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reusing a tape
hey guys,
i shot on a ay-dvm63pq tape this last weekend and i am shooting again this weekend and don’t have time to go get tape… i wasn’t sure which forum to put this in, but is it okay to reuse this tape?
thanks guys
jared -
1 Reply
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That’s a bit of a “How long is a piece of tape?” type question.
The variables are…
1- How has the tape being kept? Temperature variables ? Direct sun? Too cold? If the tape has been kept in the car, for example, then it goes through many different temperature changes in a short period of time making the tape more brittle each time it goes from hot to cold.
2- What is the condition of the record heads in your camera? If you have kept up a good service regime, then the head path will be clean and the head to tape RF values will be nominal. Have you noticed drop outs recently, or had a head clog you only cleared with a cleaning cassette?If you can satisfy yourself that you are happy with those variables (there are more) then you should have no problem in reusing a tape at least once.
Some people will argue that it is actually the second pass of a tape where the best recording can be had. That was particularly true of old analogue recordings, there used to be available “Rece Checked” professional tapes that had been pre blacked by the factory, very costly though. If you pre black all your record tapes then it makes the log and capture process easier if you come across a time code break, not so important with HDV.
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