What the Tracks Column Does Not Tell You

The ALE Tracks cell has exactly four shapes: V for a MOS take, A1A2 for a wild track, VA1A2 for sync sound, and a blank cell when the row holds no sound fact at all — a missing value is never filled in as sync sound. The literals are written run together, so no spaced V A1 A2 form exists. What the field tells a receiver is which track notation was written. It does not identify what each audio track contains, and it is not a channel map.

Tracks is a notation, not a description of the sound-routing relationship.

One cell answers only which notation was written

The only literals this cell can hold are V, A1A2, VA1A2 and blank, written run together with no separators. The cell renders the sound identity of the row; it is not a channel map and it does not go on to say which microphone sits on A1 or which source sits on A2.

So VA1A2 tells you the row ships a video-plus-two-audio-track notation as sync sound, while a blank cell says the row held no sound fact to render. It does not prove what was actually recorded into those channels or how a receiving project should route them.

Keep a product boundary in view as well: a sound-related export column does not prove that the current take-record UI has a complete entry path for that sound state. Column presence must not be turned into an on-set capability claim.

The same token can sit over different recording setups

A single VA1A2 says the row was handed over as sync sound; it carries no extra label saying which microphone or which recording setup stood behind those two tracks.

A receiver therefore cannot use Tracks alone to distinguish sync dialogue, a wild track, or another sound relationship. When that meaning matters, go back to the sound record, on-set notes, and actual media.

Two rows that both say VA1A2 share the same notation; they do not necessarily share the same sound relationship.

It is not a channel map: sample rate and per-track sources stay out

The current ALE has no channel map describing what A1 or A2 is connected to. There is no sample-rate field either: the header’s AUDIO_FORMAT line is written with an empty value, because there is no audio sample-rate reading to hand over — printing a fixed value there would declare a sound specification for media nobody transcribed. Sound start timecode has its own column, Sound TC, but it answers a different question from Tracks: one is a time position, the other is only a track marker.

Sound Roll is present, but it identifies the sound roll rather than the sound’s time position. Both columns are in the file now, and neither substitutes for the other, just as Tracks present does not make it a channel map.

If a receiving workflow needs to synchronize sound, it must return to the sound media, sound record, and handoff information to establish roll identity, time position, and channel relationships. For the difference between a sound roll and sound timecode, see “Why Sound Roll Does Not Mean Sound Timecode Is Present”.

Downstream interpretation needs receiving tests

How a particular receiving system will interpret VA1A2 can only be established by importing in that environment. The safe statement is therefore limited to the literal value SlateX writes and the information it does not carry.

Receivers should test the field against their own import template: whether Tracks is read, how it is read, and what additional channel information the workflow requires. Only that receiving test can establish what role the field should play in a specific environment.

FAQ

Does VA1A2 provide a complete two-channel map?

No. It is the sound identity of the row rendered as one track notation; it says nothing about which source or input sits on A1 or A2, and the column only ever holds V, A1A2, VA1A2 or blank.

Can Tracks distinguish sync sound from a wild track?

It separates the four identities — A1A2 wild, VA1A2 sync, V MOS, blank for no sound fact — but it never says where the sound came from, so the receiver still needs the sound record and the actual media.

Why is sound timecode still needed if Sound Roll exists?

They answer different questions. Sound roll identifies the sound asset group; sound timecode identifies a time position. Both columns exist in the ALE now, and one carrying a value does not mean the other does — a sound timecode failing the shape check ships empty.

Can a receiver assume its system will interpret Tracks as intended?

No. Test the field with the actual receiving template and media workflow.

Axiom One LLC — SlateX