What is Timecode?

Time code is one of the video editors best friends. Time code is not just the name of an AWS video, it is an eight-digit code assigned to each frame of video on a tape. (00:00:00:00 – hours: minutes: seconds: frames)

Most editing software keeps track of the name of the tape and the time code at the beginning and end of all the clips you load into the computer. Time code makes it easier to let the person you gave all your footage to find what they are looking for. Rather than tell them that the trick they are looking for on your tape is, “right after Timmy Skateboardkid’s footage,” you can tell them that the footage they want is at 42:17:00. Putting in the tape and fast-forwarding and looking for something vs. knowing exactly where it is on the tape can save countless hours in the editing process. What if the hard drive that you keep all your video clips on decides to die in the middle of a project? If you keep the project file and the project media on separate drives, (and keep a back-up of the project file on a disk,) you should be able to open your editing program and “re-capture” all the footage that was lost when the drive failed. Don’t say it never happens to you, because it will. If your time code is constant, your computer will be able to search the tapes and reload all your footage no problem, (IF you made sure you entered the name of each tape the first time you digitzed the footage). But time code is only helpful if it is “un-broken” and sequential.

On most of the Mini-DV equipment we use when you press record the camera tries to pick up the time code from wher it left off at. If there is nothing there, it starts at zero. When a lot of filmers review something they shot, they make sure they don’t record over it by going a little bit past the end of the last recorded segment. Unfortunately, the camera starts the new section at zero again. So when you tell your editor to use the clip of Sammy Switchflips at 05:32:00, there could be multiple spots on the tape that are numbered 05:32:00 because it “zeroed” the time code everytime the filmer skipped ahead a little on the tape. If the editor is really busy, (lazy,) doesn’t look at the tape and just tells the computer to go to the time and record for 15 seconds, there is a good chance the clip won’t be there. If all the tapes have multiple “zero points” and you need to redigitize for whatever reason, you, (the editor,) are in a world of shit. As a filmer, the easier you make the editors job by providing tapes with good time code, the more likely the editor is to continue working with you.

How can you be sure your time code is good? There are two really simple ways. One way to ensure continious time code is before using a new tape, load it in the camera and record color bars or black over the whole tape. This method is called “striping.” Even if you just record in the middle of the tape after it has been striped, the camera will recognize the exsisting time code and pick up in the appropriate spot. If you don’t want to take the time to stripe all your tapes, the alternative is to record the world-famous, hand-over-the-lens-because-that-was-a-keeper shot for ten seconds. The reason you need to record so much extra after a good shot is so you can review the footage if you need to. After you review the footy with whoever, you need to MAKE SURE you overlap the last few second of the previous shot. If you don’t overlap, the camera wont have a reference point to pick up the time code and it will start again at zero. A good way to make sure you record enough after a trick is to keep recording until the skater comes over to ask, “Can I peep that real quick?”

Hopefully I’ve made the mystey of time code a little more understandable. One of the most important parts of a good video is a good filmer. A good filmer not only delivers beautiful footage of the best skating, but makes sure that the job of the people further down the production pipeline is made as easy as possible.