Sync Setup - Pro Tools® on the same computer via MTC, MMC & HUI
Introduction
Video Sync features virtual MIDI ports, which mostly removes the need to create network MIDI sessions in Audio MIDI Setup in order to connect to Pro Tools® on the same computer. When Video Sync is launched, it will create virtual MIDI ports named Video Sync MTC In, Video Sync MMC In & Video Sync Trigger In - and four HUI input and output ports named Video Sync HUI In/Out 1 to 4 - which will automatically be pre-selected in Video Sync, & visible in Pro Tools®.
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For this reason, it is advised to always launch Video Sync before launching Pro Tools®. Failure to do so, may cause some of these settings (mostly HUI) - to be reset to default - such that they need to be re-configured in Pro Tools® again.
Some DAWs do not reconnect the virtual ports automatically if Video Sync is opened after the DAW. In cases where this happens often, it may be better to consider setting up ports via Audio MIDI Setup on the same computer.
Video Sync MTC / MMC Setup
To show the MIDI I/O options in Video Sync, first navigate to the SYNC tab of the Preferences window.
Set the Sync Source field to Pro Tools.
Set the Sync Method field to MIDI.
Next, make sure that all the ports are set to their default values Video Sync MTC In (virtual) & Video Sync MMC In (virtual) as per the image below:
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Pro Tools® MTC (MIDI Timecode) Setup
In Pro Tools®, go to Setup > Peripherals > Synchronization tab.
In the MTC Generator Port dropdown menu, choose Video Sync MTC In (virtual).
Click OK to close the window.
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Check that the expanded Synchronization box is showing in the Transport window by clicking the downward pointing arrow button on the top right of the Transport window, & making sure the Synchronization tab is selected.
Hit the GEN MTC button.
Pro Tools® MMC (MIDI Machine Control) Setup
To enable MMC in Pro Tools®, select the Setup > Peripherals > Machine Control tab.
In the Machine Control Master field, click the Enable checkbox.
Check that the ID field is set to 127.
Select Video Sync's default virtual MIDI input, Video Sync MMC In (Virtual).
Now go to Setup > Preferences > Synchronization tab.
Make sure that Machine Chases Memory Location and Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub are both enabled:
When Machine Chases Memory Location is enabled, Pro Tools® will send a MMC Locate command whenever you navigate to a specific memory location. With the Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub checkbox checked, Pro Tools® will send MMC Locate commands every time the position of the edit insertion is changed.
Video Sync HUI Setup
If looped playback is required with MTC & MMC sync options, Video Sync must be enabled as a HUI controller in Pro Tools.
If looped playback is not required, for best performance it is suggested to leave HUI off - in which case this step can be skipped until the Enabling Synchronised playback section of this chapter.
In the SYNC tab in the Preferences window in Video Sync, check that the HUI In & HUI Out virtual ports are set to the default values Video Sync HUI In (virtual) & Video Sync HUI Out (virtual) respectively.
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Pro Tools HUI Setup
Launch Pro Tools®, go to the Setup > MIDI > MIDI Input Devices & make sure that the four Video Sync HUI Out (virtual) MIDI Inputs are enabled.
New MIDI Inputs are disabled by Pro Tools® by default until they are manually activated.
Next go to Setup > Peripherals > MIDI Controllers tab.
In the first row, under the Type column, select HUI.
In the adjacent Receive From column, select Predefined > Video Sync HUI Out 1 (virtual).
In the adjacent Send To column, select Predefined > Video Sync HUI Out 1 (virtual).
Only one HUI bank is required for loop playback.
Click OK once done.
Although Video Sync can follow loops in Pro Tools®, it is possible that playback can drift out of sync slightly after a few iterations of the loop when using HUI.
Enabling Synchronised playback
When hitting play or scrubbing within Pro Tools®, both the incoming timecode field should now be seen incrementing & the timecode rate displayed within the Incoming TC section to the left of the main timecode counter in Video Sync.
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If the Sync button to the left of the transport buttons isn't already blue, click on it to activate it to follow external sync.
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Video Sync MTC/MMC sync is now online & ready to go. Hit play in Pro Tools® and Video Sync will play back in sync.
Dealing with MTC sync with high frame rate content
Video Sync allows for synchronised playback of clips running at up to 60 frames per second. Being a standard from the 80s, MIDI timecode (MTC) does not support frame rates higher than 30 frames per second. To be able to play timelines with these high frame rate clips in sync to MTC, Video Sync will try to match the incoming TC at half the frame rate. For example, if the timeline has a 50fps clip, Video Sync will play it in sync if a 25fps MTC source is supplied.
In the timeline list, the timeline frame rate is shown here:
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