Avid Timecode to Pro Tools

[Jonathan Abrams]

[Louis Waters] “When i add the timecod”

What happens when you add the timecode? What is your end goal?

—
Jonathan S. Abrams, CEA, CEV, CBNT
Apple Certified – Technical Coordinator (v10.5) Support Professional (v10.6 through v10.9)
Chairman, NY section, AES

[Glenn Sakatch]

There might be a bit of a language barrier here…are you trying to add a timecode burn to the video file?

The aaf you send to protools should have matching timecode as your timeline, so i’m assuming you are trying to add a visual representation of the Avids timecode to your video for the sound engineer to match up. If so, you would add a new video track to Avid, and place a generator/timecode burn effect on that track prior to outputting.

Or are you trying to embed the timecode information into a video file? In which case it depends on the type of file you are outputting.

Glenn

[Louis Waters]

Hi Glenn,

Sorry I’ll rephrase. There were a number of issues. The video was according to the QuickTime movie inspector 23.98 so I set the project to this. When I brought in the video and put a timecode filler on a new video track it came up with timecode plus letters at the end.

This wasn’t regular timecode but I figured it was related to bringing in the video at the wrong framerate. When I changed the project to 30 fps the letters at the end of the timecode disappeared. I read somewhere it was to do with cadence pill down of the frame. Similarly the 00:00:00:00 starter disappeared when I made a new project.

Thankfully it’s all fixed and ready for Pro Tools!

[Glenn Sakatch]

You’ve still got something strange going on here.
Where did this video come from, that says its 23.98?
Do you not have the original edit in Media Composer?
Where are the files coming from that you are sending to Protools? It kinda sounds like your only source is a quicktime.
When you put a tc generator on a filler track, what did you have set as it’s timecode source? (the quicktime or the timeline)
if the timeline, did you have your timeline tracking 23.98 or 29.97 timecode?

I’m glad you think you have everything “fixed” and ready for protools, but i’m not sure about your workflow.
While you can certainly cut in 23.976 and send that to Protools, then deliver your final product in 29.97, without issue,
its best to know when and why you are doing these conversions. (and how), rather than just being happy that it seems to be working.

It might lead to some issuse down the road. I just hope everything is staying in sync between Avid and Protools, and that your final picture looks proper.

Glenn

Glenn