What is “Resolving” to Time Code? Is it Important to Me as a Pro Tools LE user?
Post Production Pros commonly run their systems locked to a reference signal such as “black burst” or “house sync” so that all machines in the studio (audio or video) are referenced to the same “master clock.” When a system is locked in this way, and you trigger to start at a specific location, your system remains locked all devices are running at the same speed. The term “resolved” refers to this kind of lock. In a “resolved” digital audio system, the speed of the “slave” audio system is constantly and subtly adjusted to match the “master.” Pro Tools LE *can* be resolved to an external clock via the S/PDIF port on the Digi 001 or AMIII, but external sync boxes that can do this (available from third-parties) are pretty expensive (as much or close to your overall system cost!). Without a resolved system, you cannot maintain lock over longer periods of time to analog tape transports (like cassettes, or even multi-track machines). The choice about how far to go with resolving your system lies with your needs and budget.
Entering Your Offset
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Pro Tools LE’s Session Setup Window has a SMPTE offset entry area (“Session Start”), which allows you to set the SMPTE start time for your session. (There is also an area that lets you set the frame rate for your incoming time code.) If you get a tape to work with that contains a new SMPTE start time (a change from when you started your project), you can enter a new start time. When you do this, you will be prompted to choose if you wish to maintain the absolute positions of your on-screen regions relative to the time code on your tape (most common), or whether you wish to keep the position of your regions relative to the start of the session. For example, your session might start at 01:00:00:00 and you have a region at 2:10.000 (coincides with 01:02:10:00 on your tape). You then decide to move the Session Start earlier so that you can spot something to a location before 1 hr. Setting the Session Start to 00:00:00:00 will prompt you to Maintain Time Code (your region will now be at 62:10.000 and will still line up with your tape) or Maintain Relative Position (your region will still be 2 minutes and 10 seconds from the start of the session, an hour earlier than the location on your tape).
Incoming Time Code Display
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The Session Setup Window also features an incoming time code display (labelled “Current Time”). This allows you to see your incoming SMPTE. If the display is rolling, you know you’ve got time code and you can view where you are against incoming time code at all times.
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