Freewheel mode
Freewheel is a resilience option for chase mode. When the incoming LTC signal drops — a cable problem, a source that pauses, a brief interference dropout — freewheel lets LTCast keep the chase clock running at the last detected rate instead of stopping at once.
Freewheel keeps only the chase clock going: the timecode display, the playhead, the Next Cue countdowns and the song time left. It does not generate MTC, Art-Net or OSC. Outputs that were being forwarded by TC Bridge stop when the LTC stops. Downstream devices stay fed only if LTCast is also playing the song's audio locally (Output audio while chasing), because that local playback sends its own outputs.
Enabling freewheel
Open Settings → Timecode In → Chase and tick Keep running when LTC stops. It is off by default, and it only matters while chase mode is on.
Behavior without freewheel
When the LTC has been silent for half a second and freewheel is off, the chase status becomes Lost: the CHASE pill dot turns red and a red LTC SIGNAL LOST banner covers the timecode display. The playhead stops following. If Output audio while chasing is on and the song is playing, LTCast pauses the audio so it does not run on out of sync. Triggers stop firing because there are no incoming frames.
Behavior with freewheel
With freewheel on, the status becomes Freewheeling (amber dot) instead. The chase clock continues from the last position at the real-time rate, so the playhead and countdowns keep moving, and audio that is already playing keeps playing. There is no red banner. Two things do not continue:
- Triggers. They fire from incoming frames, so none fire while the clock is freewheeling.
- Forwarded outputs. See the warning above.
When the LTC returns, chase locks to the incoming timecode again and the status goes back to Chasing. If the signal returns at a different position than the freewheel estimate, the display and playhead jump to it, and local audio (if on) re-aligns.
Run past the end of the song
By default the freewheel clock stops at the end of the song that was playing, so it cannot run off forever. Tick Run past the end of the song (it is available only while freewheel is on) to let it keep counting beyond that point — for example when the LTC source may run longer than the audio file you have loaded.
Freewheel is most valuable for brief, unexpected dropouts — cable bumps, connector loosening, short interference. For longer outages the freewheel clock will drift from the true timecode, because it relies on this computer's clock rather than the master's. Re-locking when the signal returns is then the correct behavior; the jump on re-lock is expected.
System clocks are accurate to a few milliseconds per minute but are not SMPTE-grade oscillators. For shows where sub-frame accuracy matters after a dropout, protecting the cable run is better than relying on freewheel.