I need to erase about 25 mini DV tapes. There seem to be no easy way to do this! What am I missing? Thanks.

Obviously I don't want to just record over them with the lens cap on the camera. It will take forever and hasten the demise of the camera's heads.

Take them to a business that has the equipment to do this? Really, the coercivity of Mini-DV (or any modern video tape) is so high that it takes an extremely strong magnetic field to erase them.

Someone told me that a RAdio Shack bulk tape erase would do it, but Radio Shack seems to have discontinued that.

What do you all do to erase your DVs?

Take them to a business that has the equipment to do this? Really, the coercivity of Mini-DV (or any modern video tape) is so high that it takes an extremely strong magnetic field to erase them.

I need to erase about 25 mini DV tapes. There seem to be no easy way to do this! What am I missing? Thanks.

Obviously I don't want to just record over them with the lens cap on the camera. It will take forever and hasten the demise of the camera's heads.

What are you going to do - sell the 25 tapes as new? You are missing something. Why manually erase a tape? Seems like a collosal waste of time that would gain you nothing. You can re-use tapes you know. Old video gets erased as new video is recorded over it. I re-use them 2-3 times.

I agree - what's the point? Mini DV tapes are so cheap it's easier to just buy new ones which is what most people do.

I agree - what's the point? Mini DV tapes are so cheap it's easier to just buy new ones which is what most people do.

Amen - you never know when you might want that footage in the future. Just put it on the shelf stored vertically, tails out. Always shoot on fresh tape except for throw away experiments.

Or if you really wanna get rid of whatever is on there just record black over the whole tape. That will make the timecode proper also.

If you really want to erase your digital video tapes, you need a powerful hand-held degausser, for example, something like the PF 215 hand-held degausser (http://www.datadev.com/pf215.html) from Data Devices International. As Doug Boze pointed out, it takes a strong degausser to properly erase DV tapes. By the way, Data Devices also makes industrial strength degaussers that are powerful enough to erase a hard drive. Scary, keep that thing away from me!

That said, I think you're asking for trouble reusing all but the highest quality miniDV tape (e.g. Sony's Digital Master tape) becuase the small and fragile format is very suceptible to drop-outs as it is, and reuse simply increases the chance of this. I've seen several data drop outs over the years with DV tapes, for tapes themselves have gotten better, but still, a unique once-in-a-lifetime moment on videotape is a terrible thing to waste. On the other hand, if you're recording "throwaway" stuff and want to start with "blank" tape, the PF 215 is just the device is just for you.

Amen - you never know when you might want that footage in the future. Just put it on the shelf stored vertically, tails out. Always shoot on fresh tape except for throw away experiments.

What do you mean by vertically, tails out? Is the smaller width (the 0.5" x 2" side) standing on the shelf or is the longer length (the 0.5" x 3" side) standing on the shelf? Or is it the 2" x 3" side laying flat on the shelf?

Maybe I am missing something, but here's the deal:

You reuse a tape, and then you use software to get it to your hard drive. The software cuts scenes when it detects a break in the filming. Well, the old recording introduces false breaks, and the old recording goes on longer than the new one. So you end up recording lots of stuff you don't want, and you have more work in post because of the false breaks.

So tell me, what AM I missing?

What are you going to do - sell the 25 tapes as new? You are missing something. Why manually erase a tape? Seems like a collosal waste of time that would gain you nothing. You can re-use tapes you know. Old video gets erased as new video is recorded over it. I re-use them 2-3 times.

I think I addressed this in the original post. I don't want to wear out the tape heads prematurely.

I am yet to be convinced, for the reasons stated, that a bulk tape blanker would not be very beneficial.

Or if you really wanna get rid of whatever is on there just record black over the whole tape. That will make the timecode proper also.

Sorry I didnt read your post all the way through. You could maybe use an old camera if you have one though.

Maybe I am missing something, but here's the deal:

You reuse a tape, and then you use software to get it to your hard drive. The software cuts scenes when it detects a break in the filming. Well, the old recording introduces false breaks, and the old recording goes on longer than the new one. So you end up recording lots of stuff you don't want, and you have more work in post because of the false breaks.

So tell me, what AM I missing?

This is a strange problem. When I stop recording, then start recording again, there is no false break. How would you end up with "lots of stuff?" The only unwanted video I EVER end up with is at the end of a recording... like if the duration of the original recording was longer than the new recording.

But anyway... chances are good your NLE has "DV Start/Stop Detect" which is the first thing I run before any edit session anyway. "Stuff you don't want" would litterally take all of 1 min to find and delete. 1 minute of inconvenience far outweighs hours of time wasted erasing tapes.

I see.

So there's no picture-quality advantage, either, in recording over a blank tape vs one that has material already recorded?

This is a strange problem. When I stop recording, then start recording again, there is no false break. How would you end up with "lots of stuff?" The only unwanted video I EVER end up with is at the end of a recording... like if the duration of the original recording was longer than the new recording.

But anyway... chances are good your NLE has "DV Start/Stop Detect" which is the first thing I run before any edit session anyway. "Stuff you don't want" would litterally take all of 1 min to find and delete. 1 minute of inconvenience far outweighs hours of time wasted erasing tapes.

What do you mean by vertically, tails out? Is the smaller width (the 0.5" x 2" side) standing on the shelf or is the longer length (the 0.5" x 3" side) standing on the shelf? Or is it the 2" x 3" side laying flat on the shelf?

The narrow edge on the shelf. "Tails Out" means storing it so the tape needs to be rewound before playing it. That way the tape pack is smooth in storage and the fresh rewind before playing means it's at the proper tension to feed smoothly when you play it. Rewinding and then letting it sit can result in an uneven tape tension when playing. That's really more of an issue with analog tape (and with analog tails out also helped prevent objectional print-through) but it can't hurt anything to adopt the same policy with digital.

I see.

So there's no picture-quality advantage, either, in recording over a blank tape vs one that has material already recorded?

Just to reiterate, the issue is less one of picture quality than it is the occurance of dropouts. The more a tape is used, the greater the chance of wear and tear on the tape surface leading to slight defects thus the greater chance of dropouts during recording. Tape is so cheap that is it false economy to reuse tapes at all. If you don't reuse tapes, HOW they get erased or whether it has an advantage over just recording over the old material ceases to be an issue since you don't ever erase them or record new material over old. When you're shooting anything except disposable experiments, always use fresh, unused tape.

I see.

So there's no picture-quality advantage, either, in recording over a blank tape vs one that has material already recorded?

The first symptoms are dropouts. The difference of opinion is at what point you'll see symptoms. Variables are the camcorder you're using, the brand, the grade of tape, storage, etc.. So yes... your mileage may vary. But if your end customer is not Stephen Speilberg, a film out, or professional broadcast of some kind... you shouldn't be scared to re-use tapes just 2 times.

Try it yourself with non-critical material if you're worried about it. I had at one point been using the same tapes over and over again for home video. And one day after editing all the footage it dawned on me that I had unintentionally reused the same two tapes at least 10 times. I went back through the video and scrubbed through frames and I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I looked harder... but the video looked no different to me than any other video I had shot with a new tape. And I know if I can't find anything wrong with it... Jim & Sue (bride & groom) aren't going to find anything wrong with it.

I wouldn't recommend re-using a dozen times but honestly there's a theoretical lifespan for digital tape, and my own tests proved to me, it's more than one use.

A while ago I did re-use some tapes confident that the material on them would never be needed again. I was wrong - a bit of it was needed again.

That taught me a lesson and I've never re-used tape since.

Stick the used tape in your camera, and record your new footage! Period!

Mike