Capturing from tapes recorded with both drop frame and non-drop frame timecode may produce unexpected results. In some cases, the timecode on the resulting clips may be inaccurate. Inaccurate timecode on captured clips can negatively impact subsequent workflow steps, such as re-capturing, using Media Manager, or exporting reliable EDL or XML files from affected projects.
Before shooting or recording your source tape, plan to use either drop frame or non-drop frame timecode for the entire tape.
If you are working with a tape that already contains sections of both drop frame and non-drop frame timecode, avoid using the Capture Now feature to capture the entire tape in one operation. Instead, try treating each section of different timecode as if it were a separate tape.
In other words, the clip(s) you acquire in a single capture operation should only come from within a contiguous section of either drop frame or non-drop frame timecode. After you have captured the desired media from a section, shuttle the tape into the next section of timecode, and begin capturing from within that one, and so on.
When working with NTSC video, you have the option to use drop frame timecode to compensate for the fact that NTSC video has a frame rate of 29.97 fps, while the timecode runs at 30 fps. Timecode can only be represented by whole numbers, so drop frame timecode periodically skips numbers so that the timecode count and the amount of actual time passed stays in sync. This way, the timecode count matches the the number of hours, minutes, and seconds that it takes for your video footage to play. NTSC video can use either drop frame or non-drop frame timecode.
Note: No video frames are dropped when you use drop frame timecode. Only the associated timecode numbers are skipped.
For more information on the subjects discussed in this document, refer to the Final Cut Pro User Manual, available under the Help menu in Final Cut Pro.