Free Tool · Trial technology

Timecode Converter

Timecode, frames, and real elapsed time — at ten frame rates, with drop-frame handled the way the standard actually defines it.

Frame rate

Pick the rate the media was recorded at. Drop-frame and non-drop are the same footage — they differ only in how the timecode counts, and mixing them up is the single most common reason a designation clip plays the wrong testimony.

Frame rate

Convert

Edit any field — the other two follow. Timecode is HH:MM:SS:FF; drop-frame is conventionally written with a semicolon before the frames, and this tool accepts either separator.

Timecode

Total frames

Real-world seconds

Wall-Clock Duration

—

real elapsed time from 00:00:00:00

Same Frame, Other Count

—

Non-Drop Runs Behind By

—

gap between the non-drop label and the clock

Timecode math

Add or subtract two timecodes at the selected rate — for offsetting a clip against a record start, or measuring the span between two designated passages.

Timecode A

Operation

Timecode B

Result

—

What drop-frame actually drops. NTSC video runs at 30/1.001 frames per second, not 30 — so a timecode that counts 30 frames per second slowly runs ahead of the clock on the wall. Drop-frame timecode fixes the label, not the footage: it skips two frame numbers at the top of every minute except every tenth minute, so the count stays within a couple of frames of real time. No picture is lost. Non-drop counts every frame number in order and drifts about 3.6 seconds per hour — which is exactly how long a designated passage can be off if a clip list built in one convention is played back in the other.

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