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footage capture
Using a Mac 10.6 and Final Cut Pro7,I captured the footage taken on 25 HD Sony 60mn tapes. They were filmed with 3 different cameras, but the bulk of it on a Sony Z1U. I used a Sony deck for capture. The problem: The entire footage (25 tapes)got captured in small clips about one minute long. Some were a bit shorter or longer, up to 5 or 6 minutes. Some of the footage between those short clips was not captured at all. (up to 5 minutes of missing footage in some places)
Following this, I took the tapes to a professional studio. They tried to capture on 3 different machines, and the same problem occurred. I tried with my camera,(a Canon), and same story.
Everybody I spoke to seems to be at a loss as to what’s happening.
Would anyone have an idea about what the problem might be? any suggestion?
Thank you
Claudine -
5 Replies
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Since the footage was shot on multiple cams, which pretty much eliminates a cam issue, my first guess would be that all those cams were drawing from a single batch of re-used tape stock so there are probably all kinds of errors on the tapes regardless of which cam they were used in.
Re-using tape stock can sometimes be okay with pro cams that use traditional large-format tapes, but its not even a good thing to do in that scenario … definitely a very bad idea with prosumer “mini” tape formats like HDV … the tapes move at much higher speeds and, therefore, deteriorate faster; the internal components of the cams are not nearly as robust as pro cams and, therefore, more easily damage tapes; etc., etc.
In fact, with any mini format cam, the best approach is to choose one brand and type of tape from the moment you buy the cam and never use any other brand or type of tape in that cam; never put tapes from cams or decks other than your own in it to avoid transferring that equipments issues to your own; and have the cam professionally serviced every few years (rather than using head-cleaning tapes).
If bad tapes is the issue, the best chances of getting the footage off the tapes will probably be to either use the cam that shot each tape as the playback deck for that particular tape or find a post facility with a relatively high-end deck that may have a better chance of being able to read bad tapes.
Sorry I don;t have an easy solution, but perhaps this info will at least help avoid the same situation in the future.
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Thanks for your reply.
The tapes I used were new, factory sealed when I bought them. So unless they were a faulty batch (and I assume that the place where I bought them would have heard complaints) I don’t think that this is the issue -
Well I gave it my best college try, but sorry I’m at a total loss now too … the facts that the tapes were shot on different cams and that you experience the same issues when trying to digitize from different decks and on different NLEs make it very much sound like a tape issue, but a batch of 25 brand new defective tapes is pretty rare … in fact, I’d be surprised if all 25 of those tapes even came from the same manufacturing batch.
Any chance the tapes were heat or moisture damaged? Just taking shots in the dark now, but I must say I’m very curious to hear what the issue turns out to be so please post when you figure it out.
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Is it possible that the tapes were subjected to high strength magnetic fields? X-ray, gamma rays? Were they in a medical environment?
Richard Martz
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No. The only Xray exposure would have been at the airport, going and coming back. Those are supposed to be safe
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