How to dump timecode from QuickTime metadata

[Milivoj]

REDline has this great feature of being able to output the metadata of .r3d files.

Would anybody know of a command-line utility which would do the same thing for QuickTime files?

Once my .R3D files are encoded in QT ProRes, I would like to get a listing of the QT metadata (particularly the timecode info) for further processing.

Of course, I could hack something together by using the QT file name to find the original R3D, and using redline on the original. But I'm hoping there is something simpler which would just print the metadata directly from the QT to stdout.

Google found me various GUI stuff which displays the info, but no basic command-line tool.

[Gunleik Groven]

Isn't this basically what Monkey extract does?

Gunleik

[Milivoj]

As far as I could see, not at all: "It is a way to automate rendering using an EDL. It will scan the EDL and render only the footage contained in the cut with optional handles."

What I'm looking for is a command-line program to print qt metadata like timecode to the terminal window, like redline does.

[Gunleik Groven]

Sure you're not talking rubbermonkey... Or I may well be wrong.

What I was thinking is that either Monkey or RedRushes can extract ALE files, which pretty much jave the data you're looking for...

But I may be way off, of course.

[MichaelP]

MetaCheater does this.

Michael

[Milivoj]

MetaCheater does indeed display the info in it's GUI. But as far as I could see, it's not a command-line tool either, so I can't use it in a broader shell script.

[Gunleik Groven]

blush... :)

[Mel Matsuoka]

There are two awesome OSX based commandline utilities that let you get info and manipulate Quicktime movies:

QT_Tools (http://www.omino.com/sw/qt_tools): Specifically, the qt_info command. Running it without args gives you a metadata dump like this (http://www.omino.com/sw/qt_tools/qt_info_example.html).

QTCoffee (http://www.3am.pair.com/QTCoffee.html): Awesomer than awesome commandline QT manipulation utility.

Not sure what platform you're on, so apologies in advance if you were looking for a Windows/Linux solution.

[Dave Rice]

I've looked into both QT_Tools and QTCoffee. qt_info does display some information about the timecode track in the quicktime wrapper, but it doesn't display information about the properties of the timecode like max24, visual or not, font, size, placement, drop frame, start value, etc.
Milivoj have you found any answer to this?
Dave

[Milivoj]

I have not been able to find a good tool to extract the TC information from these QT files. Apparently, the info is in a quite recent Quicktime atom, and the documentation I found discouraged me to try to parse it myself.

I did find one tool listing the info, but in a very weird and unpractical way. The "timecodereader" program appeared to write the timecode to STDERR instead of STDOUT, and came with a javascript wrapper, and an un-edited man page template. It didn't feel like a reliable tool, so I eventually didn't use it. But in case it does help someone, it is here: http://www.creative-workflow-hacks.com/2006/08/29/reading-quicktime-timecode-in-after-effects-redux-a-solution/ .

My original need was to create an XML of Merged clips for FCP. I intended to use the TC, but eventually used the slate numbers instead (I had these in the original audio files and in a database linking RED file names to the slate numbers).

The tool which lists all the info in an easy to parse way is redline (with the --printMeta option). So if you you can get to the original RED file from the Quicktime, it appears to be the best way for now.

[jamie parry]

hello
i got a friend to do this for me (i'm just a colourist....)
it is called aditc and it outputs the first value of the timecode track to stdout so you can use it in scripts.
i've used it in scripts to do "any old Quicktime">dnxhd (using ffmpeg)>avid mxf (using writeavidmxf) with timecodes intact. it was great for movies off little cameras.
I think metafuze (as of yesterday...) may make all this unnecessary but it was fun learning anyway and this my stuff is all native on mac os x (powerpc or intel)
correct use is
aditc /somefile/somewhere.mov
this will then put out the timecode to stdout eg
10:15:42:21

if it finds no timecode track it will add one with the start timecode 00:00:00:00 (I'm in PAL land here so its non drop frame) if anyone's interested i could do a 2997 drop frame version (or post the source code somewhere....
here is the powerpc version

http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/19681_1236463168.zip

the intel version will be next week when i'm back at work with a newer mac!
hope this helps someone
cheers
jamie

[Milivoj]

Jamie, coming back to this very old thread to see if there has been any news on the TC front, I just saw your mention of aditc last year. That sounds exactly like what I was looking for at the time, and I would again be very interested in such a solution.

The link you had posted is now dead, and it was for a PPC binary. Would it be possible to have an Intel binary, or the source?

I also wonder if this program gets the info from Quicktime libraries, or if it parses the .mov file itself. In the latter case, I guess it could easily be compiled for Linux and Windows.

[jamie parry]

http://homepage.mac.com/lindsayellis/aditc.html

love
j

[Milivoj]

Thanks a lot! It seems to work fine. What is the license on this?

[Bouke]

Little late, but nevertheless
mediaInfo.exe does the job, and more....

[Milivoj]

MediaInfo is fantastic, but I have never seen it display timecode. Or is there some other mediainfo.exe? I have these from sourceforge:


$ mediainfo --Version
MediaInfo Command line,
MediaInfoLib - v0.7.29BETA


and


MediaInfo.exe --Version
MediaInfo Command line,
MediaInfoLib - v0.7.33

But anyway, Jamie's aditc does it fine.

[jamie parry]

aditc is based on the apple quicktime libraries and built by xcode and the only license i think you need is....
creative license.
if you want to make something good with it go ahead! (just let me have it when you've done!)
and you must promise to spend quality time with those you love.

one thing though... if you save the quicktime with the position anywhere other than the start then use aditc on it THAT NEW POSITION TIMECODE is the timecode that gets reported.

however if you just aditc a quicktime that has been freshly made that is not an issue.

j

[Dave Rice]

Jamie, Thanks for aditc. It's been much more accurate at timecode reporting that mediainfo or ffmbc. Can you clarify what the license of aditc is? Is the source code available?
Dave

[jamie parry]

PM me
use of the binary is all cool. no problems as long as you are having fun!
source code?for building into your own app? let's talk....
j