Video Editors Aid

[jellow]

Prolog
Watching todays mailbag episode (#759) with the new toy "Fail Button" and the usual claims of Dave to most certainly forget about inserting links or other editing stuff, an idea came to my mind which I want to share and hopefully discuss with all of you in this forum thread.

First of all I want to say that I'm almost certain that there are consumer and/or professional products out there doing the same thing and perhaps more, but I still think an (or another - I don't know) open hardware variant wouldn't hurt.

The Idea
Creating a simple device with some kind of fast input mechanisms, like a button array, which will record markings correlated to the video shot.
These markings can later on be used with a software counterpart to highlight or find timestamps or even trigger automated processes like inserting cut-marks into the video editing software.
This would aid video creators not to forget editing steps they planned while shooting the clip.
E.g. Dave says "I'll insert a photo here if I don't forget it" and instead of forgetting it he just pushes a button creating a time-correlated note which will remind him of doing as promised during the editing process.
(No offense Dave, I just used you to illustrate this example)
More details below.

Why am I posting here?
To my eyes such a device could be helpful to many youtubers and others. I'm also almost certain that our beloved Dave would fancy such a tool especially when collaboratively created by his community and under the open source hardware banner.
I'm a software developer by profession who is capable of building some circuits and designing simple PCBs, but I'm most certainly not good enough with electronics to produce a publishable project on his own. On the other hand, the software counterpart mentioned would be exactly my domain where I'm certain that I can deliver a quality piece work.
I'm not a video guy at all (my only camera would be my mobile), so I have no real need for it, but I would be willing to invest my spare time actively participating in the collaborate creation of such a tool if there is some interest for it.

So... the intention of this post should be quite obvious by now: I don't know if there is a need for such a tool and I cannot do this alone, so I need input and help from the community.

What do I expect from you?
Any related and non-troll comments are welcome!

• If you think this project would have potential value to some people please post here to support the effort.
• If you have any ideas on how to enhance the project let us know about it.
• If you are a video editor yourself (professional or not) your expert input would be most welcome, because I myself have no experience in this art.
• If you have skills needed and want to participate in the creation of this tool let us know.

Details
Method of marking
This is the most tricky part. I don't want to rely on input capabilities of the camera used to store clip related information, but I also want to spare the user from manually synchronizing the information.
The best way I could imagine is to connect the device to the audio input of the camera and embed signals outside of the human hearable spectrum.
Using this method we could either digitally encode all information right when they are needed and the software would scan the audio track to interpret them, or we could just set a starting marker or send key tones in a regular interval while saving all timestamped marker information on the device (SD card or flash memory) which the software can than correlate to the clip.
One possible pitfall of this could be audio compression discarding the unhearable signals.

Case and inputs
I imagine a wedge-formed tabletop device. This way the inputs would be easily accessible and with a theme-able shield on the rear end, which could have the channels or hosts name or logo on it, it could be "hidden" in plain sight in the video while being reachable to the creator.
As inputs we could use various kinds of controls like a touch screen or pads, rotaries, etc., but to me it seems that buttons would be the most useful ones, because they could, if usefully arranged, be operated blindly.
The labeling of the inputs should be replaceable /customizable (at least most of them). I would suggest something simple like a clear flap beside the button where you can place a printed label sheet like old school speed-dials on vintage phones or doorbell arrays on multistory buildings.

Software
As the software part I would suggest the creation of a software library, containing all the correlation logic and core functions, with a standalone GUI tool with basic features like seeing a playback with a marker/annotation timeline and even perhaps cutting features.
Base on the library it would be easy to build plug-ins for commonly used editing software like Sony Movie Studio / Vegas, Adobe Premiere and others who offer scripting or extension support.

Possible additional hardware features

• Connectors for external signal inputs like a foot-pedal or sensors like light barriers or proximity switches
• Common protocol connector like UART or I2C to be able to externally feed other correlated information
• Integration of one or multiple stop watch(es) and timer(s) with the possibility to trigger markers
• Programmable IR sender to simulate signals of camera remotes to start or stop recordings or even more complex controls like zoom

Goals
I would like to ensure that this project could be build without out the need of special tools or professional skills, so some goals I would love to see met by this project are:

• Usage of commonly available parts
• Hand-buildable design. It should be possible to assemble it with common tools and the PCB(s) should be hand-solderable.
• Usable documents / files to be able to easily order custom parts like a PCBs or 3D-printed case parts from widely available platforms (e.g. ready to use Gerber files and 3D models)
• All information should be public and the final result should be published as open-source software and hardware
• If there is enough response and the project works well, I could also imagine to somehow get a small series production run or crowd-funding campaign done to make it available to people without soldering skills (no profit in mind at all ... seriously)

What now?
Now I'll wait for your responses and if there are other who want to be part of this and who knows perhaps even Grandmaster Dave would like to participate.
Perhaps I'll simply start a poll to see if you think it's worth the effort or not.

Meanwhile I've registered the project on CircuitMaker under the name "Video Editors Aid". If you would like me to add you to the team on CircuitMaker just send a PN with your name and I'll send an invite.
If we go on with this project I will open a GitHub project for storing and tracking related documents and source-code parts.

I'm looking forward to all your responses!

[dexters_lab]

not sure if this is really  needed... i only think about annotations and inserts during editing, not while i am filming.

[free_electron]

so you basically developed a timecode annotator.
i don't know if that is compatible with the way dave does his recording.

the camera videostream contains timecode ( hour,minute,second,frame number)
all you have to do is hook up the camera to a computer and track the live video feed. you can extract the timecode directly ( there are api's  in video players to do that )

press a key on the keyboard and enter the timecode into an excel spreadsheet.
depending on the key alter the text.

should be doable with a vba program running in excel

[EEVblog]

It's a problem that doesn't really need a high tech solution. Just a pencil and paper would work fine, it's all about the discipline of noting it down.

[ez24]

A few (many) years ago I used a dog clicker while recording videos on where edits were needed because seeing the spikes in the audio track was easy to find than the video track.

Also since then finding a camera with a remote is a challenge.  It used to be you could get one for $200 and now   I had both a VHS and a DV that came with remotes.  Now for a digital one it seems the price is in the 1000s??

If and when I start making videos again I will go back to the dog clicker to find edit points because that is all I know.  I can hold the clicker off camera.  Since "seeing" the audio track spikes is easier than the video track, I cannot think of an easier way to do this but would like to see what others come up with.

BTW Has Dave ever done a video on making videos?

tks

[george graves]

Usually a camera man/producer will do something like cover the lenses with his hand and speak into the on-camera mic to make a note to the editor.  When you're editing - it's really noticeable.

[EEVblog]

BTW Has Dave ever done a video on making videos?

Not really.
Always wanted to one, but there are so many aspects I don't know whether to have a formal series, or just one big rambling thing.

[george graves]

Not really.
Always wanted to one, but there are so many aspects I don't know whether to have a formal series, or just one big rambling thing.

As a face of a youtube channel it would be interesting to see how you deal with negative comments.

For video production, there are a bunch of youtube channels that are out there that I think any youtuber could learn from.

https://www.youtube.com/user/dslrvideoshooter

This next one is perfect for a beginner - or someone that want's to up their game on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/curtisjudd

He's has a really nice teaching style.  He's actually learning - so some of the things he has mistakes on.  But his reviews are solid.

[EEVblog]

As a face of a youtube channel it would be interesting to see how you deal with negative comments.

That would be a video of me just going  and  and  and