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Advice on Recording to Tape ~ DVCPro Tape Deck A Good Investment?
What direction would someone recommend me to take, for putting my video edits back out of FCP to tape?
What kind of Tape player would be best? Would I get a DVCPro tape deck? I have a Canon 7D, which is great for capturing video without tape, but all that footage builds up fast and fills hard drives. I’m wondering what recommendations might be had on helping solve this issue of storing and archiving footage.
I also have a client just today that wants me to edit footage that is on DVCPro tapes. In the long run, just getting into this, would an investment in a DVCPro tape deck be wise as an investment? And, could I use that deck as the means of putting my digital files back out to tape?
I appreciate any pointers or bits of advice anyone has or could direct me toward.
Thanks a ton for this great forum.
Shaun K.
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“It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to rack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the engagement of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.” — Albert Einstien
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7 Replies
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DVCPRO is an SD format. Akin to DV…but Panasonic’s format. Then there is DVCPRO 50…which is digibeta like quality. But you are shooting HD…so do you mean DVCPRO HD? At 1080 that is a highly compressed anamorphic format. Not 1920×1080, but 1280×1080…and DVCPRO HD, which is 8 bit, opposed to your 7D, which comes in as Full Raster ProRes 10 bit.
I wouldn’t think it worth it for that. Rent. SOmething like $200/day. Opposed to $30,000 to buy one. Unless you are getting A LOT of DVCPRO HD jobs.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
DO NOT invest in a pricey deck now.
Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta -
If you want to archive back to tape, I’d throw the money at a Cache-A LTO system. It’s data tape. That way all of your media and project files are archivable and most importanty restorable in their native format… no transcoding, no loss of quality, and you get to back up absolutely everything in your project, not just video files. We have had one for about a year and have had great success with it. The Cache-A builds a database with each tape you add making searching very convenient and its automatically created. The database sits on the unit itself and is searchable via Gigabit Ethernet/IP protocols. It’s very easy.
Jeremy
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Unless you can make your money back in a few months, do NOT buy a tape deck. The
trend is towards FILE BASED delivery, not tape. Acquisition formats left tape behind a couple of years ago on both a consumer and professional level. Mastering is not far behind.I repeat: unless you have a specific delivery requirement that demands tape, I would NOT be looking to buy a tape deck at this time. And… even if you have a specific delivery requirement, make sure that there’s enough need to make the “rent vs buy” equation work for you.
Video tape is dying. The only thing keeping it alive is it’s archive value.
Mark
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Also if you are delivering to broadcasters, HDCam or HDCamSR are the norm. I wouldn’t advise buying anything either. I have had my HDCam for nearly three years and I will be lucky to get my moneys worth. Everything I do is still output to HDCam for broadcast but the days of delivering broadcast mpeg streams are already here for some and it will soon be the absolute norm.
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You guys are magnificently helpful. Thanks so much for this.
I’m now set with some research do do on a basic tape archive system, as described by you Jeremy, the Cache-A LTO system.
But for the capturing of the DVCPro footage, I’ll find someone I can rent from to get the tapes to an external hard drive.
Shaun K.
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“It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to rack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the engagement of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.” — Albert Einstien
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Shaun,
If it is DVCPro (not the HD version) you could pick up a used deck – something like a Panasonic AJ-D640 – to enable you to ingest tapes and record back out again, assuming you have a capture card. I think they do a firewire version if you don’t.
The point is, these old SD decks can be had for a relative pittance now – I’d be surprised if mine was worth more than £400/$600 – so if you can get a good one, it may pay you over time if you know you’ll have X days hire at X cost. Only you can do the math on that one! But bear in mind it may be a ‘one-job’ affair. I keep mine because it plays DV & DVCam (doesn’t record) and has SDI in/out – very useful when people bring in DV tapes.
If you do buy a used deck, remember to power up regularly, put a tape in, play and eject regularly. Non-use is a killer in these decks (same for BetaSP, DAMHIK!!)
Jason
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Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
Then when you do criticise him, you’ll be a mile away. And have his shoes.*the artist formally known as Jaymags*
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