SMPTE??

[betty182]

Hi, does any body know much about what smpte is?

Ive been asked to investigate the smpte standard and how it works in the audio filed. But every site i look on there is a load of jargo which i cant seem to understand, Any help would be greatfull

Betty182!!

[mosc]

SMPTE is the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. http://www.smpte.org/

They have released several standards, all of them are listed on their web site. Click on the STANDARDS link there. There is a SMPTE time code standard that is used to sync DAWs (DIgital Audio Workstations) with video equipment. Actually the standard is open and it doesn't specify any particular programs or equipment. This is used a lot for making movie music and sound tracks. There are many other SMPTE standards.

You can't read the standards on their site, you can only buy them. That sucks.

[elektro80]

Well, both text books and audio tech teachers mostly think about one specific "standard" or rather.. a technology when they utter the word ( is it a word??) SMPTE.

SMPTE time-code synchronization is what I reckon you are thinking about. The net is full of info on this subject so I don´t see much point in me blabbering away about it here.

Phil Rees has published a nice little article about it .
http://www.philrees.co.uk/articles/timecode.htm
This article is a great place to start.

Paul White has still his old article from 1996 about SMPTE and MTC "on print" at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/jun96/miditimecode.html

Be aware that there might be errors in these text, I haven´t checked them in detail, but you should start here anyway.

[elektro80]

Right, I almost forgot.. the arts department at UCSC has a page that pretty much sums up what you are supposed to know..


http://arts.ucsc.edu/ems/music/equipment/video/smpte/SMPTE.html

[Mohoyoho]

SMPTE time code is an invaluable tool when editing video and audio. In video every frame is "stamped" with a successive number based on time and the number of frames per second. It is embedded on the tape on a separate track.
Here's where it comes in handy: when editing shots from from different cameras of the same event, the editor can find the exact frame in time from each camera. The editor can then choose which shot to use quickly and accurately.
Time code is very important for assembling shots with editing machines. A person can line up the shots on an offline editor, copy the edit decisions to disk and a final on-line editing facility can use that universal time code and do the final edit. The machines can read the timecode because it is an industry standard.

I hope that answers your question.

[betty182]

Chhers guys alll that has helped alot, especially from mohoyoho, that cleared up what it exactly does!!!
Nice 1!!!

Betty182