Major Problem with Timecode
 

Hello there seems to be a major problem with Cineform HDLink handling the re-wrapping of cineform .mov into cineform .avi. Doing so strips the clips of any meaningful time-code (on my system each file becomes Start TC 00000000) This pretty much precludes any use of cineform codec in a pro finishing environment. Is it a bug? Is it by design? What do I do?

Re: Major Problem with Timecode
 

AVI don't have a standard widely unused mechanism for storing timecode, so we store the timecode in the sample (compressed frame.) Inside tools like Premiere Pro we extract the timecode directly. I gather you are not using Premiere, which NLE are you losing the timecode in?

Re: Major Problem with Timecode
 

Actually time-code is lost during the cineform quicklime .mov file to a cineform.avi file re-wrapping in HDLink. The time-code becomes something arbitrary but the same for all of the files re-wrapped or simply 00000000. This is affecting metadata display in Premiere Pro, AE, etc. and, more critically, makes the files not usable with applications that depend on the time-code explicitly (ie DaVinci Resolve being fed cineform.mov in the end of the pipeline).
When not using a re-wrapping with HDLink but using Adobe Media Encoder which of course re-encodes the files rather than non destructively re-wrapping them the same behavior is not exhibited, as the host application seems to read the .mov time-code and pass to the encoder. This of course is not loss-less and takes a significantly longer time.
Also it seems that when cine-form files go through an application like VirtualDub time-code is lost as well even if it exists in an original .avi when ingested.

More of the same but different, somewhat related: when trans-coding files that came from a source that doesn't record a time-code (ie. Panasonic consumer) HDLink will use the time of creation as the TC beginning value like 13:04:45:01. When doing conversion in GOPro Studio Premium time-codes written all start with 00:00:00:00.


Hope it clarifies the issue.

Re: Major Problem with Timecode
 

A rewrap does lose timecode if it was in the sample, so I guess the timecode was only in the rewrapper. How where the original MOVs made?

The timecode behavior in Studio does need to be improved on the PC.

Re: Major Problem with Timecode
 

Original cineform .mov files were made were made by Compressor on Mac using Quicktime Cineform codec (I was coming from a format not supported by cineform on a Mac)

Re: Major Problem with Timecode
 

I can now confirm that time code is also lost when using HD Link to change existing Cineform .mov aspect ratio. Timecode is lost in a mov going to mov through HD Link.