User`s guide

Pro Tools Reference Guide344
Selecting a SMPTE Format
To choose a SMPTE format:
1 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup.
2 In the pop-up Frame Rate menu, select
the SMPTE frame format appropriate to
your session.
3 Enter the Time Code Freewheel frames (if
any) in the designated box. See “Time Code
Freewheel” on page 342 for more informa-
tion.
Setting a SMPTE Start Frame
The Session Setup window also allows you
to set a SMPTE Start Frame for your session.
Video work tapes are rarely striped begin-
ning at a SMPTE frame address of
00:00:00:00. You can quickly enter a start
time for your session based on an appropri-
ate frame number from your project tape.
The Pro Tools SMPTE-related functions
(such as Spot mode) will then use this value
as their reference for the session’s start
point.
Start Time When Striping Tape
If you are generating time code, it is a good
practice to stripe your time code beginning
at 01:00:00:00. This prevents problems that
can occur with some synchronizers when
the striped time code crosses from
23:59:59:29 to 00:00:00:00 (commonly re-
ferred to as the “midnight” boundary).
To set a SMPTE Start Frame for your session:
1 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup.
2 Enable playback of your SMPTE time
code source. Any SMPTE-to-MTC converter
device you are using should indicate that it
is properly receiving time code via its indi-
cators. If Pro Tools is receiving MTC (or
proprietary sync code via the USD), the
Current Time counter will update its dis-
play (in bold numbers) to match the in-
coming code.
This display is useful for troubleshooting
time code problems, and it should update
regardless of the current Pro Tools Session
Start time.
3 Enter a SMPTE frame number in the Ses-
sion Start field.
– or –
4 To capture an incoming SMPTE address,
press the Equal key (=). You can then edit
the captured address. The session uses the
frame number you enter as its SMPTE start
frame when online.
If there are existing regions on the tracks
and you are changing the original SMPTE
start frame to a later time (from
00:00:00:00 to 01:00:00:00, for example),
all existing regions on tracks will remain in
their relative positions, but will start later
by the time value added to the start frame.
Current Time displayed in Session Setup window