Reference Guide

1088
Synchronizing your gear
SMPTE/MIDI time code synchronization
For more information about frame rate time formats, see the documentation for your time code
hardware.
Refer to the documentation for your MIDI interface or external MIDI device for additional information
about SMPTE/MTC.
To use SONAR as the master MTC generator
1. Configure the clocks on each external device that you want to synchronize to receive SMPTE/
MTC. Make sure they’re connected to MIDI outputs from your computer or MIDI interface.
2. In the Control Bar’s Sync module, click the Sync Type button and choose Internal Sync or
Audio Sync on the pop-up menu.
3. Go to Edit > Preferences > Project - MIDI.
4. Select the Transmit MTC check box (you can also click the Transmit MTC Sync button in
the Sync module).
5. In the Frame Rate field (it’s just below the Transmit MTC check box), choose the frame rate that
your project uses (see “Frame rates” on page 1087, if necessary).
6. In the MTC Output Ports field, check off the outputs that you want to send MTC on (the outputs
your external devices are connected to).
7. Click OK.
SONAR saves your sync and MTC output port settings with your project. However, output ports are
saved by their number only, not their name. Their number is determined by the order in which they
appear in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices. If you change the order of devices in this dialog, the
MTC output ports in your project will retain the same numbers, but those numbers will now refer to
different outputs. Also, if you reduce the number of highlighted outputs in Edit > Preferences > MIDI
- Devices, and the MTC ports you chose have higher numbers than what are currently highlighted in
Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices, SONAR does not substitute new port numbers.
To configure SONAR to sync to SMPTE/MTC
1. In the Control Bar’s Sync module, click the Sync Type button and choose SMPTE Sync on the
pop-up menu.
2. Go to Edit > Preferences > Audio - Sync and Caching.