methods to add time/date code on blank miniDV tapes.

[jtoolman2000]

I know there are various methods to do that but I would like to know if there are better ones than these.

I normally load a new mini VD cassette on my camera and with the lens cap on, I press record until the whole tape has be recorded.

I also sow this on my new Total Training Premiere pro 2 tutorial DVDs. Mr Rosenberg loads an NTSC Color bar chart on the time line. Streches it to 60 mins and sends that out to the tape via IEEE firewire connection from PC to Cam to record it onto Tape.

I had never heard of doing it that way and would like to know if any of you all have used that method. You really end up with a 60 minute tape of the bar graph + date/time

Second question:

I recently shot a small town memorial day parade and I thought I had a Date/Time cued tape already in the Cam. When I began to transfer to my PC via Premiere capture, I clicked the Auto Scene recognition box and began the "Capture" process. It stopped beacuse it said I did not have the Date/Time code on my tape ????? I ended up manually capturing the clips. That can be a real pain.

Is there a fairly fool proof method of doing this and does the tape cassette have to be blanked prior to any shooting?

Back in my Pinnacle Studio days, scene recognition was a piece of cake as studio just created a new virtual clip where ever there was break between two frames. That worked great except when someone shot a flash pic during your filming, it would insert a scene break where the blinding white frame was.

I have also never been able to get Vegas to detect scenes.

It has to be the Date/Time code on my cassetes not being what the programs demand.

If some one has some insight I would appreciated greatly.

Thanks

[jtoolman2000]

No one can help?

[jtoolman2000]

Can someone please help??

[guns1inger]

All recording a blank clip/colour bars/lens cap does is make sure there is a contiguous time code on the tape before you start filming. When you film, you will lay down a new timecode anyway. What striping the tape does for you, however, is prevent a complete loss of time code between clips, which can affect some capture software. This can happen if you rewind/FF the tapes to preview during filming.

Vegas does not do scene detection. What it does do is break up your clips based on the timecode. This way, someone using a flash in your scene will not affect the way it is captured. It does mean that using your DV camera as a pass-through device will always get you one big clip.

As to the best method to stripe a tape - it doesn't really matter. The footage isn't important, on that you get a contiguous timecode. Lens cap on is just as good as colour bars or anything else, so long as it goes the full length of the tape without breaking.

[BJ_M]

minidv doesnt use real time code anyway - so really this is a complete waste of time

the time and date is recorded when you record anyway ....

since there is no real timecode on minidv consumer machines - just record and shoot ...


this is one of the big diff. between pro DV and consumer

[guns1inger]

It is possible for mini-DV to lose track between scenes and make transfer difficult. Striping can prevent this. Experience tells me this works, regardless of whether or not it has the same timecode structure as pro DV.

[JohnnyMalaria]

The striping of a tape prior to shooting is a relic of analog video. There was a clear benefit to having a signal already on the tape so that you would avoid the glitches that would otherwise occur when inadvertently missing a portion of the tape. There's less advantage in the digital world. However, when recording on miniDV etc, it is good practice to cue the device to the last actual recorded frame before resuming recording (i.e., if you stop the recording - not just pause it). To do this, it is usual to put the camcorder in camera mode and then use the cue/review function to get to the end of the recorded portion of tape. When recording resumes, you will be guaranteed a clean cut and continuous timecode. If you don't do this, you risk a glitch (due to unrecorded tape) which can upset some scene detection software.

I'm a bit puzzled by BJ_M's statement that consumer miniDV doesn't have real timecode. Can you elaborate? Do you mean that only a continuous timecode is possible rather than user-definable? Consumer DV timecode is still a very valuable asset - permits genuine frame accurate editing at a bargain price.

John.

[BJ_M]

if you edited digibeta or betasp -- and have to do matchback to film and audio or insert editing pr work with edl's on a constant basis --- you will quickly see that the timecode used on minidv is ---- useless at best ... but can be made to work ... DVCAM is slightly better though ... but still no match for real timecode ...


some tips on DVCAM:

Timecode: One major point to consider is that DV automatically writes its own timecode to the tape when you film. This means that timecode will be consistent for that tape no matter what playback system you use and no matter what position the tape is in when entered it into the playback system. This feature becomes very useful in the editing stages. But it is important not to break the timecode when filming. Blank mini-DV tapes come with no timecode written on them at all. The timecode is written to the tape as you film on it for the first time. Most DV cameras are programmed to begin writing timecode starting at position 00:00:00 when they find blank space on the tape because they assume that blank tape is the beginning of the tape. If you film a scene, then view the scene in the camera VTR mode and accidentally let the tape play or fast forward to a point beyond the end of the existing timecode, it will interpret that blank section to be the beginning of the tape and will begin writing a new, second set of timecode on the tape. This is bad! Having two sets of timecode on the tape will confuse any editing program.



* Unless the tape has never been taped on before, do not begin taping at a point that has no time code written on it. Make sure that you begin taping over the end of your last bit of footage.
* Always begin taping on a new cassette at the very beginning of the tape.
* Make it a practice to tape 5 seconds of cushion space at the beginning of tapes and at the start and end of scenes. This will provide room for you to begin taping later without having to overwrite any important footage.