Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1683)

332 Part IV Settings and Preferences
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), while video is captured via your video capture interface.
In the case of DV formats, FireWire is used conveniently 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 Offsets, for each deck you use. Since each deck will
always have the same Capture Offset, a set of precalibrated presets lets you quickly
change decks without having to go though the whole recalibration procedure again.
For more information on setting up your hardware for device control, see Volume I,
Chapter 15, “Connecting Professional and Non-DV Equipment.” For more information on
setting up device control presets, see “
About Device Control Presets ” on page 323.
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. Enable this option.