Strange Tape Problem?

[Nicole Haddock]

Are all the tapes the same brand?
Were they all recorded on the same camera?
Any chance the tape was exposed to humidity or got wet?
How long has it been sitting around in a decent environment? Might just need a few days to chill out, literally.
What does the tape actually look like? No noticeable schmutz on it?
And do you have a head cleaner you can run on the deck?

I’ve seen mini-dv tapes recorded on consumer cameras that will play back ONLY on the camera it was recorded on. And it’s not a consistent thing, so user A can use any deck, any camera to playback his tape, user B gets the blue screen of nothing, or even better, a ventian blind look on his tape, but when put back in the original recording device, somehow it plays back just fine.

[Michael Harrington]

All Sony MiniDV Digital Cassettes, HDM-63VG.

Recorded in 2 different cameras, Sony Z1U and Sony V1U, 1 problem tape from the Z1U and 1 from one of the V1U. The Z1U is throughout the entire tape 1 of 15 and the V1U a section of Tape 13 of 23.

Tapes did not get wet although the humidity was high the days we were shooting, none of the cameras indicated humidity warning.

Tapes were always kept in clean environment and the shoot ended July 14 so they’ve had plenty of time to adapt to climate.

The tape looks clean as a whistle and I’ve tried head cleaner.

Michael Harrington
Mac Pro, Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz, 12 GB, ATI Radeon HD 4870, 30-inch Cine Display, 4TB internal, 1.25TB Esata, FW 800 external drives, AJA Io, SOny Multiformat Broadcast Monitor, Mackie 1402 & Event 20/20 monitors.

[Nicole Haddock]

Other than fast forwarding the tape all the way to the end, rewinding it to the beginning, and asking the deck nicely to work, I know of no other voo-doo to get it to work. When you tap out to a real monitor, same thing? Blue screen of nothing? Any audio?

[Michael Harrington]

FF & REWing now although I’ve had this tape in/out and shuttled so much looking for an image I won’t hold much hope. Since I did not see anything in my FCP capture window I didn’t bother with NTSC monitor, but since I just received my new FSI 17″ monitor I’ll put it to work to see if it displays an image.

Thanks

Michael Harrington
Mac Pro, Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz, 12 GB, ATI Radeon HD 4870, 30-inch Cine Display, 4TB internal, 1.25TB Esata, FW 800 external drives, AJA Io, SOny Multiformat Broadcast Monitor, Mackie 1402 & Event 20/20 monitors.

[Maurice Jansen]

maybe it’s an interchange problem.
when FFWD or RWND the head will always hit a track. can you explain the enviroment where the content were shot. maybe heat did bend some part’s in the transport HDVtransport are miniature and not that robustly build.

greet
Maurice

[Michael Harrington]

The environment was a road/off road trip through PA, OH, MI and no doubt these were harsh conditions although the tapes were kept in a clean environment and free from dust, dirt, heat, etc. I’ve shot this same type event numerous times the past dozen years and expect there to be a few casualties along the way, I can usually identify any problems that arise or link it to a faulty camera, etc.

The puzzling part is this, more than 60-hours footage shot and Tape 1 of 13 from the Z1U and Tape 13 of 20, just a section of tape, on the V1U has problems. If something was wrong with the cameras I think more tapes would display this problem.

If it is an interchange problem, if the tape is not playing across the heads correctly is there a company or service or method for checking and correcting this by cloning the tape?

Michael Harrington
Mac Pro, Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz, 12 GB, ATI Radeon HD 4870, 30-inch Cine Display, 4TB internal, 1.25TB Esata, FW 800 external drives, AJA Io, SOny Multiformat Broadcast Monitor, Mackie 1402 & Event 20/20 monitors.

[Bill Barton]

Sorry to hear about the blue screen. I shoot a v1 and every now and then I will get a bad tape and that will cause the breaks in the timecode thus giving the blue screen. What kind of tape were you shooting on? The only advice I can give is don’t skimp on cheap tape because when you have a client and your reputation involved one bad tape can spoil things in a big way. Best of luck and sorry about the BlueScreen!
Regards,
Bill

[Kathleen Kelly]

Michael,

I was wondering if you ever figured out what went wrong with your tapes from this thread. I know it’s been a few years since you posted it but I’m having the exact same problem with some footage I shot recently. I’m getting my Z1U camera checked out but I’m wondering if there’s a way to salvage the footage. With the time code there and the ability to see the footage when scanning the tape makes me think there might be a way? Any feedback would be great appreciated!

Cheers,
Kathleen

[Michael Harrington]

No solution found, most likely faulty tape and/or bad tracking.

Michael Harrington
Mac Pro, Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz, 12 GB, FCP7, Snow Leopard, ATI Radeon HD 4870, 30-inch Cine Display, 4 – 1TB internal, G Speed 6TB Raid 5, 1.25TB Esata, Numerous FW 800 external drives, Matrox MX02Max, FSI 17″ Broadcast Monitor, Black Magic Mini Sync Generator, Mackie 1402 & Event 20/20 monitors.