About timecode in hdv with z1?
 

I've read some sidenotes from here and there, but what's the deal with TC?
Is there a decent (smtp) timecode and can you make batch capture with it?

Yes, it is SMPTE timecode; see this feature list:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/sony...compare.php#tc

See also:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/sonyhdrfx1/freerun.php

Ok,
if I have understood correctly all the fuzz about "hdv not having timecode (especially when captured through fw)" is just that FX1 does not have TC, but Z1 has?

Thanks!

Um, I don't know what is the issue with SMPTE timecode, but that would propably be some 30 fps thing (NTSC). There's no such thing as a SMPTE timecode in PAL territory.

The FX1E has a completely normal timecode for a DV-camera. The only difference with the Z1 is that you can set it to rec run or free run. And you can set the starting point. On the FX1E it just starts from 00:00:00:00.

HDV has timecode just like any other modern format.

SMPTE timecode (almost surely a false term in this application, as I don't think the SMPTE has ever defined a standard for HDV or even DV) means, in this context, that you can set user bits & set the start time. Not sure if it also implies free run vs record run ... but these features always seem to come as a package. The Sony PD150, for instance, allows these features if the record format is set to DVCam but disables them if the recording is set to DV ... there is a JVC camcorder that allows most but not all of these features in 'ordinary' DV mode, IIRC. Manufacturers play games with which features they offer at what price point.

More to the point, 'SMPTE' timecode is occasionally handy but not head and shoulders different than 'ordinary' timecode -- all digital formats assign a unique frame address to each frame, and any able edit software can find any frame address.

Elsewhere it has been pointed out that the HDV format has timecode but the transfer programs are not 'smart' enough to preserve it. This is how the DV world began, until users demanded of software writers that timecode preservation be included ... I think that even the cleverest of software writers are rank amateurs in production, and often don't realize what features we want. Witness the very able capture program Scenalyzer Live, offering features way ahead of the 'big' edit programs -- let's hope the author of ScLive tackles the HDV market!

GB