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Reusing 184 DVCam tapes
I’m going to be shooting a bunch of performances for a school. The shows will be 2 hours plus, so I plan on using the 184 tapes. Is there a problem with using them more than once? I would hate to spend $30 a piece for the 3 cameras every show, when I could just reuse the tapes a couple times and save some cash. I know most will say just use new tapes, but the gig does not pay alot and in reality it’s only to sell to parents. What do you guys think,and has anyone done it and seen problems. I would like to conserve money, but I do not want to blow the shoot either. thanks
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3 Replies
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Well, yes and no.
Yes, I think it’s ok to use digital tapes more than once. They’re not like BetaSP tapes where you can start to see problems the second time around. Digital tapes are good to be re-used until you start seeing glitches in the video. How long is that? I don’t know, but I’ve always felt safe with 3 records on a tape. (Certainly DVCAM tapes…cheap DV tapes from the grocery store…maybe not.) Sometimes I use a tape more thant that if I’m just using it as a test for a print-to-tape and I’ve actually recorded many more times than that on one tape with no problems. But when it comes to shoots, I make 3 my limit, just to be safe.
Now, on to the “no.” I DON’T think you should re-use tapes in this case because you should always keep ALL of your shoot tapes until a job is edited and delivered to the client. It’s always possible for a hard drive to crash and you need to have that source tape as a backup until you’re absolutely certain you won’t need it any more. So in this case I’d think you’ll need a seperate tape for each performance.
Once that job is done, feel free to use those tapes for your NEXT job, but I wouldn’t be re-using it day to day.
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SONY claims that you can reuse thier DVCAM tapes over 200 times without any dropouts.
Go make some money now!
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[Steve Eisen] “SONY claims that you can reuse thier DVCAM tapes over 200 times without any dropouts.”
I’ve never had any trouble with reusing any DV tape (the cheapest of the name brands work perfectly for me).
I have video “work tapes” that get constant use and re-use… no drop-outs, no problems.Every time I see the reply to NOT do it (or only do it a very few times) I just shake my head.
Video folks get very nervous and superstitious about these things, I guess.The cautionary tales get told and re-told so much that they finally become “common knowledge” (EVERYBODY KNOWS you shouldn’t re-use DV tapes). Kind of an “Urban (Video) Legend.”
OTOH, DV tape is so amazingly CHEAP, I never really NEED to reuse many cassettes.
I just KEEP all my masters in a giant “pack-rat” array.
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