Help with Time Code

dtudela wrote on 11/10/2009, 1:21 PM
I just finished capturing 5 miniDV tapes (83 mins ea.) After placing all five events on the time line (Vegas 8c, bld 260) I went to "Tools, Scripting" and added time code to all media. The beginning of each tape starts at 22:26:26;17. Some history, when I captured I chose the option to start capturing at beginning of tape. After discovering the problem I then ran a few tests capturing at the current tape position a few frames past the beginning of the tape and all is fine--time code now beginning 00:00:00;04 for example.

Anyone have any ideas as to WHY? My main concern now is there a way to fix it so the events begin where they should with out having to re-capture 6 hours of video? Thanks for your help.
--Darrell

Comments

farss wrote on 11/10/2009, 1:31 PM
Recapturing will not change the TC, it's recorded on the tape.
Start at the beginning, how was your camera setup to generate TC?

Bob.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/10/2009, 1:38 PM
Depending on the camera, there may be ~2-7 frames at the beginning of each take that have no timecode embedded. In many apps, the t/c for those frames merely shows up as "-1"
dtudela wrote on 11/10/2009, 1:47 PM
Thanks Bob, but could you re-read the original post. Maybe I didn't make it clear...Of course it isn't possible for an 83 minute tape to record 22 hours...as the time code implies. After discovering this issue, I ran some tests and sure enough, when I asked to capture from the beginning it gave me the same 22:26:26:17. . .However, when I started capturing into the footage a couple seconds then it picked up the correct time code...I recorded 5 different tapes and they all show starting at this same ficticious time code . . .guess I'll try a test using Vegas 7 . . .
musicvid10 wrote on 11/10/2009, 2:01 PM
See my response -- maybe it is picking up that timecode rather than -1.
I repeat: many cameras record no meaningful timecode for the first few frames at the beginning of a clip. Many Canon models are known for this.
Scenalyzer is good at showing you the t/c embedded on dv clips.
dtudela wrote on 11/10/2009, 2:26 PM
Thanks Musicvid. I will try your suggestion. My son shot the video on a Canon XL2. I will have him check out the settings. Thanks to Bob as well.
--Darrell
farss wrote on 11/10/2009, 2:27 PM
Musicvid is correct and Vegas has a real problem in this area.

Never, ever use the Capture Tape button in VidCap.
Press play, wait until you see TC rolling or see vision or hear audio and THEN and ONLY THEN hit the Record icon.

What will happen other wise is Vidcap will pickup the wrong T/C and/or the wrong audio sample rate and make everything else conform to this. It would seem that Vegas computes media T/C from the first frame's T/C. If you get that messed up it'll throw everything else out of wack.

Bob.
lynn1102 wrote on 11/10/2009, 4:01 PM
If I rewind my tapes from my Sony camera, vegas will list the starting time code as 1:24:00. Not even a minus. I always do a manual record once the time code starts counting from zero.
Would'nt it be ease to just cut those first few frames off the timeling?

Lynn
dtudela wrote on 11/10/2009, 6:08 PM
Bob, you are indeed right. When I play the tape and start capturing after the video shows in the preview the TC is correct.

Lynn, trimming the first few frames on the timeline does not fix the problem. Once the capture starts with the whacked TC it stays whacked throughout the capture. For example the TC starts at 22:26:26;17 and if the tape was an hour long it would end up with 23:26:26;17. I know it doesn't seem possible but that is the way Vegas is showing it. Thanks for your input though. Since I started this thread I have re-captured four of the tapes with the work-around and they came out fine.
--Darrell