3/4 inch video to digital

[Paul Jefferies]

Was the 2850 a top loader?

[Steve Leverich]

Yeah, everything up to at least the 2850 were all top-loaders at that point in time, including the early VHS and Beta machines - I didn't have a front-loader til my second VHS machine, about 3 years after I left the SF Bay area in '78... Steve

[Richard Alvarez]

The SP stands for "Superior performance". It's likely you have U-Matic SP tapes... (Not BetamaxSP -The competitor to VHS, not BETACAM SP, the professional stock - the two are sometimes confused when referred to as 'Beta SP' my mistake)


Format name: 3/4" Umatic (aka 3/4" inch or Umatic)
3/4" Umatic SP (aka 3/4" SP or Umatic SP)
Analog or digital: Analog
Date introduced:
3/4" Umatic -1971
3/4" Umatic SP - 1986
Dates in use:
3/4" Umatic -1971 to present
3/4" Umatic SP -1986 to present
Tape width: 3/4"

Cassette dimensions: Full-size cassettes are 8 5/8" x 5 3/8" x 1 3/16" and small cassettes are 7 1/4" x 4 5/8" x 1 3/16"

Tape container: Most common tape containers are heavy-duty plastic snap-closure boxes - typically blue, gray, black or tan. Some 3M tape boxes are black with rounded corners and have a sliding closure mechanism on the opening side.

Tape variations and/or identifying features: Full size cassettes are for use in recording and editing decks, and record up to 60 minutes. Small cassettes are used in field recording decks, and record up to 20 minutes in length. 3/4" Umatic cassettes are typically made from gray, black or tan plastic. Hubs can be any number of colors (blue, tan, red), and cassettes have a clear (or slightly blue) window that shows both reels. A small red plastic dot (which must be in place to record on the tape) may be found on the back of cassette. 3/4" Umatic SP cassettes are dark brown/maroon and have SP and the length written on the spine (3M brand).

[Andy Tejral]

5xxx were the first front loaders.
BVU-850 was the pro version.
9xxx were the SP models
BVU-950 for the pro, BVU-960 for dynamic tracking.

all the 9 series had tbcs? I think so.

Any body want to buy any? I think we have about one of every model. Lots of 1" too.

I'm pretty sure SP was like 90% compatible. You wouldn't get the enhanced picture quality but you'd see a non-sp picture. non-sp would play in SP

[Steve Leverich]

Well, the '84 vintage for U-matic SP explains my lack of info - left all that in '78, as I said. Found a dark pic of the 2850 in a site that has some other broadcast history, though -

http://www.lionlmb.org/quad/mil_teac.jpg

And the main site, worked on quite a few of these; mostly dinosaurs like me :=(

http://www.lionlmb.org/quad/tour.html

During that phase, if you wanted broadcast legal color from a helical scan machine, just the TBC cost $5000, and the machine that could provide it with stable enough video so it could even WORK cost another $10k or so - kinda nice to be able to replace about $100,000 in gear with a $2k laptop and another $1k or less in software... Steve

[Dale Nicholson]

Thanks for the replies, gang. It sounds like were saying that--to be safe--get your hands on an SP machine, in the event it does give the image that little extra boost (if your master is on SP tape).


--Dale

[Dale Nicholson]

Ultimately, I have a tough decision: Do I rent a non-SP deck but at least have the assurance of knowing that if something is wrong with the equipment, I won't be stuck. Or do I save forty bucks, buy an SP deck for 100 bucks--giving me a slight picture improvment---but what if the heads need cleaned? No matter how much I may trust the seller, what if it isn't up to the job once it's delivered to me?
My thinking at this point is to rent, but it just bothers me that the rental isn't an SP deck, and I'll be losing some quality. Ahhhh, decisions....

[Bill Mecca]

might it not be easier to find a facility (like a local tv station) to just transfer the 3/4 footage to dv? Yes you give up some control, but you also don't have the headaches.

I have a ton of 3/4" tape from y tv news days, and a couple old V0-5600 decks, but haven't found the time to weed thru the jungle of tape to find those few precious moments the kids might like to see of their old man. ;) (all that stuff was edited on a 5800>RM440>5850 those decks were workhorses.)

[Richard Alvarez]

Dale,

How much footage to you have to transfer? It MIGHt be more cost effective to have it done somewhere in house.

[Steve Leverich]

I agree with Bill and Richard on this; for one thing, if the newer decks were capable of higher frequency modulation, probably some were switchable - so unless your tape has a "pro" label on it that includes whether it was recorded in hi-band or not, you wouldn't know whether it would even play properly on a non-SP machine.

Again, I'm talking out my butt here not knowing anything about the newer (to me) machines, but if there were choices available in a machine's modulation frequency(and tape formulation) then there was the chance it was recorded in a mode that may not be available in a "lesser" machine.

So taking the tape to someone who already has machines that CAN handle your tape would at the least tell you which band of modulation was used... Steve

[Andy Tejral]

Whatever you do, don't wait any longer than you have to! We've had to transfer some 3/4 stuff. The process goes: clean the heads, dub about 30-45 seconds. Stop. Repeat. At the most, you get 1 minute before you need to stop and clean the heads. I believe the heads in this, our last working deck, are shot and loading up faster than they would ordinarily.

Under ideal conditions, a tape should last a good long time, but how many of us are storing tapes under ideal conditions?

[Dale Nicholson]

All the more reason to rent. Why rush a decision like this. Anything I decide upon will be better than 1/2 -inch video. Besides, the advc300 kicks some butt.