Timecode in captured .m2t files?
 

Hi,

I've done a couple of HDV test captures using OnLocation to create an .m2t file. The DVR in OnLocation correctly displays timecode from the camera (Canon XH-A1) while recording and playing back clips. However, when I import the file into Premiere Pro CS3 I don't see the start time code in the file properties or when bringing up the "Timecode" window (off the file menu). In order to sync multi-camera clips I end up having to manually enter the time code using the info displayed by the OnLocation DVR for that clip.

What am I doing wrong here - I thought that I read somewhere that Premiere Pro would be able to directly read the timecode stamp from the .m2t file? Is this a known bug with OnLocation / PPro CS3?

/BILLW

Does timecode show up correctly when you do a capture from tape from your XH-A1 into Premiere?

Back in the early days of HDV I had some discussions with Serious Magic (I think some of them are in the archives of this forum)(SM wrote DVRack/OnLocation) about HDV timecode. They said at that time that their goal was to take what was on tape and put it faithfully in a file. However, at that time Vegas 5 or 6 wouldn't display TC correctly from a Sony Z1. When Vegas upgraded to 6 or 7 my timecode in older captures magically appeared.

The issue is that there is no standard for TC in HDV - curse the manufacturers for not creating a standard. Instead, each manufacturer has chosen their own location for TC, and NLEs have been slowly catching up.

Suggest you narrow down whether this is a OnLocation problem or a Premiere problem, and take the resulting info to Adobe tech support.

Yes, the starting timecode does show correctly in PPro CS3 when capturing directly from the camera.

I have Vegas 8.0 as well. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to be able to read the timecode from the OL .m2t files either. It does see the timecode from PPro CS3 captured files however.

The DVR in OL does show the correct timecode when playing the .m2t files, so it appears that OL is putting the TC somewhere that the 2 editing apps I have aren't looking.

/BILLW

I'm not sure anybody outside Adobe knows whether there will be continuing updates to OL... but it's worth putting in a support ticket, IMHO.

Sorry 'bout that. My idea for the SM folks was that they should have a TC gen internal to DVRack... so that it would operate more like a tape deck in the pre-camcorder days. Jam to camera, record run, free run, df, ndf, etc. They weren't that interested.

Those of us who really depend on timecode got left behind in a big way with HDV, and catchup has been very slow across the post manufacturers.

Thanks for you input Seth. I've opened a thread on the Adobe forum as well. For now I'll just use the manual method with PPro CS3:

1. Copy the TC at start of clip from the OL DVR/Monitor.
2. In PPro, select the clip in the project window
3. Under the File menu, select "Timecode..." and paste the TC value into the edit box & select the "Set at Beginning" radio button

I should then be able to synchronize clips from multiple cameras.

/BILLW