Viewing Original DV Time Codes in Video Factory

tlparker wrote on 3/23/2003, 8:23 PM
Is there a way to do this? I read you could do it in Vegas, but I'm just making home movies and was hoping Video Factory could do it. I've got a bunch of home movies on DV I want to import, edit, and make DVD's from, and I want to be able to easily title the chapters with the date (and maybe time) the clip was recorded.

Also, any recommendations on which DVD authoring software to use would be helpful, I've seen some comments, but still not sure what to use. I'm going to need to have lots of menu entries, since there may be a lot of small clips, so nested or linked menus is a must. Also, ability to cross-reference menus (display clips by date, then maybe by subject on a different menu) would be helpful.

Thanks,
Terry
terryparker@myself.com

Comments

tlparker wrote on 3/24/2003, 3:49 PM
Nobody in here knows whether or not this is possible??? SOMEONE must know! Aren't there any SF employees that read these messages?
IanG wrote on 3/25/2003, 2:16 AM
VF doesn't allow you to display the time codes.

Ian G.
Grazie wrote on 3/25/2003, 2:22 AM
There is a timecode FREEWARE tool. I don't know if it will be of use. I haven't used it, but here's the link - it's halfway down page:

http://www.stagehandtools.com/main/downloads.htm

Grazie
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 7:24 AM

Nuts, that's what I was afraid of. I'm amazed how hard this feature is to get. But Vegas does display the original DV date/time codes, is that right?
Chienworks wrote on 3/25/2003, 8:32 AM
Vegas can display the original timecode, but not the date.
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 9:25 AM

WHAT?? Oh no, I just went and placed an order for Vegas today! Are you sure about this? The time does me absolutely no good, it's the date I need!
discdude wrote on 3/25/2003, 10:34 AM
Can't you just look at the date using your camcorder and write it manually in your titles? From what I understand, you don't need to have it constantly on your screen, which is what the Vegas "timecode" fx does.
Grazie wrote on 3/25/2003, 11:17 AM
TP - What do you want to do?

If you want to "Date Stamp" - viz something legal - on your video, can't you do this on the "shoot"? Can you apply the current date? If you need or want to add a date, then you can do what DD suggests. Do you have facility to add "graphics" as part of the shoot - I know I can do this with my Canon XM2. then this would be another option. Vegas is a post shoot NLE, Timecodes are the numbers of how many frames and hours/minutes that have gone by.
JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/25/2003, 11:22 AM
Get the freeware version of Scenalyzer. Not the Live version but the old scenalyzer that works on already captured files. (the link is in the middle of the download page) When you load a file, it will show you the date and time code. I use this all the time to check the date on my captured files.

~jr
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 11:57 AM
Not very practical when you have 20-40 different clips on a tape, possibly spanning over several weeks in time, and you want to know the date and time of each clip. What a pain to read the tape in via 1394 and have it broken up by time/scene changes, then have to go BACK to the camcorder for the actual date/time. I've got about 50 of such tapes to do, so not gonna happen. I've checked out Scenalyzer and it seems to do a nice job, though I still think the NLE ought to be able to do it, especially the ones that create chapters from time changes.
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 11:59 AM
Actually, I just got done checking out Scenalyzer Live and it seems to do a nice job. Is there any reason not to use it to read in the tape, creating separate files/chapters? Am I going to have to put them all back together again in Vegas to create a "constant play" DVD that also shows pieces as sub-chapters? Am I losing any quality (or something else) by have Scenalyzer read the DV tape in?
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 1:21 PM
Fist off, forgive my adding to the confusion by using the term "timecode", I'm aware of the differences. What I wanted to do was view the data portion of the DV information which contains the date and time that particular footage was shot (it would be nice to view exposure and other video settings too, but not necessary).

Scenalyzer will do this by naming the clips it creates with the date/time stamp.

Vegas 4's video capture will do this by allowing you to view the original date/time stamp of a DV clip in the media pool by clicking on it. This isn't the perfect solution (see my post in vegas forum), but will do for now.

Aftre playing with the Vegas demo to confirm this, I think I'm actually going to spend the extra bucks to use that instead of Video Factory / Scenalyzer, as I really like the things I could do in Vegas.