Palm OS App for Shot Logs?

[Ken Tanaka]

Does anyone know of a Palm OS / Handspring app for logging shots? It sure seems like it would be a perfect app for these gadgets.

[Ozzie Alfonso]

Ken,

There was a product that was advertised about a year ago. I believe it was called something like Pocket Producer. It was supposedly able to pickup time code on the fly via some port and give shot descriptions. I forget the name of the company although Creative Solutions comes to mind. In any case, I kept inquiring about the product and was eventually told the company had been sold. I came across a similar product in an ad in Videography. I'll see if I have any messages or URLs saved and try to get back with some concrete info. In the meantime, if anyone knows what product I'm talking about, let us know.

[Ken Tanaka]

I've found a brief summary of Pocket Producer and many references to it.

http://www.avvideo.com/Htm/2000/8_00/2000Guide/video/editControllers/pocketProducer_Play.htm

http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=127&siteid=15

It was apparently a Play product. But I've only hit broken links when trying to find the product for sale. It may be gone.

[Ken Tanaka]

As is often the case I came across this freeware utility for the Palm while searching for a shot-logger.

TimeCode 1.0:

http://palm.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=291&platformId=1&productType=2&productId=3487&sectionId=0&catalog=1

[Ozzie Alfonso]

And I neglected to tell you I have two time code loggers installed in my Palm Pilot. One is called "palmSlate" v2.0 from http://engine16.n3.net. The other is "Free Time" from www.ilap.com/pheg/hts. I've found both of these freeware programs to be nearly useless, but you be the judge.

I'll check out the one you mentioned and compare degrees of uselessness? I'm still quite sure I have seen ads for what used to be called Pocket Producer but I haven't come up with anything yet.

[Ken Tanaka]

Play, Inc. is dead and it looks like they may have taken Pocket Producer to the grave.

But I found another app for the Palm. Slate 2.0 is freeware.

http://homepage.mac.com/engine16/palmslate.html

[Nathan Gifford]

Correct me if I am wrong, but if it uses the LANC port you could not use a VariZoom.

Nathan Gifford

[Ken Tanaka]

Nathan,

Good point.

I haven't tried Slate yet...just downloaded it yesterday. But honestly, I really don't understand how it could connect to anything at all since, unlike the Pocket Producer, Slate seems to involve no hardware whatsoever. But, yes, I would imagine that if something needs to occupy the (only) LANC port it would preempt a VariZoom controller.

[Ken Tanaka]

...seems like a rather value-less app. You scribble all of the details of every shot into the app and then...and then...and then...

But, along the way I found a truly handy little Palm OS app called "FreeTime". It's basically a timecode calculator for video and film that offers many time formats and conversions. And it's freeware! You'll be able to find it for download at palm.com.

[Ozzie Alfonso]

In my opinion any timecode calculator that doesn't get the code directly from the VTR or camera is nearly useless. To me it's a lot easier to just write the numbers down on a note pad. There used to be an application that worked with the old TRS-100 (Not sure if that's the correct model - it's one of the first true "notebook computers" Radio Shack sold in the early 80s. I still have it home but it hasn't been turned on in 15 years.) Anyway, there was a connection between the 100 and the serial port of a VTR - or any output of longitudinal code. All you had to do was press "enter" and the tc would be recorded in the proper field (in and out). All you had to do was add any personal notes. It was great for logging and it was an AD's dream machine. I've never seen anything close to that old thingy.

[Ken Tanaka]

Ozzie,
I certainly agree that a Palm (or any good portable platform) tool that could facilitate relatively live production logging and EDL export would be very valuable. The old TRS-based tool you mentioned sounded wonderful. As you know, I started this trheead searching for such a gizmo but, thus far, have found nothing currently available.

I've actually been using the FreeTime calculator during editing to determine time-spans of sequence segments for voice-overs and background sound/music. Hey, considering that it's a free app and takes very little Palm memory, it's been handy.

Gee, this shot-logging thing sounds like a potentially good business opportunity.

[Nathan Gifford]

It would be great provided you do not lose your LANC port. My understanding is that the LANC port is RS-422. So short of a Blacl Box Corp adapter, I do not see how you can share that port with any other devices.

Too darn bad though.

Nathan Gifford

[Ozzie Alfonso]

I presume, perhaps wrongly, that the time code coming off a MiniDv is recorded on the vertical interval. If so, would the FireWire input/output be a possibility? Just thinking out loud.