Setting Minimum Sync Delay

Lock-up time delay is the initial amount of prime time your system’s devices need to achieve synchronization “lock.” This amount varies for each device. Pro Tools lock up delay is set by entering a value for Minimum Sync Delay in the Synchronization preferences. The lowest value available is 15 frames. Find the shortest possible lock-up time that your equipment can operate at consistently, and set this as the Minimum Sync Delay. On systems utilizing MachineControl, enabling the Use Serial Timecode setting in the Session Setup window will make machines lock up much faster. (Serial timecode requires both the SYNC peripheral and external devices to be locked to house video reference.)

To set a Minimum Sync Delay:

1 Choose Setup > Preferences, and click the Synchronization tab.

2 Enter a number of frames in the Minimum Sync Delay field.

3 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

Configuring Minimum Sync Delay for External MMC Devices Locked to House Sync

When controlling a house-synced device from Pro Tools through MMC, the device will first lock to the MMC location and then align the color framing. Within house sync code are 4 frames for ensuring color frame lock. If the minimum synchronization setup time is less than the time required to achieve both location and color frame lock, playback will begin before the device has aligned the color frames. In this scenario, you should set the Minimum Sync Delay to be more than the time required for color frame lock. This is not a problem with a SYNC peripheral, which will drop out of lock until the color frame is locked.