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1. and DVCPro formats If you plan on using only DV equipment DVTC will be an acceptable alternative to SMPTE or EBU timecode As the popularity of the DV format increases DVTC is becoming more integrated into the realm of professional post production RC timecode is a format Sony developed for use with consumer Hi8 equipment For all practical purposes it is obsolete but if you re planning to remain in an RCTC environment it will do the job The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk Better cheaper easier Types of Timecode Timecode can be stored in a number of physical locations on the videotape Address track timecode a k a VITC is encoded as a separate signal in addition to the video and audio signals on a tape It s the best of the three types of timecode listed here because it s invisible accurate doesn t interfere with the video image and leaves all of the audio tracks available for audio Audio track timecode a k a LTC is stored on one of the audio channels on a videotape If you re working with a videotape format that doesn t support SMPTE or EBU timecode such as VHS or DV you can use one of the tape s audio channels to store SMPTE or EBU timecode Of course that means you can t store audio on that channel and you ll need an editing system that can understand audio track timecode Window burn timecode a k a BITC is usually reserved for work copies of master tapes b
2. that recording begins on top of your extra footage Note that if you have to switch your camera into VCR mode to do this you might lose your manual white balance setting Be sure to set it back when you switch back to record mode Some cameras automatically use time of day timecode The camera uses its internal clock to record timecode that corresponds to the actual time of day A shot that has a starting timecode of 11 07 40 15 was shot at about seven minutes after 11 A M This can be useful information for time sensitive material such as news footage and certain types of documentaries but it can make editing difficult later on if the camera is paused frequently between shots Unless having a timestamp on your tape is crucial time of day timecode is best avoided One of the most common questions about video editing is why is timecode so important If you ve ever scrolled through a six hour VHS tape looking for that TV show you missed a couple of weeks ago you can appreciate the value of timecode As you might have noticed every time you remove the tape or turn the power off on your The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk Better cheaper easier home VHS deck the time counter resets itself to zero As you scroll forward through a few hours worth of tape the counter advances as expected However if you eject the tape and then put it back in the counter will read zero even though the tape was wound
3. Better cheaper easier Timecode Timecode is an important part of editing and is discussed more thoroughly in Chapter 13 Most DV formats automatically record DV timecode on the tape although higher end formats such as DVCAM offer more options as to how the timecode is recorded on the tape For example your camera might allow you to set the hour at which the timecode starts If so it might be useful in post production to have your timecode start at different hours on different tapes You might have tape 4 start at hour 4 which will help you and your editor stay organized later on When shooting every time you turn the camera on and off there will be a break in the timecode These timecode breaks can make capturing footage difficult later when you are preparing to edit Pausing the camera or leaving it in standby mode will not result in a timecode break unless you are using time of day timecode see below in which case timecode breaks are unavoidable Most DV cameras include special controls usually in the form of buttons on the camera that will search forward or backward for the last piece of stable timecode The camera will then cue the tape to the last frame of stable timecode and begin recording from there If your camera doesn t have such a feature you can protect your tape from timecode breaks by always letting the tape run for a few seconds after the end of your shot Then before you begin taping again back the tape up so
4. at 30 fps and making up for it by skipping a frame number every now and then Drop frame timecode is usually indicated with semicolons separating the hours minutes seconds and frames 01 00 00 00 Non drop frame timecode is indicated by colons 01 00 00 00 Unfortunately this is not a standardized feature outside the realm of professional editing equipment and not all VTRs display timecode in this manner Drop frame timecode is the standard for analog and digital 29 97 fps video for broadcast television in America but if your project somehow ends up with non drop frame timecode don t panic just make a note on the tape s label Whether you choose to work in drop frame or non drop frame doesn t matter as long as others know which one you re using The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk Better cheaper easier Timecode Standards Just as there are different standards for video there are several standards for timecode SMPTE timecode is the professional industry standard in the United States set up by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers SMPTE All professional NTSC and HD equipment uses SMPTE timecode EBU timecode is the European cousin of SMPTE timecode used by all professional PAL equipment and set up by the European Broadcasters Union EBU DV timecode DVTC is the format developed by Sony for DV tapes and only the DV format uses DVTC not the DVCAM
