this may be a bit basic, but if you have 2 60 min reels that are timecoded when recorded dont you have duplicate timecoded frames from the point of view of the editing software? I was reading on timecode breaks and the issue of different reels may pose a timecode break. Can someone clear this up? thanks.

Good question..
However, when you import the tapes into your NLE, you have to give the reels a name, so the time code is always associated with a particular tape capture.
You can enable some NLEs to create subclips as well, do every shot has its own ident.

Robin

Thanks, that helped a lot. I assume that when the clip is brought into the timeline the timecode assigned is controling for playback. Is the clips original timecode irrelevant at this point?

Not irrelevant, since if your NLE has a "match frame" function, you can go straight back from any point in a clip on the timeline to the original source material capture.

Robin