Re: DSR 20P set timecode : Sony DV

That is actually more than one question.

If you are connected via FireWire:

1. Put in a new tape and you can just hit "record" on the deck and the deck will generate its own new TC (likely starting at 00:00:00) and ignore the TC on the FCP timeline.

2. You can SET the TC on the deck (I'm not sure of the procedure on that particular deck) at a point where you'd like the TC to start. The record about 10-20 seconds of Black on the head of the tape.
You can then back up the tape a bit, and in FCP choose File (menu) > Edit to Tape (a window will pop up).
Set the IN-point in that window to a TC number that is within the section of Black that you just recorded to tape.
Then grab the icon of your final EDIT (from the Browser) and drag and drop into that Edit to Tape window in the "Assemble" section.

FCP will do some final rendering and then it will edit your timeline to tape starting at the IN-point you set.

BTW, FCP will NOT consistently output running TC from the timeline. That's why (if the exact TC matters) you need to manually set it ON THE DECK and record a section of TC to the tape FIRST, then have FCP edit to the correct IN-point to match it.

Many camcorders/decks will not even accept an incoming TC from the FW anyway (but some will).

NON-FW control:
Your deck has RS-422 (9-pin) I believe, and if you have a capture/output card or box connected to the Mac/FCP, you have other options for utilizing/recording timecode that just FW does not.