Help: Sony DCR-DVD405 subtitled date and time

[danradzy]

I just purchased VideoStudio11 plus. I have an issue with the program importing (and then not offering the option to turn off) the Sony's time and date subtitle. In other words, when it finalizes a movie, it displays the time and date stamp not as a subtitle, but as part of the main movie. Does anyone know if there is a patch that will address that problem? It's really annoying.

Thanks.

[Black Lab]

That subject has come up before. If I remember correctly it is a setting you have to change in your camcorder. Do a search for the thread(s).

[danradzy]

Yes, I realize I can turn it off in my camcorder, but it's a feature my wife likes (i.e., turning on the subtitles and seeing the date/time). Any idea why VideoStudio can't handle it?

[Ron P.]

Are you capturing DV or MPEG2 from your camcorder? The date and time can be displayed with DV, however not MPEG2, unless the function in your camcorder burns that into the video. If that is the case there's no consumer grade NLE that can simply turn it off. You would need to block, or blur it out, since it is a part of the video itself, and not separate data, as in DV.

[2Dogs]

Yes, I realize I can turn it off in my camcorder, but it's a feature my wife likes (i.e., turning on the subtitles and seeing the date/time). Any idea why VideoStudio can't handle it?

In the camcorder, the date and time is stored on a separate track on the tape. Therefore you can turn it on or off as you wish.

When you capture the video onto your pc, however, everything is on one track. Therefore you have a choice - capture with the date showing, or capture without it.

I know that wives can get funny ideas sometimes, but there isn't really an easy way to enable the time and date function on the DVD or video on your pc. If you really wanted to have it, you could make a subtitle track which carries the information - but I don't think that VS allows the use of such tracks, even though they comply with the DVD standard.

[Ron P.]

2Dogs,

That's true for DV however I just done a quick read on his camcorder which records to DVD. The best I could find is that the date/time code is automatically burned to the disc, and that playback on TVs is controlled by the DVD player in which the disc is being played back on, or in the event the camcorder is being used, then it is turned on/off by the menu in the camcorder.

Since it records to a DVD, MPEG-2, I'm confused on how VS is seeing this. It's been my understanding the time code is only readable on DV, and VS does provide a means to disable or enable this in the Preferences dialog.

[2Dogs]

As far as I know VS only has an option to show the timecode in the preview window - it can't appear in the rendered output. Therefore the time and date info must be stored differently from timecode info, if there is any, by the fact that it can apear on the rendered output.

I wonder in what format the video file is stored on the camcorder DVD disc? Presumably some sort of mpeg2, but maybe in a transport stream. Do you have an option to capture the video with the disc in your pc drive, having finalised the disc in the camcorder if it's a single write type - or can you only capture with the disc in the camcorder and a firewire connection to the pc?

[Clevo]

I would tell the wife that it makes the video look ugly and turn it off.

Use titles to suggest date and time and leave them up for a few seconds....really small in bottom left hand corner.

then turn the date and time OFF!

[lancecarr]

Just to clarify here.
The date and time of the MPEGs recorded on the DVD cams is of the date and time WHEN it was recorded.
It does not contain a continuous date/time code that is related to real time. The timecode within the MPEG starts always at 0:00 and goes from there.
The only way to get a real time date timecode is by setting the cam to record it specifically and that is burned permanently on to the video image.

[phil192]

I had this issue and found it strange as the date/time was never displayed when I opened the individual clips in Media Player. I solved it in VideoStudio Pro X8 by going into preferences->Edit->Video and unticking the subtitle box (as shown in the screenshot). Hope this helps