How to Add a Date & Time Stamp to a Video

A date and time stamp are found on all forms of videos. However, sometimes when you convert one file format to another format, the stamp is lost. The good news is that most video editing software can extract the data and add an additional layer to your video in which the date and time stamp is shown. If your editing program does not contain this function, there are free programs available for download from the Internet that are specifically designed for this purpose.

Add Date and Time

Check that the camera is recording the date and time information when shooting the footage. If this setting is not enabled, then there is no date and time information being captured along with the image and sound.

Import and capture the image to your video editing software. Do not convert the video format because this can erase the time and date information.

Open the entire video in the timeline window. Open the timeline settings box and select "add video date and time." This will add the time and date information as a title.

Specify the time in which the date is displayed. It can be present for the entire clip or only for certain sections.

Position the date and time in the desired location by setting the X and Y position for the recording date and recording time. Normally, 0% is on the left hand side and bottom and 100% is on the right hand side and top of the frame. Set the font and height for the date and time text.

Recapture the scenes from the camera. This is not always necessary and depends on the software. Now that the date and time information is added, additional editing can be done and the video file can be converted to other formats and burned to a disc.