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Timecode Indexing Module (TIM)

TIM is a browser-based tool for indexing and annotation of long-form recorded audio or video files. Ideal for working with oral history interviews, TIM’s multimedia editing environment links in-text timecodes to corresponding points in a media file for access to the nearest second. As a note-taking tool with timecodes, users can identify and recall specific media content for future listening/watching. TIM’s “Notes” workspace can be formulated into structured fields (i.e., timecodes, titles, synopses, and keywords) and then imported for display in a timecode index environment like OHMS and Aviary. TIM facilitates a level of annotation and indexing that can be used for individual interviews or whole collections, by non-technical users or professional archivists, and for private use or public consumption.

Helpful Links

• A brief overview of what TIM does: TIM Intro
• See our timecode-indexed demo, indexed using TIM and displayed in Aviary: Indexed Video Demo
• If you have some media files to be indexed, jump right in! TIM is open source and freely available: https://c2dh.github.io/tim/#/new
• Join our mailing list at timecode.indexing.module@gmail.com
• Reach out directly to Doug Lambert (bert@buffalo.edu), TIM Project manager, or Zack Ellis, TIM Partner and Founder of TheirStory.

Key Operations in TIM

Defining timecodes

New timecodes in the Notes area can be created through a specific keystroke/shortcut or by hand:

• Type a timecode in one of these formats: [mm:ss] or [hh:mm:ss]
• Insert a timecode in the Notes area reflecting the current time on the playbar: "cmd/ctrl + j" = add timecode
• Insert multiple timecodes preceding the current playbar time in the Notes area: "cmd/ctrl + shift + j" = add 4 timecodes

There are 3 types of timecodes, all of which link to a corresponding point in the associated media file:

To change timecode types, place the cursor within the timecodes and press "cmd/ctrl + j".

Media control shortcuts

Media shortcuts/keystrokes are helpful when simultaneously listening to a recording and taking notes, allowing the user to control the player without moving the cursor out of the Notes area:

• "esc" = play/pause the media
• "ctrl + [" = skip the media backward
• "ctrl + ]" = skip the media forward

The skip forward or back increment (in seconds) can be adjusted in “Settings”.

Markdown for indexing fields

Markdown is a predefined set of characters and rules used to assign words and lines in the TIM Notes to specific metadata fields for an external timecode index (i.e., timecodes, titles, synopses, and keywords).

• TIMECODE = "new line + [timecode] + new line"
• TITLE = "#"
• SYNOPSIS = ">"
• KEYWORDS = "[two asterisks]keyword1, keyword2, etc.[two asterisks]"

The Preview screen can be used to check the content of the 4 fields before exporting them as a structured timecode index.