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Question on timestamps with RAW footage
Hi, I’m helping a friend with color correction on his short film. However, his edit has a timecode embedded.
Since I’m inexperienced with working with footage with a timestamp or timecode (I don’t know the difference yet), I’m wondering how to deal with this. Are there any tutorials for the workflow? The guys I’m working with don’t know anything either but we are all eager to learn!
Here are my questions:
1.) What is the difference between “timecode” and “timestamp”?
2.) How do you use the timecode/timestamp in the workflow in Premiere Pro CS6 on a PC? Links to videos will be helpful!
3.) How do I get rid of the timecode/timestamp without needing to crop the footage? Is there a feature in Premiere Pro that does this with the RED raw footage?
4.) What kinds of things do I need to know about importing footage with timestamps? The video is already edited (see the screencap), so am I supposed to replace the timestamped video with non-timestamped video? If so, how do I do that?
As you can see, I need a lot of help here. 🙂 Attached is a screencap from the footage I’m going to be working on. I’m pretty good at color correcting thanks to Creative Cow, but I don’t know how to deal with the timestamp aspects. Thanks in advance for your help!
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2 Replies
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1) No such thing as timestamp in terms of editing. It is called timecode. If the timecode is visible on the image then it’s refereed to as “burned in”.
2) There are many uses. Usually timecode is used to match and sync multiple cameras or cameras and separate audio. If you’re linking video files that were offline or missing then timecode (whether it’s true timecode or just starts at 0) helps an editing program understand where the cuts in a sequence is and how something is assembled.
3) You don’t. If this is the only copy of the footage you were given, then it is near worthless. The timecode is part of the image and is not some effect or display that can be switched off. You can start color correcting but you’ll need the camera originals eventually.
4) As long as it matches, you’re fine. When your editor worked with copies of the footage that had the timecode stripped (everything starts at 0) while you have properly timecoded video… that’s where things start becoming a pain. Basically, it’s all seamless until there is an issue… difficult to answer your question without a context.
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Thanks for your answers, Angelo.
I now have the R3D files without timecodes as well as the edited MOV file with the timecodes (as shown in the screencap in my original post). How do I replace the timecoded files with the non-timecoded files? What exactly do I need? The film was edited in Final Cut Pro and I have Premiere Pro. I don’t have the FCP or an XML file yet. What do I need to ask for?
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