Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 64)

64 Part II Learning About the Final Cut Express Interface
For example, if you enter 01221419, Final Cut Express interprets it as 01:22:14:19. This
stands for 1 hour, 22 minutes, 14 seconds, and 19 frames.
If you enter a partial number, Final Cut Express interprets it with the rightmost pair of
numbers as frames and puts each successive pair of numbers to the left in the
remaining seconds, minutes, and hours areas. Numbers you omit default to 00.
For example, if you enter 1419, Final Cut Express interprets it as 00:00:14:19.
However, if the rightmost pair of numbers is not a valid frame number, then the entire
number entered is interpreted as absolute frames.
For example, suppose the frame rate of your clip is 25 fps. If you enter 124,
Final Cut Express interprets this as 01:24 (one second and 24 frames). However, if you
enter 125, or 199, Final Cut Express interprets these as 125 frames or 199 frames,
respectively. This is because the frame counter cannot be higher than 24 when you use
25 fps timecode. Since a number like 01:99 is not a valid timecode number, the entire
value is interpreted as absolute frames.