Community Manager

Question

[Now released]: Linear timecode support

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
June 19, 2024
13 replies
16644 views

Linear timecode (LTC) support is now available in Premiere Pro Beta. LTC is encoding of timecode data in an audio signal. It is useful for ensuring accurate synchronization of multiple video and audio sources.

Two Premiere Pro operations benefit from LTC support: creating multi-camera source sequences and synchronizing clips.

In the Clips > Create Multi-Camera Source Sequence dialog, we have added an “Other Timecode” popup menu, with the option to choose LTC. Choosing this option will synchronize the clips using the timecode in the audio track of the clip.

In the Clips > Synchronize dialog, we have not yet added an option to directly choose LTC. To use LTC with Clip > Synchronize, you must first select the clips you want to synchronize, then select Clip > Modify > Timecode > Linear Timecode (LTC). With that done, select the clips on the timeline, then go to Clip > Synchronize > Timecode and click on Ok. Note that the display of the timecode in the Synchronize dialog is not accurate; this will be fixed in a future beta. However, the synchronization process will use the correct timecode and your clips will be accurate aligned.

We’d love to get your feedback on this feature! We’re also interested to know what hardware devices you’re using to generate linear timecode.

Regards,

Fergus

Feedback

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Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

Hi all,

Linear timecode support was released with Premiere Pro v24.6. If you've got questions or comments about it, please post to the main Premiere Pro support forum: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro/ct-p/ct-premiere-pro.

Thanks for the feedback during the beta!

Regards,

Fergus

J

JoeC_

New Participant

Hi,

Will there be a solution for discontinous timecode within the same clip?

I've been having a play around with the LTC sync, and it will sucessfully identify the media start time, however live broadcast for synchronisation we use LTC with different values that accompany the music, meaning that a single record of the show would have several different timecode values throughout a single clip, which is currently not reflected by the media timecode. I'm trying to sync multiple clips across the show, in addition to creating a burn-in of the actual LTC that is recorded.

On a side note, it would be super helpful if the 'Metadata & Timecode Burn-in' effect could read LTC directly from an audio track timeline to create a burn-in.

Thanks,

Joe

Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

@JoeC_

Thanks for the question. We've been thinking about discontiguous timecode, and even simpler clips where the timecode starts several seconds after the beginning of the clip. The initial release of LTC won't support that but we're considering how we might do it in the future.

Would you be willing to share a sample clip that has discontiguous timecode? We've got some ones we've made but we always prefer having a customer file.

Great suggestion on adding LTC support to "Metadata & Timecode Burn-in"! I'll look into how soon we can add that.

Regards,

Fergus

Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

Hi all!

Premiere Pro v25 is now available in beta. It has all of the updates we've made to LTC support, fixing - we think! - the issues that people in this thread have raised. We'd love to get your feedback...and hugely appreciate the feedback you've already given: you've made a real impact on the quality of our LTC support.

Information about the v25 beta is available here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-discussions/beta-version-25-out-now/td-p/14781278.

Regards,

Fergus

hermesinthesky

New Participant

Is it possible to synchronize sources that have a mix of SMPTE and LTC? I have 3 sources: 1) a camera (C70) with SMPTE, 2) a camera with LTC (EOS R), and 3) an audio recording (from a Zoom H6) with LTC. All were synced with TC-1s. But I'm having trouble creating the synchronization (or the multicam sequence) in Premiere. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

Yes! This is already possible. We've made the explanation clear in the final documentation but in short, follow the steps I described in the original post:

"To use LTC with Clip > Synchronize, you must first select the clips you want to synchronize, then select Clip > Modify > Timecode > Linear Timecode (LTC). With that done, select the clips on the timeline, then go to Clip > Synchronize > Timecode and click on Ok."

In your situation, the only change to the message above is that you should just select the clips that are using LTC, then follow the steps above.

Regards,

Fergus

wildbill3867835

Participating Frequently

Seems to be working well for my situation. 2 cameras & 2 audio field recorders with direct timecode input, 3 cameras with timecode recorded to audio track (LTC). I love that I can multi-select all the camera files with LTC and then "modify" their timecode in one shot. Everything then lays out perfectly on the multi-camera timeline.
This is a HUGE time saver / efficiency boost. Thanks for finally adding it!

Fotodesign-Wieboldt

Participating Frequently

Hi Fergus,
I add tests with saving LTC on a Sony FS5 camcorder. That can export TC but not import.

Sound level is no problem, as it can switch between line and mic level. TC generator were a Sony FX6 camcorder as well a Zoom F6 voice recorder as tested before to send their LTC signal to a Sony A7M4.
However, at the FS5 file the LTC option is greyed out.

I would like to provide you with the produced MXF example file, butMXF files are not allowed to upload. How can I send you such a file?

Regards,

Christoph

Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

Hi Christoph,

You could zip the MXF file and provide a upload link to the zip file.

Regards,

Fergus

Fotodesign-Wieboldt

Participating Frequently

@Fotodesign-Wieboldt sorry, I was confused: I didn't realized you were trying to upload an MXF to this forum.

