I'm trying to write a script that will take a very long list of timecode numbers, in the format xx:xx:xx:xx, and arrange them in groups that equal a certain number.

I work at a TV station, and we air clips of people who are serving in the military away from home saying hello to their friends and family. We have a lot of clips, each of varying legth. Right now we're going through the proccess of logging how long each clip is.

I have a little expeirience with shell scripting, but this is beyond my abilities.

I want to be able to feed the script a list of timecode, and arrange them in groups that are close to 15 seconds. The order doesn't matter, just that they fit in a 15 second commercial.

If someone wants to write a script, that'd be great, but otherwise I just need to be pointed in the right direction with what commands I need to learn about.

Thanks for your time.

Colin
Just in case, timecode is formatted hh:mm:ss:ff Hour:Minute:second:frame and there are 30 frames per second

sounds like a noble cause

how about proving a sample hypothetical imput and desired output?

Well the guy in charge of doing this has already started dividing up the clips, so writing this script probobly won't help right now. I still think it'd be cool to have around if someone feels like scripting something.

heres an example of what type of input/output I was thinking of.

input... a file containing a list such as...

00:00:05:24
00:00:03:15
00:00:06:03
00:00:02:29

Output... groupings of numbers whos combined total is less than or equal to 00:00:15:00. Basicly The script would report the most efficient way to group the smaller clips into 15 second spots.

XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX

XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX

XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX
XX:XX:XX:XX

where each grouping is as close to 15 seconds as possible without going over.


I think one of the most tricky parts of the sript would be the fact that the last two digets are frames... so the last two digets are /30, and the rest are /60. 30 frames per second, 60 seconds per minute.. ect.

so Like I was saying, at this point its just something I'd like to figure out. I don't mind if somoen wants to write it out, cause I could disect it and see how to do it, but otherwise if pointed in the right direction, I'm just trying to learn.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Colin