M-Audio MIDISPORT 8x8/s [44/52] Recording a smpte stripe writing smpte

be set to any amount from 1 to 255 frames, or infinite. It is good practice to use

the shortest Flywheel setting that will work with the amount of drop-out found

on the media you are syncing to. Infinite flywheeling is also known as Jam Sync

and may be used to continue generating time code long after the time code

source has expired.

Recording a SMPTE Stripe (Writing SMPTE)

Before the MIDISPORT 8x8/s can be used to synchronize to a source audio

and/or video tape, that tape must be encoded with SMPTE time code.

Sometimes you will be provided with a piece of source material that already has

SMPTE on it. In that case, you are not required to record another SMPTE stripe

and may instead read the SMPTE as is. If, on the other hand, your source

material has no current time code encoded you will need to record your own

SMPTE time code to one of the tape’s tracks. This is commonly known as

“striping the tape.” To record a SMPTE stripe onto tape, follow these steps:

1. Use the Remote Control software to set the MIDISPORT 8x8/s frame rate to

the appropriate SMPTE format, as discussed in the About Frame Rates section of

this manual. We recommend you select 30 non-drop for audio, 25 for European

(PAL) video, and, unless you are scoring for commercial release, 30 non-drop for

U.S. (NTSC) video.

2. From the Remote Control software, set the SMPTE offset time to the desired

value. SMPTE offset is displayed on a large button and pressing this button will

allow you to adjust the offset. If no special offset is required we recommend you

use 01:00:00:00 (one hour). Some users want their audio to start exactly on an

even hour boundary -- if that’s your desire, set the offset to something like

00:59:55:00 which will allow 5 seconds of pre-roll before your sequence starts at

01:00:00:00.

3. Optionally, you may now set the “User Bits.” User Bits are not a mandatory

requirement and if you don’t need to set them, the MIDISPORT 8x8/s will

default to standard User Bit settings. User Bits are displayed on the large button

to the right of the offset button and pressing this button will allow you to adjust

the bits.

4. On your tape or video deck, choose the audio channel you will be striping to.

Make sure that the MIDISPORT 8x8/s SMPTE Out is securely connected to the

proper Tape In or Sync In of your tape deck. When choosing an audio channel on

a multichannel deck, pick one of the end channels (e.g. Channel 8 of an 8-track

machine). This will minimize cross talk between the time code and the other

audio tracks of the tape.

5. Put your tape deck into record/pause mode. If you have a deck with a

varispeed adjustment, make sure it is zeroed.

6. Click on the “Start Writer” Button in the Remote Control software. The

MIDISPORT will start outputting SMPTE time code.