What MAC program retains HDV timecode??

Shannon Rawls wrote on 6/5/2006, 8:38 PM
I am going to run an experiemnt.

Currently, there are NO Windows based programs on this big beautiful planet that will retain proper timecode of any HDV camera that recorded its footage in PRESET.RECRUN mode or FREERUN mode timecode.

Having said that, I was wondering if there are any MAC based programs that do.

Currently the only 3 programs I know that capture HDV footage for MAC users are:
1. Final Cut Pro (60i & 30p only)
2. HDVxDV (all framerates)
3. DHVSCAP (all framerates)

I was wondering.....which of the above three programs will accurate capture footage from Sony, JVC and more specifically Canon XL-H1 with the .m2t file having the correct timecode embedded in it.

To make sure I am clear about what I am asking......... Please capture some HDV footage from your HD100, Z1u or XL-H1 and be sure that the tape DOES NOT BEGIN at 00:00:00;00. Honestly, FREERUN timecode is the best test while capturing over a few timecode breaks and such.
Once you have succesfully captured a few seconds or minutes of footage, playback the file in your MAC and ensure that the timecode at the beginning of the .M2T file is the same number on the minidv tape where you started your capture at.

Please reply with your results. *smile*

THE TEST that I am going to do is the following:

Since .M2T files are multi-platform, if someone replies with a successful capture of HDV footage retaining timecode in the file on their MAC, then I am going to take that timecode-embedded file and put it on a PC, and see if Sony Vegas can read it correctly.

If it does....I will buy a MAC to be used for HDV capturing only, since PC companies can't seem to get it right.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/5/2006, 9:16 PM
To my knowledge, none of them.
FCS doesn't.
Shannon Rawls wrote on 6/6/2006, 12:26 AM
Spot,
Barlow said the MAC version of DVHSCAP does in fact retain timecode from PS.RECRUN & FREERUN captures. He said that's the only one that does.

*exciting*

So he said he is going to send me a few small clips to put into Vegas and see if Vegas correctly reads the timecode-embedded .M2T files with correct TIMECODE IN values.

*crossing fingers*

Because if this works, I will buy a MAC and dedicate it to doing all our HDV capturing then bring the timecode-embedded .M2T files over to PC via gigabit network for editing on Vegas.
riredale wrote on 6/6/2006, 10:00 AM
Can you guys elaborate?

What doesn't my FX1 do? When I capture with HDVSplit, the m2t file is named after the time that thte first frame was shot, and each succeeding frame is numbered starting from 0. Do you mean that the camera should embed the time, down to the millisecond, that each frame was shot? I don't understand.
epirb wrote on 6/6/2006, 2:28 PM
I'd have double check but from what I remember HDV split uses the timestamp info on the tape to indicate clip name. ie year/month/day/hour/min/sec/ This is different than the tapes timecode which indicates time into the tape and frame numbers or ie hr:min:sec:frame# either starting from 00:00:00:00 or a preset like Shannon is refering to.
According to what i have heard there is no real timecode standard in place for HDV so it varies from cam to cam.
Its there on the tape as you know you can see it in the FX display. it gets lost in the capture and of course then so in the CF DI.
Every clip including the m2t's if you place on the t/l start at 00:00:00:00