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Recording Date and Time using Canon Vixia HFG 30
I may have a need to record a deposition where I will need the date and time to be showing on the recording. I am using a Canon Vixia HFG 30. In the manual it says there is a data code which displays the date and time when the scene is recorded. However I can’t seem to make that work.
Anyone have an HFG 30 or similar Canon where you know how to make it record with the date and time? Any ideas on how to do this? I know I could use a time code filter in Vegas for the recording, but I’m not sure they will be OK with this since it wouldn’t show the actual time and date the recording was made. Any software suggestions that will use the metadata and be able to have the actual date and time show?
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10 Replies
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1. Save date and time as SRT subtitles (your footage must have recording date/time metadata)
2. Import SRT subtitles and create a text track -
On the HFG 30, set the “User Bit Type” to “Date”. Now, when you record your video, the time and date will be superimposed on the image. I just tested this, and it does work. That does, of course, presuppose that time and date have been set. I have not yet tested the “Time” setting to see what that does. Thanks for the question. It made me look deeper into the camera.
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Hmmm. Just tried that and don’t see any date and time on the recording. Maybe I missed some step? Hope I can make this work. It sure beats spending $100 on plug in to do the job.
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Thanks Alexey. Looks like it would cost me $100 to get the plug in though.
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You can try it for free (within 30 days)
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I am seeing it in the clip playing back on the camera, and it is clear that both time and date are being recorded. I am still looking for a way to see it on the computer.
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Yeah, I see it too when I play it back from the camera. But I need it to show up on a recording for a DVD. If you can find a way to do that, I’d sure appreciate knowing how. Thank for your help on this!
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You might want to consider picking up and old DV camera for recording depositions. There is no need for HD and I doubt you will find an HD camera that burns date and time into the video. It just doesn’t make sense for anything other than depositions and surveillance videos which are usually low quality anyway.
Anything you add after the fact is probably not admissible in court because it’s been tampered with.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Yeah I thought about that option. I thought about using my old Canon GL1 or GL2. And I agree that submitting anything other than original recording might present problems in court. Need to do some more research. Thanks John.
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OK Don! I have found a way to play back the video with the time and date. Although I set user bit codes for my test, I don’t think they are needed. The solution is really quite simple. If you connect the camera, via an HDMI connection to either a TV or to a computer, the camera will play back the recorded video and send the audio and video out through the HDMI cable. When it does so, the time and date are included in the video image.
So, the video can be played back and displayed on a TV for any legal proceeding. All you need is the card on which the video was recorded, and the camera.
For a computer, I will be very surprised if there is no software that can capture the video and audio coming in on an HDMI port. There is a second option if the HDMI cannot be captured. I have a small adapter box which converts the audio and video coming from an HDMI cable into a standard component TV output. The kind of TV signal that uses a yellow RCA connector for video plus two other cables with RCA connectors (red and white) for stereo audio. There are several devices that can convert a component connection into a digital signal which can be captured on the computer. So, capture of the original video and audio is completely doable.
I hope that helps.
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