The VideoLAN Forums

Great player, I like it a lot. I use it mainly to play HDV footage.

There are two features I really would love to see being added:

- Continuous display of the video file's time code. This would make it a lot easier to go back to a specific sequence.
- Frame by frame display.

Keep up the good work.

Frame by Frame is present in 1.0.0

Hello All,

On this same subject, I have a problem I'm needing help with.

I have a client who needs video transcribed. I receive files from them in .mov format. Although this is a Quicktime file, I know VLC plays these files quite nicely. However, the problem is that the client wants to have the "time-stamp drop-code" to precede each statement being transcribed. In Quicktime, you can just click one time next to the timer to select this option, but I can't find this option anywhere in VLC. As advanced as VLC is, I can't imagine that it doesn't have such an option, but for the life of me, I can't find it anywhere!

Frankly, I am a long time VLC user (since 0.8.6), and I prefer it over all other media players. I don't like being forced to use QuickTime. However, so far, it's the only media player I have found that will display the "time-stamp drop code". However, the problem with Quicktime is that a) I can't select individual audio tracks to play like I can in VLC, and b) it won't work with my foot pedals (at least, I haven't found a way to make it work). I found a program on the internet that will force VLC to work with my footpedal, but there's no point in me installing that if I can't make VLC display the "time-stamp drop code".

If I am reading the comments in this thread correctly, "EricRock" appears to be saying that VLC doesn't do this. Am I understanding that correctly?

Any ideas? Anyone?

You need the timecode as in hh:mm:ss.ff ?

J-B,

Yes, that's what I'm needing. VLC starts the time at 0:00, and shows the total time of the video. That is certainly handy in a lot of cases, but not in this case. In QuickTime, in the lower left corner, the default time being shown is the same as VLC's. However, the client requires this other thing called Time Code: Drop-frame, which is in the format you describe. In QuickTime, when I click on the dropdown arrow next to the time, I have that option, and the time at the beginning of the sample file I was given changes from 0:00 to 09:13:24:27, and goes from there. I assume this is some kind of time stamp that was recorded somewhere in the formatting of the video, but all of this is beyond my technical expertise. All I know is that I need VLC to display the same thing. Can that be done? If so, how?

Thanks for responding!

Do you need this to be accurate in ms or in frame?

J-B,

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the question. First, I don't know what "ms" means in your last message. Could you clarify (in lamen's terms) your last question?

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me get to the bottom of this.

millisecond

Thanks for the clarification, but I still don't understand the question. I'm afraid I'm not a very advanced user. All I know is that I need VLC to have the same display in terms of time as Quicktime does. I believe the display is showing miliseconds.

can you show me a screenshot?

At least Windows version of QuickTime only has normal time and frame number options.
http://imgur.com/mux44.jpg

Well, what I need is the frame number one.

Well, what I need is the frame number one.

then why dont you download it and get it yourself, its goddamn quicktime ffs not NASA code

Hey guys,

To follow up to this discussion, is there actually a way to display the full time code in VLC? As in hh:mm:ss:ff?
(Would be happy with just the frame number)

Im an animator currently working on a music video. Accurate viewing of our preview videos is really vital in the process of
retiming and improving our shots. Sometimes we want to know exactly the frame number we are talking about
without having to load up all the creative apps and projects

I love VLC. It just works. But it would help so much to see the timecode.

Quicktime seems lovely. You can scrub through the timeline with the greatest of ease, frame by frame, but for some
reason Quicktime seems to desync the audio from the video. Unbelieveable. Seems to get worse the more you watch
the file, rendering it useless to us. We're are using H.264 encoding on the video files but I have experienced desync
in Quicktime with .mov files so I dont believe it is anything to do with that.

Any help or input would be greatly apprieciated.

Matt

So far, I don't think we can display :ff

It shouldn't be hard to do if someone actually wants it.

Thanks for you response j-b. Sorry just saw your reply.
Assumed the forum would send me an email when the was a reply. Guess I should have set it up myself.

I assume you want more people to request such a feature, because I want it. I'm sure your busy with more pressing matters but just thought I'd reiterate my enthusiasm for it. You say it wouldnt be too hard... having no programming experience does this mean a 30min job or...?

Also In and Out Point markers at each end of the timeline which you could drag to set the portion of the video you wanted to view would be
great.

Thanks
Matt

With no VLC programming experience, this is almost 3 days of work...

And how long with VLC programming experience?

However, I assume this means you're not going to do this. Thanks anyway...

No, we will do it at some point, but I don't know when... To me, it seems a bit complex to be accurate though

Hi!

I'm also in the same biz, and i love vlc but having the ability to move BACK one frame as well as move forward is badly needed.

And having SMPTE timecode? That would be AMAZING!

is there any movement on these ideas?

Reliable backward one frame isn't going to happen. Forward one frame should be a bit better with certain formats in VLC 1.2.0 (but not perfect).

In keeping this alive, SMPTE timecode would be great, possibly worth a reasonable bounty if someone with VLC programming experience can allot time

Hi all,

I also need this function.

I really do not like to watch movies in non-full screen mode just to see what is the current display time

The timecode should be displayed at the bottom of the frame as in this picture:

Also there is a video about time-code "for dummies" http://vimeo.com/2324043

Until this feature is not implemented I found some workaround, which displays hours:minutes:seconds on the video and works with some popular file formats in Windows:
1) install ffdshow
2) open ffdshow video decoder configuration
3) click on OSD left hand menu.
4) Check OSD checkbox. Check User. Click on Current playing time .
5) Set the appropriate horizontal and vertical position for your time code.
The settings should look as in the picture below:

6) Click OK.

The result should be displayed as in the picture below:


You can also set the frame number the same way, but it is not in HH:MM:SS;FF format

Please implement it sometime - it is really needed for film makers.

I would also appreciate having the full time displayed and be able to advance frame by frame. For my behavioural analysis I need to record the duration of movements that are often inside 1 second. I previously did this using a HDV/DV camcorder plugged into the TV, from which I was able to display the time + frames and I write down the start and finish time of each movement. It is slow going rewinding tapes and playing them in slow-mo so I've upgraded to digital. For now the only program I can find that displays split seconds and allows me to easily move back and forward "frame-by-frame" is quicktime 7. However, this is an old program that doesn't handle the HD files as well and I would much rather use VLC and take advantage of the automatic deinterlacing.

Frame forward should work correctly in 2.0. But we do not have some timecode that are frame-accurate.