SMPTE timecode is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a time code defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification. SMPTE revised the standard in 2008, turning it into a two-part document: SMPTE 12M-1 and SMPTE 12M-2, including new explanations and clarifications.
Timecodes are added to film, video or audio material, and have also been adapted to synchronize music. They provide a time reference for editing, synchronization and identification. Timecode is a form of media metadata. The invention of timecode made modern videotape editing possible, and led eventually to the creation of non-linear editing systems.
Basic concepts
SMPTE timecodes (/ˈsɪmptiː/ or /ˈsɪmtiː/) contain binary coded decimalhour:minute:second:frame identification and 32 bits for use by users. There are also drop-frame and color framing flags and three extra 'binary group flag' bits used for defining the use of the user bits. The formats of other varieties of SMPTE time codes are derived from that of the longitudinal timecode.
A timecode (alternatively, time code) is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system.
Video and film timecode
In video production and filmmaking, SMPTE timecode is used extensively for synchronization, and for logging and identifying material in recorded media. During filmmaking or video production shoot, the camera assistant will typically log the start and end timecodes of shots, and the data generated will be sent on to the editorial department for use in referencing those shots. This shot-logging process was traditionally done by hand using pen and paper, but is now typically done using shot-logging software running on a laptop computer that is connected to the time code generator or the camera itself.
The SMPTE family of timecodes are almost universally used in film, video and audio production, and can be encoded in many different formats, including:
The film is constructed from four continuous 93-minute takes that were filmed simultaneously by four cameramen; the screen is divided into quarters and the four shots are shown simultaneously. The film depicts several groups of people in Los Angeles as they interact and conflict while preparing for the shooting of a movie in a production office. The dialogue was largely improvised, and the sound mix of the film is designed so that the most significant of the four sequences on screen dominates the soundtrack at any given moment.
An allusion to this film can be heard during another of Mike Figgis's films, Hotel. In the first moment the screen is split into four quadrants. The sound of milk being steamed in one quadrant combines with the sound of an actor tapping beats onto a paperback novel in another quadrant to create a very subtle imitation of the sounds and music heard during the first few minutes in Timecode.
What was it like at the time? ... So one side, what’s called smpte time code, which locked to the computer and you could still hear it a bit, and the other side was dialogue with Mono, obviously, and all the effects.