Date and time stamp

The date stamp must be visible on the entire length of the video. on all originals and copies. I need the date and time code that was collected while videotapeing. It won't be admissible to add a time stamp. The camera collects the information and I can transfer it if I connect to a DVD recorder. This is what I was doing with my 8mm digital camcorder but I'd like to be able to transfer the video with the stamp onto my computer for file storage and email. After speaking with about a half dozen or so tech persons I was finally told by someone that seemed to be well versed with the problem that when the video is transfered to a computer the time stamp data is cleared away. This person recommended useing a capture device.

...it ? HERE

googled "movie date stamp revealer"

Thanks, I looked at this site and this looks like what I may be looking for. I'll have to look deeper to be sure. Thanks again.

No, the date stamp cannot be added later. It has to be part of the original video even if no one could tell with the naked eye. In a criminal case or a serious civil case the first thing opposing council would do is attack the credibility of any incriminating video. If the stamp is not part of the original video and was added later it could be removed ( and/or changed) just as easily. Out goes the video. The only thing that will suffice for court is a transfer of the video as it was recorded, with the date stamp.

So you say to use a capture device also.

I worked on a CCTV digital design and the same issues came up. Even if you had the date/time on the video with the analog capture what VETS that the person with the video camera set the date and time? You can set it to anything you want.

This is why it's a moot point about adding it later or using the analog capture. Both can be discredited.

Fix? When on the scene, ask the officer for a shot of their watch or take continuous shots from some clock tower, other time pieces so they are in the shoot.

Been there, done that.
Bob

I get what you're saying but even a wristwatch or cellphone time can be changed. The presumption of recorded time is the same however. Its weight as evidence rests with the perceived integrity and credibility of the witness presenting the evidence. Whatever time appears on the video at the time of capture (whether by videotaping a wristwatch or showing the date/time stamp) is presumed to be correct at the time of shooting the video. You can't change the date/time stamp that's recorded as the video is taken, unless in your expertice, you know something a layman like me has no idea of. Anything that is added to the video later is, by definition, an alteration of the evidence. I'm looking for a method that "allows" the recorded date/time stamp to transfer to the computer because it has repeatedly been acceptable proof in legal proceedings of the actual date and time of recording, albeit by stipulation.

But time on the video from sources that can be easily changed are usually tossed out by any decent litigator. This is why I shared what the litigators usually will not try to dispatch. Officer's watch, time pieces on the sceen, clock tower then pan back to the scene.

Your choice to debate it but I'll stick with what we learned about this.
Bob

If so I didn't know it could be. I was led to believe that the date/time stamp was recorded onto the video and although it could be turned off it could not be changed.

"Can the recorded date/time stamp be changed?"

Yup. And it's why the better "documenter" knows to get a shot of timepieces and dates in the video/camera shots.
Bob

about modern technology could fill an ocean.

Thank you Bob!

Who is to say that the time-stamp of the recorder is initially correct ? Has it be set, and set correctly ? That stamp can also be changed...what if battery is runnig down ? I can also argue that the detective's watch is inaccurate ... So, back to the clock tower and other "independent" sources of indicated time.....e.g. shadows, sounds, etc.

You've got it right. If it matters and you don't want to be disassembled in public...

imposed by the camera on the video image can easily be changed. It doesn't sound easy to me.

1. We turn off the date/time stamp on the camcorder video out.
2. We run the analog video thru a capture program and...
3. Overlay the date and time with appropriate fuzz and jitter to match each frame.

Hope this helps.

just not transferred and a ficticious date/time overlaid. Can someone actually change the recorded date/time stamp?

Be specific. Remember I have the tape and control the camcorder so there is no way to stop me from changing the time stamps.

Let's say I have a tape with three minutes of video recorded on it with the date/time stamp feature on. Can you take that tape and change the date/time stamp that appears on the video? I don't mean can you turn off the date/time stamp feature, transfer the video without it and then superimpose your own date/time over the video with editing software.

It's not changing what the camera records. If you simply turn it off, why go to so much trouble? Just add it in PP.

I didn't think it could be easily changed. I see that I was correct.

But how reliable the data and time is. Any decent litigator will disassemble that for you.

is, again I must insist, a matter of the presenting witnesses perceived integrity. I believe that if testomony and scrutiny of the video discloses that the date/time stamp is that which was transferred from the original video collected then integrity is maintained lending to the witnesses credibility. Can the recorded date/time stamp be changed?

the data on the video tape. Changing it at that point would be extremely expensive, and changes could be detected.

are correct and I don't know why the others are avoiding the question. Can the recorded date/time stamp be changed, not turned off or hidden or not transferred, but changed?

There is no way to vet the date/time data on the tape. The date/time on the tape is not in the video section and why you pan from a clock tower, a cop's watch, etc.

I'm betting someone will want a demo of this trick. No, I won't do it again. The tool is proprietary and I can't share it.
Bob

That's not the original tape. Using the original tape we simply capture it with the camcorder's date/time overlay off and overlay our own. This makes such a snap to do with common tools.

This is why the advice above is not to transfer it digitally but to use an analog capture. It's also impossible to use this as evidence of the date/time the video was taken. The replies above show why.
Bob