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Storing material on mini-dv tape before burning!?
I can see that the issue of storing footage is discussed a bit down, but this got me thinking about storing finished stuff on mini-dv tapes. I own a ‘Panasonic GS400’ and I suppose most, if not all, mini-dv cameras use some sort of compression.
When I’ve finished a project I always store it on a brand new mini-dv tape. I never burn anything to dvd since I think they are to “small”. I will wait until the next generation of discs are here (wether it be blue ray or hd-dvd).
Now, my question is; how much video/audio-quality is lost when first storing the material on mini-dv tape, and then, when the time is right, importing it from the tape back to the harddrive (without any compression) for burning?
Or should one burn while the finished project still is on the harddrive instead, and never consider the process of storing anything on tape in between? Is the loss of quality anything to worry about?
//Stefan
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7 Replies
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If you’re dealing purely in the DV world then there is no appreciable loss of quality by putting your finished edit back to tape as long as you’re using firewire.
When shooting material the compression rate from the analogue CCD to digital is 5:1 and is fixed on each frame of the image recorded.
While connected via firewire the data is a digital transfer (cam–>PC and PC–>cam) and free from any further compression.
If you keep a copy of your project file and titles you can then go back and re-edit in the future as long as you’ve kept your original source tapes.
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In copying DV footage via firewire back to a miniDV tape, is it frame accurate? IOW, if I copy finished edits of all my DV material to miniDV tape using a tool like Scenalyzer, burn all the ‘data’ oriented stuff (like Premiere Pro project files, graphics, etc.) and then at some later date, restore all the stuff (the DV footage from miniDV tape and the data from whereever) and, of course, put them all back where they were — will I be exactly in the same place? I’ve never tried this but if it works, it may be worth it – miniDV tape is inexpensive compared to any other backup/archival media. I’d love to run some extensive tests on this but the way my schedule looks, by the time I get to it, miniDV won’t even be around…
Anyway, thanks for any info you can share about this subject. Currently, I use a lot of Maxtor One-Touch 300GB drives via firewire. At under a buck a gig, it’s the most cost effective method I’ve found to archive Premiere Pro & After Effects projects (for those projects that I need to be able to restore as projects that can be re-edited.)
Tim
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Ok. So the only compressing being done is when you actually shoot something with the camera, and NOT when recording or capturing via firewire, right?
Are there DV-cameras that shoot uncompressed then? Because I read somwhere that uncompressed DV uses about 840mb a minute, and my avi’s are slightly over 200mb a minute.
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Tim:
Yes, restoring a project like that is indeed frame accurate and would work perfectly. I back up footage and re-edit projects all the time from footage that I backed up to mini-DV tape with Scenalyzer Live. Just re-open the project file in Premiere Pro and point the app to the folder where the clips reside if it doesn’t find them in exactly the same folder where you originally had them. To make this even easier you can even save the folder data to the mini-DV tape with the Scenalyzer backup feature when you first back it up.
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Jim,
Thanks for the info. I didn’t realize that Scenalyzer Live had the backup feature. I suppose I should RTFM a bit more. I understand completely the issue of PPro and re-pointing it when necessary. I’ve been toying with getting a miniDV deck (with record capabililty) to my editing workstation. This sounds like another reason to do so. Thanks again for the info!
Regards,
Tim Mirande
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Tim:
I recommend the Sony DSR-11 deck. It is very robust, only costs about $1700 or so. I get a lot of use out of mine to capture from and back up mini-DV tapes. It can handle NTSC or PAL and capture analog footage to convert to digital. I also use it to send the video signal from my editing app to my tv which I use as a monitor. The deck can also record onto DVCAM tapes, so if you need to make masters of feature length movies or videos you can get the three hour DVCAM tapes and master your program on that and send that to the dup lab to bump up to Beta SP if you need that or send it to your client.
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Jim,
You just answered a question that I was going to follow up with. I did some research and the DSR-11 was on my short list. I was going to ask for anyone’s comments who had some practical experience with it. Well, you did! Sounds like the deck for me. The features look great, and at a price point that makes sense. As an aside, I’ve been shooting a lot lately with my new FireStore FS-4. I bring my laptop to backup the data on location. The FireStore saves a ton of time in acquisition and allows for quick culling of needless takes. However, there’s the long term backup issue. Sounds like the DSR-11 is just the ticket. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!
Regards,
Tim Mirande
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