I was given 6 tapes by my wife to capture for a senior class highlights reel. They were all recorded between 2 PV-GS320's that belong to the school she teaches at. So far 2 of the tapes are showing major glitches on the picture and audio when I try to capture, i.e. sound breaking up, the dreaded horizontal bars and such.

I have the 2 cameras that were used but they have been abused by these students all year long and I think that's what caused the problem. I tried capturing with my old JVC cam at first and thought the problem might be because they are recorded in LP. Then I tried both the GS320's and the same thing. I also tried one in my GS400 and it glitched also. I did try running a cleaning tape through each one beforehand also.

So I'm 99.999% sure now it's a problem with the original tape and there's nothing I can do about it but I'm open for advice. Are there any tips or tricks I might be able to use?

Right now the only thing I can think of is capture the whole tape and if the glitches stop happening after the beginning either cut some out or put a note at the bottom of the screen that the glitces were present in the original and cannot be fixed. I'm filming the graduation commencement tonight and the footage from these tapes is supposed to go along with it on the finished DVD being sold to parents. So it is important I find the best solution, even if it does mean leaving in the glitched footage.

Head cleaning tape.

If the problem is just the playback glitching... you'll be good to go...

However, if the problem was actually recorded on the tapes due to the dirty heads, then you're mostly out of luck. If it's just small sections, You can sometimes stop the tape right when the problem hits, eject the tape and put it back in forcing the camera to relatch onto the broken timecode...sometimes.

I did try a cleaning tape each time before I captured it. I haven't gone past the first minute or two yet so I don't know how far into the tape it happens yet. If it's constant I won't even bother with it. That will be their loss.

Next school year they'll get new cameras and make parents sign a waiver that they are responsible for damaged equipment. If they don't sign it the kid doesn't take the class.