DigiDesign Pro Tools Reference Manual page 705

To spot a region to a specific SMPTE frame:
Choose Window > Edit.
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Set the Main Time Scale to Time Code. (See
2
"Setting a SMPTE Session Start Time (Start
Frame)" on page 680.)
Click the Spot button at the top left of the Edit
3
window to put Pro Tools into Spot mode.
Spot mode enabled
Identify the SMPTE frame location where you
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want to trigger playback of your region by paus-
ing your video deck on that frame.
With the Time Grabber tool, click a region in
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a track, or in the Region List, and drag it into a
track. The Spot dialog appears.
Enter the SMPTE frame location by doing one
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of the following:
• If you are using VITC, you can press the
Equal (=) key on the numeric keypad, or
click Current Time Code to enter a paused
VTR's current SMPTE location.
– or –
• If you are using LTC, when Time Code is se-
lected for the Time Scale, press the Equal
(=) key on the numeric keypad to capture
the incoming time code. When Bars:Beats
is selected for the Time Scale, press the
Equal key to capture the nearest measure.
If you recorded the region while online, you
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can use the Original Time Stamp button to recall
and enter the SMPTE frame location at which
the region was originally recorded. You can also
access a user-defined Time Stamp in the same
fashion. See "Time Stamping" on page 694 for
more information.
Click OK to close this dialog. The region spots
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to the chosen SMPTE frame location. When the
session is online, this frame number will trigger
playback of the region.
Auto-Spotting Regions
The Pro Tools Auto-Spot Regions option simpli-
fies the task of spotting regions even further. If
you are using VITC with this option enabled, or
MachineControl software, you can pause your
video at an appropriate SMPTE frame location,
click a region with the Time Grabber tool, and
the region will be automatically spotted to the
current time code location.
You can also use MachineControl's serial time
code ability to auto-spot by enabling Machine-
Control and enabling serial time code in the pe-
ripheral.
To Auto-Spot a region:
Choose Options > Auto-Spot Regions.
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If you are using VITC, identify the SMPTE
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frame location where you want to trigger play-
back of your region by pausing your video deck
on that frame.
Click the region with the Time Grabber tool.
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The region will be automatically spotted to the
current time code location (or machine loca-
tion).
Clicking a region with any of the Trim tools
will allow you to trim the region to the cur-
rent time code location.
Auto-spotted regions are spotted by their
start times, unless you have identified a
Sync Point (see "Identifying a Synchroniza-
tion Point" on page 696). If the region con-
tains a Sync Point, the region is spotted to it.
Chapter 30: Working with Synchronization 693