3-2
The “Now Time” and How to Use It
Every project has a current time, known as the Now time, which keeps
track of where you are in a project. The Now time is displayed in both
the large Transport toolbar and the Position toolbar, in two formats:
The measure, beat, and tick number (MBT) identiÞes the Now time in
musical time units. Ticks are subdivisions of quarter notes and indicate
the timebase of the song. For more information about the timebase, see
ÒSetting the MIDI Timing ResolutionÓ on page 4-8.
Here are some examples of times expressed in measure, beat, and tick
(MBT) format:
The second time format is commonly referred to as the SMPTE time.
SMPTE is the acronym for the Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers. In this format, time is measured in hours, minutes, seconds,
and frames. ItÕs not necessary for a project to begin at time zero in this
formatÑany arbitrary time can be used to represent the start of a
project. For more information, Chapter 15, Synchronizing Your Gear.
Time... What it means...
1:01:000 First beat of the first measure
9:04:000 Fourth beat of the ninth measure
4:02:060 The 60
th
tick of the second beat of the
fourth measure
The current time
in hours, minutes,
seconds, and
frames
The current measure, beat,
and tick
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