auto‑sync.
3. Slating: How To Make the Automation Happy
Netflix Dailies uses slates in two ways:
- For the system to read the Episode/Scene/Slate/Take
- For the algorithm to:
- Detect the exact frame of contact on the slate clap
- Match it to the clap peak in the WAV file
- Refine sound sync sync and correct for minor TC drift
When the slate is hard to see, or the clap is extremely slow, the algorithm has a tough time finding that precise “moment of impact.”
Slating is where you can make the biggest difference for sound sync reliability. Our data shows:
- Shows that use clear, “normal‑speed” claps with the slate fully in frame almost always deliver perfectly synced dailies.
- When problems occur, they are often tied to how the slate is clapped or framed, not the audio system itself.
3.1 Visual Clap: Fast, Clear, and In Frame
To get the best results from the auto‑sync:
- Perform a clear head (or tail) clap.
- Make sure:
- The slate and clapper are fully in frame (not half‑off or blocked).
- The moment of contact is obvious—not a slow, smeared motion.
- A microphone is positioned close to the slate and the clap is audible in the mix track.
From the system’s perspective, the ideal clap is:
- A quick, decisive closure of the sticks
- With a clear, sharp audio spike in the sound file
Super slow‑motion claps or very soft/ambiguous closures make it hard for the system to know exactly which frame to align to.
In practice, “normal‑speed” claps with a clearly visible stick closure have produced the most reliable sync results across shows.
3.2 One Slate for Multiple Cameras Is Fine (With One Important Detail)
It’s totally okay—and common—to use one slate for multiple cameras (A, B, C, etc.). The key requirement is that each camera must get its own clean view of the clap.
You can absolutely still use a single physical slate, as long as:
- Each camera clearly sees the front face of the slate and the sticks closing at some point.
- The clap is audible and recorded in the sound mix.
- Each camera’s picture shows a clean, readable view of the slate when its clap happens.
Do not clap once for two cameras at 90°
As an example:
On some sets, the slating person will:
- Point the slate toward Camera A
- Rotate it toward Camera B
- Clap once for both cameras
In that situation, one camera usually gets a clear, front-on view of the slate, while the other sees it at almost a 90° angle. The second camera may still hear the clap, but it does not get a clean view of the sticks closing.
For our automated systems (sync, metadata extraction, etc.), this is a problem: they rely on both the sound of the clap and a clear visual of the sticks closing in each camera.
Recommended practice with one slate / two cameras
When using one slate for two (or more) cameras:
- Clap once per camera, not one clap for all cameras:
- Face the slate directly toward Camera A and clap.
- Then rotate and face the slate directly toward Camera B and clap again.
- Repeat for Camera C, etc., if needed.
Why this matters (for humans and the system)
- For editorial:
A clean, front-on view of the sticks makes it easy for editors and assistants to visually confirm sync, especially when reviewing in a hurry or troubleshooting.
- For the Netflix Dailies system:
Our algorithms use:
- The audio spike from the clap
- The visual event of the sticks closing
to help detect and confirm sync per camera.
If a camera only sees the slate at an angle, or never clearly sees the sticks close, the system has a much harder time doing this reliably.
One slate for multiple cameras is great—just make sure each camera gets its own clear clap.
4. Lens Metadata
When the production uses lenses with encoders (Cooke /i, ARRI LDS, etc.), aim to have per‑frame lens metadata embedded directly in the camera files, including:
- Focal length
- T‑stop
- Focus distance
- Squeeze / anamorphic factor, etc.
Currently:
- Netflix’s MPS tools preserve embedded lens metadata if present, and pass it into the database for down stream use (As an example: VFX pulls)
- There is no robust, automated pipeline to attach external lens metadata files after the fact.
So if the show cares about lens metadata for VFX and finishing, it needs to be written into the camera originals on set.
Your discipline on set—especially around timecode and slating—is what lets Netflix Dailies deliver clean, synced, trustworthy dailies without a lot of manual fixing behind the scenes.