About this tool
Convert frame counts to seconds and SMPTE timecode at any frame rate, including 29.97 drop-frame, and back again.
This converter turns a frame count into elapsed seconds and SMPTE ST 12-1 timecode by dividing frames by the exact frame rate, and reverses the calculation from a duration or a timecode string. It keeps the exact NTSC rates (24000/1001, 30000/1001, 60000/1001) separate from the integer rates that timecode labels count in, which is the source of most timing mistakes. Editors, animators and post supervisors use it to line up cut lengths, animation counts and delivery durations.
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Uses 30000/1001 rather than 29.97 so long durations do not drift
Shows the drop-frame and non-drop label for the same frame count side by side
Start from frames, seconds or timecode and get the other two instantly
It equals the frame rate: 24 frames at 24 fps, 25 at 25 fps and 30 at 30 fps. At the NTSC rates one second holds 23.976, 29.97 or 59.94 frames, so a whole second never lands on a whole frame boundary.
Divide the frame count by the exact frame rate: 240 frames at 24 fps is 10 seconds, and 1,000 frames at 23.976 fps is 41.708 seconds. Use the exact rate rather than the rounded one when the clip runs longer than a few minutes.
Drop-frame skips two timecode labels at the start of every minute except every tenth minute, so no pictures are lost — only labels. One hour of 29.97 drop-frame timecode is 107,892 frames, while non-drop counting reaches 108,000 and runs about 3.6 seconds ahead of the clock.
Drop-frame counting corrects the error to about 3.6 milliseconds an hour, not to zero, because 29.97 is really 30000/1001. Non-drop timecode is left with the full 3.6-second discrepancy over an hour, which matters for broadcast durations but not for a short edit.
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