Synchronisation query

If I’ve got a film which has countdown cards for the first 8 seconds and then the pop 2 seconds before TC starts, how the heck do I get Logic to start the project where the TC starts?

 

Because each time I try to determine with the play head where the TC begins, and I set a marker (without rounding) and use the position under the TC no in the transport bar as the exact point the TC should start in synchronisation...it moves the entire film (inc cards and pop) to start later.

 

I can’t seem to get Logic to commence syncing from partway into the footage.

Maybe you need to change the start time or sync offset in the sync setting for the project?

Quite possibly. The exact start point of where the TC falls is at a really weird point in a bar. Not anywhere that even if I changed the time signature I’d get it to fall on a specific beat I could then work with? Eg in a 4/4 time sig it’s somewhere between beats 3 & 4 but doesn’t fall neatly between

See:

File -> Project Settings -> Synchronisation -> General, and adjust the bar position, SMPTE time and/or display offsets as you need.

 

See if that helps.

It hasn’t. I tried with a friends help to move things around, adjust position in both tempo list and synchro screen plus in movie project settings. Net result is Logic stays 2 frames out of sync with the film. We’ve even checked the frame rate is correct which it is

What is the timecode displayed by Logic when you're on frame 00:00:00:00 of the picture? And what do you have in Project Settings > Synchronization?

 

Pro tip: it's easiest if you set the project sync in Logic before adding the film. Otherwise, Logic basically assumes a different TC for the film than you see on the burn. It's possible to fix, you just have to know what you're doing.

Also not for nothing but instead of taking a photo of the screen with your phone try using the built-in Screenshot tool (may also be called Grab, depending on your OS, or else just use command-shift-3 to capture the whole screen or command-shift-4 to get a range selector.)

The easiest way to get your TC to align to a downbeat of a bar is simply within the tempo editor, assign your first "TEMPO" position to that specific TC. In the attached tempo map here, my movie starts on bar 3 with a TC of 01:00:05:00.00. (The movie in my case also has a 2-pip and seconds pre roll) If you input the SMPTE position of any new added tempo change, LOGIC automatically adjusts the tempo previously to sync with the new bar and new TC. Make sense? What I love too is that you actually don't even need a tempo to start on bar 1. It could even start on measure 5! (As Christian Henson and I likes to do).

Also,....just to add. If you are doing a "cue" and it is midway through a movie, simply start your 1st bar (Bar 1 or say bar 5) with that NEW TC point. LPX will automatically shift the movie to that point. For example, if you want bar 1 to start with a TV of 01:00:48:22.34.......just in the tempo editor, change bar 1 to 01:00:48:22.34.