film and timecode

[Martin Amezaga]

Hi, I would like to know all the steps involved in the process of filming and getting a final film copy of your work. This is what I understand up to know:

 

1.expose film

2.lab

3.Transfer

4. Editing

Now is when I start to get confused. After you edit on your PC how do you give the correct time code indications to the lab in order to cut the final negative? (if this is the way its done) .

I also understand that film has its own time code. What I dont know is how does it work and if it is rlated to the time code I get in tape after transfering my material.

I'll apreciate any comments, thanks and sorry for the poor english.

[David Mullen ASC]

Film has an edgecode, not timecode, both a human-readable number at regular intervals, and a machine-readable barcode number ("keycode"). You can burn in a timecode too with some cameras like the Aaton, but this is used more for syncing sound and picture more quickly in the telecine for dailies than for cutting neg later (called "conforming".)

 

Your video dailies will probably come with visible windows showing the timecode of the video transfer and the keycode of the negative. You should also get a separate "flexfile" which will tell the negative cutter the correlation of the time code to the keycode, etc. Hopefully your editing software will create an EDL (Edit Decision List) for the negative cutter containing both timecode and keycode information.

 

I'm not an editor though so I'm probably not explaining this well enough...

[Martin Amezaga]

Thank you Mr. Mullen, your answers are always usefull.

 

thank you for sharing your knowledge, regards.