Steinberg Nuendo SyncStation Operation Manual page 9

The timecode format can be divided into two variables:
frame count and frame rate.
Frame count (frames per second)
The frame count of timecode defines the standard with
which it is labelled. There are four timecode standards.
The SyncStation uses four letters to denote these stan-
dard (F, P, N, and D).
• 24fps Film (F)
This frame count is the traditional count for film. It is also used for HD
video formats and commonly referred to as "24p". However, with HD
video, the actual frame rate or speed of the video sync reference is slower,
23.976 frames per second, so timecode does not reflect the actual real-
time on the clock for HD video.
• 25fps PAL (P)
This is the broadcast video standard frame count for European (and
other PAL countries) television broadcast.
• 30fps non-drop SMPTE (N)
This is the frame count of NTSC broadcast video. However, the actual
frame rate or speed of the video standard runs at 29.97fps. This time-
code clock does not run in real-time. It is slightly slower by 0.1%.
• 30fps drop-frame SMPTE (D)
The 30fps drop-frame count is an adaptation that allows a timecode dis-
play running at 29.97fps to actually show the real-time of the timeline by
"dropping" specific frame numbers in order to "catch the clock up" to
real-time.
Confused? Well just remember to keep the timecode stan-
dard (or frame count) and frame rate (or speed) separate.
Frame rate (speed)
Regardless of the frame counting system, the actual speed
at which frames of video go by in real-time is the true frame
rate. There are many frame rates when you include pull-
downs and pull-ups.
When transferring material between various video formats,
it becomes necessary to change the speed (frame rate) of
one timecode standard so that video or film frames can
line up in some mathematical relationship to the destina-
tion format. That's where all the various pull-ups and pull-
downs come from.
These are the standard frame rates used in the
SyncStation:
• 23.9fps
This frame rate is used for film that is being transferred to NTSC video
and must be slowed down for a 2-3 pull-down telecine transfer. It is also
used for HD video and referred to as "24p".
• 24fps
This is the true speed of standard film cameras.
• 24.9fps
This frame rate is commonly used to facilitate transfers between PAL and
NTSC video and film sources. It is usually used to correct for some error.
• 25fps
This is the frame rate of PAL video.
• 29.97fps
This is the frame rate of NTSC video. The count can be either non-drop
or drop-frame.
• 30fps
This frame rate is not a video standard anymore but has been commonly
used in music recording. Many years ago it was the black and white NTSC
broadcast standard. It is equal to NTSC video being pulled up to film
speed after a 2-3 telecine transfer.
• 59.98fps
While the SyncStation does not directly support this frame rate, it can deal
with it by using a multiplier to match the speed (29.97 x 2). This rate is also
referred to as "60p". While 60fps could theoretically exist as a frame rate,
no current HD video camera records at a full 60fps as a standard rate.
Part of the confusion in timecode stems from the use
of "frames per second" in both the timecode standard and
the actual frame rate. When used to describe a timecode
standard, frames per second defines how many frames of
timecode are counted before one second on the counter
increments. When describing frame rates, frames per sec-
ond define how many frames are played back during the
span of one second of real-time. For example, NTSC time-
code (SMPTE) has a frame count of 30fps. However,
NTSC video runs at a rate of 29.97fps. So the NTSC
timecode standard known as SMPTE is a 30fps standard
that runs at 29.97fps real-time.
9
Introduction