[ARRIRAW] TC frame count when shooting over midnight

[Oliver Temmler]

When you are working with file sequences, the files are typically numbered, based on the time code, i.e. frames-since-midnight (FSM). If you happen to record while the time code wraps over midnight, the TC jumps from e.g. 23:59:59:23 to 00:00:00:00 (24fps time code).

This means, you would end up with a sequence like this:

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A001C003_150629_R6ZA.2073597.ari
A001C003_150629_R6ZA.2073598.ari
A001C003_150629_R6ZA.2073599.ari
<TC returns to zero>
A001C003_150629_R6ZA.0000000.ari
A001C003_150629_R6ZA.0000001.ari
A001C003_150629_R6ZA.0000002.ari

Since most software will identify a break in the numbering sequence as the start of a new sequence, the example above would be shown as two separate ‘clips’.

One option to avoid this problem is not to shoot using time of day time code, but use an offset. To avoid duplicate timecode, it’s a good idea to use the offset from the beginning of the night shoot.
If you already ran into the problem and recorded over midnight, you can use the Codex Software to fix the sequence (assuming you recorded ARRIRAW in camera or with a Codex Recorder). The Codex VFS can be set to generate ARRIRAW sequences with an absolute frame numbering, rather than the FSM count. This can be achieved by editing the VFS Configuration to name the files:

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{s}.{f%5}.{e}

(shot . 5-digit-frame-number . extension), rather than the default

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{s}.{g%7}.{e}

(shot . 7-digit-frames-since-midnight . extension).
Note: Re-numbering frames may break the automatic linking/synching of audio, depending on the software used to e.g. create rushes.