Tools

Various useful utility commands are provided in the Tools menu:

• Use Bulk Edit as a flexible tool to copy one field to another or automatically renumber clips. Select the destination field whose value you want to set, then either type in a fixed value to use or select another field to copy to the destination. To use automatic numbering type in a value like "Scene 009" and the next line will automatically be incremented to "Scene 010" etc.
• Use Whole Tape Capture Log to create clip definitions of equal size spanning a tape. These can be exported as a capture log to capture an entire tape unattended using the batch capture capability of your NLE editing software.
• Use Map Tape Offsets to adjust the timecode values of selected clips by a fixed amount (for example to recapture from a program tape after printing to video, as this will have different timecode assigned by the camcorder).
• Use Detect Scenes to manually perform DV timestamp-based or analog (visual frame differencing) scene detection on selected clips after they have been imported into a catalog. New secondary clips are crated for each scene within the first clip. The sensitivity of the the detection can be adjusted. (Professional Edition only).
• Use Timezone Adjustment to specify how the camera clock was set and what timezone was in effect at the shot location. These may be different (if you travel without changing the camera clock) and an adjustment is therefore necessary if you want to display the time correctly in GMT (GMT date) or in local time (Location date). It is also possible to apply a camera clock adjustment to allow shots taken by different cameras to be synchronized and accurately compared based on the record date. (Professional Edition only).
• Use the Timecode Calculator to add or subtract timecode values, convert between hours, minutes, seconds and frames, or divide one time into another. A "paper tape" printout of all your calculations is displayed.
• Use Search and Replace to correct errors in logging fields. With regular expressions you can apply complex transformations to the text. (Professional Edition only)
• Use Verbatim Logger to type in log notes and insert timecode markers while a clip is playing (eg. to type in a narration). (Professional Edition only)
• Use Convert To Text to concatenate all the Name and Notes fields of selected clips, eg. to copy and paste the text into a word processor.

Other features

• Catalog Details shows who last modified the catalog and when. It also shows certain statistics about the current catalog, such as how much memory is being used by the application, intended for diagnostic purposes.
• New Log Entry will create a new empty clip for you to type in In and Out values manually.
• The Help menu has shortcuts to display the table of contents and index in the online help, to display the license agreement and release notes for the application, and to jump to the CatDV web site in your default web browser to check for application updates.
• Auto-merge DV clips, Create Sequence, View Tape As Sequence, Live Capture and Consolidate Footage are described elsewhere.