Apple Final Cut Pro HD (4.5): New Features - Manual (Page 81)

Chapter 4 Editing Film With Final Cut Pro in a PAL Environment 81
Relating these exercises back to video with frame rates and timecode counts that don’t
match, imagine that the seconds you were accounting for were actually frames of film
or video. Each mark you made would then indicate a frame passing. The frames pass at
a constant rate (such as 24 fps) and are each labeled with a unique identifier (or code).
When the unique codes are counting at the same rate as the frames pass, it’s easy to
tell how much time has passed simply by reading the unique code, or timecode, on a
particular frame. However, when the unique identifier increments differently than the
frame rate, the code on each frame no longer accurately represents how much time
has passed. This is what happens when playing 24 fps video with unique frame codes
counting at 25 fps. Each frame has a unique label, but reading them doesn’t accurately
convey how much actual time has passed.
To set your computer clock to display seconds:
1 Click the clock displayed on the right side of the menu bar.
A menu with the following choices appears:
• View as Analog
• View as Digital
• Open Date & Time
2 Choose View as Digital.
3 Click the clock again and choose Open Date & Time from the menu.
The Date & Time System Preferences window opens.
4 In the Date & Time System Preferences, click the Clock tab.
5 If it’s not already selected, select the checkbox labeled “Display the time with seconds.”
The clock in the menu bar now shows time counting in seconds.
6 Choose System Preferences > Quit System Preferences or press Command-Q.
UP01022.Book Page 81 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 7:32 PM