StringToNumber to BaseTime

mikeudin

Hi guys!
Is it possible to convert string value to BaseTime with this function?

Converts a string to a data value of type float, int or c4d.BaseTime.

>>> c4d.utils.StringToNumber('11', c4d.FORMAT_FRAMES, doc.GetFps())
11.0
>>> c4d.utils.StringToNumber('11', c4d.FORMAT_SECONDS, doc.GetFps())
11.0
>>> c4d.utils.StringToNumber(11, c4d.FORMAT_FRAMES, doc.GetFps())
11.0

After some tests i had no luck with it.‍️

>>> doc[c4d.DOCUMENT_MINTIME] = c4d.utils.StringToNumber('11', c4d.FORMAT_FRAMES, doc.GetFps())
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "console", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: __setitem__ expected c4d.BaseTime, not float
>>>

Thank you!

ferdinand

Hello @mikeudin,

thank you for reaching out to us. I had a look at the C++ backend and the statement you quoted does not seem to be true (anymore). The cases FORMAT_FRAMES, FORMAT_SECONDS and FORMAT_SMPTE all return a float value. So, both the Python and C++ documentation are not correct. I will add a task to fix these issues.

It is not 100% clear to me what you were trying to achieve, but I think this is what you want to do:

>>> import c4d

>>> value = "11"

# This call does not make much sense IMHO. One could just use int() or float() 
# to convert a frame value expressed by a string into a numeric value.
>>> c4d.utils.StringToNumber('11', c4d.FORMAT_FRAMES, doc.GetFps())
11.0
>>> int(value)
11

# Convert a frame-value to a value in seconds for a given document. A BaseTime value is 
# document independent, a value in frames is not, we must provide the FPS.
>>> t = int(value) / doc.GetFps()
>>> doc.GetFps()
30
>>> t
0.36666666666666664

# Pack the value into a BaseTime
>>> bt = c4d.BaseTime(t)
>>> bt
<c4d.BaseTime object at 0x000001C2B9D3E6C0>

>>> bt.Get()
0.367

fwilleke80

If you simply want to set the document's min time, why not just do this:

doc[c4d.DOCUMENT_MINTIME] = c4d.BaseTime(11)

ferdinand

If you simply want to set the document's min time, why not just do this ...

Well, the question is what that value is supposed to be. Judging from the context I assumed it to be a value in frames and not seconds. Your BaseTime would be equal to frame 330 for a document with 30 FPS. And also, the input is meant to be a string.

fwilleke80

Oh, ok. I assumed he just wanted to set the document min time and didn't know a better way to get a BaseTime than using StringToNumber.

mikeudin

Great, thank you guys!