Sync and Video : Working with Synchronization : Capturing Timecode

Capturing Timecode
Pro Tools also allows you to easily capture frame locations on the fly in the Spot dialog by pressing the Equal key, or by clicking the Current Timecode button while valid timecode is being received by Pro Tools. With VITC, you can accurately capture a paused or “crawling” VTR’s SMPTE location.
When Timecode is selected for the Time Scale, pressing the Equal key captures the incoming timecode. When Bars|Beats is selected for the Time Scale, pressing the Equal key will capture to the nearest measure.
Although Capture Timecode works with free-running Linear Timecode (LTC) or VITC, frame numbers of a paused frame can only be captured with VITC.
SYNC peripherals can read VITC. With MachineControl and a SYNC peripheral, you can also read serial timecode.
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To use Remote mode with MachineControl, you will need an approved serial port. For a complete list of currently approved ports, visit www.avid.com.
To spot a clip to a specific SMPTE frame:
1 Enable Spot mode.
2 Set the Main Time Scale to Timecode. (See Setting a SMPTE Session Start Time (Start Frame).)
3 Identify the SMPTE frame location where you want to trigger playback of your clip by pausing your video deck on that frame.
4 With the Time Grabber tool, click a clip in a track, or in the Clip List, and drag it into a track. The Spot dialog appears.
5 Enter the SMPTE frame location by doing one of the following:
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If you are using VITC, you can press the Equal (=) key on the numeric keypad, or click Current Timecode to enter a paused VTR’s current SMPTE location.
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If you are using LTC, when Timecode is selected for the Time Scale, press the Equal (=) key on the numeric keypad to capture the incoming timecode. When Bars|Beats is selected for the Time Scale, press the Equal key to capture the nearest measure.
6 If you recorded the clip while online, you can use the Original Time Stamp button to recall and enter the SMPTE frame location at which the clip was originally recorded. You can also access a user-defined Time Stamp by clicking the User Time Stamp button. See Time Stamping for more information.
7 Click OK to close this dialog. The clip spots to the chosen SMPTE frame location. When the session is online, this frame number will trigger playback of the clip.