copying a broken time code tape to a new tape

[Jim Mcnally]

Is your recording deck actually creating new timecode or just mirroring the original source timecode? Are the decks linked with FireWire or component/composite cabling?

Jim McNally
The Commercial Factory
http://www.commercialfactory.com

[John Whiteway]

Hello.

I have a Sony DSR-11 linked by Firewire to a Canon XL1, the camera these tapes were shot on. The tapes in question have broken time code in several places. By that I mean a resetting to zero when I stopped the camera and reviewed what I’d shot. All the copy tapes have a consistent time code, 0-64. They are not mirroring the breaks in the original tapes.

All I can say is that this is the only tape that is giving me a problem. I’ve copied 6 or 7 similar tapes with no problem. As I say, I have made two copies of this original tape. One I stripped before using to make doubly sure its time code was it’s own. Originally I had begun thinking there may be a physical flaw in the dup tape but this exercise seems to say that can’t be the case. I can only conclude that there has to be something weird about this one original tape.

I have one trick left up my sleeve. I remember years ago when I had time code break problems I’d sometimes copy them to a DVCam tape, rather than miniDV like the original. I’ll also copy only the last half of the tape where this problem is occurring. Hopefully this might shake things up. Also I’ll try making a DVCam dup from both the original and from one of the miniDV copies I’ve made.

The real problem for me is that this tape includes a lot of footage I know I will be wanting to be using.

John

[Jim Mcnally]

That is quite strange. I don’t think the striping will work because you aren’t inserting with the DSR-11 but assembling. Beta decks would allow an insert edit on a striped tape to retain tc but I don’t think your deck does. My Dsr-25 doesn’t anyway.

The Dv-cam might be an option, wouldn’t hurt to try it. Also maybe lay the whole capture to a timeline and print to tape. Time consuming but might get you a tc to work with.

Jim McNally
The Commercial Factory
http://www.commercialfactory.com

[John Whiteway]

Strange world it is. I’ve just copied to DVCam and I’ve been able to capture from it with no time code break message. Why this worked I’ll never really know.

Actually, Final Cut has done a few weird things in the past. And when you consider the millions of calculations going on in its head I guess that shouldn’t be too hard to understand.

A few years back I suddenly found that I could not capture footage past 34 minutes on any tape without receiving the same broken time code message. I did everything I could to try and figure out what was happening, including extensive correspondence on pages like this. My only way around it at the time – and that was what I was remembering the other day – was to copy any clips I wanted to capture with time code past 34 minutes onto a DVCam tape.

But then a weird thing happened. Without thinking, one day I attempted to capture some audio that I hadn’t noticed had a time code past 34 minutes. It worked. No broken time code messages. Seeing this I went back and captured the video that went along with that audio and success here too. Well, I guess I’ll just have to capture post-34 minutes clips as separate audio and video clips from now on, I thought. This “system” worked but then I thought what the heck, I’ll try capturing a whole clip post-34 minutes. Now that worked too! And it has ever since. All I can figure is that there was one little binary switch not working and somehow this capturing of the audio separately fixed the problem.

Short of it, all I can figure in the case I’ve just dealt with, is that there was some weird anomaly in the problem tape’s broken time code that a DV copy kept picking up. DVCam somehow broke the spell.

So thanks for the help.

John