Sports Clock (Soccer Specifically)

[John Rofrano]

You could drop a Sony Timecode FX onto an Empty Event and mask off the parts that you don’t want. The timecode will start counting when the event starts and end when the event ends. Just extend the event on a track above all the others and position the time using Track Motion.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ray Frangie]

Hi John,

Many thanks for your prompt reply…

After fiddling heavily with what you suggested, I think I have it set out pretty good, so I really thank-you greatly for your help, so many things to do for something one would think is a simple task… (and to think I was going to create a text media for every second!)

By the way, I wasn’t sure what you meant by masking the parts I didn’t want, I kind of managed to use the Cookie Cutter here (is there a better way to do it?)

Now to complicate things a little… Soccer Match, 45 Mins, + Injury time… This injury time, I would like the clock to be in yellow, to indicate that the match is in injury time, how does one change the colour at that set period in time. Is this a simple task?

Your help is greatly appreciated

Cheers,
Ray.

[John Rofrano]

Ray, The cookie cutter is perfect for this sort of masking. Changing the color of the numbers is slightly more complicated. This is because the timecode is an FX and not part of the media itself and so any other FX you apply to change the color will not change the timecode (just the media which is empty).

We can, however, take advantage of the fact that the timecode is white and white can be used as a luma mask. So here’s what you do from scratch (you would start at step 5 since you already did the first 4 steps):

1. Add a new Video Track (Ctrl+Shift+Q) and keep it as the top-most track.
2. Insert an Empty Event on the Video Track
3. Add a Sony Timecode FX to the Empty Media
4. Add a Sony Cookie Cutter FX to the Empty Media and mask any unwanted numbers
5. Add a new Video Track BELOW the previous track you created
6. Press the Make Compositing Child button (down arrow) on this new track to make it a child of the previous Video Track
7. Insert a Generated Media Solid Color to the new Video Track and select the Yellow preset
8. Change the Compositing Mode of the parent Video Track to Multiply (Mask)

You should now have yellow numbers. Simply change the solid color media to any color you want during the duration of the match.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ray Frangie]

Hi John,

Many thanks for those instructions… They seem to work perfectly, well, kind of…

Once I added the Solid Colour, for some reason the Whole Screen became yellow except for like a small rectangle area in the top left, but then Video Pan/Crop, I moved it out of the way, and it seems to have worked, and the numbers are yellow. Also when I added the yellow, the time before the yellow time disappeared, so I added a White solid colour for those 45 mins, and then video panned to get it out of the way just like the yellow, and that seems to have worked. Why it did that I have no idea…

Another question or 2, if you don’t mind me asking, this timecode idea, this will only work if the video file is in one clip correct? Or is it as long as the Empty Event is in 1 piece, this will work?

Also, is it possible to fade out the timecode then fade it back in without losing time? Example, on screen graphic, showing time and score, they score a goal, the on screen graphic disappears, a lower third comes up showing the goal scorer and the match score etc.. then that disappears and the on screen graphic appears with the clock continuing as if no time was lost…

Apologies for the multiple questions…

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ray.

[John Rofrano]

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[Once I added the Solid Colour, for some reason the Whole Screen became yellow except for like a small rectangle area in the top left, but then Video Pan/Crop, I moved it out of the way, and it seems to have worked, and the numbers are yellow.]

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When you initially add the yellow the whole screen is yellow but once you make it a child and change the parent track to multiply mask, only the numbers in the timecode should be yellow. You should not have to move anything out of the way. It sounds like you did not make the color track a child of the parent timecode track. This is very important.

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[Also when I added the yellow, the time before the yellow time disappeared, so I added a White solid colour for those 45 mins, and then video panned to get it out of the way just like the yellow, and that seems to have worked. Why it did that I have no idea…]

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Because the parent (timecode) track is now in “mask” mode and so it needs media under it in order to be seen. Sorry I should have mentioned this but I kind of hinted at it when I said that you could control the color of the text with different media below it… white being one of the colors you would need.

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[Another question or 2, if you don’t mind me asking, this timecode idea, this will only work if the video file is in one clip correct? Or is it as long as the Empty Event is in 1 piece, this will work?]

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You are displaying the timecode of the empty event so as long as that event is in one piece the timecode will continue to increase. Once you split the empty event the timecode reverts back to zero at the start of the split. It has nothing to do with the video length.

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[Also, is it possible to fade out the timecode then fade it back in without losing time? Example, on screen graphic, showing time and score, they score a goal, the on screen graphic disappears, a lower third comes up showing the goal scorer and the match score etc.. then that disappears and the on screen graphic appears with the clock continuing as if no time was lost…]

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As you have seen, the media on the child track controls the display of the timecode. Just remove the media where you don’t want the timecode to show. You can even fade the media out and the timecode will fade out as well. The time will continue to run even when it’s not shown. You could also place a Composite Level envelope on the timecode track. That would be another way to control it.

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[Apologies for the multiple questions…]

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No apology needed. I hope I answered them in an easy to understand way. They were great questions. Asking questions is how we fill in the gaps in our knowledge.

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[Your help is greatly appreciated.]

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You’re welcome.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ray Frangie]

Hi John,

How I didn’t find this forum earlier, I have no idea, your help has been great, I really appreciate it.

To make it easier to explain what was happening when I added the Solid Yellow Colour to Track 2 (with Track 1 being the TimeCode Empty Event), i’ve uploaded a screenshot of what I was seeing prior to moving the screen around.

This image is at: https://www.rcsystems.com.au/YellowScreen.png

Maybe this will shed some light on to what you may think it is. Also i’m pretty sure I followed your steps correctly about the Child/Compositing mode but you’ll see that in the screenshot as well.

Let me know if this helps at all.

Other than that, thanks to you, I think I’m getting the hang of this timecode stuff 🙂

Cheers,
Ray.

[John Rofrano]

Wow, they say a picture is worth a thousand words and they ain’t kidding. I saw right away that you used Track Motion as I suggested to place the timecoode. All you have to do is copy the Track Motion Keyframe from the timecode track, and paste it in the yellow track and all will be well. (i.e., open Track Motion on the timeocde track, right-click the keyframe and select copy. open Track Motion on the yellow track, right-click the first keyframe and select paste)

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ray Frangie]

Perfect! That sure fixed it 🙂

This is so cool 🙂 hehe…

Thanks heaps for your help John, now I can go focus on the 2nd Half of the game 😛

Cheers,
Ray.

[John Rofrano]

Great! I’m happy it worked out.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Travis Howland]

Hello – I have a quick add-on question to this one. A soccer clock usually counts up from zero and picks up where it left off in the second half. Thus any game over an hour is typically shown in minutes (not hours and minutes). Any tips on how to get the clock to show up as 90:00 instead of 1:30:00?

Thanks!
Travis