Premiere Pro 2020 only showing Frames and not Timecode

[Jaymee Mak]

Hi there!

I'm on Premiere Pro 2020 on Mac, and my timeline suddenly switched from showing timecode, to frames.

In the dropdown menu, it's only displaying frames as an option.

I really need to work in timecode - would love tips on what to do here! 😄

[Jaymee Mak · Accepted solution]

Solved! My frame rate got switched to 28.51, and switching it to 29.97 allowed me to change back to timecode. (Friend told me Premire only does timecode with broadcast/standard frame rates.)

[Meg The Dog]

What is the timebase of your sequence? Unless it is a standard fps for which a timecode standard exisits, Premiere will only show frames.

If you go to the menu Sequence > Settings, you can see what your timecode display options are for the timebase you are using.

For example a 29.97 fps sequence as the standard timecode options available:

But if you are using a non-standard video rate like 12 fps, your display options are limited to frames as there is no standard for SMPTE Timecode for 12fps:

MtD