Timecode & Routing

Timecode is how CuePoints and everything else in the building agree on what time it is. This page covers where timecode comes from, and how it gets out to the rest of your rig.

Striped Or Generated

There are two ways a track can have timecode.

Striped: the timecode is already recorded onto the media, as a sound on an audio channel. This is LTC. When you import a file you're asked whether it's striped; if it is, CuePoints reads the timecode off the media itself.

Generated: the media has no timecode, so CuePoints makes it. It counts from the track's offset, at the track's framerate. This is what most people use.

If a track is striped but you'd rather CuePoints made its own, turn on Enable LTC Generator in the track settings. Enable LTC Generator for All Tracks does the same across the whole project.

Change a track's offset, framerate or pre-roll and the generated timecode is rebuilt immediately.

Getting Timecode Out

As Audio (LTC)

LTC goes out of an audio socket, so you route it like any other sound. On the Audio Output pane, set the channel you want it on to LTC.

This is why people run a multi-channel interface. A four-channel box gets you a stereo mix for in-ears or speakers and two separate LTC feeds, all at once.

Because routing is per-channel, two people can set the same show up completely differently: the designer sends only track audio to their headphones, while the programmer sends LTC down channels 3 and 4 to the desk.

As MIDI (MTC)

CuePoints sends MIDI timecode directly; no extra software. Set Protocol to MIDI Timecode on the Timecode pane and pick the MIDI output device.

If the receiving app is on the same computer, you'll need an IAC Bus. The Timecode settings page explains how to make one.

Over The Network (Art-Net)

Set Protocol to Artnet Timecode on the Timecode pane, then choose the network interface to send from, the destination address, and the stream number. The receiving machine has to be listening for the same stream number.

Taking Timecode In

If something else is the clock, CuePoints can follow it. On the Timecode pane, set Source to:

• LTC Audio Input: timecode arriving down an audio cable. Choose the input device and channel.

• MIDI Timecode: arriving over MIDI.

• Artnet Timecode: arriving over the network. Leave the stream box empty to accept any stream, or set a number to lock to one.

In and out can both be active at once, so CuePoints can follow one machine and pass the clock on to another.

Whatever you're following, your track's framerate has to match the sender's. If it doesn't, the numbers will be wrong even though everything looks connected.

Using More Than One Audio Device

The Audio Output pane gives you three device slots, so sending track audio out of an interface while sending LTC out of the headphone socket is just two slots, both switched on.

If you need channels from two interfaces treated as one device, more channels than any single box gives you, build an Aggregate Device:

1. Open Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup.

2. Create a new Aggregate Device.

3. Tick the outputs you want. The order you add them decides the channel numbering.

4. Give it a name.

5. Back in CuePoints, choose it as the device for a slot and route its channels.

A Note For Focusrite Users

Use Focusrite Control to route Outputs 1–4 directly to Playback 1–4.

Out of the box, Focusrite interfaces pair outputs into stereo pairs and do some routing inside the box that CuePoints cannot see. The result is timecode appearing on channels you didn't send it to. Setting the outputs one-to-one makes what you see in CuePoints match what comes out of the sockets.