A Time Code for Electronic Editing Control Systems

A time code recorded in the cue track of video tape recordings may be utilized to search for points in the recordings at which edits are to be made, and then to control the operation of electronic editing equipment, to preview and make the edits. In designing a code for this purpose the function of the code must be defined, and the characteristics, capabilities and limitations of video tape recording equipment must be considered. Codes used in indexing, search and control on other types of magnetic tape recorders were examined, and one of these — IRIG B — was selected as a model. This code, with some modification, meets all the requirements in the video-tape editing application. The Vidicue time code system is unaffected by tape speed, insensitive to frequency or phase change, self clocking, and easily distributed. It has minimum interface requirements, failsafe features, and utilizes proven search and control techniques. Since there is nothing proprietary about this code, it is proposed for consideration as a standard code by the industry.

Print ISSN

0361-4573

Published

1970-03

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J13609