How Do I Work To Time Code In Pro Tools LE Without a Time Code Ruler Display or a Spot Dialog that “speaks” Time Code?
Unlike Pro Tools TDM systems, Pro Tools LE systems do not have a time code ruler or allow spotting to SMPTE. Still, you can easily do some basic posting with one of the following methods:Spotting to the Insertion PointHere’s a great way to “spot” any sound’s start point right where you want it… no time code ruler necessary. If you’re locked to a video deck, at any point when Pro Tools is locked or playing “on line” you can drop a marker, mark an “in point” on the fly (by pressing the down arrow key), or have “Insertion Follows Playback” enabled so that when you stop, your insertion point can be located to a point that matches your picture. Once your insertion point is located where you want an effect, just hold down the Control key (Start key on the PC). Now, if you click on a region on a track with the Grabber, its start time will snap right to the cursor. Same thing goes for the Region list. Hold down Control, and drag from the list, and your region will placed directly at the cursor’s location on the target track. Who says you can’t do any spotting?Spotting to incoming Time Code with the Spot DialogPro Tools LE has a feature called “Spot” which allows you to precisely place any regions you’ve selected to line up with a specific location using Minutes/Seconds, Bars|Beats and Samples time scales. If you are in “Spot” editing mode, clicking on a region with the Grabber will bring up the Spot dialog where you can capture or enter a precise location for your audio or MIDI data. If you are working with a VTR that’s generating LTC, you can use the Spot dialog to ‘grab’ a time location as it goes by while the tape is rolling. If your video tape has VITC (and you have a VITC to LTC/MTC converter) you can pause the VTR on the exact frame you want and use the Spot dialog to capture that location. Click OK and the region will be placed at that location.Spotting to a QuickTime MovieQuickTime movies are locked to your audio with subframe accuracy. If you’re working with a QuickTime Movie, you can just visually locate to any frame in your Movie, place the insertion point there, then Control+Click on your region to ‘snap’ the region to that location.
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