a while back, i shot a short film for school. after editing was completed, i exported back to the camera and made a few copies on vhs to give to the cast, etc. the problem is, a year later, i was asked for another copy, however when i playback the tape, i get a choppy, pixilated picture and sound to match. this seems to be the only tape i have problems with (all other tapes playback fine) Its the only D8 copy there is. anyone know how to solve this problem? i'd appreciate it.
your opinion B pretty stupid, especially since digital8 is the same format as minidv, and it is also more robust. Chris, I doubt you've even used a digital-8. I personally never have this kind of dropout problem, and I use 4 different tape brands. If I'm to do the same with any minidv cam, It'll screw up like above. So digi-8's may have lower quality, but trust me are very robust compared to minidv. But, if your carefull with minidv, stick to one brand, dont clean the heads so much(causes wear), and be carefull with the little thing (if thats the case), you'll be fine.
To the person who began this post, the another reason your tape might have been acting up is, well you said it had been 1 year since the last use? You should always take your tapes every 6 months and fast forward, then rewind fully. Doing this unloads the stress they might have. And another tip, don't stop the tape in the middle of something, stop it at the begining. I record like 30 seconds of black, that way I won't lose anything when I stop it to store the tape there, and the begining is most prone to failure..
Posts: 296 | Location: Houston,TX | Registered: December 31, 2002
quote:Originally posted by screenwriter_14: digital8 is the same format as minidv, and it is also more robust.
Digital 8 is NOT good for archiving. It may not snap (I've never seen MiniDV snap either) but it does flake. If the stuff still looks good a year later (As in, no drop-outs), consider yourself lucky. Personally, I'd transfer the stuff somewhere else if it's important.
Nota "Has written off most of his early works that were on Hi-8 as well" Mono
Posts: 665 | Location: Los Angeles, Ca. U.S.A. | Registered: October 31, 2002
One other suggestion: Are you replaying the tape on the same model Digital8 camera?
I used a TRV740 for a long time, and I noticed that when my tapes were replayed on a friend's TRV355 (which I think was a newer model) there were some stray pixels on-screen.
It happened almost all the time between these two particular cameras, but I don't know if it happens between all models...I know I've replayed D8 tapes as much as 2 years old and shot on a different D8 camera with no problems whatsoever. (There'll always be a warm place in my heart for my trusty ol' D8 camera )
________________ "I didn't do it/That wasn't me/It won't hold up in court"
Posts: 107 | Location: California | Registered: June 13, 2003
quote:Originally posted by JW: Is MiniDV good for archiving?
Well... Relatively speaking... Sure, I guess. It's certainly better than Dig-8. MiniDV can sit on the shelf for 10 years (We know about this much at least), and assuming there are still MiniDV decks to play them in that far down the road, they'll spit back the same image as when they were new. Dig-8 will most likely give you a random array or colored blocks after a certain amount of time (I've never tried playing one back more than a year old, so I can't say for sure). Not to mention they don't make much new equipment for the format.
Nota "Should back stuff up better" Mono
Posts: 665 | Location: Los Angeles, Ca. U.S.A. | Registered: October 31, 2002
Nota mono, what do you mean by "flakes?" And when have you had a digital 8 tape fault on you? I'm not saying that this camera format has the best new support, I just firmly believe they are more robust. You've never had a minidv spit out tape before?!
Posts: 296 | Location: Houston,TX | Registered: December 31, 2002
quote:Originally posted by screenwriter_14: Nota mono, what do you mean by "flakes?" And when have you had a digital 8 tape fault on you?
Quite literally, the metal evaporate particles start coming off the base over time (Information and all). I've only shot with digital 8, maybe twice, and upon returning to some of the footage a year after it was shot there were a variety of green polygons plastered on certain frames. It's possible they were crappy tapes, but it was so long ago I don't recall. Hi-8 tapes had the same problem only the impact on the image was different (Looked like multiple generation loss). I've not had such an occurance with MiniDV.
Nota "Never expects to shoot Dig-8 again" Mono
Posts: 665 | Location: Los Angeles, Ca. U.S.A. | Registered: October 31, 2002
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