Tuesday Tips: Timecode on Top

If you’re editing with a client, sometimes it’s useful to have a timecode display on the video output, particularly if they’re watching on a separate video monitor.

As you’ll already know, in FCP you can’t do the Avid trick of dropping a filter onto an empty video track so it applies to all the layers underneath. Traditionally, the FCP solution is to nest the clips and then apply the filter to the nest but that won’t work in this case because you’d have to switch back and forth between the two sequences all the time. Here’s a solution:

1. Load Slug into the Viewer.
2. Press Tab to highlight the duration field and enter a duration longer than your sequence is likely to be. It’s best to be safe and err on the side of overestimating because Slug cannot be extended beyond the duration it was created at.
3. Edit the Slug clip into the sequence on a higher empty video track.
4. Select the Slug clip and choose Effects > Video Filters > Video > Timecode Generator.
5. Double-click the Slug clip in the Timeline and select the Filters tab.
6. Change the settings of the filter to match your sequence. You can delete the TCG text label to save space.
7. Change the size, colour and position of the text as desired.
8. Select the Motion tab and adjust the Crop controls to reveal your background video around the timecode display.
9. Finally, lock the track with the Slug generator so the timecode won’t be affected when trimming etc.

Martin Baker is the founder of Avid2FCP/Digital Heaven and an Apple Certified Trainer for FCP. During his 13 year editing career, as a freelance and at the BBC, he worked on a wide variety of edit systems including linear, Lightworks, Avid DS and Avid Symphony before switching to FCP in 2003.