Reset Timecode to 00:00:00:00?
 

Another dumb newbie question....

Ever since started using our EX3 camera the timecode has counted up, up and up. I think it's up to something like 14 hours now.

Is there a way to easily reset it at the beginning of each project? The manual says that it will reset whenever you switch cards, but that hasn't been my experience as I've switched cards more than 10 times now and it's never reset back to zero (I don't think).

I don't really need it, except that it would have been nice to have a lower timecode number when I made window burns of some interviews I did. If I would have known how, I would have reset the timecode at the beginning of that shoot.

Thanks in advance! :)

"20 years as a videographer".....your not a newbie. Timecode hasn't changed.

Go into record run-preset-change number however. Or freerun-set to time of day.

I wonder just how important the Timecode is with the tapeless workflow. All the shots are new clips so surely we don't have to log the clips anymore. The time of day function could be more useful.

I keep mine on time of day and it's very useful. Set a user bit for the project or with the date and you can very easily order your clips in NLE bins.

Peter

Jason: You would think! :) When I went to the timecode settings, it showed 00:00:00:00. There was nothing to reset or I would have.

Vincent: I think you're probably right. Maybe I switch to Time of Day. Thanks.

Peter: Also good advice. Thanks.


I'm going to try and figure out how to "zero" the timecode setting in the menu. I see how to do it in the manual but I couldn't find the "SET" function. But might just switch to using Time of Day. Thanks!

Go to the "Setting" option and you will find the "Set" option at the end of the timecode number. It's not obvious! I use time of day as well. Only draw back with TOD is that if you are on a shoot with a PA and they don't ask for the timecode until some time after you have stopped rolling then you have no idea what the timecode at the end of the shot would have been. The advantage is that if you get a digital watch and set it to match the time on the camera the PA can log shots using the watch. It will stay within a few seconds over most jobs and is good enough for finding most things.

Alister, you're a genius! Exactly the answer I was looking for and then some.

I can't tell you how many times I've been into the Timecode menu and never noticed that. Makes sense now that I see it. (I warned everyone that this would be a stupid question)

Thanks for the great advice on Time of Day and working with a PA. One question about that process; is there an issue with sorting clips (like Peter eluted too)? Right now I like the fact that I can name all my clips using XDCAM Transfer, import them into Final Cut Pro and still sort them into the order I shot them by sorting by "Media IN" (timecode)

Thanks again!

I find timecode useful, especially on a 5 camera EX1 shoot music shoot, with separate 48 track audio - kinda helps with syncing things up afterwards.

Thats just my point of view as an editor, maybe camera operators don't bother much about timecode anyway - they're probably not sure what it is...

Paul

Sorting by Media in will work over a single day, but if you shoot over multiple days you will end up with a jumble of clips with Time Of Day TC.

Hiding set at the end of the Setting page makes sense, but unless you know that's where they stuck it it's not at all obvious. The manual could certainly be a bit clearer.

Fair point Alister, but when I transfer files XDCAM creates a folder with the current date as a name. This can of course be placed within a job sub folder.

I can maybe understand why a multi camera shoot may still need the timecode, but for the single user I would suspect the Clock TimeCode would be a more practical solution.

True.

I use TOD most of the time. Helps me remember when I shot stuff.

I successfully reset the timecode at the start of my shoot today! (yeah!) Thanks again for all the help!

But I really liked the idea of not using timecode and just having an assistant write down the clip names. I was very surprised to find that clip names are not shown in the viewfinder. You have to switch the camera to video-playback mode (thumbnails) to see the clip names. What a pain. We finally gave up and just shot everything and then went back through them all at once at the end of the day. But using that process, we missed a number of shots because we didn't notice we had missed them until the end of the day.

Is there a setting I don't know about that will display the clip name in the viewfinder while you are shooting?

Mitchell,

Like many people, I don't pay attention to timecode at all anymore.
I agree 100% that it would be very useful to display the clip name in the viewfinder. That was #1 on my wish list when Alister and I were in Japan last year at the EX factory.

However, in the mean time, there is an easy work-around that I use to see the clip name -- and you don't have to switch to the MEDIA mode!

With the power switch in CAMERA mode, go to MENU > OTHERS > CLIP > and and look at the TITLE PREFIX submenu and the NUMBER RESET submenu. If you put those two values together, that is the name of the clip you are going to record NEXT. Subtract one from the NUMBER RESET value and that tells you the name of the clip that you just shot last.

Now press the MENU button again and go back to normal shooting.

Anytime you want to see the clip name again, just press the MENU again and you'll jump right straight back to the CLIP menu (unless you've used other menus since then) where you can see the clip number.

So, just by toggling the MENU button on and off you can easily see the clip name anytime you want to with one step.

It's not ideal, but it's a hell of a lot faster and easier than going to the MEDIA mode everytime.

Doug

Doug YOUR A GENIUS!! That's a great idea! I will use that system from now on. (never would have thought of it myself)