searching with time code

[Robert Bobson]

I want to search for clips in a timeline based on the clip's original time code - is this possible?
There are hundreds of short clips and I can't figure out how to locate the ones I'm looking for.

thanks

[Robert Bobson]

Looking on the internet it appears that FCP can accomplish this easily. how come PP can't? or have I just not found the path yet?

[George Kilroy]

Put all clips on the Timeline.
Select the first clip
Go to the Effects menu and open Video folder
Drag Timecode on to the clip.

With the clip still selected go to the Effects Control window
click the arrow head to the left of Timecode to open the options.
go down to the Timecode Source drop down menu (6th item down)
open that and select Media.
Then go up to the heading Timecode and right clip to reveal the options menu and select Save Preset

Go back to the Timeline and select all of the clips
Go to the Effects window and select TIMEcode preset and drag that onto all the selected clips on the timeline.

Then scrub through and the original time code will be on screen.
You will then have that preset ready for any time you need it again.
Hope this helps.

[Robert Bobson]

Thanks, George. I already have the Timecode Effect on all the clips in my timeline - so I can see the clip's original timecode.

But I haven't found a way to search for a particular original timecode. It's too slow scrubbing thru the entire timeline (60 minutes long) looking for the timecode I need.

Is there a search box that let's me search for the original TC?

[George Kilroy]

I don't understand your problem.
Is the timecode of you clips not linear?
Do you have an EDL based on timecodes that you need to rearrange?
Surely It doesn't take too long to scrub through even a 60 minute timeline and drag those you want onto an upper track.

[Robert Bobson]

No, the clips aren't linear. There are hundreds of clips from dozens of interviews that have been mixed together already. and I still need to rearrange clips in the timeline, but it's so time consuming to scrub thru an hour long timeline to find the 10 second clips that I need.

Apparently FCP lets you enter the sought-after timecode in a search box and it moves the current time indicator right to it. Hopefully PPro will get this in their next version...

Anybody know of any work-arounds to make this easier for me?

[Pete Bauer]

Sorry, I still don't really understand what you're asking to do. Clip TC and sequence time really don't have any fixed relationship to each other so I also don't understand the comment about scrubbing the timeline to look for TC in a clip.

Is the timecode in each of these many short clips Rec Run (each starting from zero), or were they all Free Run and jammed to a continuous SMPTE clock? Are you looking for a clip with a particular starting TC, specific length, ending time, or what? If Free Run, are they synchronized on the timeline, or randomly (artistically) placed? Usually you'd use a unique clip name and/or metadata to sort and organize clips.

[George Kilroy]

Originally Posted by Robert Bobson

Apparently FCP lets you enter the sought-after timecode in a search box and it moves the current time indicator right to it. Hopefully PPro will get this in their next version...

There are two timecodes, the original as recorded within the clip metadata and the timeline timcode.

It's easy enough to reach a particular point on the timeline by over writing the current cursor time shown on the top left of the timeline window and hit return, the cursor jumps there, but I don't see how you can jump to the metadata t/c embedded in the clip, you'd need to select that clip first otherwise if you have hundreds of clips from different recordings there's the possibility that two or more could have the same timecode.
You try using the Video In Point info in the Project window. Click the heading to range the clips in order based on the video inpoints rather than the Media Start. Then scroll down to the time you're looking for and select the clip then open the Video Used drop down by the thumbnail at the top of the project to locate it on the timeline.

[Robert Bobson]

Thanks, George. I can always search back to the original clips, find the time-coded section, and re-edit it into the timeline. I just don't think there's anyway to do what I'm trying to do in PPro.

For whatever reason, I've never needed this function before. But hopefully they'll add it to PPro in the next version.

[Dave Partington]

Sort your bin in to time code order. Find the clip you want, load it to the source monitor, add a clip marker at the required time code and then go to the marker that will now be visible in the sequence.

Does that help?

[George Kilroy]

Originally Posted by Dave Partington

Sort your bin in to time code order. Find the clip you want, load it to the source monitor, add a clip marker at the required time code and then go to the marker that will now be visible in the sequence.

Does that help?

Dave you don't even have to load it into the source monitor. At the top of the Project Window there is a thumbnail of the selected clip, next to that are the properties and an indicator of the times it's used in the project. If you click the arrow head to open the list you can click on that and the cursor will go straight to that point on the timeline.

[Robert Bobson]

I have some 20 minute clips in the project window, from each of which I've used perhaps 15 difference sections.

So the clip in the project window would show me the 15 places in the timeline that clip has been used, but not the individual original time code of each use.

[George Kilroy]

I was only trying to help. Sorry if it doesn't do what you want it to.

[Robert Bobson]

I really appreciate all your responses, George! Thanks!! :)