Capture the time code recorded on tape and naming the files...
 

Hi,

I know this question about timecodes have been discussed earlier, mostly for legal use.

I wonder if it is possible to capture the video from the camera and have the program capturing naming the clips " 2003-Jun-03 Clip 001.avi" etc etc ?

When viewing the video on the camera I can view the record-date using the display-info option.... but it would be nice to have the naming done automatically ;-) <me lazy>

Brgds,

Lazze

Yes this is possible. You can do this while capturing with Scenalyzer Live
or their old Scenalyzer
after the capture.

Lars,

Although it sounds like you are not refering to timecode as such, here is a little point regarding "timecode" if you ever wanted to know. (And by timecode I mean the actual Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames).

You cannot capture "timecode" from your DV tape into your PC. When capturing DV footage into a program like Premiere, all timecode is stripped and a new timecode (generated internally) is added to your DV footage. It's an easy way for Programs to calculate things in the timeline that way.

If you had a Broadcast editing platform, then real "timecode" would be captured from the tape into the PC.

Either way its not an issue now... in the past Broadcast non-liner editors used to edit all their footage in "low resolution" first and then they re-ceptured all the required clips (refering to their EDL) in hi-resolution" using the real timecode. It was mainly because when editing a rough edit there is usually a lot of spare clips in your PC that used to take up too much room if they were alll in "hi-resolution" mode. But these days this problem is overcome by cheaper storage and DV footage not taking up as much as broadcast uncompressed video.

Cheers,
Jack

Jack,

I think you are misinformed on DV timecode. I edit with Final Cut Pro and it does in fact capture the timecode directly from the source tape, enabling me to do exactly what you described, which is to capture at low resolution, then recapture only the footage I need using the timecode. I usually don't need to do this, but it is entirely possible.

Chief

Matthew,

Does each of your captured clips start with 00:00:00:00 ? If so it is not real timecode from your tape.

Jack

No, my clips start with whatever the original sorce timecode from the tape is where I started my capture.

When the footage is edited into a sequence, that sequence has a default timecode start of 1:00:00:00, but this is the sequence being assembled from many clips from many sources and the sequence timecode start can also be modified to start at any timecode I want. And all the clips in the sequence still refer back to the original timecode from the DV tape.

Even with Premiere my timecode is the one from the tape (perhaps
this is a setting you can change?). If Premiere is changing timecode
I would switch to another capture application instantly. I've
done research on the DV format and the actual timecode is
definitely in there.

Again, the two programs I have mentioned can read it and
can use it to generate your filenames.

Matthew & Rob,

I have just spend quite a bit of time researching "timecode" in DV use and it apperas (like you bith say) that it is possible to capture actual source timecode into your PC.

However, Premiere DOESN'T make it very clear on how you can do this and it is something that I have actually learned just now... You can only capture "tape timecode" if you are using "batch capture" mode in Premiere or another application like Scenalyzer. If you capture clips individually in Premiere (like I have been doing), the tape timecode WILL NOT get transfarred to your PC and the captured clips will all start with 00:00:00:00.

As for Final Cut Pro Matthew, I have never used it and I cannot comment, but now believe that timcode as such can get transfered into your PC.

I hope people will get a lot out of this, as it is something not very well documented as mentioned above.

Cheers,
Jack

Wow, Jack! That is really strange that you are not getting the timecode from your tape when you capture clips individually. In FCP, even when I do 'capture now' (which is basically starting the tape and hitting the button when i want to start my capture) I still get timecode. If this isn't a setting you can change, I would definately consider upgrading to a different program like Rob suggested. I know a lot of people on the PC side reccomend Vegas Video.

Good luck,
Chief

interesting...
 

in FCP you can look in the Browser window and see the Media Start and Media End timecode and that reflects the actual time code on the original tape. However I know of no way to have FCP automatically name the files by checking that timecode and naming them.
If you use the Timecode Print filter, it prints timecode starting at 0:00:00;00. You can use your deck (most decks) to print the original time code when you copy the tape but if you were creating a new tape from several clips in FCP I don't know how or if you could have it show the original time codes as it played....I realize that's a different problem...just thinking outloud on a rainy day...

Thanks all
 

Scenalyzer Live seems to be a jolly good piece of software.

I'm running the demo now and it works just great

// Lazze

Matthew, Rob & Bud,

As it turns out it wasn't Premiere's fault that I couldn't read "source timecode", it was the DV500Plus driver, which I have now upgraded (from 2.01 to 4.5a). And yes now I can capture source timecode as per you guys. WoooHoo!

Cheers,
Jack