4 DV Tapes Unusable, please HELP! at DVinfo.net

Christopher Onstott · July 2nd, 2008, 08:38 AM

I shot three interviews for a documentary last week and all four tapes from the day have some really nasty drop frames, digital noise, and lots of dropped audio.

The Audio coming into the camera, and the headphones, was clean but when I ingested to FCP it was all F'ed up.

I was shooting a Pan. DVX-100 (first gen) in 24p, 48khz.

I thought it might be the heads, but I used the same camera the next day for two interviews and all the footage looks great, and I didn't clean the heads or make any changes to the camera.

Bad tapes maybe? Or just a ghost in the machine?

-Chris

John Miller · July 2nd, 2008, 08:40 AM

Have you confirmed that you get the same problem when you play the tapes in the camcorder? This will help rule out the capture process as the problem.

Edward Phillips · July 2nd, 2008, 09:36 AM

Could there have been some accidental switch of SP/LP along the way?

Christopher Onstott · July 3rd, 2008, 09:54 AM

There was no change in the camera settings between days.

I've viewed the tapes on a few different cameras, and I get the same result every time.

-C

Daniel Epstein · July 3rd, 2008, 12:57 PM

What you want to do is play the tapes on the the camera which recorded them. If they work then the problem is most likely a camera misalignment. Copying them out to another deck camera via firewire is one way to proceed. If they don't playback on the camera which recorded them you will want to find someone with a Sony DSR-2000 which can usually track recording errors from anything as long as it is a good recording but not aligned properly. It is possible there was some issue with the way the tapes loaded or partial head clog which eventually went away in which case you may be stuck. Camcorders are not the best playback devices so errors which better decks can handle show up in greater frequency or magnitude but are not always permanent with the best playback set ups.

Mike Teutsch · July 3rd, 2008, 01:40 PM

How often do you clean this camera?

Mike

Chris Soucy · July 4th, 2008, 12:54 AM

Any change to shooting circumstances/ venue/ whatever that narrows down to these three interviews?

Basically, was there anything WHATSOEVER different about these three to the ones before or after?

Three tapes out of a box, bad, in a row, doesn't seem probable, but is possible.

That the camera/ tapes subsequent are working normally suggests something seriously wayward with the circumstances of the three that have problems.

The list of possibles here is so long I wouldn't even think of stateing them, easier for you to tell us EXACTLY what was different, if anything.

If the answer is "nothing", then the "ghost" theory is as good as any other.

CS

Robert M Wright · July 6th, 2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher Onstott

I shot three interviews for a documentary last week and all four tapes from the day have some really nasty drop frames, digital noise, and lots of dropped audio.

The Audio coming into the camera, and the headphones, was clean but when I ingested to FCP it was all F'ed up.

I was shooting a Pan. DVX-100 (first gen) in 24p, 48khz.

I thought it might be the heads, but I used the same camera the next day for two interviews and all the footage looks great, and I didn't clean the heads or make any changes to the camera.

Bad tapes maybe? Or just a ghost in the machine?

-Chris

Are the 4 problematic tapes different in anyway from the the tapes used the following day (different brand, stored somewhere else, etc.)?

July 2nd, 2008, 08:38 AM	#1
Christopher Onstott New Boot Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. George, Utah Posts: 10	4 DV Tapes Unusable, please HELP! I shot three interviews for a documentary last week and all four tapes from the day have some really nasty drop frames, digital noise, and lots of dropped audio. The Audio coming into the camera, and the headphones, was clean but when I ingested to FCP it was all F'ed up. I was shooting a Pan. DVX-100 (first gen) in 24p, 48khz. I thought it might be the heads, but I used the same camera the next day for two interviews and all the footage looks great, and I didn't clean the heads or make any changes to the camera. Bad tapes maybe? Or just a ghost in the machine? -Chris

July 3rd, 2008, 01:40 PM	#6
Mike Teutsch Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida Posts: 2,614	How often do you clean this camera? Mike __________________ Chapter one, line one. The BH.

July 4th, 2008, 12:54 AM	#7
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,688 Images: 18	Hi Christopher............ Any change to shooting circumstances/ venue/ whatever that narrows down to these three interviews? Basically, was there anything WHATSOEVER different about these three to the ones before or after? Three tapes out of a box, bad, in a row, doesn't seem probable, but is possible. That the camera/ tapes subsequent are working normally suggests something seriously wayward with the circumstances of the three that have problems. The list of possibles here is so long I wouldn't even think of stateing them, easier for you to tell us EXACTLY what was different, if anything. If the answer is "nothing", then the "ghost" theory is as good as any other. CS

July 2nd, 2008, 08:40 AM	#2
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Have you confirmed that you get the same problem when you play the tapes in the camcorder? This will help rule out the capture process as the problem.

July 2nd, 2008, 09:36 AM	#3
Edward Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 118	Could there have been some accidental switch of SP/LP along the way?

July 3rd, 2008, 09:54 AM	#4
Christopher Onstott New Boot Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. George, Utah Posts: 10	There was no change in the camera settings between days. I've viewed the tapes on a few different cameras, and I get the same result every time. -C

July 3rd, 2008, 12:57 PM	#5
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	What you want to do is play the tapes on the the camera which recorded them. If they work then the problem is most likely a camera misalignment. Copying them out to another deck camera via firewire is one way to proceed. If they don't playback on the camera which recorded them you will want to find someone with a Sony DSR-2000 which can usually track recording errors from anything as long as it is a good recording but not aligned properly. It is possible there was some issue with the way the tapes loaded or partial head clog which eventually went away in which case you may be stuck. Camcorders are not the best playback devices so errors which better decks can handle show up in greater frequency or magnitude but are not always permanent with the best playback set ups.