Timecode trigger - "Real Time" option

[googl...@sorenknud.dk]

Hi!

I don't understand the "Timcode trigger -> Real Time" option, in cue triggers. Can anyone define what Real Time refers to in this case? What do you use this for - as opposed to Wall Clock Timer, MTC and LTC ?

Best regards

Soren :)

[Chris Ashworth]

Hi Soren,

Timecode is not the same thing as time — it is a a series of numbers that look similar to time with an awkward relationship to how much actual time has passed.

The real time option is a way to allow you to specify how much time has passed on a clock, and have QLab convert that to the timecode that marks it.

-C

[Rich Walsh]

That made me scratch my head…

It looks like it's only useful when dealing with partial seconds: Real Time understands 0.5s, while Timecode has to work in frames, eg: 15f (if @ 30fps).

Not quite clear on what happens with subframes then? Does the cue fire on the truncated TC version or the full Real Time version?

Rich

[Chris Ashworth]

Sean is the undisputed timecode expert around here, so I should let him speak to the details, but my less expert explanation is that certain timecodes aren’t valid at all, and certain times are represented by a timecode that don’t look at all like the real time they mark.

For example, here are different conversions you can do on the timecode 1:00:00:00 @24 fps:

Preserving real time from zero:  1:00:00:00 @24 fps  ->  3600 seconds  ->  0:59:56:12 @29.97 non-drop

Preserving frame count from zero:  1:00:00:00 @24 fps -> 86400 frames -> 0:48:00:00 @29.97 non-drop