timecode breaks….What is up with this???

[Don Greening]

If you already know in advance that there really aren’t any timecode breaks on your tape then I would suspect corrupt Final Cut Pro preferences. I’ve run into this issue before on my own machine where it was trying to tell me it was searching for timecode during the log and capture process. Trashing FCP prefs fixed the problem every time.

– Don

[Christopher S. johnson]

Welcome to the wonderful world of editing video. You will either have to log around the break in your timecode numbers or trust FCP to make a new clip by selecting this option in user preferences. Did you know that FCP needs to have unbroken sequential numbers in the timcode? Just log around it with some padding and you’ll be fine.

-CJ

[John Calhoun]

You also may want to change your User Preferences. I’ve changed mine to “On Timecode Break, Warn After Capture”. I find making a new clip too time consuming. This way it continues to digitize.

Your tape probably doesn’t have continuous timecode. Perhaps the camera was set to ‘free-run’. This is sometimes used when syncing two or more cameras together. If you check the tape and the timecode ‘skips’ after every scene, then you have discontinuous timecode. This isn’t an error; it’s just something that you have to work around. Changing the preference or making sure you have enough ‘pre-roll’ will solve the problem.

pxlmvr

[Christopher S. johnson]

One caveat to this is if you used Markers during the Log and Capture process. If FCP auto-makes new clips, the TC might be OK, but the Markers will not be. This just happened to me.

Also, if you know the camera person who is shooting with Free Run time code ask her to record at least 5 seconds before and after the real shot that is needed. It can make logging and capturing many, many times easier!!!

Good luck and welcome to the club!

-Christopher Johnson