The Gigantic Mini DV Deck / Camcorder as Deck Thread

[Kent Metschan]

Should I be using a deck (aren't they expensive?) or just a cheap miniDV camera for loading my footage into my computer? Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001B86G8/ref%3Dnosim/slickdeals/104-0636460-2706315 or should I buy a Canon brand. I'd also use it as a secondary camera. Is there a Canon one that is good and cheap?

[Dennis Vogel]

Unless you plan to rewind, fast forward and play a tape repeatedly or you shoot a ton of video, I'd be very surprised if you'd ever be able to detect any increased wear on your camcorder. I would venture a guess that you'll outgrow the cam and upgrade for new technology or features long before you wear out the tape transport.

Good luck.

Dennis Vogel

[Kent Metschan]

Thanks for the reply. You're probably right with all the technology coming down the pipe.

[Kevin Storm Jorgensen]

I too have been considering Sony's Mini-DV Walkman as a deck. Particularly the GV-D300. I got some questions though.
I am currently using a Canon XL1s and will be getting the XL2 in a couple days. I have a Mac G5, 2.5 ghz with Final Cut Pro HD and I also have a PC with Premiere 6.5. I don't use Premiere much for editing but I like to have it available just in case. Right now I use exclusively Mini-DV.

These are the things I would like to do:

- Create Window burn VHS tapes from the deck to my VCR with the timecode and tape information displayed on the VHS.

- Stripe/black tapes

- Capture footage from the deck to both of my editing systems, not at the same time of course.

- Make tape dubs with my camera and the deck...hopefully I can do that and make the timecodes excately the same.

- Record onto the mini-dv format from an outside source, like VCR, cable signal, computer monitor output. (I have the necessary equipment to do that I just want to make sure the DV deck can receive an input signal and record it.)

Do any of y'all know if it is possible to do this with the Sony GV-D300 deck? Or could you recommend a comparable deck that can handle all these tasks? My budget is around $800. Of course, the less I spend the better.

Thanks!

[Dr. Jonas R. Skardis]

the GVD is good, and if you want to travel with it, it is great. If you don't need a portable deck, you can get another deck that is less expensive. I sold my GVD and got a JVC-SR-VS30. It is a combination MiniDV and SVHS deck for about $600. Look around for prices on the internet.

[Scot Stafford]

Audio guy here, making headway in video, although occasionally i feel like a serious chump.

Your help is appreciated.

2 years ago I shot some great footage with an older, cheaper JVC miniDV camera.
Imported it into FCP3, edited it, and then exported it to a miniDV tape using a DVC deck at school. I know it was working great, because I then recorded straight from the deck to VHS, and it came out great.

I now have a GL2 camera, which I love (at least when the light is good), and wanted to reimport it to do some audio cleanup... only - no audio. Additionally, the tape seems to play at about 95% speed - everything is slightly slower than normal.

Is this because I edited on a DVC deck? What's the deal here?

Thanks - Scot

[Mike Rehmus]

What is a DVC deck? Do you mean JVC? If so, that should make no difference at all assuming both the deck and your camera are mechanically in alignment.

Any chance you recorded to the #3 & 4 audio channels instead of #1 & 2?

[Scot Stafford]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=249562&is=REG&si=feat#goto_itemInfo

DVCAM / DVCPRO is what I mean.

The machine I was using, like the one linked, was able to play and record both miniDV and DVCAM/DVCPRO.

[Sean McHenry]

Just for clarification, DVCam and DVCPro and different formats and seldom found in a recorder on the same deck.

Now then, it is possible like the last person mentioned, you may have recorded the audio to CHs 3&4 rather than 1&2. You will have to find a deck with 4 channels to check that out.

Also note there are some real issues with some applications being able to pull audio from Ch3&4 in DV format. Premiere has some issues with this especially with certain cameras. You can sort of cheat the system if you use analog outputs rather than the firewire. Take the analog output for video and Channels 3&4 and run them into a DV Camera, deck or Canopus ADVC100 (or similar) that can convert analog to DV Firewire. Feed that into your editing computer. Watch for analog audio delays. Should work.

Easiest (in a way) solution is to get the same deck type you used originally. What format is the tape? Should be written right on it.

Is it DVCPro or DVCam?

For DVCPro, look for a Panasonic deck. For DVCam, look for a Sony deck. I'll try to help more if I can.

Sean McHenry

[Scot Stafford]

Thanks Sean for your response.

Tape: basic SONY miniDV tape, 60min
Camera: ultra cheap JVC miniDV camcorder (low end 2001)
Imported into FCP 3/G4
Exported to basic SONY miniDV tape
Using deck supporting miniDV play/record; DVCAM play/record and DVCPRO playback only.

I *thought* that I was just recording in miniDV format, but I may have switched formats accidentally. Like I said, this was a while back, before I really understood much about video.

RE: Audio channels 3/4
Sounds possible, but it doesn't explain the slightly slow playback. I'd guess it looks like it's playing at about 90-95% speed. What would explain that?

THANK YOU GUYS.

[Sean McHenry]

Now then, Sony has two formats on their DV decks. There is DV, like everyone else has, and then there is DVCam. In DVCam, the tape speed is about 1/3 faster than DV. If you recorded the tape as DVCam (you can accidentally do this) and play it back in a DV only deck, you may well experience this. Try to find another Sony deck like the DSR-11 or DSR-25. It handles both formats and will automatically adjust to the correct type on playback.

Both formats use the same tape shell. That's how the mixup happens. DVCam tape is higher quality and combined with the faster tape speed, makes less dropouts and better video. Yor average DV tape of 60 minutes will last 40 in DVCam mode.

Other than that, could be plain old mechanical failure. Could be the capstans are running slow for some reason and the tape is actually playing slowly. I doubt that as there is error checking and the picture would be odd I would think, or not play at all. Normally one would get a "servo" error if this was happening.

Look for a buddy with a DVCam deck.

Sean

[Scot Stafford]

That's just gotta be it, following "the simplest explanation is usually the best" rule.

thanks man,
scot

[Joel VanderHoek]

I use a Sony GVD-1000 miniDV deck. Recently I was capturing on Final Cut Pro, when I got to the end of one tape. I put the next in, and it appeared that there was nothing on the tape... just blue screen. It appears that it is not picking up the time code off the tape. It does, however, show how many minutes are left on the tape (63,62,61,...47,46...etc,) as I play and fast forward through the tape. I put the tape in my camcorder, and it played fine... tried another tape in the deck, same problem. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Robert Mann Z.]

could be the tracking head is off

[Chris Moore]

Can i use a cheaper 1 CCD camera as a playback deck to keep the wear and tear down on my gl2. will video recorded on the gl2 capture to the computer with the same quality if played with a single CCD Camera? Is there a cheaper (better) way?