Burnt-in Timecode
Use Burnt-in Timecode when a picture already shows the sequence timecode and you need an FCPXML of the same cuts, built from the multicam in a Resolve timeline.
The tool reads the numbers in a box you draw, finds where that timecode jumps, and writes a new timeline. Each cut is the multicam clip that was on the source timeline at that time, including its audio angle and linked audio track. The picture is read on your Mac and is not uploaded.
Use Timeline Builder instead when the timing comes from LTC, synced WAVs or a chased-timecode AAF. Burnt-in Timecode does not stamp WAVs or split audio.
What you need
You need two files:
- Picture. A video with the timecode burnt in. MOV, MP4, MXF and M4V files can be opened.
- Timeline. An FCPXML exported from DaVinci Resolve that already contains the multicam clips those timecodes point at.
The numbers in the box are treated as the sequence timecode, the same clock as the timeline, not the camera roll’s own timecode. Set Frame rate to the timeline rate. A picture file tagged 23.976 can still be read at 24 when that is the rate of the timeline.
How to run it
- Open Burnt-in Timecode from the Overview screen.
- Choose the picture, then choose the Resolve timeline.
- Set Frame rate. It follows the timeline when that file is loaded.
- On the picture, drag a box around the burnt-in numbers. The readout beside the picture, and a label on the box, show the timecode that was read. Tighten or move the box until that readout is right.
- Choose how often to sample. Sample every 12 frames is a practical start. A smaller number finds shorter cuts and takes longer.
- Choose Scan. The progress is the share of the picture that has been read. Cancel keeps the cuts found so far.
- Review the cut list, then choose Write timeline and import the FCPXML into Resolve.
A jump backwards, or a step larger than the sample interval, starts a new cut. Continuous timecode stays in one cut. The duration of each cut is the length of that run on the picture.
What the timeline contains
Write timeline uses the same multicam output as Timeline Builder. A burnt-in time such as 00:40:03:11 is looked up on the source sequence, then written as the matching in-point on that multicam clip.
Where the source clip uses one angle for picture and sound, the new clip keeps that link. Where picture and sound are different angles, both stay selected. A linked audio track on the source clip is copied with the cut, and its in-point moves with the slice.
Import the FCPXML into Resolve and spot-check the first and last frame of a few cuts against the picture before you hand it on. If a timecode falls outside every multicam clip in the source timeline, that stretch is written as a gap.
If the readout is wrong
Do not scan until the box reads a legal timecode that matches the picture.
- Draw the box tightly around the digits. A large box that includes the picture can pick up other numbers.
- Set Frame rate to the timeline, not only to the rate written in the video file.
- If the readout is blank or nonsense, move the box so the digits have a little margin and try again.
- If cuts drift further apart as the picture plays, the frame rate is still wrong.
The scan stores its result for that picture. Choosing the same file again restores the box and the cuts, unless the file itself has changed.