The WeTransfer link worked perfectly. In the latest beta of Premiere Pro (v25; just posted today), the file you provided via WeTransfer worked fine: the LTC option was available. Perhap you can try the v25 beta and let me know if it works for you too.

Regards,

Fergus

Hi Fergus,

Thanks! With Premiere Pro (v25) LTC recognition and synchronisation works fine on MXF files as well!

Unfortunately, with v25 another bug seamed to found its way with MXF files, that are modified to LTC: "Frame substitution errors" - see attached error messages..

For testing, take my MXF file I sent you last. Since v25 you get this errors.

Regards,

Christoph

J

JuanJuig

Participating Frequently

Hi,

it would save me so much time if the LTC option under modify --> timecode of clips would work for me. I can't figure out, why the option is greyed out for me.

In the attached picture, you can see, that the LTC timecode is on audio channel 3 of the video file that I'm trying to modify. If I export the clip to h264 and import it back into Premiere, I am able to modify the timecode. Without changing anything before exporting.

How can I make the original clip with 4 mono audio channels to work without transcoding? Please help.

Fotodesign-Wieboldt

Participating Frequently

All my troubles with LTC option is greyed out, was caused by level problems.
Attached an example with a valid LTC signal on upper channel L and a sound signal (Mic) on channel R. Both are nearly same level. see second picture
This example was detected as valid LTC file. Therefore, LTC option was activ (not greyed out)!
Regards,
Christoph

J

JuanJuig

Participating Frequently

That's interesting. However in my case the levels shouldn't be the problem. If I export the clip into the for example h264 format and leave the audio levels as they are, when I re-import that clip, the LTC option is no longer greyed out.

I would like to modify the timecode without transcoding the clip in any way.

seanmcnally98

Known Participant

EDIT: Please disregard this comment, it was made due to a misunderstanding of the post. See my update below to see that, in fact, this is how it works. My original comment below, left for posterity:

~~~~~~~

Having LTC be limited to just these two options is...well, a bit limiting. To me, it would make a lot more sense to just be able to replace the clip's metadata timecode within Premiere with the press of a button. Something like, right click clip, timecode, "Replace current timecode with LTC timecode." That way, you can adapt the LTC timecode to whatever workflow you need.

MediaSpecialist8416

New Participant

Agreed! Just had a B-camera recording sent to me with LTC on the audio track while the A camera uses native TC. The audio engineer obviously thought this was a reasonable professional setup, so it stands to reason that Adobe should be prepared for that workflow.

Fotodesign-Wieboldt

Participating Frequently

My test with Pr-Beta: TC-Output signal from a Sony FX6 recorded as audio signal on a Sony A7M4. Try to create a Multi-Camera Source Sequence with "Other Timecode + LTC", but it did not work. It should sync the TC from the FX6 with the recorded LTC on the audio track of the A7M4. What did I misunderstood? (btw. same with "Other Timecode + Sound-Timecode")

Fergus H

Author

Community Manager

@Fotodesign-Wieboldt I'm not quite following. I think you're saying that you've got:

1. One clip from the Sony a7 IV that's using LTC that was generated by the FX6.

2. Another clip from the FX6, where the timecode is part of the video file.

Is that correct? If so, are you able to hear the timecode on the a7 IV track? If you cannot, check to make sure that the TC IN/OUT select switch on the FX6 is set to OUT.

If you are able to hear the timecode on the a7 IV track, perhaps you could share with me both clips.

Regards,

Fergus

Fotodesign-Wieboldt

Participating Frequently

Hey Fergus,

Thanks for your answer.

One clip from the Sony a7 IV that's using LTC that was generated by the FX6.
Another clip from the FX6, where the timecode is part of the video file.

Is that correct? If so, are you able to hear the timecode on the a7 IV track? If you cannot, check to make sure that the TC IN/OUT select switch on the FX6 is set to OUT.

If you are able to hear the timecode on the a7 IV track, perhaps you could share with me both clips.

You are right (1, 2) and I can hear the timecode sound on the A7 IV track.

I sent both clips by WeTransfer as they were to big for an email: https://we.tl/t-NqkwEKcHZl

This mixed configuration is typically for my work. The TC generator can be the FX6 or a voice recorder Zoom F6. If the F6 is part of the scenario, the Sony FX6 is set to read TC (via input TC).

In that case, FX6 and F6 provide TC in the video file and one or more cameras like the A7 IV provide TC as LTC on audio track. This scenario will be typical for many pro user…

Kind Regrds,

Christoph

D

dachatz82

New Participant

Thank you! This is really good news!

I already had the chance to test it and it seems to be working very fast.

We are using Deity TC1s and Tentacles for the syncing and the video is recorded in 50p along with the audio in 25p.

With my preliminary testing i found that the sync seems to be working very fast but although the timecode seems to be correct there is a drift of about 10-12 frames and the video and audio seem to not align properly.

I will be testing it with 25p video and 25p audio next.

And, could it be, that Media Encoder automatically detects the LTC Timecode and writes in into the file when a transcode is beeing made?

Y

Yannic38174166cvz1

New Participant

Amazing! Been waiting for that 👌 using Lockit Timecode by Ambient

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