diff -r db062d5500a0 -r c0fa256f2c07 source/base/configbase.h
--- a/source/base/configbase.h	Wed Jan 11 23:53:42 2012 +0100
+++ b/source/base/configbase.h	Wed Jan 11 23:52:28 2012 +0100
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@
 
 }
 
+namespace pov_donotlikeit
+{
+ extern DBL clockValue;
+}
+
 #include "syspovprotobase.h"
 
 #endif
diff -r db062d5500a0 -r c0fa256f2c07 source/base/image/metadata.h
--- a/source/base/image/metadata.h	Wed Jan 11 23:53:42 2012 +0100
+++ b/source/base/image/metadata.h	Wed Jan 11 23:52:28 2012 +0100
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@
 
 #include "backend/povray.h"
 
+
 namespace pov_base
 {
 
@@ -162,6 +163,7 @@
 		 */
 		static string getComment3()
 		{
+#if 0
 #ifdef METADATA_COMMENT_3
 			// NB it is legal for METADATA_COMMENT_3 to be a function returning string
 			// Note that it may be called more than once
@@ -169,6 +171,10 @@
 #else
 			return string();
 #endif
+#endif
+			char tmpc[80];
+			sprintf(tmpc,"clock := %g",pov_donotlikeit::clockValue);
+			return string(tmpc);
 		}
 
 		/**
diff -r db062d5500a0 -r c0fa256f2c07 source/frontend/animationprocessing.cpp
--- a/source/frontend/animationprocessing.cpp	Wed Jan 11 23:53:42 2012 +0100
+++ b/source/frontend/animationprocessing.cpp	Wed Jan 11 23:52:28 2012 +0100
@@ -102,7 +102,10 @@
 
 // this must be the last file included
 #include "base/povdebug.h"
-
+namespace pov_donotlikeit
+{
+	DBL clockValue=0.0;
+}
 namespace pov_frontend
 {
 
@@ -158,6 +161,7 @@
 	clockDelta = double(finalClock - initialClock) / double(finalFrame - initialFrame);
 	frameNumber = subsetStartFrame;
 	clockValue = POVMSFloat(double(clockDelta * double(subsetStartFrame - initialFrame)) + double(initialClock));
+	pov_donotlikeit::clockValue = clockValue;
 
 	frameNumberDigits = 1;
 	for(POVMSInt i = finalFrame; i >= 10; i /= 10)
@@ -216,6 +220,7 @@
 {
 	frameNumber+= frameStep;
 	clockValue = POVMSFloat(double(clockDelta * double(frameNumber - initialFrame)) + double(initialClock));
+	pov_donotlikeit::clockValue = (DBL)clockValue;
 }
 
 bool AnimationProcessing::MoreFrames()