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How do you like to add Timecode for Clients?
I have a pretty lengthy process for outputting a video with Timecode for my clients to comment on and am looking to simplify and speed up that process.
What I do now:
• Export from the timeline using Export > Quicktime Movie… (current settings)
• Bring that video back into FCP and drop it into another timeline and put a TimeCode Reader filter on it
• Export from the timeline again using Export > Quicktime Movie… (current settings)
• Bring the video with timecode into Compressor and transcode to H.264The reason I’ve taken to doing it this way is because if I were to nest my sequence and put the TimeCode Reader filter on the nest it would require rendering, whereas with my method there is no rendering required when the TimeCode Reader is applied. It does, however, require me to export twice and then transcode which can take a lot longer than I’d like.
Any suggestions for something I should be doing differently? How do you like to add timecode to your projects?
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15 Replies
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I am sure you can add the timecode window in Compressor. Plus QT player can put a t/c overlay window on during playback.
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Yeah, I should have mentioned that I don’t like Compressors TimeCode Generator because there’s no option to add a semi-transparent black box around the text so the text disappears behind white frames. I tried making a box for the text and using it as a watermark, but the watermark appears over the text so that won’t work. D’oh
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Dustin- Maybe this will help. Duplicate your sequence in FCP> Ad the time code overlay in your new sequence>render>export to .264 as quicktime export or use compressor.
This works for me. HTH.
JerryMacPro 2.93 Quad
FCP7
Sony Z-1
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Dustin,
I use TokiTC. https://www.tokitest.fr/english/tokitc.html
It’s great and does exactly what I need it to without an additional render. If you were in FCP7, you could export a QT reference movie. Or in FCPX, export a full res QT file.
Open the QT file with TokiTC. When the file first loads, it will ask you if you want to import the timecode. A friend recommended saying no to that. So I always just hit no.
You can change a bunch of settings. I always change the background to black and the text to white. Turn everything off in the panels other than TC (unless you want other stuff on). You can move the TC wherever you want in the frame.
It saves the TC as a text track within the Quicktime file. So, it takes between no time at all and a few minutes, depending on the length of the project.
I then open the file in compressor. Or, if I want to save time, I use Quicktime 7 and export to iPod. It makes a great quality movie and is very fast.
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It’s the semi-transparent box that’s killing you on your render time. If you go with a solid box you can use Compressor which will be the fastest option.
Shy of using Compressor you can still expedite the process by dropping your sequence onto a new sequence and applying the generator to the nested sequence. This removes one export.
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For the record, QTchange has the same functionality.
And for the OP, if you burn in timecode, why on earth is it important how it looks? The whole idea is to give people feedback on what to write down, and/or make sure the video is not repurposed without your consent.
Now for Michael, how does one get QT player to overlay timecode?
Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pros -
Jeff Meyer It’s the semi-transparent box that’s killing you on your render time. If you go with a solid box you can use Compressor which will be the fastest option.
Shy of using Compressor you can still expedite the process by dropping your sequence onto a new sequence and applying the generator to the nested sequence. This removes one export.There’s no render time in my workflow, just export time – which is significantly shorter than render time. If I were to nest my sequence like you suggested and put the TimeCode Reader on the nest, then I would have to render that.
As far as I can tell, there’s no way to put a box (semi-transparent or 100% opaque) around the timecode in Compressor, please correct me if I’m wrong about this.
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Yeah, that seems like what most people are doing but that method actually slows down my overall time because rendering my entire sequence with the TimeCode Generator on there takes about 16 minutes whereas exporting only takes 2-3, so even though I have to export twice before transcoding to H.264, I’ve still saved 10 minutes.
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Bouke Vahl The whole idea is to give people feedback on what to write down
Exactly, which is why it’s important that the timecode is legible – to ensure that, I require either a drop shadow or a surrounding box to make sure that the timecode can still be read even if the timecode color is the same as the background image. Compressor doesn’t offer either of those options as a solution.
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Bouke, this was reported by Walter Biscardi many years ago
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1041043
It is for QT 7 not X
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