Here’s a flowchart of what I do when asked about timecode workflows and keeping things in sync. It should be useful to other departments too, when specifying kit.
Note that it is not always possible to run a timecode based workflow. This is especially the case with consumer equipment. In this case, the best solution is to use a synched digislate. Here there is a visual record of the timecode in the image which can be entered manually in the edit.
Other solutions are a good old clap in front of the camera(s). Editing software also has built in algorithms for matching audio waveforms. They’re not always reliable and won’t work if the audio on camera has no relation to the master audio recorded
Click on the image below and hopefully you’ll be able to read it (it may require some zooming/scrolling on lower resolution screens or mobile devices):
