This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Choosing the Timecode Display Format
Atop the Timeline is the time ruler, which has a control 
that lets you determine how time is displayed. For most producers, the choice comes down to the top two options in the drop-down menu 
, Drop-Frame Timecode and Non Drop-Frame Timecode. Which should you use?
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Your choices for timecode display format (when timecode, rather than audio time units, is selected).
The short answer is that if you’re producing a video that has to precisely match a particular time—like a program that’s exactly an hour long, or a 30-second commercial—use drop-frame timecode. If you don’t care that your 10-minute video actually takes .6 seconds longer, then use Non Drop-Frame Timecode or whichever timecode was used by your source format.
Here’s why: Interestingly, the timecode on tape has nothing to do with time. Rather, the timecodes mark specific frames in the video, which occur at 29.97 frames per second, or every 1/29.97 of a second. Which means that 30 frames of 29.97 video actually takes 29.97/30 of a second, which is pretty close to a second, but not quite. Over time, the differences add up. For example, at 1:00:00:00 (one hour of video), the actual time that has elapsed is 60 minutes and 3.6 seconds, a difference insufficient to bother anyone who’s not broadcasting on a regular schedule, but worth paying attention to if your production demands more precision.
To correct this, drop-frame timecode skips ahead two frames every minute except for every tenth minute. No frames are actually dropped, but at minute one, for example, the timecode will jump from 00;00;59;29 to 00;01;00;02. In non drop-frame timecode, the progression is from 00:00:59:29 to 00:01:00:00. So if you need your hour-long video to be exactly an hour, use drop-frame timecode. If you don’t, follow the timecode of the source footage.
And yes, sharp-eyed readers, drop-frame timecode is shown with semicolons (;) separating the digital pairs, whereas non drop-frame timecode uses colons (:).
To choose a timecode display format
- Hover your pointer over the timecode in either the Timeline or the Program Monitor, and your pointer will change to a hand with two black arrows. Do not click
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Hover your pointer over the timecode. Do not click. - Right-click, and the timecode display options will appear .
- Choose the desired timecode display format.
Premiere Pro changes the time ruler display.
TIP
If you’ve elected to display audio time units via the panel menu, your choices will be Audio Samples and Milliseconds 
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Your options when you are using audio time units.
About the Tools Panel
Now that we’re about to actually do some things in the Timeline, I should introduce you to the Tools panel 
. It appears to be one of the few panels you can’t actually close, which is OK because it’s so useful and doesn’t take up much space. If you lose track of its location, choose Window > Tools to highlight the panel.
Premiere Pro’s Tools Panel.
Some of the tools are simple and obvious, like the Selection tool and Zoom tool, which we’ll discuss in this chapter. You’ll learn about most of the other tools in later chapters.