Torn Tape at DVinfo.net

Alan James · October 19th, 2006, 01:50 PM

A mini DV tape I recorded on got torn in the middle of the tape the other day. Is there any way of fixing it just enough so I can pull the data over to the computer and then send it back out to a new tape?

Stu Holmes · October 19th, 2006, 02:12 PM

Back in the days of audio tapes, if a tape snapped or some of it got chewed-up (fairly common especially with the thinner tapes) then you could buy a little "tape-splicing kit" which included some very thin sellotape that you applied to the BACK of the tape after having cut out the chewed-up section carefully.

I'd imagine it would be worth a go to try something like that - but i guess you have to accept there's a possibility that you might jam things up with your tiny piece of fixing tape.

If you do it carefully with a small piece of tape that is almost perfectly the width of the MiniDV tape itself, then i think it would work. If the tape ISN'T completely torn in half, i would just make a careful note of the timepoint at which the damaged tape occurs, and capture everything before that point, and then wind it to a point just after that point, and then capture everything from there to the end. Might be the least risky option.

October 19th, 2006, 01:50 PM	#1
Alan James Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 261	Torn Tape A mini DV tape I recorded on got torn in the middle of the tape the other day. Is there any way of fixing it just enough so I can pull the data over to the computer and then send it back out to a new tape?

October 19th, 2006, 02:12 PM	#2
Stu Holmes Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Europe Posts: 844	Back in the days of audio tapes, if a tape snapped or some of it got chewed-up (fairly common especially with the thinner tapes) then you could buy a little "tape-splicing kit" which included some very thin sellotape that you applied to the BACK of the tape after having cut out the chewed-up section carefully. I'd imagine it would be worth a go to try something like that - but i guess you have to accept there's a possibility that you might jam things up with your tiny piece of fixing tape. If you do it carefully with a small piece of tape that is almost perfectly the width of the MiniDV tape itself, then i think it would work. If the tape ISN'T completely torn in half, i would just make a careful note of the timepoint at which the damaged tape occurs, and capture everything before that point, and then wind it to a point just after that point, and then capture everything from there to the end. Might be the least risky option.