Which flavor of SMPTE

[Media Man]

I have to transfer five or six songs from 2" 24 track analog tape to Pro Tools HD.

These are tapes that I worked on over twenty years ago. There is SMPTE on track 24, which was probably used for mixing automation as I am certain MIDI was not involved and no 24 trk. "slaves" were made.

I am not sure if these tapes were striped with 29.97 FPS or 30 FPS SMPTE, and it is not marked one way or the other.

If I sync PT HD up to the 24 track machine using whatever synchronizer the studio has (probably a Linx Timeline), ext. video sync. ref, and a Sync I/O, does it matter if the existing SMPTE is 29.97 or 30.00.

And how do I set up the Pro Tools session in terms of time code?

Mark

[studiostuff]

Originally Posted by Media Man

If I sync PT HD up to the 24 track machine using whatever synchronizer the studio has (probably a Linx Timeline), ext. video sync. ref, and a Sync I/O, does it matter if the existing SMPTE is 29.97 or 30.00.

And how do I set up the Pro Tools session in terms of time code?

Command-2 opens the session set-up window where you can adjust the frame rate of an existing PT session. When you open a new session, you also have the option of picking your frame rate.

If you are synching PT to the SMPTE code, it would be best to match your PT session frame rate to the rate of the original 2" SMPTE.

If you never plan to synch the audio to visual images... like matching a vocal performance to visual images of a singer singing that vocal... and if the tape machine is running (and track playing) at a true speed without resolving the time code with the Lynx ... I'm not sure I'd worry too much about the time code.

[Eric Seaberg]

I can almost guarantee you that it's 30 frame (NDFTC). There's was no reason to run 29.97 on analog tape UNLESS it was locked to picture, which would be the deciding factor.

One way to tell is to create an 30 frame NON DROP session and have it chase the TC. If it DOESN'T hiccup at the top of every minute (where the dropped frames would be) then it's definitely NON DROP. If the session freaks out, change it to 29.97 DFTC and try it again.

[the dude]

the best way to tell is with a destrypilizer
if you dont have one you can use a USD or Sync IO to tell the frame rate
\
Quit pro tools
use the Sync IO in standalone mode
feed the TC into the Sync IO with it set to clock from incoming TC
( clock and positional reference both set to TC )
change the Sync IO frame rate till the Lock and Speed Cal LED's are solid
FYI it will blink fast or slow if the TC is either faster or slower than the incoming TC

Leave 2" locked internal ( freewheel ) (( no Lynx ))

[studiojimi]

Originally Posted by Media Man

I have to transfer five or six songs from 2" 24 track analog tape to Pro Tools HD.

These are tapes that I worked on over twenty years ago. There is SMPTE on track 24,

baking the tape not needed?

careful you may only have a few passes with that old tape make sure the oxide doesn't fall off the head stack

i have a good baker if you need one.

[Media Man]

Originally Posted by the dude

Quit pro tools
use the Sync IO in standalone mode
feed the TC into the Sync IO with it set to clock from incoming TC
( clock and positional reference both set to TC )
change the Sync IO frame rate till the Lock and Speed Cal LED's are solid
FYI it will blink fast or slow if the TC is either faster or slower than the incoming TC

Leave 2" locked internal ( freewheel ) (( no Lynx ))

I'll give that a try. Thanks.

Mark

[Media Man]

Originally Posted by studiojimi

baking the tape not needed?

careful you may only have a few passes with that old tape make sure the oxide doesn't fall off the head stack

i have a good baker if you need one.

I'm waiting for another reel, but the ones that have arrived look and smell pretty good.

Been there and done that with the shedding. I've been advised by a tech at a prominent studio that this batch may have missed the "bad batch" window of Ampex tape that had all of the problems. I'll find out soon enough when I put them up on a machine.

If I need to bake them, you may hear from me. How many reels can you do at once, and what kind of "baker" do you have?

Thanks,

Mark

[Media Man]

Originally Posted by Eric Seaberg

I can almost guarantee you that it's 30 frame (NDFTC). There's was no reason to run 29.97 on analog tape UNLESS it was locked to picture, which would be the deciding factor.

One way to tell is to create an 30 frame NON DROP session and have it chase the TC. If it DOESN'T hiccup at the top of every minute (where the dropped frames would be) then it's definitely NON DROP. If the session freaks out, change it to 29.97 DFTC and try it again.

I can be certain that it's not DF, because I never used it back in the day, with a few exceptions of daytime TV shows coming off of a studio lot for scoring, and their video would have DF.

But I may have just left the generator at 29.97 out of habit, in the event I needed to make a slave, because I preferred resolving to vid ref for slaves.

But you make a good point that I would not have striped the tape ...and perhaps bounced some tracks around to make room ...until it was time to mix.

Mark

[studiojimi]

Originally Posted by Media Man

If I need to bake them, you may hear from me. How many reels can you do at once, and what kind of "baker" do you have?

if i remember my contact has 2 ovens that i saw
he may have more
i think they are made just for tape baking (not sure)


he's in eagle rock

john strother
very pro cat, knows his craft
he could also do the transfer if you needed
he has machines of many formats

http://www.penguinrecording.com/

[c-tone]

Why do you need to sync to the tape at all anyway? Unless you intend to run both 2" and PT when mixing (which would not be a good idea with tapes that old), then you really don't have to lock them together to make the transfer.

Just record the SMPTE track to a PT audio track along with the other 23 tracks, and you will always have that to sync to if you ever need it later. Run both 2" machine and PT on internal clocks (no synchronization/resolving) for best sonic results.