5. e slowed down 1 but if you have your film transferred to video without sound and capture the sound separately you ll have to slow it down by 1 yourself in order for it to sync up with your telecined film If you re editing with PAL video there usually is no pull down process The standard method is to transfer each frame of 24 fps film or HD video to one frame of 25 fps PAL video and accept the fact that it will play slightly faster at 25 fps during the editing process Later when you go back to film or 24 fps HD the speed will return The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk Better cheaper easier to normal Many people consider the speed difference between 24 fps and 25 fps unnoticeable Four frames of 35mm film each containing a distinct image OohOnTnA Fn acad a a aca anad O GO O EZK jae a a aoaaaaa aaninanandnnid O A vee lalajajaja Field 1 Field2 Field 1 Field 2 Field 1 Field2 Field 1 Field2 Field 1 Field 2 1st frame of video 2nd frame of video Etc Five frames of NTSC video fig 12 02 Figure 13 3 3 2 pull down The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk
6. ecause it s burned into the video image itself and isn t removable Window burn timecode is commonly used for editing projects shot and finished on film or for low res worktapes of HD footage Calibrating Timecode If you re using a deck that uses serial device control as opposed to Firewire then some editing systems such as Apple s Final Cut Pro recommend that you calibrate the timecode before you start logging and every time you change to a different video deck Refer to your user manual for more information The Digital Filmmaking Handbook 2011 Ben Long and Sonja Schenk Better cheaper easier Timecode for Film Sources The film equivalent of timecode is called keycode Each frame of film has a keycode number that is embedded on the film negative by the lab where the film stock originated e g Kodak Fuji etc After the shoot the negative is processed at a lab and a film to video transfer is made known as a telecine transfer If you are planning to finish on film the keycode numbers are very important you ll need them in order to generate a cut list that will be used to by a negative cutter to edit the film negative prior to creating a final film print The standard procedure is to add the keycode numbers to your videotapes in the form of window burn along with window burn of the address track timecode that s been recorded on the telecine master With both the keycode numbers and the source tape timecode n
7. forward past the two hour mark With timecode if you re two hours into the tape when you insert it the counter on the deck will read two hours If you re 1 hour 10 minutes 3 seconds and 20 frames into the tape the counter will read 01 10 03 20 Whenever the counter displays that number you ll see the exact same frame on the tape Not only does this make it easier for you and your editing system to find stuff on your tapes it also makes it possible for the video deck to access any individual frame on the tape automatically thanks to device control commands sent from your computer This fine level of control means that with the right deck you can accurately insert scenes or capture footage from any point on the tape This allows you to reconstruct your edited sequence at any time For moving a project from workstation to workstation recreating a project after media has been lost or damaged or recapturing media at a higher resolution timecode is essential We ll talk more about low and high capture resolutions later in this chapter Drop Frame and Non Drop Frame Timecode Because the frame rate of analog NTSC video is an odd 29 97 frames per second drop frame timecode was developed to help round off the fractional frames to less awkward whole numbers With drop frame timecode the frame itself is not dropped just that frame s number in the timecode counter In other words the frame rate is still 29 97 fps but the counter is counting
8. umbers visible as window burn it will be easier to check the accuracy of your cut list later on Cut lists and film finishing are discussed in more detail in Chapter 19 Output Since the keycode is permanently superimposed over the video this option is only viable if you are planning on eventually going back to film If possible you can have the window burned keycode and timecode placed outside of the image in the black letterboxed portion of the frame so that it isn t distracting during rough cut screenings If you re not planning to go back to film it isn t necessary to keep track of keycode numbers 24 fps Editing and 3 2 Pulldown 3 2 pull down refers to the way in which 24 fps film or HD footage is transferred to 29 97 fps analog NTSC videotape The first frame of film is pulled down to the first two fields of video the second frame of film is pulled down to the next three fields of video and so on Figure 13 3 Unfortunately in the resulting video a clean edit can only be made at every fifth video frame Editing applications that support 24 fps editing use a reverse telecine process to provide an environment where edits can be made at each film frame Just to make things even more complicated to achieve the 29 97 native frame rate of analog NTSC video the film picture is slowed down 1 during the telecine process to 23 976 fps If you have synched audio transferred with your film to videotape the audio will also b

Timecode

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