Miranda and f900 Where is my T.C.

Hired on this show after initial editing was done. There is no time code in the dailies. They all start at 00.00.00.00.

Shot with f900 and digitised off the Miranda box attached to the f900. There is a HD and SD burn of what looks like good code, but nothing in the meta-data t.c. I've tried assigning timecode but it doesn't seem to track correctly.

It's probably too late to do anything, but I need to understand.

Maybe the original assistant editor just did a non-controllable device "capture now" capture b/c he couldn't figure out how to get timecode off the miranda. So in a pinch he just grabbed what was needed so editing could begin instead of taking the time to ask what that 9-pin looking cable coming out of his capture card did. It's happened to me and it's a bitch once the project has already started began editing. Good luck!
~Thom

> Maybe the original assistant editor just did a non-controllable device "capture now" capture b/c
> he couldn't figure out how to get timecode off the miranda.

Way to get fired.

When you don't know something, you ask. Pretending and half-assed measures are a fast track to days and even weeks of wastage down the road instead of 30 minutes to figure out how to do it right the first time.

Your best bet is to backup those files. Now. To another drive, one that isn't in active duty. What you have is what I'd call "non-expendable media" or "manual clips". If any of the clip files gets corrupted, it's beddy-bye time to any edits you perform with that clip. Treat them like clips with no timecode at all, such as DVD extracts.

If the assistant messed up something as basic as timecode, I'd also do a thorough inspection before I start doing any editing. For example, did they use the right codec? Frame rate? Audio sample and bit rate? Did they miss anything on the tapes that they may have arrogantly assumed the editor would never need? I once had an assistant skip logging a take he'd thought was junk...until the boss and I told him what it means when the cameraman decides to shoot a microphone suspended in the air.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks for assuming this was my mistake. I am the editor, dealing with the problem. Not the P.A. someone threw the job at. BTW, there is a button on the Miranda for switching from HD to SD timecode out thru firewire. Which is what I am assuming was part of the problem. Along with not hiring a real assistant who would have hollered up a storm before digitising 52 1 hour tapes with a bunch of zero's for T.C. Something I noticed 5 minutes into working.

OK, so I've figured out the Miranda box needed 1 button pushed. To save a couple weeks of work. Now riddle me this, why can't I assign T.C. that will stay in sync with the Burn in, generated by the f900?

I'm assuming shooting the mic means your shooting room tone I've
never heard or seen that but I like it.

> Thanks for assuming this was my mistake.

Oh, when I'd written "When you don't know something, you ask", I'd meant "you" in a general way. I've worked with inexperienced assistants before and I thought you had made it very clear that you were taking over from a project file already set up by someone else (alas). Which is why I was recommending that you comb through everything to make sure there isn't anything else nasty lurking. After all, if something else melts down later, you'll be the one stuck with cleaning up the mess, not the assistant. Sorry about the mixup.

Did you guys shoot 23.98fps on the HD originals? Is the SD timecode also 23.98fps? When you add the timecode (I'm assuming you're using Modify - Timecode), which settings are you using, and how far off are they from the burn-ins? Are the burn-ins accurate compared to the tapes?


www.derekmok.com