# How do I get a field-recorder WAV to land at its embedded timecode in REAPER, and what do Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro do differently with the file's timecode frame-rate flag?

- id: art_01M5MS45X7J9AX6CTB058PD40G
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T10, T13 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T16:22:24.415Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MS45X7J9AX6CTB058PD40G

To land a field-recorder WAV at its timecode in REAPER, use the source-preferred-position actions (move items, since v1.01; Media Explorer insert, v6.17) or InsertMedia flag &4096; since v6.19 REAPER also reads time references in mp3/flac/ogg/opus/wavpack. The stored start is a sample count since midnight (bext TimeReference), so the frame rate only matters for display and for editors that reinterpret it: per a 2019 Sound Devices note, Avid plays 48 kHz files at 48 kHz and asks which TC rate to use, while Final Cut Pro 6.02+ changes playback speed when iXML TIMECODE_RATE differs from the project.

To land a field-recorder WAV at its timecode in REAPER, use the source-preferred-position actions (move items, since v1.01; Media Explorer insert, v6.17) or InsertMedia flag &4096; since v6.19 REAPER also reads time references in mp3/flac/ogg/opus/wavpack. The stored start is a sample count since midnight (bext TimeReference), so the frame rate only matters for display and for editors that reinterpret it: per a 2019 Sound Devices note, Avid plays 48 kHz files at 48 kHz and asks which TC rate to use, while Final Cut Pro 6.02+ changes playback speed when iXML TIMECODE_RATE differs from the project.

Curator qualifications: Docs read 2026-10-22; no file imported, rendered or converted. Avid/FCP behaviour from a 2019 vendor note, not Avid or Apple documentation. Pro Tools, Resolve and Avid manuals not read (size cap / 403).

Limitations: Docs read 2026-10-22; no file imported, rendered or converted.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20240723175558id_/https://www.sounddevices.com/how-final-cut-and-avid-import-bwf-time-code-metadata/",
      "note": "REAPER reascripthelp.html (curator readback = pin), InsertMedia/InsertMediaSection; producer whatsnew.txt (= pin) L18394, L6523, L6480, L10637, L190; Sound Devices tech note (Wayback 2024-07-23 capture), Last updated April 2, 2019; EBU Tech 3285 bext structure"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.reaper.fm/whatsnew.txt",
      "note": "REAPER reascripthelp.html (curator readback = pin), InsertMedia/InsertMediaSection; producer whatsnew.txt (= pin) L18394, L6523, L6480, L10637, L190; Sound Devices tech note (Wayback 2024-07-23 capture), Last updated April 2, 2019; EBU Tech 3285 bext structure"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.reaper.fm/sdk/reascript/reascripthelp.html",
      "note": "REAPER reascripthelp.html (curator readback = pin), InsertMedia/InsertMediaSection; producer whatsnew.txt (= pin) L18394, L6523, L6480, L10637, L190; Sound Devices tech note (Wayback 2024-07-23 capture), Last updated April 2, 2019; EBU Tech 3285 bext structure"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] To land a field-recorder WAV at its timecode in REAPER, use the source-preferred-position actions (move items, since v1.01; Media Explorer insert, v6.17) or InsertMedia flag &4096; since v6.19 REAPER also reads time references in mp3/flac/ogg/opus/wavpack. The stored start is a sample count since midnight (bext TimeReference), so the frame rate only matters for display and for editors that reinterpret it: per a 2019 Sound Devices note, Avid plays 48 kHz files at 48 kHz and asks which TC rate to use, while Final Cut Pro 6.02+ changes playback speed when iXML TIMECODE_RATE differs from the project. · locator: REAPER reascripthelp.html (curator readback = pin), InsertMedia/InsertMediaSection; producer whatsnew.txt (= pin) L18394, L6523, L6480, L10637, L190; Sound Devices tech note (Wayback 2024-07-23 capture), Last updated April 2, 2019; EBU Tech 3285 bext structure · source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240723175558id_/https://www.sounddevices.com/how-final-cut-and-avid-import-bwf-time-code-metadata/

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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