Does Inferno record time code on camera playback?

[Nick Mirro]

Hi. I have a Canon XC15 connected to the Inferno. The clips on the camera have embedded time codes. When I play/record them on the inferno, the time code in the clip does not show on the inferno. The Inferno time code is set to HDMI.

Does this mean the pro res file will have its time code stripped out? I have to convert the MXF files on the XC15 to pro res and need to preserve the time codes.

[Christopher Young]

Check this out:

• The frames value of the time code runs from 0 to 23 (frame rate set to 23.98P or 24.00P) or from 0 to 29 (all other frame rates)
• However, when the video output from the HDMI OUT terminal is 59.94i/59.94P/60.00P, the frames value of the time code output from the terminal will be 0 to 29, regardless of the camcorder’s frame rate setting.

All in the manual. Try page #85

Chris Young

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/4/030002...15-im-n-en.pdf

[Nick Mirro]

You did not address my question. I contacted Atomos and they cleared it up.

Camcorders do not generate a timecode during playback, only during live recording.

So to get timecodes from 2 cameras, 2 recorders are needed. I was hoping to record to one Atomos and then playback later to the same recorder. Not possible without losing one of the timecodes.

[Christopher Young]

Sorry to disagree here but every camera I have that has playback capability has the time code embedded in the file. If the camera in question does not have the timecode in the file or its HDMI implementation doesn't support the decoding of embedded TC then that is an issue with the camera. The Atomos recorders will read timecode back off playback files as long as the Atomos TC menu is set to read 'embedded" TC on the incoming signal regardless of whether it is a live EE signal or a played back signal. Set this in the Time Code menu.

As far as the XC-15 goes it DOES embed timecode into the clips it creates. If your Atomos will not read that embedded time code on playback of your files it likely means one of two things. 1) As mentioned above the Atomos is not set to read the "embedded code" or 2) the XC-15 even though it generates and embeds the time code in the file is not putting that code out across its HDMI port on playback. The later is the most likely.

As for confirmation of the embedding of the time code into the files check out page #84 of the manual. See attched file.

Also look at the Atomos Inferno menu page #23 with particular attention to the "2. SDI / HDMI Rolling Timecode Trigger record" section. See Attached file.

Try these suggestions and see how you go. You may have to trigger 'record' manually on your Inferno if the XC-15 doesn't put out a trigger via TC when you hit play on the camera. All things being equal what I have suggested should work for you. What you want to do is something we do frequently and have done so for years without issue. Though never with an XC-15 so good luck.

Chris Young

[Nick Mirro]

Hi Christopher. Not saying I disagree with you. I'd like to share Atomos' response on this. What do you think?

Aleksandar Tomic (ATOMOS)
Oct 8, 2020, 2:12 GMT+10
Hello Nick,

Thank you for your question.
When you record by playing from the camera you do not actually outputting a timecode therefore the file on the Atomos will not have timecode.
When you are recording live, the timecode is embedded with the signal which is how our unit can receive and record timecode.

Aleksandar Tomic
ATOMOS Support Center
253 36th Street, Suite B312

(Here was my question to them. I pointed out that the file to be played back had embedded TC.)

Nickmirro
Oct 4, 2020, 6:12 GMT+10

Hi. I have a Canon XC15 connected to the Inferno. The clips on the camera have embedded time codes. When recording "live," time code is attached to the pro res file.
When I "play" the camera MXF file to the inferno, the time code in the clip does not show on the inferno. The Inferno time code is set to HDMI.
Does this mean the pro res file will not have the time code if I record by playing from the camera versus live recording?

Brooklyn, NY 11232
Tel: 503-388-3236

[Christopher Young]

Nick. Your second question is the one I would like to see the response to. As I said previously if the playback from the camera doesn't read the file time code and send it down the HDMI then that is a problem. One would think if the code is embedded in the file that the camera playback should be able to read it and send it out with the playback.

One quick way to check is play one of the files in your NLE and check to see if it indeed does have the correct embedded camera time code. If it does and its not being read on camera playback then the issue would have to lie with the camera not reading the embedded TC on playback.

I don't know what system you edit on but a lot of NLEs have the ability to assign a time code value to clips. If I have the problem you are describing I just apply a custom time code to the ProRes clip to match a given time code, such as in your case the time code from the the first frame in the camera clip. This is essential for cuing up multi-cam clips from different cameras with non-synced time codes. See example custom time code setting image below.

Chris Young