Timecode from 5D3

I have a shiny new 5D3 sat here and am doing some tests.

I have the timecode set to free run and Premiere Pro sees the timecode perfectly.

FCP X (10.0.7) always sets the timecode back to 00:00:00:00 but does have the creation time/date correct.

Is there something I can do to make FCP X see the 5D3 time code correctly? I'm also shooting with Canon XF cameras and have the XF utility installed (FCP sees that timecode correctly). Hopefully they aren't going to be mutually exclusive

42 views and no one knows how to get timecode from a 5D3 in to FCPX ?

What you are seeing is the Timeline Timecode (not the camera timecode).

Well, to see timecode in the source clips just go to >View > Show Skimmer Info.

Then when you skim over the source clips you will see the original timecode in the event library.

In the timeline if you select the Blade or Trim tool and hover the cursor over a clip you will see the source timecode is displayed in the central viewer.

This works with HDV footage and Canon T3i footage, so it should work for the 5D3.

Thanks for the reply, but it seems that maybe I didn't explain it well.

This is the timecode shown in the event browser (not viewer), and not on the timeline.

The clips in the event browser are all showing 00:00:00:00 next to every clip instead of the camera timecode. Premiere Pro shows the camera timecode, which is what I expected.

I don't need to see the camera timecode once it's in the sequence, but I do want to see it as I'm browsing clips in the event browser.

Could well be that I am missing the point; but the first part of my answer is the normal way for seeing the timecode in the event browser though View > Show Skimmer Info.

Then when you skim over the clips in the Event browser you should see a black box appear above the skimmer that displays the source timecode of the clips.

Have a look here:

fcpx.tv/tips4.html

I understand that part, but even in that example, look under the word timecode to the timecode column. You have all 00:00:00:00, but those should be showing the start timecode for that clip.

What I am seeing is this, from a recent project:

i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac215/simonp...0825_zps78abbe1e.png



You will note the black box above the skimmer is showing the TC of the actual skimmer position.

The data below shows the TC of the individual clips.

This is a screen shot of 5D3 footage just ingested.

All the start times are set to 00:00:00:00, though the timecode shows in the black box when skimming.

So, how do I get it to show the correct (timecode) start time in the start column?

How did you import your files?

The start times are also ALL set to 00:00:00:00 in the media import dialog, yet all my Canon XF footage shows the correct timecode everywhere.

Sorry, I need to clarify that the clips in the screencap I posted were from an HDV camera. I just wanted to point out where the TC is in the viewer. If you are not seeing that with the 5D clips then there is some issue somewhere.

As it happens I will be getting a 5Dmk3 in 2 days, and will check to see if I am getting the same issue.

simonpwood wrote: Sorry, I need to clarify that the clips in the screencap I posted were from an HDV camera.

Thanks. Therein lies the problem. I'm getting timecode from my other video cameras, but not from the 5D3, yet from the same files Premiere Pro is seeing the timecode with no problems.

It will be interesting to see what you get when your arrives. Please come back and let me know!

Hi Dave

What method are you using to import the files into Final Cut?
Straight from the card?

I know that because there is no E1 plugin (thanks Canon grrrrr) for FCP X that my 5D MK II Files all come in with zeroed time code. For this reason I bought Magic Bullet Grinder to solve the problem.

But I do know that the MK III does things differently and was hoping it would "just work" in FCP X.
Appears not.

I've tried both importing straight from the card or from a folder (all card files/folders copied).

I can run QTChange on them and it works, but I had hoped that Canon were embedding the timecode within the files themselves for FCPX to read.

It is strange that Premiere Pro is seeing the timecode though.... when it doesn't see it on the 5D2, so something did change somewhere.

OK, just got a hold of the 5Dmk3. Timecode is not showing up on FCPX, same as you. However the canon is recording the TC, because I can see it on the playback (when watching in the camera itself).

The footage looks pretty noisy to me too; I need to do more tests to get familiar with it.

simonpwood wrote: OK, just got a hold of the 5Dmk3. Timecode is not showing up on FCPX, same as you. However the canon is recording the TC, because I can see it on the playback (when watching in the camera itself).

...and Premiere Pro sees it perfectly on a clip by clip basis too. So this is surely how FCPX is ingesting it.

So, at least I'm not going crazy here then. I was wondering if it was something I was doing wrong.

simonpwood wrote: The footage looks pretty noisy to me too; I need to do more tests to get familiar with it.

Wow. I have 2x 5D3s here and I'd say it was very low noise, especially compared to the 5D2 and D800 etc.

I posted a D800 vs 5D3 comparison here :

There is no sound on this, and make sure you play full 1080p.

The 5D3 has amazingly little noise all the way up to 6400 and even 12800 is usable. the D800 got nasty pretty quickly.


Are you seeing something different?

Yeah, I am seeing some noise that is distracting to me in large flat surfaces, or in shadows. This was in a indoor test, maybe at 1000 ISO.

No noise outdoors at low ISO's. Could be I was exposing badly though. Still testing this camera to see how it works out.

Does the 5Dmk3 have 'native' ISO's like the mk2 (I heard that was a thing of the past)?

What settings are you using as a basic set up?

simonpwood wrote: Yeah, I am seeing some noise that is distracting to me in large flat surfaces, or in shadows. This was in a indoor test, maybe at 1000 ISO.

No noise outdoors at low ISO's. Could be I was exposing badly though. Still testing this camera to see how it works out.

Does the 5Dmk3 have 'native' ISO's like the mk2 (I heard that was a thing of the past)?

What settings are you using as a basic set up?

Yeah. ISO 1000 is a pushed ISO 800, you're more likely to prefer the results at 1250.

"Is there something I can do to make FCP X see the 5D3 time code correctly?"

Simple answer: The 5D3 has no timecode.

Andreas

Andreas, what makes you say this?

Do you HAVE a 5D3?

Have you read the user manual ?

Are you making this assumption based on the 5D2?

Trust me, the 5D3 HAS timecode (it was one of the updates) and other apps see it perfectly well.

No. I don't have a 5D3.

I only got files from customers.

From what I can see is that the THM part has changed. That allows to certain extend to extract a timecode.
Maybe my files are not actual though.

One other "option" to find the timecode is to open the file in QT Player Pro. If it's there and FCPX doesn't see, it's a bug. If there are 2 timecode tracks FCPX will only see one of them and therefore probably takes the wrong one. You can delete the "00:00:00:00" track.

Andreas