Date/time info in video from Sony HD MPEG2 camcorder

[huykin]

I have a Sony DCR-SR100 camcorder that records to HD in MPEG2. The camcorder can be connected to a computer as a USB device, and MPG files can be copied from the MP_ROOT\100PNV01 folder on the camcorder to the computer HD. The camcorder HD also has AVF_INFO folder that houses 4 system files AVIN0001.INT, AVIN0001.INP, AVIN0001.BNP and AVIACCST. When I watch video on the camcorder, I can turn the date/time stamp on and off using the Data Code configuration in the camcorder menu. Is there a way to have a similar functionality when watching the copied MPG files on the computer?

I read that while DV files contain the time code info, MPEG2 files don't, so I may have to use a subtitle solution, which I would be ok with, as long as it is relatively straightforward.

I suspect that the camcorder keeps the time info in those sytem files. I've been backing them up every time I backed up MPG files, hoping that they may get useful in the future, but I wonder if any software can read them and extract the time code.

I am looking for a solution that would not permanently record the time stamp on top of the video, but an option to turn it on and off. The best solution would be the ability to do this within a software video player (MPC is my current first choice) while playing those MPG files, without any reencoding. Also I play MPG files directly without DVD authoring, so skipping authoring would also be a plus.

MPEG2 camcorders have been around for years, so I am hoping that this is a common issue for many people, and some kind of a "standard" solution has emerged. (Although I am not holding my breath, as I couldn't find much by searching this forum.)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

[huykin]

Any suggestions?

I promise, I'll do subtitles and DVD authoring, if that's what it takes.

By the way, "HD" in my original post refers to Hard Drive as opposed to High Definition.

Thank you!

[Baldrick]

You can easily use MPC and play a .mpg with a external subtitle file so you don't have to author.

But the problem is to extract the date and time. I have tried google it and I can't find anything so any standard solution doesn't seem to exist.

I would try post and search in http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=161

[gallion311]

huykin, not sure if you're still pursuing this functionality, but I finally have a working method.

It takes a few programs/utilities to make it happen, but we've done some thorough testing and it's working.

Let me know if you're still interested and I'll write down a tutorial of sorts.

gallion311

(PS: To my knowledge, this method only works with Sony HDD camcorders.)

[celayne]

I am very interested in trying to be able to display the date/time from a MPEG2 file, any help and/or advise is greatly appreciated.

[vanjh9]

I am very interested in the solution as well gallion311. Could you share it with me as well? Thank you very much!

[Safesurfer]

Don't know if this would work with your camcorder, but this may be of interest.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=110021

[fnx91]

I've written a small tool able to do so

Posted in this thread

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic335549.html

You can download it there
http://dl.free.fr/pNo24JrdB

Hope it helps!

[huykin]

huykin, not sure if you're still pursuing this functionality, but I finally have a working method.

It takes a few programs/utilities to make it happen, but we've done some thorough testing and it's working.

Let me know if you're still interested and I'll write down a tutorial of sorts.

gallion311

(PS: To my knowledge, this method only works with Sony HDD camcorders.)

gallion311: Is the method you mentioned based on the program created by fnx91, with manually running that program for each MPG file? If not, can you please provide the details of your method? Thanks a lot!