Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1866)

Calibrating Timecode Capture with Serial Device Control
Unless you are capturing a DV video format via FireWire, the timecode and video signals
are sent separately from the video deck to the computer. Because the signals are separate,
they can possibly arrive at different times, which causes the wrong timecode number to
be recorded with captured video frames. You can calibrate your timecode and video
capture setup by entering the number of frames by which the timecode signals are offset
from the video into the Capture Offset field.
Note: Remember that timecode is captured via the device control connection (the RS-422
connection in most cases), and video is captured via your video capture interface. In the
case of DV formats, FireWire is conveniently used for both.
You need to calibrate the video and timecode signal every time you change decks or
cables. If you regularly switch decks, it’s a good idea to create different device control
presets, with different Capture Offset settings, for each deck you use. Because each deck
will always have the same capture offset, a set of precalibrated presets lets you quickly
change decks without having to go through the whole recalibration procedure again.
For more information on setting up your hardware for device control, see “Connecting
Professional Video and Audio Equipment.” For more information on setting up device
control presets, see “About Device Control Presets.”
Determining and Entering the Timecode Offset
You can easily determine if there is a difference between the timecode and video signals
by capturing test footage that has timecode “burned in” to the video picture information.
By comparing the numbers in the timecode track to the timecode numbers in the video
picture, you can determine the offset between them.
If there is an offset, you can calibrate your timecode and video capture setup by entering
the number of frames by which the timecode signals are offset from the video in the
Capture Offset field of the current device control preset.
To determine the timecode offset
1 Do one of the following:
• Create a window-burn (or window dub) test tape for timecode offset testing. You can
do this by transferring a tape with timecode to another tape of the same format, making
sure you connect an output that can display timecode information visually.
• Connect the monitor out (or super out) output of your VTR to the input of your video
interface. A monitor output is a dedicated output for displaying VTR status information
such as a timecode counter superimposed (or “burned-in”) over the video information.
Some VTRs don’t have a separate monitor output, but instead have an option for turning
on the deck status display and timecode information on the main output. Turn on this
option.
1866 Chapter 114 Device Control Settings and Presets