Steinberg Time Base User Manual

 
TIME BASE
Typical Setup Examples 4 – 21 
Parameter Options Effect
 
Time Base 
Device ID0 - 126
ID 2 is presetDevice identification number. Must 
be set correctly to make sure the 
data arrives in the device.
Activate USB 
Timecode SyncTicked = On
No tick= OffIf this option is activated, the Time 
Code synchronization with the 
computer takes place via the USB 
port.
If the option is set to Off, synchro-
nization with the computer takes 
place via the VST System Link 
connections between Time Base 
and...

 
TIME BASE
4 – 22 Typical Setup Examples 
Setting up the Time Base 9-Pin Device Control Panel
 
Here you make the settings for 9-pin device control (see below). Make sure, that the 
corresponding function is available in the 9-pin device that you use.
 
Parameter Options Effect
 
Timebase 9-Pin-
Device ID0 - 126 Lets you set the 9-pin device ID. The Nuendo/Time 
Base standard value is 4
The following parameters are used to set up track remote control for the connected machine.
Number of 
Audio Tracks2 -...

 
TIME BASE
Typical Setup Examples 4 – 23 
Time Base 9-Pin Device Control Panel
 
Open this control panel by selecting “Time Base 9-Pin” on the Devices 
menu. It can be used to remote control a 9-pin device that you have con-
nected to the Time Base from Nuendo and to arm its tracks.
 
❐
 
Which functions are available on this control panel depends on which func-
tions are available in the connected 9-pin device and also on the settings that 
you have made in the Time Base 9-pin view of the Device Setup...

 
TIME BASE
4 – 24 Typical Setup Examples 
Time Base Slave
 
Here you can activate remote control of Nuendo by using the combination 
of Nuendo and Time Base as a virtual machine. Which functions are actu-
ally available for the virtual 9-pin machine depends mainly on the options 
available in the external controller unit.
 
Time Base Slave dialog view in the Device Setup dialog.
 
The only parameter that you can set here is the Time Base Device ID. It is 
preset to its (Nuendo) standard value 2.  

 
TIME BASE
Typical Setup Examples 4 – 25 
Setup Examples
 
LTC as the Master
 
This procedure is particularly favoured in music productions. The hard 
disk recorder (i.e. Nuendo) is “slaved” to the analog machine (e.g. a 24 
track recorder).
Time Base settings: 
 
TCIN=LTC 
, 
 
CL: LTC-HOLD 
Connections:
 
MTC as the Master
 
Normally in professional situations, this should only be seen as a last re-
sort emergency procedure, i.e. to save a production which otherwise 
would be lost. The reason for this...

 
TIME BASE
4 – 26 Typical Setup Examples 
Time Base settings: 
 
TCIN=MTC 
, 
 
CL: MTC-HOLD 
Connections:
If you should find yourself in such a situation, you can sometimes chose 
the following:
If your MTC source is a stand-alone Hard Disk Recorder with a digital in-
put which can be externally synchronized, you should switch the Word 
Clock source of the recorder to “digital in”, having connected it to a Word 
Clock output on the Time Base. If you now use the MTC produced by the 
recorder as a...

 
TIME BASE
Typical Setup Examples 4 – 27 
Internal Clock as the Master
 
A technically perfect procedure: Time Base generates the Word Clock 
and VST System Link signals for all the digital devices running in the en-
tire studio. As all devices run in sync, data transfer without interruptions is 
also possible. Increased jitter (and associated loss of quality in synchro-
nized audio signals) is thereby prevented.
 
❐
 
To prevent misunderstandings, Time Base is always the Timing Master, but 
not...

 
TIME BASE
4 – 28 Typical Setup Examples 
House Sync (Blackburst) as the Master
 
A second technically perfect procedure: Time Base is connected to a 
house sync generator (Blackburst) via the Video Sync In. All the advan-
tages listed in the section "Internal Clock as the Master" on page 27 are 
retained. In addition, the Time Code generator is synchronized to video. 
This procedure should be used, whenever audio is being edited in sync 
with video picture. 
If several studios are housed in the...

 
TIME BASE
Typical Setup Examples 4 – 29 
Connections: Blackburst as the Master with an analog tape machine
The analog tape machine is synchronized to the house clock using a tape 
machine synchronizes with video-resolve capability (e. g. Adams-Smith 
ZETA, see illustration).
Both the analogue tape machine and the hard disk recorder get their tim-
ing information from the (quartz stable) controlling blackburst generator. 
This prevents that jitter is passed on and increased. Another technically 
perfect...

 
TIME BASE
4 – 30 Typical Setup Examples 
Machine Control
 
Time Base will convert MMC (MIDI Machine Control) commands into 9-pin 
(RS422/P2) commands. A machine linked via a 9-pin Remote connector 
(e.g. Sony Betacam) can thus also be directly controlled from a sequencer.
Time Base can also read the Time Code that comes in via the 9-pin con-
nection.
Settings: 
 
TCIN=M.A 
If the display shows 
 
NO CODE 
, the machine is either not active or doesn’t 
send 9-pin Time Code.
 
• Some machines do not send...